Understanding migration routes your ancestors took, who they traveled with, and where they settled is yet another instrument in your genealogical toolbox.
Westward migration started when the colonists landed in America. Some went inland a couple hundred miles in search of land they where they could raise crops. In 1790, 97% of Americans lived on the East Coast. Between 1841 and 1866 it is estimated that 350,000 to 500,000 people migrated westward.
Migration routes tended to go westward or southward. People usually traveled with relatives, friends or, neighbors and followed the same route as their ancestors. Before there were roads, people usually traveled along waterways, railroad routes, or Indian trails.
Some of the more popular migration routes are;
(1) Northeast of the Mississippi
(a) National Road that extended from Maryland, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, to Illinois. Appx. 780 miles
(b) Boston Post Road extended from the New England region
into New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and into
the Southern States. Appx. 800 miles
(c) Old Connecticut Path: From Boston west by southwest
through Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, has
two ending points in Hartford and Albany. 290 miles
(d) Iroquois or Mohawk Trail: West from Albany along the
Mohawk River through Utica and Rome with a branch
going through Fort Oswego to Lake Ontario. 190 miles
(e) Forbes Road: Pennsylvania route stretched from Carlisle to
the Forks of the Ohio River around present day Pittsburgh.
200 miles
(f) Great Warrior’s Trading Path: Through the Shenandoah
Valley covering Virginia and Tennessee. 250 miles
(g) Chicago Road: From Lake Michigan south by southwest
through Peoria and Springfield, east of St.Louis to
Kaskaskia on the Missouri River. Appx. 350 miles
(2) Migration Trails Southeast of the Mississippi
(a) Natchez-Lower Creeks Trail: East across lower Mississippi
and lower Alabama to Montgomery. 380 miles
(b) Natchez Trace (Chickasaw Trail): From Natchez,
Mississippi north by northeast to Nashville, Tennessee.
380 miles
(c) Jackson’s Military Road: From Nashville south by
southwest through Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and
ending in Louisiana at Lake Ponchartrain. 445 miles
(d) Federal Road: Began in Macon, Georgia and extended
southwest ending in Natchez, Mississippi. Appx. 380 miles
(e) Great Indian path (also known as the Scioto Trail): Straight
south from Sandusky Bay, on Lake Erie along the Scioto
River to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. 220 miles
(3) Migration Trails West of the Mississippi
(a) Royal Road (also known as El Camino Real): The 600
mile California Mission Trail that connected Alta’s
California 21 missions, 4 presidios, and several pueblos,
stretching from Mission San Francisco Sononma southward
into Baja California.
(b) Spanish Trail: This was a historical trade route which
connected the northern New Mexico settlements near Santa
Fe with those in the region surrounding the present site of
Los Angeles. Appx. 1,200 miles
(c) Gila Trail: Gila Trail follows river. It comes up from
Mexico along the San Pedro River, just west of Bisbee,
Arizona, until the river’s confluence with the Gila River,
then follows that westward to Yuma, Arizona. A branch of
the Gila Trail goes eastward along the Yuma River to the
San Pedro River, then follows the San Francisco River to
just over the state border into New Mexico, thence north to
Zuni, New Mexico. Appx. 1,500 miles
(d) Old San Antonio Road: This trail is located in Texas and
Louisiana. Parts of it were based on traditional Native
American trails. Its Texas terminus was about 35 miles
southeast of Eagle Pass at the Rio Grande in Maverick
County, and its northern terminus was at Natchitoches,
Louisiana. The road continued from Texas through to
Mexico City. Appx. 587 miles.
(e) Oregon Trail: The trail opened the Pacific Northwest. The
Oregon Trail was the overland emigrant trail for the
Missouri River to the Columbia River country, Oregon
Territory. Like all western trails it tended to follow rivers
where possible. It followed the Missouri River from St.
Louis to the Kansas River near Independence, Missouri,
then that river to the Little Blue River where it joined the
Platte River. It took the North Platte in western Nebraska to
the present Casper, Wyoming, followed the Sweetwater
River to South Pass, and then went southwest to Fort
Bridger Wyoming. At this point the trail split with the
Mormon Trail, which continued southwest to the Great Salt
Lake, while the Oregon Trail went northwest to Fort Hall,
near Pocatello, Idaho. Over the Blue Mountains in
northeaster Oregon, then down the Columbia River to
Willamette Valley, where the early settlers finished their
journey. Appx. 2,170 miles
(f) Mormon Trail: The Mormon trail followed the North banks
of the Platte and North Platte Rivers, unlike the Oregon
Trail which followed the South banks. West of Fort
Laramie, however, the two trails united and followed the
same track until the Mormon Trail turned southwestward
toward the Great Salt Lake. Appx. 1,300 milestoward the Great Salt Lake. Appx. 1,300 miles[1]
[1] Westward Migration and Genealogical Research in the United States http://bsgen.org/BSGEN/Migrationspeech.pdf
