204 Kmisas Academif of Science. 



first laid out were generally along more or less well-defined Indian trails, 

 and the pack horse became the only possible method of conveying pas- 

 sengers or freight. 



The first step in improving the roads was in widening of the trail so 

 as to allow wagons to be used. The next was the corduroying of the 

 worst wet places with logs laid across the road and long enough to sus- 

 tain the vehicle. Before this was done each teamster tried to avoid the 

 deep ruts produced by the wagon preceding his own, and then he might 

 get into a worse place and mire down completely and even lose his oxen 

 or horses and wagon. It is stated that at times five ox-teams were neces- 

 sary to pull a load of one ton. Some of the local names of settlements 

 or roads reveal the nature of the highway. One town in Indiana was 

 named Mudholes, and the road from Pickaway Plains of Ohio to Detroit 

 was known as the "Bull Skin Road" on account of the large number of 

 dead oxen along the route. 



The cost of transporting freight under these conditions may be im- 

 agined as very high, when a pack horse could only carry from 150 to 200 

 pounds. Even the wagon rates were almost prohibitive, the cost from 

 Philadelphia to Pittsburg being from $5.00 to $10.00 per hundred pounds, 

 according to the nature of the roads. This was a big reduction from 

 the pack-horse rate, and consequently the pack-horse men very bitterly 

 opposed the widening and improving of the trails. They destroyed 

 vehicles, assaulted drivers and passengers, vindicating their acts by stat- 

 ing that the new method was destructive of trade and caused deterioration 

 in the breed of horses and the physical strength and vitality of men. 

 Their opposition was futile, and most of the pack-horse men probably 

 went into the business of teaming or coaching. It is quite probable that 

 some of these same men may later have taken part in the similar acts of 

 the teamsters when the first railroads were constructed. At any rate we 

 know that similar arguments were used to incite rioting. This has, how- 

 ever, been the usual attitude of any class of workmen when some new 

 invention or industry made it possible for one man with skill to do the 

 work of several. 



The minor roads were usually mere trails leading to the main thorough- 

 fares, and at first were wholly unimproved. At the same time that the 

 states were "corduroying" or "macadamizing" the more prominent roads, 

 the minor ones were being similarly improved by the privately owned turn- 

 pike companies. These companies were granted the privilege of construct- 

 ing roads and charging tolls to reimburse them. Some of these turnpikes 

 were lucrative investments, and consequently many such roads were con- 

 structed that never returned the original capital to the investors. Many 

 were built, however, from exactly the same motive that later made the 

 people vote bonds for the railroads, viz., the development of the com- 

 munity. 



In 1800 President and Mrs. Adams tried to get from Baltimore to 

 Washington, but such was the condition of the roads that they became 

 lost in the Maryland woods. This shows the condition of the roads leading 

 to our capital city at that date. 



Probably the first roads that were placed in really fine condition were 

 some of the private turnpikes. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike 



