- How the pioneers went west.

Anybody who is interested in how the pioneers and settlers lived is going to appreciate this map.

Printed in 1861 it shows all the major wagon train routes into the west.

This map comes from The Prairie Traveler book, which was the definitive guide for settlers heading into the western frontier.

The names of some of these routes are still well known...

The Oregon Trail
The Santa Fe Trail
The California Trail.

What has been forgotten is how complex this interlinked network of trails was.

But of course it wasn't the European settlers and pioneers that created this network.

They didn't hack these trails out of the wilderness.

These wagon trails are almost all based on traditional Native American trails and animal migration trails.  Often they were one in the same.

A person in the year 1300 could have traveled these routes, just like people did in the 1800's.

I haven't placed this map on top of a modern map, but I would bet that a lot of these routes still exist today with less romantic names like State Highway 101.

The Prairie Traveler is considered to be the most important book in the history of the westward expansion.  It provided day by day itineraries for someone traveling any of these trails.  It detailed where to find water, where to find grass and wood, where to camp and when to be armed against 'Indians'.

Over the next few weeks we will be making large parts of this historic book available for download at PioneerHandbooks.com.

If you are a descendant of one of these pioneering people, or if you live in the west, this is a map of how you got to where you are.

You can save it from history by hitting the Facebook Like button below and sending it on a digital trip around the globe.

It's easy enough to do and a great way to keep this knowledge alive.