Moving Into the Carolina Backcountry: Colonial Era Transportation in the Carolinas and Virginia, 1585-1785

This lecture describes the history of ground transportation in the southeast during Colonial times. The transition from subsistence to market economies in the southern backcountry was reflected in commercial transportation processes. The presentation will begin with Native American foot traffic (porters), move through their displacement by pack horses, and their eventual replacement by wagons. For example, frontier folk probably had horses, but not wagons; settlers had wagons. The challenges and limitations of travel in pre-modern times will be examined, increasing our understanding of the times when muscles powered transportation, and how those circumstances affected settlement in the southeast.

Funded project of the North Carolina Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.