Indian Trail Topics – Access Genealogy

Old Indian Trails of Pike’s Peak

The principal Indian trail into the mountains from the plains to the northeast of Pike’s Peak came in by way of the Garden Ranch, through what used to be known as Templeton’s Gap. It crossed Monument Creek about a mile above Colorado Springs, then followed up a ridge to the Mesa; then it went southwest over the Mesa and across Camp Creek, passing just south of the Garden of the Gods; from there it came down to the Fountain, about a mile west of Colorado City, and there joined another trail that came from the southeast up the east side … Read more

Manitou Springs

Dr. Edwin James, botanist and historian of Long’s expedition, who visited the Pike’s Peak region in 1820, says of the principal spring at Manitou: The boiling spring is a large and beautiful fountain of water, cool and transparent and aerated with carbonic acid. It rises on the brink of a small stream which here descends from the mountains at the point where the bed of this stream divides the ridge of sandstone, which rests against the base of the first granitic range. The water of the spring deposits a copious concretion of carbonate of lime, which has accumulated on every … Read more

Iroquois Trails in Pennsylvania

Leaving To-ri-wa-wa-kon and the grave of Shikellamy, the Mohawks traveled up the great river Susquehanna until they arrived at Lewisburg. Here they visited an ancient Indian village site which was an earlier residence of the noted Oneida chief Shikellamy. Continuing still north up the river the warriors arrived at still another of Shikellamy’s towns. Here the great chief also resided, just south of the Village of Milton, Pennsylvania. From this village site the Mohawks traveled over a road that was once called, The Sheshequin Path. This ancient Iroquois trail was used by Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy on trips through this … Read more

Trade Routes in the Lower Southeast

The memoir of French explorer, René Goulaine de Laudonniére state that the predominate flow of trade in the Lower Southeast in the late 1500s was north-south. Greenstone, gold, ocher, mica, crystals, precious stones and silver that was mined in the Southern Highlands, were traded for salt, shells, grain, skins, furs, colorful clays, dried fish and dyes obtained from lower altitudes. He emphasized that the desire to control the cargos of greenstone and gold from the mountains was the cause of many wars. A major trade route passed through Track Rock Gap, but it was not the most important one. The … Read more

The Creek Indian Trails

A correct and detailed knowledge of the Indian trails leading through their country, and called by them warpaths, horse trails, and by the white traders “trading roads,” forms an important part of Indian topography and history. Their general direction is determined by mountain ranges and gaps (passes), valleys, springs, watercourses, fordable places in rivers, etc. The early explorers of North American countries all followed these Indian trails: Narvaez, Hernando de Soto, Tristan de Luna, Juan del Pardo, Lederer and Lawson, because they were led along these tracks by their Indian guides. If we knew with accuracy the old Indian paths … Read more

The Great Central Trail Of The Long House, Route 5, New York

The Iroquois Indians were the trail makers for the early settlers of New York State and its surrounding territory. The white people landed here, strangers in a strange land. They met the Indian who was a woodsman without an equal. The Iroquois knew his country. He knew water courses, elevations and passes through the mountains. His race had used them for centuries. The Iroquois trails formed the first basis of water and land travel. The present day railroads and highways are based on information given to the early whites by the Indian, and particularly by the Iroquois Indian. A far … Read more