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From: Bill <>
Subject: Little Egypt Heritage, 30 January 2005, Vol 4 #05
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 18:44:28 -0500
Little Egypt Heritage Articles
Stories of Southern Illinois
© Bill Oliver
30 January 2005
Vol 4 Issue: #05
ISBN: pending
Osiyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt,
It isn’t always necessary to read words to learn something. One can read
the signs of the weather or the signs of the season. Then there are the
picture signs used to inform us of things like restroom gender or
cautions of coming attractions along our highways and byways. However,
to learn about roads and travel it was necessary for me to dig deep into
my library to read words in books. Libraries, by the way, are in a stage
of flux and change due to the introduction and use of the world wide
web; but that is another story for another time.
As a “side-trip” of reading about the Battle of Brice’s Corners, near
Guntown, Mississippi recently, my thoughts went from how easy it is to
get into my car, hop onto an Interstate Highway and be in another state
in a short period of time. In June 1864, a week of heavy rains bogged
down an entire army of about 12,000 on the existing roads. This and weak
decisions cost the lives of many more men than was necessary.
Back as early as the 1740s on this continent, there were cries for a
“national road”. There was intense competition between the English and
French for dominance of the Northwest Territories. This was before we
were a nation. This says much about us. From the first landing of Euros
on this continent, eyes have been looking westward. At first, the “west”
was defined roughly as west of the Alleghenies, at least to the Ohio
River. In those days, due to the superiority and convenience of water
travel, the proposed road was primarily a portage between waterways.
Land speculators who “owned” the vast lands west wanted “avenues” to
facilitate settlement [selling land], while the settlers wanted an ample
way to transport their goods to market and buy essential supplies in return.
Even the young George Washington wanted a road, knowing that it would
greatly enhance the value of western lands. Christopher Gist and Thomas
Cresap were hired to explore and recommend a route [road] west. They in
turn hired a Delaware Chief named Nemacolin. The Chief marked a path for
a roadway – which was, of course, an old Indian trail. A military “road”
was constructed from Cumberland, Maryland to Ft. Duquesne paralleling
Nemacolin’s “trail”.
These roads were roads in name only. They were crude trails carved
through the wilderness, filled with stumps, sinkholes, and deep ruts.
From Ft. Duquesne, the Ohio River greatly enhanced travel west. It
helped to settle southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and northern Kentucky.
It flows 981 miles from the confluence of the Allegheny and the
Monongahela Rivers at the Point in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cairo,
Illinois where it meets and joins the Mississippi River.
In that time transportation was primitive and the Allegheny Mountains
posed the biggest barrier to westward expansion. There were two routes
used to get to Pittsburgh and the Ohio River. One was from Baltimore via
the National Road to Redstone on the Monongahela River. The other was by
the Forbes Road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Settlers reaching the
Ohio River either built or bought boats or rafts to continue their
migration by water.
The flatboat was the cheapest of the various types of water vehicles
used. This was the period when all vehicles were hand-powered with poles
and oars, for steering. Naturally, they usually floated with the
current. By 1811, steamboats began to appear on the rivers. At the end
of the river trip, the boats and rafts were sold or they were taken
apart and the wood used for other purposes.
Migration further west was known by many names: the Oregon Trail, the
California Trail, the Platte Trail, and the Mormon Trail. It was
primarily an emigrant trail. However, the Oregon Trail was also used by
the Army, and stagecoaches and the Pony Express Route followed part of
the trail.
Independence, Missouri became the major trail head for the
Oregon-California trail route. It followed the Santa Fe Trail some
distance before turning northwest toward the Kansas river.
We are all familiar with the usual types of wagons used from this point.
However, there were some unusual.
The west was very windy so a prairie-schooner, a cross between a wagon
and a sailboat, was devised. A prototype was built and it sailed across
the prairie at about 15 miles an hour but it went out of control and
crashed. “Wind-wagon Thomas”, the inventor, tried several other
versions, but again they did not succeed.
Wheelbarrows were attempted. Can you imagine pushing a loaded, maybe
overloaded, wheelbarrow for 2000 miles. For as long as human endurance
lasted this was the fastest mode of moving. There doesn’t seem to be a
record of anyone using this method actually achieving their goal.
The Mormans, however, did use handcarts successfully to move to Utah.
Insteaed of pushing these carts, they were pulled. Again however, there
is no record of anyone taking these further west.
One that never never flew was the Oregon bound “airline”. Rufus Porter,
founder of Scientific American, planned to fly pioneers to Oregon on
propeller-driven balloons powered by steam engines. Two hundred persons
signed up for the trip, but it never got off the ground.
e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da.
(May you walk in peace and harmony)
Wado,
Bill
-=-
PostScript:
= = = =
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html
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