The earliest formal usage of the trail, in fact, was for trade between those three Native American nations through which the trail passed.ĭevelopment and Disappearance of the Trace The first recorded Caucasian to travel the Trace in its entirety was an unnamed Frenchman in 1742, who wrote of the trail and its "miserable conditions." To Caucasians, who were not conditioned to the rigors of the journey, the assistance of Native Americans-specifically, the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw-was vital. After Native Americans first began to settle the land, they began to blaze the trail further, until it became a relatively (for the time) well-worn path traversable by horse in single-file, though it may have been traveled in part before, particularly by famed Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. The Trace, like many early footpaths, traces its beginnings to the natural wanderings of bison, deer and other game.
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