TedACampbell Wrote:
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> I'm leaning toward the view that the "Shawnee
> Trail," like other frontier trails, was an
> intricate trail system with multiple paths, and
> that the Military Road/Preston Road was one of
> those paths but not the only one and maybe not the
> favored one
=============
Ted -
I do not think anyone would disagree most all trails used by 19th century explorers and immigrants would have their basis in ancient Indian and game trails. I would also agree they were not a single path but a network as you described. I do believe, however, the Indian names ascribed to the trails were applied later and often interchangeable as were the locations of the tribes. The Shawnee Trail for example was previously known as the Osage Trace.
I generally agree most migration to the Three Forks after 1841 (and there was none prior) would have traveled westward to Bonham before turning southwest. That was the route of the Village Creek and Birds Fort campaigns. The Preston Road became more important after the Texas Road connected at Preston in 1845. There is an often quoted but never cited report of 1000 settlers waiting to cross there.
The early Preston Road / Shawnee Trail had its heyday during the cattle drives.
As for which might be the most favored route there are many factors to consider. The earliest Anglo-American (that may not be an appropriate term but am using to distinguish from Native Americans and the earlier European explorers) settlers to northeast Texas in the 1800-1830 era (which was then still part of Miller County Arkansas) came by river, generally down the Mississippi then up the Red.
Crossing points on the Red River and entry into Texas grew out of the settlements and trading operations established by the early settlers, primarily at Jonesborough and Pecan Point. There was also the extant Trammel Trace which held closer to the Texas - Louisiana border but had a branch to Jonesborough and Pecan Point.
Around 1830 Fort Towson was established at the mouth of the Kiamichi on the north side of Red River. Military roads were constructed to there from Fort Gibson and Fort Smith. These became the most expedient, safest, and favored immigration routes. The original December 1838 authorization of the Military Road was to have its northern terminus at the mouth of the Kiamichi. Cooke changed that to Coffee's Trading House at Washita Bend when he arrived there in late 1840 and realized the frontier had advanced that far.
After the Great Raft was cleared in 1838 the Red River was navigable as far west as Washita Bend.
The Texas Road across Indian Territory from Missouri was developed for the U S Army posts Boggy, Washita and Arbuckle but had some roots in the earlier Santa Fe Trail and Colonel Dodge's 1834 expedition. By 1845 the Texas Road had its western terminus at Preston. You also have to look at the Marcy Expedition choosing that route and the later Butterfield mail and pioneer trails.
There were also immigrants to North Texas who traveled directly overland from Shreveport, Nacogdoches and San Augustine before any trails or roads existed.
I agree there were scattered settlements between Clarksville and Bonham before 1840 - that is where most of the atrocities occurred that led to the punitive campaigns to Village Creek in 1838 through 1841. However in that era most of the roads held to the east - west ridgeline between the Red River and headwaters of the Sulphur River and East Fork of the Trinity.
Rex Wallace Strickland's history of Miller County and the early settlement of northeast Texas are excellent resources, Skip Steely is probably the most knowledgeable and authoritative current voice on the subjects and I highly recommend his numerous writings. Grant Foeman is the expert on the Texas Road and other trails and Indian settlements in the Indian Territory which became Oklahoma.
The Military Road was exactly what its name implies. It was authorized by the Act to Protect the Northern and Western Frontier. It called for re-establishing the Texas Militia and creating a military road and line of forts on the extreme frontier to protect the road. Its function as an immigrant route became more important as the best lands in northeast Texas were claimed. It should be noted the line of forts had already pushed westward by 1848. Birds Fort was the only one actually built and the Military Road Act which rewarded settlers along the route with additional lands was repealed in 1842.
As for settlements springing up along the Military Road / Preston Trail / Shawnee Trail you have to consider the impact of the Peters Colony, its expanding land grant, and the many conflicts with immigrants previously in the territory.
The original NE point of origin of the Peters Colony grant just happened to be at the mouth of Little Mineral Creek on Red River, the site of Coffee's Trading House. A note here re your map, the 1936 Coffee Historical Marker at Preston Bend was re-located from the original trading house and ferry site during the construction of Lake Texoma. The route you highlighted was not the Military Road / Preston Road but what is now known as Preston Bend Road. It originally led to Fort Johnson then later to Basin Springs and westward in Marcy's Expedition. See an old thread, "The End of the Road." The Preston Road ran due south from the town of Preston (which was near the marker) through Holland and Sophia Coffee's Glen Eden plantation and past the original trading post and ferry to connect to the original Military Road route.
The legislation to authorize the Colony just happen to coincide with Cooke's return (without his troops) to the capitol. The Colony later expanded southward expelling the Bird's Fort settlers, then eastward enveloping John Neely Bryan's outpost. It was the reason the Beemans went well beyond Bryan to White Rock Creek but they too were soon enveloped.
It was not an accident the early Throckmorton community and others were well east of the Colony. The Throckmorton site was located by Littleton Rattan in November 1841. Rattan was well aware of the conflict of the Bird's Fort / Peters Colony conflict and most of the original Throckmorton settlers in 1842 had been expelled from Bird's Fort.
Another reason there was not a lot of settlement along the Military Road / Preston Road was the immigrants enticed to the Peters Colony had to travel to Farmers Branch to register their claims and the first Peters Colony surveys originated in the future Dallas and southwestern Collin Counties. The Preston Road also ran generally along the 1846 county lines and the county seats of Gainesville, Sherman, Denton and McKinney were established 10 to 30 miles away.
The very thing that made the Military Road / Preston Road / Shawnee Trail a convenient route, the avoidance of water crossings and timber, was the opposite of where the settlers would choose homesites along the wooded waterways.
Can you post or provide a link to the Prigmore and other pioneer accounts? Are there specific references to the routes traveled or mention of established trails or roads before the counties were created in 1846?
It should be noted the early roads were built by and maintained within the individual counties. The connection to other counties was principally for commercial interests. The railroads of the 1870s in north Texas were the primary link and many state roads developed along the rail routes. The 1840-41 Military Road and 1844-45 Central National Highway were only surveyed by the Republic of Texas; they were not constructed. The counties along the surveyed routes would eventually build their own roads, though not necessarily adhering directly to them.
The Military Road / Preston Road / Shawnee Trails, may have indeed been less favored as you suggest, but it lives on because of its name.
What is the earliest name you have found for the Bonham-Sherman to McKinney and Dallas route?
M C
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> I'm leaning toward the view that the "Shawnee
> Trail," like other frontier trails, was an
> intricate trail system with multiple paths, and
> that the Military Road/Preston Road was one of
> those paths but not the only one and maybe not the
> favored one
=============
Ted -
I do not think anyone would disagree most all trails used by 19th century explorers and immigrants would have their basis in ancient Indian and game trails. I would also agree they were not a single path but a network as you described. I do believe, however, the Indian names ascribed to the trails were applied later and often interchangeable as were the locations of the tribes. The Shawnee Trail for example was previously known as the Osage Trace.
I generally agree most migration to the Three Forks after 1841 (and there was none prior) would have traveled westward to Bonham before turning southwest. That was the route of the Village Creek and Birds Fort campaigns. The Preston Road became more important after the Texas Road connected at Preston in 1845. There is an often quoted but never cited report of 1000 settlers waiting to cross there.
The early Preston Road / Shawnee Trail had its heyday during the cattle drives.
As for which might be the most favored route there are many factors to consider. The earliest Anglo-American (that may not be an appropriate term but am using to distinguish from Native Americans and the earlier European explorers) settlers to northeast Texas in the 1800-1830 era (which was then still part of Miller County Arkansas) came by river, generally down the Mississippi then up the Red.
Crossing points on the Red River and entry into Texas grew out of the settlements and trading operations established by the early settlers, primarily at Jonesborough and Pecan Point. There was also the extant Trammel Trace which held closer to the Texas - Louisiana border but had a branch to Jonesborough and Pecan Point.
Around 1830 Fort Towson was established at the mouth of the Kiamichi on the north side of Red River. Military roads were constructed to there from Fort Gibson and Fort Smith. These became the most expedient, safest, and favored immigration routes. The original December 1838 authorization of the Military Road was to have its northern terminus at the mouth of the Kiamichi. Cooke changed that to Coffee's Trading House at Washita Bend when he arrived there in late 1840 and realized the frontier had advanced that far.
After the Great Raft was cleared in 1838 the Red River was navigable as far west as Washita Bend.
The Texas Road across Indian Territory from Missouri was developed for the U S Army posts Boggy, Washita and Arbuckle but had some roots in the earlier Santa Fe Trail and Colonel Dodge's 1834 expedition. By 1845 the Texas Road had its western terminus at Preston. You also have to look at the Marcy Expedition choosing that route and the later Butterfield mail and pioneer trails.
There were also immigrants to North Texas who traveled directly overland from Shreveport, Nacogdoches and San Augustine before any trails or roads existed.
I agree there were scattered settlements between Clarksville and Bonham before 1840 - that is where most of the atrocities occurred that led to the punitive campaigns to Village Creek in 1838 through 1841. However in that era most of the roads held to the east - west ridgeline between the Red River and headwaters of the Sulphur River and East Fork of the Trinity.
Rex Wallace Strickland's history of Miller County and the early settlement of northeast Texas are excellent resources, Skip Steely is probably the most knowledgeable and authoritative current voice on the subjects and I highly recommend his numerous writings. Grant Foeman is the expert on the Texas Road and other trails and Indian settlements in the Indian Territory which became Oklahoma.
The Military Road was exactly what its name implies. It was authorized by the Act to Protect the Northern and Western Frontier. It called for re-establishing the Texas Militia and creating a military road and line of forts on the extreme frontier to protect the road. Its function as an immigrant route became more important as the best lands in northeast Texas were claimed. It should be noted the line of forts had already pushed westward by 1848. Birds Fort was the only one actually built and the Military Road Act which rewarded settlers along the route with additional lands was repealed in 1842.
As for settlements springing up along the Military Road / Preston Trail / Shawnee Trail you have to consider the impact of the Peters Colony, its expanding land grant, and the many conflicts with immigrants previously in the territory.
The original NE point of origin of the Peters Colony grant just happened to be at the mouth of Little Mineral Creek on Red River, the site of Coffee's Trading House. A note here re your map, the 1936 Coffee Historical Marker at Preston Bend was re-located from the original trading house and ferry site during the construction of Lake Texoma. The route you highlighted was not the Military Road / Preston Road but what is now known as Preston Bend Road. It originally led to Fort Johnson then later to Basin Springs and westward in Marcy's Expedition. See an old thread, "The End of the Road." The Preston Road ran due south from the town of Preston (which was near the marker) through Holland and Sophia Coffee's Glen Eden plantation and past the original trading post and ferry to connect to the original Military Road route.
The legislation to authorize the Colony just happen to coincide with Cooke's return (without his troops) to the capitol. The Colony later expanded southward expelling the Bird's Fort settlers, then eastward enveloping John Neely Bryan's outpost. It was the reason the Beemans went well beyond Bryan to White Rock Creek but they too were soon enveloped.
It was not an accident the early Throckmorton community and others were well east of the Colony. The Throckmorton site was located by Littleton Rattan in November 1841. Rattan was well aware of the conflict of the Bird's Fort / Peters Colony conflict and most of the original Throckmorton settlers in 1842 had been expelled from Bird's Fort.
Another reason there was not a lot of settlement along the Military Road / Preston Road was the immigrants enticed to the Peters Colony had to travel to Farmers Branch to register their claims and the first Peters Colony surveys originated in the future Dallas and southwestern Collin Counties. The Preston Road also ran generally along the 1846 county lines and the county seats of Gainesville, Sherman, Denton and McKinney were established 10 to 30 miles away.
The very thing that made the Military Road / Preston Road / Shawnee Trail a convenient route, the avoidance of water crossings and timber, was the opposite of where the settlers would choose homesites along the wooded waterways.
Can you post or provide a link to the Prigmore and other pioneer accounts? Are there specific references to the routes traveled or mention of established trails or roads before the counties were created in 1846?
It should be noted the early roads were built by and maintained within the individual counties. The connection to other counties was principally for commercial interests. The railroads of the 1870s in north Texas were the primary link and many state roads developed along the rail routes. The 1840-41 Military Road and 1844-45 Central National Highway were only surveyed by the Republic of Texas; they were not constructed. The counties along the surveyed routes would eventually build their own roads, though not necessarily adhering directly to them.
The Military Road / Preston Road / Shawnee Trails, may have indeed been less favored as you suggest, but it lives on because of its name.
What is the earliest name you have found for the Bonham-Sherman to McKinney and Dallas route?
M C