The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-06-01
A PIKE FROM COAST TO
COAST.
The Cumberland Road and
Santa Fe Trail May be
DacfaroH
Restored.
From the Kansas City starr

discussion of the subject, which
is growing louder each day in all
parts of the United States. Cities
are looking carefully to their
street paving, counties and States
are talking more about their
roads, and now the subject of a
highway has reached
Congress.
The creation of the American
Way, beginning at Wash
ington, on the Atlantic tidewater,
following the trail of the historic
national pike through the passes
of the Appalachians and across
the Ohio through the great Mid
die West to St. Louis, and then
in two great boulevards on to the
Pacific, one of which will cross
Montana TO Pugent Sound and
the other over the Santa Fe trail
to San Francisco, will be the
magnificent fruition of plans. the
first tentative steps of which have
been taken in the introduction of
a bill in Congress by Represent
alive Pearre of Maryland, for an
appropriation for the restoration
of the monuments and landmarks
and the reconstruction of the an
cient Cumberland road that by its
building made all empire possible.
Pledged to the support of this
bill are the rapidly growing auto.
mobile Associations of the coun-
try, and the strong good roads
organizations. which are fast in,
creasing in membership, are Civ
ing hearty co operation to the pro-
ject.
But the building of a great
central highway, stretching from
the Atlantic to the Pacific through
the heart of the republic. is but
one feature of the transformation
that is pending in the revolution
of American roads. The plans OF
the great automobile associations
propose uganda that will
lead to the reconstruction Of prac.
tically all of the old highways
which previous to the advent OF
the railroad were the nations ar
teries of traffic.
At the birth of the republic,
when the battle of Lexington was
fought, the inspiring news sped
South over the old colonial high
way which. like great white
nerve, stretched from Boston
along the Atlantic costal plain tt
far away Savannah, in the glade;
of Georgi In the North part
of this ancient highway has been
rebuilt in sections OF New Eng
land, New York, New Jersey anG
Pennsylvania.
AT its session Just adjourned
the Maryland Legislature made
an appropriation for the recon
struction as a boulevard of the
road between Baltimore and
Washington. and at a recent con
ventlOn of the Southern automO
bile associations the rebuilding
of the old pike from Washington
south to Jacksonville took tan
gible shape.
Save to the historian and those
who live along the dusty thread
OF macadam that binds together
aShlugton and St. Louis. the
story of the old national pike
Is an unknown chapter TO the
present generation; yet the flavor
of romance, the memory of almost
forgotten glories. of a noble,
ambitious mission successfully
accomplished cIings to every
hoary monument of that ancient
highway.
And the word "ancient" is used
advisedly, for the route is pre-
historic. Centuries before the
daring ships of Raleigh or Smith
touched the coast of the New
World, long before the Indians
had invaded America over the
vanished land bridge at Boring
Straits, ages before the mound
builders had left their yet unde-
ciphered messages, count less
herds of biSOns roamed over the
continent In their migrations
they were Americas first road
makers, and they did their work
so well that a map of their trails
and traces" would be a dupli.
cate of the great highways and
railway systems OF the present
day.
The national pike, or the Cum
Oerland road, as it was popularity
called, was first a buffalo trace,
worn deep across the Appalach.
lans by the pounding hoOfs of
of bisons. When the In
1lans came they followed this
same trail in their hunting excur-
'Ions aud war expeditions, re-
treating over it to the West be-
lore the ever advancing relentless
rontier of the white man. Over
his pathway came the Anglo.
saxon hunter and trapper, fol.