Backyard Adventures

BACKYARD ADVENTURES 2016 PIKE PUBLISHING 45 The Buffalo Trace was created by Ameri- can bison when thousands of buffalo mi- grated along the route. The trace began on the east at the Falls of the Ohio River where the buffalo converged to cross the river at its shallowest point. It stretched northwest up to Vincennes and the Wabash, where the buffalo grazed on the open prairies. The Trace remained the primary road shortly after Indiana statehood in 1816. The legislature approved its paving from New Albany to Vincennes as part of an internal improvement program. It was known by various names, including Buf- falo Trace, Louisville Trace, Clarksville Trace, Vincennes Trace and Old Indian Road. The Trace was created by millions of migrating bison that were numer- ous in the region from the Great Lakes to Ten- nessee. It was part of a greater buffalo migration route that extended from present-day Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky, through Bullitt's Lick, south of present-day Lou- isville and across the Falls of the Ohio River to Indiana, then northwest to Vincennes, be- fore crossing the Wabash River into Illinois. The trail was well known among the area's natives and used for centuries. It later be- came known and used by European traders and settlers who crossed the Ohio River at the Falls of the Ohio and followed the Trace to the western territories. It is considered to be the most important of the early traces leading to the Illinois country. It was well- known and used by American Indians, who named it Lan-an-zo-ki-mi-wi, which means Buffalo Road or Bison Road. In Indiana, the Trace's main line split into several smaller trails that converged north of Jasper, near several large ponds where buffalo would rest. Due to the large number of buffalo that used the Trace, the well- worn path was twelve to twenty feet wide in places. Various trails also converged around a major salt lick near French Lick, Ind. The Trace crossed the White River at several points near Petersburg and Portersville. It split into separate trails at the Wabash River that led west across Illinois to the Missis- sippi River or north to what would become Chicago. The Trace across Southern Indiana be- came vital to early development. Two main areas of early settlement in the Indiana Ter- ritory were made along it: Vincennes to the west and Clark's Grant in the south. During the early years of the 1700s, the French developed colonial posts in the Il- linois area by moving down the Mississippi and into its tributaries. In 1732, François- Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, founded a trading post near the Trace's Wabash River, crossing and developed the town of Vincennes. A fter the Revolutionary War, in the late 1780s, the govern- ment granted land in Indiana to vet- erans as payment for service. The U.S. government granted many acres of land to George Rogers Clark and his men for their military service in the Illinois campaign against the British during the Revolutionary War. It became known as Clark's Grant. George Rogers Clark used the Trace to return to the Louisville area after his Illinois campaign. The Trace became a busy overland route, making it a target for Indian attacks. Clark's memoirs mentioned the Trace, describing an early Indian attack on traders in 1779 when he led his force against the Indians in the Battle of the White River Forks. Richard "Dickie" Clark, the younger brother of General George Rogers Clark and Captain William Clark, disap- peared while traveling along the Trace in 1784. He had left Clarksville to travel to Vincennes. One account stated that his horse had been found with saddlebags bearing his initials. Another account stated that his horse's bones were found with Clark's bags nearby. His remains were never found. There was speculation that he was killed by Indians or thieves in the area, but historian William Hayden English concluded that he probably drowned while crossing a river. Several written accounts by explorers, the military and settlers document the Trace's use as an overland route. In 1785 and 1786, explorer John Filson trav- eled by river to Vincennes and returned to the Falls of the Ohio via the Trace. Filson's overland route took nine days. General Josiah Harmar, Commander of the Army of the Ohio, kept a log when he led the First American Regiment on a return march from Vincennes in 1786. Following the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, settlers began making their way to Indiana. Many of them kept journals, recording their observa- tions along the Trace. Postmaster Joseph Habersham estab- lished a mail route from Louisville through Vincennes to Kaskaskia in 1799. The route began March 22, 1800 and ran every four weeks. William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, recommended that the Trace be improved as a road suitable for wagon travel in 1802. The development included Inns and stops for travelers every thirty to forty miles. By 1804, the Trace was so well known that Harrison used it as a trea- ty boundary with Indians. The Vincennes treaty of 1804 gave the U.S. government possession of Indiana land from south of the Trace to the Ohio River. William Rector was hired to survey the treaty land in 1805. His survey notes provide an important record of the Buffalo Trace's route. Survey maps and field notes identified forty-three miles of the old trace road from Clark's Grant to the White River in Southern Indiana. Rangers were hired to protect travel- ers using the road, eventually doing so on horseback in 1812. During the War of 1812, Harrison assigned 150 men to patrol the Trace between Vincennes and Louisville to completely protect the citizens and the road. Because the Trace remained the primary road across Southern Indiana after the ter- ritory became a state in 1816, the state leg- islature had a road paved from New Albany to Vincennes as part of its internal improve- ments program. The road approximated the Trace's route. It was extended to Paoli after the state government leased operation of the road to a private organization as part of their negotiations. The paved road was called the New Albany-Paoli Turnpike. The first stagecoach service in the state started in 1820 along the Trace. The route was from New Albany to Vincennes. The route served Floyd County, the towns of Greenville, Galena and Floyds Knobs in particular. Today, Route 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 in Orange County along the Springs Valley Trail System. In 2009, a section of Route 150 and the Buffalo Trace were designated as part of the Indiana Historic Pathways, a National Scenic Byway that crosses Southern Indiana for a distance of 112 miles. Parts of the Trace are now protected, includ- ing sections in the Hoosier National Forest and a small tract within Buffalo Trace Park, a preserve maintained by Harrison County. The development of towns and highways has destroyed much of the original Trace. QUICK FACTS In 1786, General George Rogers Clark (then Colonel Clark) marched 1,000 men to Fort Sackville at Vincennes over the Buffalo Trace. It was the first western mail route, carried by two men traveling the 130 mile route. In 1804, an Indian treaty line was defined along the Trace's length. In 1807, a British spy, believed to be conferring with the In- dians for the Battle of Tippecanoe, was captured on the trail. In 1812, the trail was considered of such political im- portance that mounted troops of rangers began patrolling the trace to protect travelers from Indian attacks and wild animals. In 1819, one of several inns that sprang up along the route documented more than 5,000 travelers coming through to settle the mid-west. By 1820, the first stage coach line was set up to run the length of the trace from New Albany to Vincennes. The Trace was used by Native Americans, both in an- nual migrations and as a hunting ground. European settlers of North America used the trail as they pushed westward from Louisville to Vincennes. Traf- fic included settlers, troops and commercial transport. Used Fifth Wheels, Travel Trailers and Motorhomes Owners: Rob & Millie Hansen SALES • SERVICE • PARTS AND REPAIRS MONROE CITY RV SR 61 SR 61 Vincennes Petersburg SR 241 812-743-5267 4091 S. SR 241 • Monroe City 12 miles from Petersburg on SR 241 Weather Rock Campground 12900 S. Weather Rock Dr. , Haubstadt (812) 867-3401 weatherrockcampground.com Vanderburgh 4-H Center 201 E. Boonville New Harmony Rd., Evansville (812) 867-6217 vanderburgh4hcenter.com Yellow Banks Recreation Center 12733 Yellowbanks Trail, Dale (812) 567-4703 yellowbanks.net Rocky Falls Campground 11901 Deer Run, Evansville (812) 985 -9100 rockyfallsevansville.com Lynnville Park Office 405 W. State Route 68, Lynnville (812) 922-5144 Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort 78 N Holiday Blvd., Santa Claus (877) 478 -3657 lakerudolph.com Historic Santa Claus Campground 16670 N. 625 E., Stanta Claus (812) 937-2103 historicsantaclauscampground.org Camp Illiana 723 E. 450 S., Washington (812) 254-3322 • campilliana.org Dubois County Park 561-899 E. 450 S., Huntingburg (812) 482-2434 duboiscountyin.org Prides Creek Park Campground 1045 E. Co. Rd. 400 N., Petersburg (812) 354-6798 Camping spots BUFFALO TRACE A path from past the future: STORY BY FRAN PETIT • STOCK PHOTOS

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