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As early as 1802 the subject of a National Road had occupied the attention of Congress, and in the bill admitting Ohio five per cent of the proceeds of the public land sales in that State was set aside as a fund for building roads by which emigrants might reach the public lands of the west. Four years later, a bill passed Congress for a survey of a road from
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio river. The route followed the old Braddock trail nearly to the Battle- ground, and then turned to the west, striking the Ohio at Wheeling.1
It is not usually realized by Americans that this is the greatest wagon road in the world. It was sur- veyed eighty feet in width, the timber was then grub- bed, and the ground graded. Culverts and bridges were built of cut stone, and at last a track in the cen- ter, thirty to forty feet wide, was macadamized with ten inches of stone. Two six-horse teams could race abreast on this road. In 1818 it reached to Wheeling, in 1833 to Columbus, Ohio, and in 1852 to Vandalia, Illinois, though it was not improved much beyond In- dianapolis.
In its best days from six to twelve independent stage lines operated on it, and a score of companies were in the transportation business. The schedule of the mail stage was thirty hours from Washington to Wheeling, forty-five hours to Columbus, sixty hours to Indianapolis, and seventy-five hours to Vandalia. Only thoroughbred Virginia horses were used on the best lines, and the sound of the bugle was as certain an indication of the time of day as the passing of pas- senger trains on railroads today. The coachman was a man of consequence along the route, and almost an idol for the boys. To see him dash up to a post, throw the lines to the stable boys, tell the latest news from the east while the teams were changed, then break away at a fifteen-mile clip, was enough to attract all the youngsters for a mile or two. The driver usually courted this admiration, and never missed a chance to take a boy on the seat with him-a favor the boy paid for with apples and cider, and remembered with
1 Schaff, History of Etna and Kirkersville, 61 seq; Indiana Magazine of History, III, 58 seq; See a series of articles by Ben- jamin Parker in the Home and School Visitor for 1915-1916.
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pride during the rest of his life. A guild of wagoners soon grew up in the freight business, who were well known and thoroughly reliable.
The road was surveyed in Indiana by a govern- ment surveyor, Jonathan Knight. He reached Indian- apolis July 8, 1827, finishing it by September 4, of the same year, to the western boundary of the State.2 The road in Indiana is almost straight, crossing the State with a loss of only two miles from a straight line. The distance from the eastern State line to Indianapolis is seventy-one miles; from Indianapolis to Farrington's ferry at Terre Haute, where it crossed the Wabash, is seventy and one-fourth miles. The national government was slow in completing the road in Indiana. In 1830, $60,000 were appropriated, which was used in building the sixteen miles east and twelve miles west of the capital. The old covered bridge on Washington street, Indianapolis, where the road crossed White river, was built in 1834. The macadamized road became Washington street and was the first improved street in the capital. Congress finally abandoned it in Indiana in 1839. It then be- came the property of the State, which leased it to the "Plank Road Company." This company covered a great part of the road west of Indianapolis with heavy, narrow, oak planks, which made an excellent road for a few years. When the planks wore out the company also abandoned it and it became a public county road. It was then graveled and still remains one of the best roads in the State.3
Thirty-four different acts of Congress show how important the road was in a national way. It cost $6,824,919, but it was never completed. It was sur- veyed and opened to Vandalia and St. Louis, but was never macadamized beyond Indiana. Congress did
2 Indiana Journal, July 10, and Sept. 4, 1827.
3 Berry R. Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis, 107.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
not overestimate its value. It was a powerful agent for the Union, and a material symbol of its power and usefulness.
It bound the East and the West together and brought them three days' travel nearer each other. During the twenty years of its greatness a steady stream of "movers," with their covered wagons and droves of cattle, hogs, and sheep, poured into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. For months at a time there was no moment in the daytime that a family wagon was not in sight. At night the road appeared like the picket line of an army. Having traveled over this road, the memory of it lingered long and came back especially vivid as one traveled over the cordu- roy or mud roads of early Indiana. Most of the set- tlers of the central and eastern part of the State were familiar with "the old pike."
§ 49 THE MICHIGAN ROAD
ARTICLE two of the treaty between the Pottawat- tomie Indians and United States commissioners, made October 16, 1826, ceded to the State of Indiana what was considered a sufficient amount of land to build a public highway from Lake Michigan to the Ohio. This road was to be one hundred feet wide, and to this right of way the Indians added a further gift of a section of contiguous land for every mile. Where the contiguous land did not belong to the Indians-all south of the Wabash-Indiana was to select a section of unsold Indian land for every mile of road. The United States confirmed the treaty February 7, 1827, and confirmed to the State the gift made by the In- dians by act of March 2, 1827.4
4 For the best discussion of the Michigan road see a decision by Judge Black, of Bloomington, Indiana, in the case of the Western Union Telegraph Company ts. Krueger, 74 Northeast-
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MICHIGAN ROAD
In 1828 John I. Neely, Chester Elliott, and John McDonald were appointed commissioners to lay down the road from Lake Michigan to Indianapolis.5 They were instructed to select the best natural harbor on the lake; or, in the absence of a good one, the best place to construct an artificial one. The route from Logansport to the lake offered considerable difficulty. The terms of the grant were for a direct road which would necessarily lead through the Kankakee swamps, where nobody lived, and where it would be very costly to build a road. To avoid this, the road would have to run due north from Logansport to the South Bend of the St. Joseph, thence west to Lake Michigan. The point where Michigan City now stands-the mouth of Trail creek-was selected for the northern terminus. Then two complete sets of field notes and plats were made, one for a road by South Bend, the other direct through the Kankakee flats.
The choice of routes was thrown back on the Gen- eral Assembly and caused much angry discussion.6 The commissioners, it was asserted, had been unduly influenced by the citizens of South Bend. January 13, 1830, the route of the second survey by the way of South Bend was chosen.7 The act of January 29, 1830, established the road from Logansport via In- dianapolis and Greensburg to Madison.8 A new board, consisting of Samuel Hanna of Wayne county, William Polke of Knox county, and Abraham Mcclellan of Sullivan county, was named. This board served only one year and was abolished by act of January 4, 1831. From this time on the whole work was entrusted to
ern, 453. The historical part was written by Charles Moores, of Indianapolis, one of the attorneys in the case. Also Senate Doc. XXXV, 453; Indiana Magazine of History, III, 80.
5 Laws of Indiana, 1827, ch. 70.
6 Laws of Indiana, 1830, ch. 148-Joint Resolution.
7 Laws of Indiana, 1829, ch. 69, sec. 1.
8 Laws of Indiana, ch. 70.
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William Polke. The road was expected to be cleared and grubbed from Madison to Wabash by November 30, 1831.
Three surveying parties, headed by Commissioners Hanna, McClellan, and Polke, spent the summer of 1830 selecting and surveying Indian lands.9 They had not made their final report until they were notified that Congress had refused to ratify their choice and had demanded that the road be laid down and then "contiguous" sections be chosen.10 Further, the sec- tions must be selected from land not yet ceded by the Indians. The construction of the road went steadily on, however, scrip being used instead of money. This scrip was based on ceded lands and almost the whole road was financed with it. Noah Noble, who had the southern end in charge, laid off the road in sections of four miles each. By act of February 4, 1831, Polke opened the sale of land at Logansport. No land was to be sold under $1.25 per acre. The part of the road from Logansport to St. Joseph county was ordered un- der contract at a price not exceeding $150 per mile. The road was divided into three sections.11 The first, from Madison to Indianapolis, was under the imme- diate supervision of Daniel Kelso; the second reached to Logansport and was under Horace Bassett; the last was under Polke himself. Contracts for building the road were let during the year 1832. Beginning at Madison, the road was laid off into sections of from ten to twenty miles each and the grading let to the lowest bidder. Bridges were let under separate con- tracts. The whole road, 265 miles long, was put under contract by June 30. During 1832 road lands were placed on sale at Laporte.12 Scrip was accepted in
9 Western Sun, Oct. 30, 1830.
10 Western Sun, Jan. 15, 1831.
11 House Journal, 1834, 106.
12 House Journal, 1833, Appendix.
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MICHIGAN ROAD
payment for all lands. The road was cleared one hundred feet wide, thirty feet of which was grubbed and graded. By 1836 it was clearly ascertained that this made a poor road. In the worst stretches logs were laid crosswise and covered with sand. Many bridges were washed away every year by the streams. Although the road was used enormously north of In- dianapolis, it was anything but satisfactory. It passed through fourteen counties, and was used by the in- habitants of thirty-five in going to the capital. The General Assembly at almost every session had to make an appropriation for repairs.
By 1837 the State was not able to give further aid to it, the State's resources being completely prostrated. By act of February 2, 1837, the various county boards, through whose jurisdiction the road ran, were required to divide it into suitable sections, over each of which a supervisor was to be placed with power to call out the hands to keep it in repair.13 The hands were liable to two days' work a year. By act of February 13, 1841, and January 31, 1842, the road was classed with all other State roads and brought entirely within the compass of the general road law of 1838.
The Michigan road began at Madison, ran almost due north through Jefferson and Ripley counties to Greensburg in Decatur. Thence by a direct line, it led across Shelby county to the capital. The important sections of the road were those from Indianapolis across Hamilton, Boone, Clinton, and Carroll counties to Logansport, and from that place due north again across Cass, Fulton, and Marshall, to South Bend, and thence west to Michigan City. During eight months of the year it was an open passable highway, but dur- ing the winter it was an endless stream of black mud and almost useless. Its importance may be estimated from the fact that one-half the pioneers of the north-
13 Laws of Indiana, 1836, ch. 49, sec. 3.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
west quarter of Indiana reached their homes over it. As a road it was not comparable to the National, but it was an available means of reaching a very attractive country when there was none other.
§ 50 STAGE LINES
THE stage coach followed close on the trail of the pioneers. Early in the spring of 1820 a Mr. Foyles started a stage line from Louisville to Vincennes. The advertisement stated that it was the first line to be established in the State, and this is, perhaps, true. The trace from Louisville to Vincennes is the oldest in the State. At first it ran along the boundary between Crawford and Orange counties following the south bank of Driftwood and crossing White river north of Petersburg. But the settlement of the towns of Wash- ington, Mt. Pleasant, Hindostan, and Paoli caused most travelers to go by the northern route. It was over these routes that Foyles established his stage line, using whichever road seemed best.
This line continued in operation till it was super- seded by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad just before the Civil War.14 The General Assembly petitioned Con- gress in 1829 for a grant of land to aid in building a clay turnpike over this route, but no aid was received.15
One among the first advertisements of a regular stage line to Indianapolis appears to have been that of John Wilson. This line from Madison began during the summer of 1828. The stage left Indianapolis at 7 a. m. Thursday, reached Columbus via Franklin at 5 p. m. Friday, left there at 7 a. m. Saturday and arrived at Madison via Vernon at 5 p. m. Sunday. The fare was six and one-quarter cents per mile with fifteen pounds of baggage free.
14 At present a stage runs from Paoli to New Albany over this same road, now a macadamized turnpike. This is the old- est pike in the State and also the oldest stage line.
15 Indiana Journal, Dec. 24, 1829.
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STAGE LINES
In 1830 James Johnson started a line from Law- renceburg, making the distance to Indianapolis in two days and one night. The next year, 1831, A. L. and W. L. Ross put stages on the Brookville road. These connected at Brookille with A. McCarty's line for Cincinnati, and at Rushville with the Ohio stage. The Brookville stage made the trip in two days, or three days to Cincinnati. In June, 1832, P. Beers advertised that his stage would make the trip from Indianapolis to Dayton, Ohio, in two and one-half days, or, connecting at Eaton, the passenger could reach Cincinnati in two and one-half days. The fol- lowing summer, April 26, James Johnson and Com- pany put on a through line of stages between Cincin- nati and Indianapolis via Lawrenceburg, Napoleon, Greensburg, and Shelbyville. The Johnson coaches made the trip in two days and nights, the fare being $5.50 one way.
Not to be outdone in this race, James H. Wallace and Company, the next spring, put coaches on the Madison line which made the trip in one day, leaving Indianapolis Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 3 a. m. and reaching Madison at 8 p. m. in time to catch the Cincinnati packet, which would land them early next morning at Cincinnati, after a night's sleep and a good breakfast. Hacks were kept at each end of the route for the convenience of those who did not want to travel so swiftly. In 1835 Seth M. Leavenworth, founder of the town by that name in Crawford county, in partnership with John Orchard and Jonathan Wil- liams, started a stage line from Leavenworth via Fre- donia, Milltown, Proctersville, Paoli, Orleans, Bedford, Springville, Bloomington, Martinsville and Port Royal to Indianapolis. This line was intended especially for students going to the State College and for boatmen returning from down river.16
16 Indiana Journal, May 15, 1835.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
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STAGE LINES
Meanwhile lines were being projected into other parts of the State. The heavy immigration into the Wabash country soon caused a great amount of travel to Terre Haute, Lafayette, and Logansport. As early as 1838, Cyrus Vigus of Logansport put a line of stages on the Michigan road from Indianapolis through Logansport to Michigan City. At the same time, W. L. Ross was making preparations for starting a line from Lafayette, through Logansport and Peru to Fort Wayne. At Lafayette the Ross stages connected with the Indianapolis stage via Crawfordsville, and at Fort Wayne connection was made for Toledo. On these lines were beautiful four-horse coaches carrying the United States mails. The former line made the trip twice a week from Michigan City to the capital.
In September Mr. Vigus changed his route so that the main line extended from Niles, Michigan, to In- dianapolis. At Niles, it connected with the daily Chi- cago and Detroit stages; at Plymouth, a stage for La- porte and Michigan City could be had; at Indianapolis, connections could be made with daily stages for Dayton and Cincinnati, Madison, Terre Haute, or with tri- weekly stages to Cincinnati and Louisville. The bright new stages of the Vigus line cost $600 each and were the pride of the settlers along the way.17
Traveling in the early coaches was not unmixed pleasure. If the roads were dry, the passengers had to hold on tightly as the stage bounced from rock to rock. If the roads were wet, there was danger from over- turning. In 1838 a stage mired and turned over on Washington street, Indianapolis, seriously injuring sev- eral of the occupants. Crossing streams was attended with risk. The roadway may have been washed away,
17 These advertisements are found in the Logansport Tele- graph, the Indiana Journal, and Indiana Democrat of Indian- apolis, the Madison Courier, and the Lafayette Free Press. Dr. J. Z. Powell, History of Cass County, I, 196.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
leaving the stage to turn over. Congressman John Test had his leg broken in 1830, when the Cincinnati stage turned over in crossing Mill creek.18
§ 51 OPENING STREAMS FOR NAVIGATION
THE second plan of the General Assembly to secure commercial communication with the world was to open up the streams for navigation. The natural features of the State easily lent themselves to this plan. The southern boundary was a navigable river from which numerous tributaries led into the interior. On the west was the Wabash, crossing the State diagonally, and sending off large branches to almost every county. The northeast was accessible from the Maumee, while the northwest had the St. Joseph river and Lake Mich- igan. Unfortunately, all the streams, except the Ohio, were too small for successful navigation; but it was thought that, by clearing them of snags and bars, they could be made navigable for pirogues and small flat- boats. They would thus answer the purpose of high- ways, at least for the present. The first step in trans- forming these streams into highways was to declare them navigable waterways, thus forbidding their ob- struction by milldams and bridges.19
This work was begun during the fourth session of the General Assembly at Corydon. By a combination bill, approved January 17, 1820, almost every creek large enough to float a sawlog was opened, so far as a
18 Indiana Democrat, Dec. 4, 1830.
19 The ordinance of 1787 provided that: "The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other State that may be admitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty therefor." This plainly meant "navigable" for the canoes and bateaux then used for navigation, and the early legislation was based on that understanding.
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statute without an appropriation would effect it.20 Later the General Assembly tried a different plan.21 January 21, 1826, John Eaton, Jacob Wolf, and Joseph Latshaw were commissioned to clear Busseron creek from Eaton's mills to its mouth in the Wabash above Vincennes. Log creek in Switzerland county, Plumb creek in the same county, Big Indian creek in Morgan county, Lick creek in Orange county, Lost river in Orange county, Mississinewa river from Marion to Peru, Brushy Fork of Muscatatuck, and Eel river up into Putnam county, were likewise put in commission. The county boards of justices had chief control of most of this work.
The commissioners were empowered to call out the "hands" living within two miles of the stream to help clear it. Little serious effort was ever spent on any of the minor streams, but great hopes were built on the possibilities of the White and Wabash rivers. It was confidently believed that White river could be opened to year-round navigation for boats of large tonnage. Much labor was spent on these streams, but the re-
20 Laws of Indiana, 1820, 59. By this law White river to the forks at Daviess county; West fork to the Delaware towns near Muncie; Driftwood to Flat Rock in Shelby county ; Muscata- tuck from its mouth to Vernon; Big Blue to Fredericksburg near the south line of Washington county; Whitewater from the north boundary of Fayette county to the Ohio; Anderson from its mouth at Troy to the Hurricane fork near St. Meinrad; Poison creek to Cumming's mill; Oil creek to Aaron Cunningham's mill (the two latter entirely in Perry county) ; Raccoon creek in Parke county to Brook's mill; Big creek to Black's mill; Loughrey creek in Ohio county up to Hartford; Patoka river to Moseby's mill; Indian creek in Harrison county; Indian Kentucky creek for a few miles in Jefferson county up to Brook's mill; Little Pigeon and Big Pigeon creeks, the latter at Evansville, the former between Spencer and Warrick counties; Big Sand creek to its forks near Scipio in Jennings county, were all declared navigable streams.
21 Laws of Indiana, 1825, chs. 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. See also ibid 1826, chs. 29, 40, 41, 42, and 1827, chs. 42, 43.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
curring freshets kept the rivers full of drifts and up- rooted trees. The journals of the General Assembly contain numerous petitions to break up drifts that had interrupted navigation. The streams formed the main outlet for the surplus farm products of their val- leys. Flatboats were built, loaded in convenient pools, and, when the water reached the proper stage, were floated down to the Wabash and Ohio, then either re- shipped or taken to New Orleans. Hundreds of these went down the Wabash every year.
Upstream navigation was well-nigh impossible, but was occasionally resorted to when roads were im- passable. It was difficult to get along the shore with a tow line, so the only way to propel a boat upstream was with sharp poles set against the bottom. This plan was used most on the upper" Wabash from Lafayette to Logansport and Peru. Steamboats rarely went above Lafayette, and for several years an extensive commerce in salt and manufactured goods was carried on between that place and upstream towns, by means of pole boats. For this purpose they used a flat-bot- tomed boat thirty to forty feet long, with four foot guards, along which six or eight men walked and pushed with spike poles set against the bottom. In this manner three or four tons could be transported eight to ten miles a day.
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