The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the

Great Appalachian Valley The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough—a chain of valley lowlands—and the central feature of the Appalachian M ...

. The system of footpaths (the Warpath branched off in several places onto alternate routes and over time shifted westward in some regions) extended from what is now upper New York to deep within

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. Various Indians traded and made war along the trails, including the

Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...

, numerous Algonquian tribes, the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

, and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Confederacy. The British traders' name for the route was derived from combining its name among the northeastern Algonquian tribes, ''Mishimayagat'' or "Great Trail", with that of the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, ''Athawominee'' or "Path where they go armed".

History

The age of the Great Indian Warpath is unknown. Many of the trails were broken by animals traveling to the salt licks in the region, especially by the herds of buffalo in the Valley of Virginia. These animal trails were later used by Native Americans. Certainly the trails were used for commerce, trading and communication between tribes before the land was explored by Europeans. In Virginia during November 1728,

William Byrd II William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virg ...

commented while passing a branch of the Indian trail what would later be called the

Great Wagon Road Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in what would eventually be

Henry County, Virginia Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,948. The county seat is usually identified as Martinsville; however, the administration building (where county offices are located an ...

, that "The Indians, who have no way of traveling except on the Hoof, make nothing of going 25 miles a day, and carrying their little Necessities at their backs, and Sometimes a Stout Pack of Skins into the bargain." While archaeology shows that the Valley of Virginia was inhabited before the arrival of the Europeans, by the 18th century most of the region was abandoned. Only smaller villages and settlements of different tribes occupied the valley, which was used as a hunting ground, a travel route, and a warpath between the two great clusters of Eastern Indians in the 17th and 18th centuries.

European settlers

In the north, the line of the Seneca Trail formed the boundary of "the frontier" by the time of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

(1756–63). When

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

issued a proclamation in 1763 forbidding further settlement beyond the mountains and demanding the return of settlers who had already crossed the

Alleghenies The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less develo ...

, a line was designated roughly following the Seneca Trail.

Route

Alabama

In the south, the GIW began at the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

in the

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

area and proceeded north by northeast, bisecting another trail known as the Upper Creek Path and crossing the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

near Guntersville. It then followed roughly the same route as the Tennessee upriver until reaching the vicinity of the modern

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

. There it crossed the Tennessee once again at the Great Creek Crossing just below the foot of Long Island on the Tennessee, intersecting another path, the Cisca and St. Augustine Trail, which ran from the area of St. Augustine, Florida to that of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

Tennessee

Several miles upriver from Long Island, the GIW passed through the

Nickajack The area known as "Nickajack" generally refers to the rugged Appalachian foothills in eastern Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. "Nickajack" is a corruption of the Cherokee word (Ani-Kusati-yi) which translates to Coosa Town, but more likely r ...

area, so-called by the

(from ''Ani-Kusati'') because it had once inhabited by the

Koasati The Coushatta ( cku, Koasati, Kowassaati or Kowassa:ti) are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When first encountered by Europeans, they lived in the territor ...

. After following the south bank of the Tennessee River, the path proceeded through Running Water Valley to Lookout/Will's Valley, where it met the Cumberland Trail. From present-day Gadsden, Alabama, this trail passed through the latter valley at a point along the Upper Creek Path, on its way to the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its r ...

, the

Ohio Valley The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, and the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

region. Having met, both trails crossed the foot of

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-cen ...

; their route was later followed by the improved Old Wauhatchie Pike. Once over the mountain, the path crossed lower Chattanooga Valley to what archaeologists refer to as the Citico site. For several hundred years this was the pre-eminent town in the early period of the Mississippian culture in East Tennessee (until around 1200). Past Citico, the path ran east (later followed by the late Shallowford Road) to

Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, a ...

, where it divided. The main branch headed northeast toward the Shallow Ford (which can still be seen) across the Chickamauga River (South

Chickamauga Creek Chickamauga Creek refers to two short tributaries of the Tennessee River, which join the river near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The two streams are North Chickamauga Creek and South Chickamauga Creek, joining the Tennessee from the north and south s ...

) and the other branch went directly east (a route now followed by Bird's Mill/Brainerd Road) to cross at another ford at the site of the later

Brainerd Mission The Brainerd Mission was a Christian mission to the Cherokee in present-day Chattanooga, Tennessee. The associated Brainerd Mission Cemetery is the only part that remains, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History B ...

and Bird's Mill. The east bank of that site is where

Dragging Canoe Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...

and his

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

faction established their base after leaving the

Overhill Cherokee Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...

towns on the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portions of three national ...

. From there, it proceeded north along the modern-day Chickamauga Road until reaching the main route again. Its path was later followed by the improved Chattanooga-Cleveland Pike. From the area of present-day Cleveland, Tennessee, the path has been followed by Lee Highway until reaching the

. From Old Chickamauga Town, a third branch of the path passed across Hickory Valley, where it intersected a path from the Cisca and St. Augustine Trail in

North Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

to the Tennessee River. This intersected the main route of the path before fording the stream at

Harrison, Tennessee Harrison is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,902 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga metropolitan area. Harrison Bay State Park, the Hamilton County Landfill, Bear T ...

, to reach the Middle Mississippian town which archaeologists call the Dallas site. After crossing that valley, the branch from Chickamauga passed east to Parker's Gap through Whiteoak Mountain and turned northeast, eventually rejoining the main route. In the Overhill Cherokee country, the path ran from the north to the town of Chota on the Little Tennessee. Here, another important trail, the Warriors' Path, continued south to the town of

Great Tellico Great Tellico was a Cherokee town at the site of present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where the Tellico River emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. Great Tellico was one of the largest Cherokee towns in the region, and had a sister town nea ...

(present-day Tellico Plains), following Ball Play Creek and the

Tellico River The Tellico River is a river in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. It rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina, and then flows through Monroe County, Tennessee, before joining the Little Tennessee ...

. At Great Tellico, the Warrior's Path intersected the

Trading Path The Trading Path (a.k.a. Occaneechi Path, The Path to the Catawba, the Catawba Road, Indian Trading Path, Unicoi Turnpike, Warriors' Path, etc.) is not simply one wide path, as many named historic roads were or are. It was a corridor of roads an ...

(later called the "Unicoi Turnpike"), which ran east over the mountains. From Great Tellico, the Warrior's Path followed

Conasauga Creek Conasauga Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 tributary stream of the Hiwassee River, located in southeast Tennessee, United States. It is not t ...

to its confluence with the

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in the northern area of the State of Georgia. It flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee Riv ...

, where the town of

Great Hiwassee Great Hiwassee ( chr, ᎠᏴᏩᏏ ᎢᏆᎭ, translit=Ayvwasi Egwaha) was an important Overhill settlement from the late 17th through the early 19th centuries. It was located on the Hiwassee River in present-day Polk County, Tennessee, on ...

stood.

Virginia

In Virginia, U.S. Route 11 (parallel to

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

) was built along the GIW route. From the

and Appalachian mountains at the Tennessee border, the fork called the Chesapeake Branch led northeast, passing west of what is now

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, then through the sites of present-day Abingdon, Glade Spring,

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

, Rural Retreat,

Fort Chiswell Chiswell , sometimes , is a small village at the southern end of Chesil Beach, in Underhill, on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. It is the oldest settlement on the island, having formerly been known as Chesilton. The small bay at Chiswell is ca ...

(another possible westward gap route),

Draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

, Ingle's or Pepper's ferry, Salem, Roanoke and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, then up the Shenandoah Valley through Buchanan, Lexington, Staunton, Harrisonburg, Winchester. From Winchester, most GIW routes briefly enter

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, then continue northward into

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Various forks led up (or down) rivers from

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

through the coastal plain and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. One Chesapeake branch cut off at present Ellett, Virginia, went up the North Fork of the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Ap ...

, down Catawba Creek to Fincastle or Amsterdam. The Richmond fork of the Chesapeake branch led off from Salem, and continued southwest of Lynchburg, and thence northeast to the future site of Richmond. Another branch turned south from Big Lick, near present-day Roanoke, and turned south toward the Catawba country in South Carolina. Later this trading path would be called part of the

or the

Carolina Road The Carolina Road or the "Old Carolina Road" are names for various sections of the Great Wagon Road and other routes in colonial America. "The 'Old Carolina Road', extending from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Yadkin Valley, was one of the most h ...

mentioned it during his survey of the dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia in November 1728. "The Trading Path above mentioned receives its name from being the Route the Traders take with their caravans, when they go to traffick with the Catawbas and other Southern Indians... The Course from Roanoke to the Catawbas is laid down nearest Southwest, and lies through a fine country, that is watered by Several beautiful Rivers. The Ohio branch led up the Holston Valley to the north fork of the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

by what is now

Saltville, Virginia Saltville is a town in Smyth and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 2,077 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a compon ...

, to the New River, and thence down the New and Kanawha rivers to Indian settlements in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

West Virginia

Most GIW branches cross West Virginia, although one more eastern route skips the state entirely, following

U.S. Route 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Caro ...

from Winchester to

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

. The Winchester Pike (now U.S. 11) passes through

Berkeley County, West Virginia Berkeley County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Hagerstown- Martinsburg, MD- WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the co ...

(including Martinsburg) before crossing the Potomac River near Hagerstown, Maryland. Another more western Seneca Trail branch crossed West Virginia along routes that became

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's southern ...

I-79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare ...

and U.S. Route 219. Entering a few miles west of Bluefield, what became Route 19 winds through the mountains until Beckley, then continues to

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

and Morgantown before entering Pennsylvania and continuing to the Great Lakes at

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

via I-79. Route 219 follows the

Bluestone River The Bluestone River is a tributary of the New River, 77 mi (124 km) long, in southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia in the United States.Greenbrier rivers to the vicinity of White Sulphur Springs. It then follows Anthony Creek down to the Greenbrier River near the present

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

–

Greenbrier County Greenbrier County () is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was formed in 1778 from Botetourt and Montgomery counties in Virginia. History P ...

line, then ascending toward Hillsboro and

Droop Mountain Droop Mountain is a small mountain in the Allegheny Mountains on the border of Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties in southeastern West Virginia. It was the scene of one of West Virginia's most important battles during the American Civil War—t ...

. It crossed through present Pocahontas County by way of Marlinton, Indian Draft Run, and Edray. Passing into present

Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States: *Randolph County, Alabama *Randolph County, Arkansas *Randolph County, Georgia *Randolph County, Illinois *Randolph County, Indiana *Randolph County, Missouri *Randolph County, Nort ...

, it descended the

Tygart Valley River The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

from its headwaters and passed through the vicinity of present-day Elkins, after which it proceeded north by ascending Leading Creek. It left Randolph County after crossing Pheasant Mountain, and descended the Left Fork of Clover Run into present-day

Tucker County Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of ...

. Crossing the

Shavers Fork Shavers Fork of the Cheat River is situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is 88.5 mi (142.5 km) long and forms the Cheat at its confluence with Black Fork at Parsons.DeLorme (1997). ''West Virginia Atlas ...

of the

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...

, it exited Tucker county and West Virginia by way of Horseshoe Run northeast of St. George, West Virginia, St. George, crossing the Potomac River near Oakland, Maryland.

Maryland

From crossing the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland, the Seneca Trail (U.S. Route 11) continued northward toward the Cumberland Valley and modern Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Since the terrain in Virginia and West Virginia was the most difficult to cross east to west (or vice versa), along the Appalachian mountain range, due to numerous north-south ridges, most hunters (and later settlers) crossed the mountains between the Ohio River watershed and Chesapeake Bay watershed either in Tennessee to the south of that region, or via what was once called Nemacolin's Trail through the Cumberland Narrows of Maryland and western Pennsylvania. Named after the Delaware chief Nemacolin, who assisted surveyor Thomas Cresap on behalf of the Ohio Company of Virginia, it was further improved by George Washington, Washington and General Edward Braddock, Braddock. This route connected Cumberland, Maryland by way of the Youghiogheny River, Youghiogheny and Allegheny River, Allegheny rivers with Brownsville, Pennsylvania on the Ohio River. As the 19th century began, this east-west route became known as the Cumberland or National Road, later (U.S. Route 40). Another major Indian route crossed the Potomac nearer what became Washington, D.C. and the falls of the Potomac River, crossing in the Sugarland/Seneca valley area of what became Montgomery County, Maryland (where historic River Creek, Virginia, Edward's Ferry operated and White's Ferry still operates), then continued to Rockville, Maryland. As European settlement progressed, this route also moved somewhat to the west, so the major crossing became at Point of Rocks, Maryland or Brunswick, Maryland, then continued to

. This route did not cross the Alleghenies, instead following their foothills, especially along Monocacy River, roughly along the old alignment of

(the Catoctin Highway, now Maryland Route 28 and Maryland Route 85). One branch continued west toward the Ohio River valley through Emmitsburg, Maryland and could ultimately connect to Nemacolin's trail further north, even along what became U.S. Route 30 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Another GIW branch continued east along the Potomac River toward Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia (then settlements of the Piscataway tribe) following what became the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Yet another hunting, fighting and trading route from Frederick continued eastward from the GIW to Baltimore, where a connector path closely followed the present-day route of Maryland Route 10, the Arundel Expressway. It continued south of Maryland Route 2 towards Annapolis, Maryland, Annapolis near the once-planned extension of MD 10. War parties could then invade the Delmarva Peninsula, and the lands of the Algonquian languages, Algonkian speaking Lenape of the Delaware River Valley and/or the Piscataway and Powhatan Confederacy of the Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvania

The Great Indian Warpath continued its south-north route through Pennsylvania toward New York along three major paths, pushed westward by development. The easternmost route followed the Appalachian foothills in what became U.S. Route 15 (from the Potomac River at Point of Rocks, Maryland, Point of Rocks through

and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Gettysburg to the Susquehanna River at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania). Another route followed Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley via U.S. Routes 11 and 81 (from the Potomac River at Hagerstown, Maryland through Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, Shippensburg and Carlisle, Pennsylvania). Both these war and hunting routes joined to cross the Susquehanna River near Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, Camp Hill (now a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg) and jointly followed its tributaries further northward until again splitting near what became the Shamokin Dam and later Shikellamy State Park (then a major Indian village near Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Sunbury). One branch followed the West Branch Susquehanna River westward along one bank via the Great Shamokin Path to the Allegheny River or northward along the other bank via the Great Island Path to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania and another major village at the confluence of five major trails. Another branch continued north and eastward along the main branch of the Susquehanna into the Wyoming Valley. The Sheshequin Path connected the branches and continued to follow the Appalachians into New York. The westernmost GIW routes actually crossed the Alleghanies. That which became (Interstate 79) crossed into the Great Lakes watershed at Erie, Pennsylvania. This or the Great Shamokin Path may have become the most used after the

as settlement, the Kittanning Expedition of 1756 and the Wyoming Valley massacre of 1778 as well as disease pushed the remaining Algonquian-speaking peoples westward. The northernmost major east-west branch in Pennsylvania connecting to the GIW became the track of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad; a part has recently been converted back to pedestrian use as the Susquehanna Warrior Trail in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. The easiest and most traveled east-west route of the pre- and colonial era became the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike (first used in 1795), which even later became the Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad), Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and U.S. Route 30, which meets Route 15 at Gettysburg and Route 11 at Chambersburg. James Veech described the Catawba Trail in ''The Monongahela of Old'':

The most prominent, and perhaps the most ancient of these old pathways across our county, was the old Catawba or Cherokee Trail, leading from the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, &c., through Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, on to Western New York and Canada. We will trace it within our limits as well as we can. After crossing and uniting with numerous other trails, the principal one entered Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Fayette territory, at the State line, at the mouth of Grassy run. A tributary trail, called the Warrior Branch, coming from Tennessee, through Kentucky and Southern Ohio, came up Fish creek and down Dunkard Creek, Dunkard, crossing Cheat River, Cheat river at McFarland's. It run out a junction with the chief trail, intersecting it in William Gans' sugar camp, but it kept on by Crow's mill, James Robinson's, and the old gun factory, and thence toward the mouth of Redstone Creek (Pennsylvania), Redstone, intersecting the old Redstone trail from the top of Laurel Hill (Pennsylvania), Laurel Hill, afterward Burd's road, near Jackson's, or Grace Church, on the National Road. The main Catawba trail pursued the even tenor of its way, regardless of minor points, which, like a modern grand railroad, it served by branches and turn-outs. After receiving the Warrior Branch junction, it kept on through land late of Charles Griffin, by Long's Mill, Ashcraft's Fort, Phillip Rogers' (now Alfred Stewart's), the Diamond Spring (now William James'); thence nearly on the route of the present Morgantown road, until it came to the Misses Hadden's; thence across Hellen's fields, passing near the Rev. William Brownfield's mansion, and about five rods west of the old Henry Beeson brick house; thence through Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Uniontown, over the old Bank house lot, crossing the creek where the bridge now is, back of the Sheriff's house; thence along the northern side of the public grave-yard on the hill, through the eastern edge of John Gallagher's land, about six rods south of John F. Foster's (formerly Samuel Clarke's) house, it crossed Shute's Run where the fording now is, between the two meadows, keeping the high land through Col. Evans' plantation, and passed between William and John Jones' to the site of Pearse's Fort; thence by the Murphy school-house, and bearing about thirty rods westward of the Mount Braddock mansion, it passed a few rods to the east of the old Conrad Strickler house, where it is still visible. Keeping on through land formerly of John Hamilton (now Freeman), it crossed the old Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Connellsville road immediately on the summit of the Limestone hill, a few rods west of the old Strickler distillery; thence through the old Lawrence Harrison land (James Blackiston's) to Robinson's falls on Mill Run, and thence down it to the Youghiogheny River, Yough river, crossing it just below the run's mouth, where Braddock Expedition, Braddock's army crossed, at Stewart's Crossings. The trail thence kept through the Narrows, by Rist's, near the Baptist meeting-house, beyond Pennsville, passing by the old Saltwell on Green Lick run, to the mouth of Bushy run, at Tinsman's or Welshouse's mill. Thence it bore across Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland county, up the Allegheny River, Allegheny, to the heads of the Susquehanna River, Susquehanna, and into Western New York, then the empire of the Iroquois. A branch left the main trail at Robinson's mill, on Mill or Opossum run, which crossed the Yough at the Broad ford, bearing down across Jacobs Creek (Pennsylvania), Jacobs creek, Sewickley and Turtle Creek (Monongahela River), Turtle creeks, to the forks of the Ohio, at Pittsburgh, by the highland route. This branch, and the northern part within our county [Fayette], of the main route, will be found to possess much interest in connection with Braddock's line of march to his disastrous destiny. This Cherokee or Catawba Indian trail, including its Warrior branch, is the only one of note which traversed our county northward and southward. Generally, they passed eastward and westward, from the river, to and across the mountains.

New York

The trails northward from Virginia and

converged at the junction of the Susquehanna River and the Chemung River; these led to where the Seneca Trail started/ended in western New York near present-day Niagara Falls, used for centuries by the Seneca of the Iroquois and previous peoples around the Great Lakes. In 1775 the twelve united colonies entered into an agreement concerning the use of Native American paths and the roads:

Brothers: It is necessary, in order for the preservation of friendship between us and brothers of the Iroquois Confederacy, Six Nations (Iroquois) and their allies, that a free and mutual intercourse be kept between us; therefore we, Brothers: The road is now open for our brethren of the Six Nations and their allies, and they may now pass as safely and freely as the people of the Twelve United Colonies themselves. And we are further determined, by the assistance of God, to keep open and free for the Six Nations and their allies, as long as the earth remains.

The Iroquois Confederacy's central trail had its western terminus at the site of present-day Buffalo, New York, Buffalo on Buffalo River (New York), Buffalo Creek. It crossed to the Onondaga Lake, Onondaga Valley at the foot of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca and Cayuga Lake, Cayuga Lakes, met the Mohawk River at the Oneida Carry, "great carrying place" (the site of present-day Rome, New York, Rome), then followed the River to site of Schenectady, New York, Schenectady and had its eastern terminus at the site of Albany, New York, Albany (in the vicinity of Castle Island (New York), Castle Island, where the Dutch built Fort Nassau (North River), Fort Nassau).Moulthrop, S. P. "AN INDIAN CIVILIZATION AND ITS DESTRUCTION." Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association 6 (1906): 71-79.
/ref> Modern-day New York State Route 5 largely follows this path. Afterwards, the GIW crossed the Hudson River into New England, taking the Mohawk Trail (largely followed by modern-day New York State Route 2, Massachusetts Route 2, and Massachusetts Route 2A). From there, the Great Trail network eventually went into Newfoundland Colony, Newfoundland, where it reached its northern terminus.

Notes

References

* Clabough, Casey. The Warrior's Path: Reflections Along an Ancient Route. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2007. Contents: Maryland; Monocacy River Valley; Catoctin Mountain and Potomac River Valley; West Virginia; Virginia Shenandoah Valley; New River and southern valleys; Tennessee Holston River Valley; Smoky Mountains; Epilogue. App. I. Brief timeline of Appalachian geology and human culture—App. II. Selected traversed places with latitude, longitude, and elevation. * Duncan, Barbara R. and Riggs, Brett H. (2003). ''Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook''. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill. . * Hu Maxwell, Maxwell, Hu (1924). "The Seneca Indian Trail". ''The Tucker Democrat'' (Tucker County, West Virginia). * Mooney, James (1982). ''Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee''. Nashville: Charles and Randy Elder—Booksellers. pp. 206–207.

External links

Traveling 219: The Seneca TrailTraveling 219: The Seneca Trail History
{{Cherokee Native American trails in the United States History of the Thirteen Colonies Historic trails and roads in Alabama Historic trails and roads in Tennessee Historic trails and roads in Virginia Historic trails and roads in West Virginia Historic trails and roads in Maryland Historic trails and roads in Pennsylvania Historic trails and roads in New York (state) Native American history of Tennessee Native American history of Alabama Native American history of Virginia Native American history of West Virginia Native American history of Maryland Native American history of Pennsylvania Native American history of New York (state)