The Buffalo Trace
On many Indiana maps there is a line cutting across the southern part of the state labeled the "Old Buffalo Trace" or the "Vinncennes Trace." This Trace is a travelway, a road as well engineered and more durable than any built today. Modern roads, such as a portion of Highway 56, are build along it's route. The Trace appears on the earliest maps of the area and was the common route. THe Trace appears on the ealiest maps of the area and was the common route used by pioneers to cross the state.
The trace was created by - buffalo. Countless thousands of buffalo once migrated along the route. The trace began in the east at the Falls of the Ohio where the buffalo converged to cross the river at it's shallowest point. It stretched northwest all the way to present day Vincennes where the buffalo dispersed to cross the Wabash River for the open praires of Illinois.
Early pioneers found the trace to be a godsend. The trail varied from 12 to 20 feet wide and had already been used for centuries. In very few other areas of the country did people find such easy travel routes. Early settlers often booked passage on riverboats as far as the falls (now Louisville) then unloaded and set off west along this trail.
The trace has a rich history:
- In 1786, George Roger Clark marched 1000 men to Fort Sackville at Vincennes over the "Buffalo Trace."
- It was the first "western" mail route, carried weekly by two men traveling the 130 mile route by foot.
- In 1804 it became an Indian Treaty line.
- In 1807 a British spy believed to be conferring with the Indians before the Battle of Tippecanoe, was captured on the trail.
- In 1812 the trail was considered of such importance that mounted troops of "rangers" began patrolling the trace to protect travelers.
- In 1819 one tavern owner along the route documented more than 5000 travelers enroute to Missouri.
- By 1820 the first stagecoach line was established to run the length of the trace from New ALbany to Vincennes.
Today, the Buffalo Trace is fading into obscurity. The line is left off most modern maps and on the ground there are fewer places where the trace can be followed. Once as important as major interstates today, the Buffalo Trace is a fascinating and important part of our history.
Buffalo Trace Council, Boy Scouts of America is proud to preserve part of our area's rich heritage by perpetuated the name "Buffalo Trace", but more importantly, by maintaining a new "trace" for young people to follow in developing character, citizenship, fitness, and leadership.
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