Roadwolf's portal for his random thoughts and ponderings

Buffalo Wagon Trails!

WNY Hwys

I have discovered an interest which I figured I could explore and write about. My interest stems from the idea of initial settling and growth of the area of Western New York. Being that I am the Baron of Western New York and all, I suppose I should educate myself with some of the history here.

This was also in part inspired by last weekends drive up Hwy 77, which inspired me to register the domain 'www.wnyhwy.com'. And also inspired in part by last years enjoyable time playing through Red Dead Redemption 2, which really intrigued me about the time before developed and civilized ways.

I often wondered, what was WNY like back in that time frame. Well, truth is in the 1900's WNY was already quite developed. But how about farther back? Which roads in the area were among the first wagon trails?

My research so far has gone back to 1800, where I found 4 wagon trails in the Buffalo and Niagara area. One of them, which I believe to be the first such trail, is Military road. This trail obviously served as a military portage between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

The Second such trail, ended up becoming NY Hwy 5. The trail seems to follow about 100 to 200 feet South of the present day alignment of Hwy 5. But follows the route closely. This is likely also The Mohawk Trail.

The Third trail seems to follow the alignment of present day Transit Road, and runs South of the Hwy 5 trail, down towards present day West Falls.

The Fourth existing trail might surprise some people! Any guesses? Let's show some images of the present day alignment and see if this looks familiar.

To jump straight to the answer without looking at the clues: CLICK HERE! (The Follow Up Post!).


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Give up? Or did you figure it out? To find out which road this is, and see the original wagon trail maps, CLICK HERE!.



I think it explains a lot.


132 views since Feb 2 2024

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