Breckinridge County KyArchives News.....From Trails to Roads, part 1 November 3, 2021
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Dana Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 March 12, 2022, 7:11 pm

The Herald News Newpaper November 3, 2021
During the time of early settlers there were no roads connecting towns or
communities.  If settlers docked on the river or creek bank they either cut a path
or searched for animal or native Indian trails.  Buffalo traces were often very
winding as were other animal trails but they went around the hills instead of up and
over steep banks.  As these trails were used by horses and then wagons, they became
more defined.  Most of the roads and trails were dirt and remained so for a very
long time, only became wider when used more.
	In the late 1700’s when Hardin’s Fort was founded new Kentuckians used a trail
called Warrior Trail which crossed over the river into Indiana.  Of course you can
guess by the name that it was originally from native Indians and could still be very
dangerous at that time.  It went from Hardinsburg to Owensboro very roughly by horse
or foot and later wagon.  The trail crossed Blackford Creek on a point that was due
south of Grandview, Ind. about five miles and due west of Hardinsburg.  Around
180-1830 many pioneers came over this trail to Spencer County, Ind.
	Kentucky’s first governor, Isaac Shelby passed funding for widening the main trails
to help make them more suitable for wagons.  Much timber had to be cut to expand a
trail’s width, bolders and rocks were moved.  Cutting a road at that time was
throwing dirt from side to side and leaving a rounded heap in the center for the
water to roll off.  Creeks were forded to control the water flow and how it might
affect the road.  In some areas there may have been some rock fences along the side
of the roads but usually not.  Law called for the roads to be 15 feet wide when
constructed and materials if needed were found along the way.  Rock or wood for
example could come off of anyone’s property that the road crossed.  Any person who
lived within one mile of the road path was to work one day per week by law on
construction of the road and maintenance thereafter.
	This funding had been for widening of the trails but not for maintenance or
aftercare.  There was no road funding or official road system still in our nation
	It is thought that “wagon-roads”, which were not more than a cart wide were shared
but in competition with the pack horsemen and trail men who probably pushed them
into the ditches.  Conversion of a trail to a wagon-road was done by cutting logs
and laying them at right angle, then covering them with a layer of dirt.  This
worked well in the dry season but was a very different story in the wet season. 
“Corduroy roads”, as they called them, claimed a lot of wagons and coaches, having
to dig them out of the mud and sometimes abandoned until warm weather.  These roads
were also hard on horses as the logs maimed horses when the dirt washed off. 
Corduroy roads also were known for bounce and bruise rides as they came to be called
in a wagon, as they were not maintained well to keep a layer of dirt on the logs.
	One road from Holt to Cloverport followed the Ohio River and for years people had
to go through Stephensport.  If a person left Cloverport they followed the river to
Stephensport and then followed another dirt road that has been called “The Stage
Coach Road”.  This road came out to meet what is now Hwy. 60, then turned towards
Hardinsburg.
	It could take four to seven hours to travel 15 miles by wagon or carriage and they
often got stuck in mud or overturned.  If abandoned, the party inside just took off
on foot to their destination or the closest town behind them.
	Sources:  Wagons, Roads, Tollgates & Taverns by Virginia Graves, Acts of General
Assembly of Commonwealth of Ky 1836. U. S. Statutes at Large 1937.
	To be continued…..


Additional Comments:

Copied from original article, with permission from Leslie Galloway Haycraft
(reporter) and the Herald News newspaper, from their 11/3/2021 edition.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/breckinridge/newspapers/fromtrai569gnw.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/