Buffalo Trace (road) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Buffalo Trace was a trackway running through what are now the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

states of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, and Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Originally formed by migrating bison

American Bison

The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...

, the trace crossed the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

near the Falls of the Ohio and the Wabash River

Wabash River

The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...

near Vincennes

Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...

. It later became an important land route for settlers in Indiana, and was known by various names, including Vincennes Trace', Louisville Trace, Clarksville Trace, Old Indian Road, and the Paoli Pike after being turned into a turnpike.. U.S. Route 150

U.S. Route 150

U.S. Route 150 is a 571 mile long northwest-southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky .-Illinois:In the state of Illinois, U.S. 150 runs from the Quad City International Airport at U.S...

between Vincennes and Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

follows the path of the Trace.

History

The Trace was created by millions of migrating bison that were numerous in the region from the Great Lakes to Tennessee. It was part of a greater buffalo route, that went from present-day Big Bone Lick State Park

Big Bone Lick State Park

Big Bone Lick State Park is located at Big Bone in Boone County, Kentucky. It is located on Beaver Road and between the communities of Beaverlick and Rabbit Hash. The name of the park comes from the Pleistocene megafauna fossils found there. The mammoths and other creatures are believed to have...

in Kentucky, through Bullitt's Lick

Bullitt's Lick

Bullitt's Lick is a historic salt lick three miles south of Shepherdsville in Bullitt County, Kentucky. It was the first commercial supplier of salt in Kentucky, and the first industry in Kentucky as well, supplying jobs for many residents, including slaves....

south of present-day Louisville, and across the Falls of the Ohio River. In Indiana the trace had a few divergent trails which gathered together again north of Jasper

Jasper, Indiana

- Strassenfest :The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler, a small village in southwest Germany. Many citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time...

near several large ponds for buffalo to wallow. Due to the number of buffalo that used the trace, the road was sometimes twenty feet wide. A major salt lick at present-day French Lick, Indiana

French Lick, Indiana

French Lick is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,807 at the 2010 census. In early 2006 the French Lick Resort Casino, the state's tenth casino in the modern legalized era, opened drawing national attention to the small town.- History :French...

was another intersection of divergent trails. The Trace crossed the White River

White River (Indiana)

The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...

at points, near present-day Petersburg

Petersburg, Indiana

Petersburg is a city in Washington Township, Pike County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,383 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Pike County.Petersburg is part of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

and Portersville, Indiana

Portersville, Indiana

Portersville is an unincorporated town in Boone Township, Dubois County, Indiana....

. The trail had a major crossing at the Wabash River, from which it split into separate trails leading West across Illinois

Illinois

to the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes

François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes was a French Canadian explorer and soldier who established several forts in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana, including Fort Vincennes....

founded a trading post at the Wabash crossing in 1732, which became Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes, Indiana

.

The trace served as a road through early Indiana and was very important to the development of the state. George Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...

used the road to return to Louisville by land after his Illinois Campaign. According to Clark family history, Richard "Dickie" Clark,(1760-1784?) brother of General George Rogers Clark and Captain William Clark

William Clark

William Clark was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in prestatehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri...

, disappeared along this road in 1784 after leaving Clarksville alone to travel to Vincennes. The Clark family heard in one account, that Richard's horse had been found with his saddlebags bearing his initials. Another account has his horse's bones found with the bags nearby. The remains of Richard Clark were never found. It is thought that he may have been killed by Indians or thieves in the area, or may have drowned while crossing the White River or Blue River.

With the United States taking control of the Illinois country, the trace became a busy route, which made it a target for thieves and war parties. One of the first attacks on American travellers, occurred in 1779, just after Clark's militia took control of Vincennes, and led to the Battle of the White River Forks. In 1785 and 1786, explorer John Filson

John Filson

John Filson was an American author, historian of Kentucky, pioneer, surveyor and one of the founders of Cincinnati, Ohio.-Biography:...

travelled by river to Vincennes and returned via the trace, documenting his travels along the road. General Josiah Harmar

Josiah Harmar

Josiah Harmar was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolution and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for seven years....

also kept a log when he led the First American Regiment

First American Regiment

The First American Regiment was the first peacetime regular army force authorized by United States Congress after the American Revolutionary War...

on a return march from Vincennes 1786.

Following the Treaty of Greenville

Treaty of Greenville

The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...

in 1795, settlers poured into the western territories, and many of them kept logs of their journeys along the Buffalo Trace. In late 1799, U.S. postmaster Joseph Habersham

Joseph Habersham

Joseph Habersham was an American businessman, Georgia politician, soldier in the Continental Army, and Postmaster General of the United States....

established a mail route from Louisville, through Vincennes, to Kaskaskia along the trace. The route began 22 March 1800, and ran every four weeks. The route was extended to Cahokia

Cahokia

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...

the following year. In 1802, Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

recommended that the Trace be improved into a road fit for wagons, with inns for travelers every thirty to forty miles. The Trace was so well known that in August 1804, Harrison used it as a treaty boundary with Indians. The treaty opened up all land South of the trace to white settlement, and William Rector was hired to survey the road in 1805. Rector's survey of the road provides an important record of the actual Buffalo Trace.

The Buffalo Trace was the primary travel route between the Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

area and Vincennes; two-thirds of settlers coming from the Louisville area into the interior of Indiana used the trace. Rangers

Indiana Rangers

The Indiana Rangers were a mounted militia formed in 1807 and operated in the early part of the 19th century to defend settlers in Indiana Territory from attacks by Native Americans. The rangers were present at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and served as auxiliaries to the army during the War of 1812...

were hired to protect travelers using the road, eventually doing so on horseback in 1812. During the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, Harrison assigned 150 men to patrol the trace between Vincennes and Louisville, "so as to completely protect the citizens and the road."

Because the Buffalo Trace remained the primary road shortly after statehood in 1816, the Indiana legislature had the Trace paved from New Albany to Vincennes as part of its internal improvements

Internal improvements

Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements...

program. It was paved all the way to Paoli, Indiana

Paoli, Indiana

Paoli is a town in Paoli Township, Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,844 at the 2000 census. The town is the county seat of Orange County.-History:...

, when the state of Indiana had to turn over operation of the road to a private organization as part of their negotiations to avoid bankruptcy, who made it a turnpike

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

, calling it the New Albany-Paoli Turnpike.
The first stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

service along the length of the trace from New Albany

New Albany, Indiana

New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky. In 1900, 20,628 people lived in New Albany; in 1910, 20,629; in 1920, 22,992; and in 1940, 25,414. The population was 36,372 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of...

to Vincennes

Vincennes, Indiana

was started in 1820—the first stagecoach service in Indiana. It also served the population of Floyd County, Indiana

Floyd County, Indiana

Floyd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 74,578. The county seat is New Albany. Floyd County is the county with the second smallest land area in the entire state...

, particularly Greenville

Greenville, Indiana

Greenville is a town in Greenville Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States. The population was 595 at the 2010 census.- History :Early in Floyd County's history, Greenville was initially to be the county seat. A New Albany resident offered to provide a bell for the courthouse, if and only...

, Galena

Galena, Indiana

Galena is a census-designated place in Floyd County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,818 at the 2010 census. The CDP includes the town of Galena as well as the nearby town of Floyds Knobs and their immediate surroundings.-Geography:...

, and Floyds Knobs

Floyds Knobs, Indiana

Floyds Knobs is a small unincorporated town in Lafayette Township, Floyd County, Indiana. Historically a farming community on the outskirts of New Albany, it has since become a bedroom community for Louisville, Kentucky, containing subdivisions, farms, small shopping centers and churches, and...

.

Other names for the Trace through its history have been Clarksville Trace, Harrison's Road, Kentucky Road, Vincennes Trace, and Lan-an-zo-ki-mi-wi (an Indian name meaning "buffalo road").

Present day

US-150 from Vincennes to New Albany, follows the path of the Trace. A large section of the original trace can be seen south of French Lick

French Lick, Indiana

in Orange County, Indiana

Orange County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,306 people, 7,621 households, and 5,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile . There were 8,348 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...

, along the Springs Valley Trail System. There is an attempt to make it a National Scenic Byway

National Scenic Byway

A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for its archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. The program was established by Congress in 1991 to preserve and protect the nation's scenic but often...

. In total, driving US-150 to coincide with the Buffalo Trace has a length of 112 miles (180.2 km).

Parts of the trace are now protected, including sections in the Hoosier National Forest

Hoosier National Forest

The Hoosier National Forest, in the hills of south central Indiana, is a property managed by the United States Forest Service. Composed of four separate sections, it has a total area of . It is headquartered in Bedford, with a regional office in Tell City...

and a small tract within Buffalo Trace Park

Buffalo Trace Park

Buffalo Trace Park is a public park preserve in northern Harrison County, Indiana near the town of Palmyra, Indiana. The park is along the edge of the old Buffalo Trace, a historic bison migration trail that was later converted into a road. In 1971, the man-made Lake Coleman was added to the park...

, a preserve maintained by Harrison County, Indiana

Harrison County, Indiana

Harrison County is a county located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. It is divided into twelve townships, and the county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana. The county is part of the larger Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan...

History

Present day

See also