The history of the early phase of American transportation is dealt with in three general works.John Luther Ringwalt's "Development of Transportation Systems in the United States"(1888) is a reliable summary of the general subject at the time.
Archer B.Hulbert's "Historic Highways of America," 16 vols.
(1902-1905), is a collection of monographs of varying quality written with youthful enthusiasm by the author, who traversed in good part the main pioneer roads and canals of the eastern portion of the United States; Indian trails, portage paths, the military roads of the Old French War period, the Ohio River as a pathway of migration, the Cumberland Road, and three of the canals which played a part in the western movement, form the subject of the more valuable volumes.The temptation of a writer on transportation to wander from his subject is illustrated in this work, as it is illustrated afresh in Seymour Dunbar's "AHistory of Travel in America," 4 vols.(1915).The reader will take great pleasure in this magnificently illustrated work, which, in completer fashion than it has ever been attempted, gives a readable running story of the whole subject for the whole country, despite detours, which some will make around the many pages devoted to Indian relations.
For almost every phase of the general topic books, monographs, pamphlets, and articles are to be found in the corners of any great library, ranging in character from such productions as William F.Ganong's "A Monograph of Historic Sites in the Province of New Brunswick" ("Proceedings and Transactions" of the Royal Society of Canada, Second Series, vol.V, 1899) which treats of early travel in New England and Canada, or St.George L.Sioussat's "Highway Legislation in Maryland and its Influence on the Economic Development of the State" ("Maryland Geological Survey," III, 1899) treating of colonial road making and legislation thereon, or Elbert J.Benton's "The Wabash Trade Route in the Development of the Old Northwest" ("Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science," vol.
XXI, 1903) and Julius Winden's "The Influence of the Erie Canal upon the Population along its Course" (University of Wisconsin, 1901), which treat of the economic and political influence of the opening of inland water routes, to volumes of a more popular character such as Francis W.Halsey's "The Old New York Frontier"(1901), Frank H.Severance's "Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier"(1903) for the North, and Charles A.Hanna's "The Wilderness Trail", 2 vols.(1911), and Thomas Speed's "The Wilderness Road"("The Filson Club Publications," vol.II, 1886) for Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky.The value of Hanna's work deserves special mention.
