Preparation

Download and copy the combined worksheets for this lesson.

Day 1

1. Introduce the lesson by having students think about the following question: If you lived in Philadelphia, and wanted to travel across the state to Pittsburgh, how would you get there? Break students into small groups and have them brainstorm and write down things they would have to consider in planning the trip. They will realize they need more information: What is the purpose of the trip? Is it a business trip or for pleasure? Is it a short visit or a permanent move? What modes of transportation are available and at what cost? Suggest they consider several types of trips and speculate on needs for each.

2. Have students share their thoughts with the rest of the class. It should be obvious that a journey across the state requires advance planning. Tell students they will be provided a map of Pennsylvania to help them plan their trip.

3. Provide each group with Worksheet 1: Physical Map of Pennsylvania, a physical map of the state that does not include any roads or major highways but does include hydrological and physical features and major city locations. Students will realize that this map is not very helpful in planning their trip. Tell students that the map may not be what they expected, but it would provide clues for planning their journey. Within the small groups, students should describe the physical features of the state, beginning in the southeast and traveling west. They should consider what difficulties the mountains could pose, even for modern travelers. Show Source 1: Image of Allegheny Mountains and ask students to speculate: Would these mountains in anyway stop them from taking their trip? Why? When and why might the mountains have posed a barrier for travelers? What difference would the mode of transportation make – on foot , by plane or automobile (imagine backpacking up the hills!)?

4. Have students, within their small groups, trace, with a highlighter or colored pencil, a route they might take if they traveled across the state. Have each group keep a list of why they chose that particular route.

5. Explain to students that to illustrate how the physical map does have clues to their modern day journey, they will travel back in time. Provide each group with another map, Source 2: Key to the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania. Students should study the map and each complete Worksheet 2: Key to the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania.

Day 2

1. Discuss the answers to Worksheet 2: Key to the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania questions as a class. Explain to students that this map was created in the 20th century, long after the last of the American Indians were forced to move westward or assimilated into modern society. What physical evidence is there on the landscape today that proves that these trails really did exist? (Existing roads by the same name, persistent place names) What connection do these Indian paths have to the trip you are planning to take? What happened in Pennsylvania's and the nation's history that made small trails inadequate for traveling? (Influx of European immigrants, westward expansion, increased manufacture and trade)

2. Have students read the excerpt from Morris Birkbeck's journal, Source 3: Notes on a Journey in America, from the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois. Have students work in small groups to answer the questions on Worksheet 3: Notes on a Journey in America, from the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois. The location of McConnel's Town (McConnellsburg) should be pointed out on the map Source 2: Key to the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania before the students begin reading. Remind students to think about how Birkbeck's journey compares to the travels of the Native Americans and the trip they are planning.

3. Discuss Worksheet 3: Notes on a Journey in America, from the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois with students. What were the similarities and differences between the Native American's reasons for travel, modes of transportation and impact on the environment? Why were so many Europeans traveling to Pittsburgh? (Be sure students understand that Pittsburgh was considered the "Gateway to the West" with the location of the Ohio River there.) How were the original American Indian paths changed? (During the French and Indian War, several of the Indian Paths were improved and widened to allow movement of large number of troops and wagons with supplies. For example, Nemacolin's Path was improved by General Braddock and would eventual become the National Road. General Forbes improved a combination of trails across the state. These improvements represented an important road-building era in the country. The Native American trails provided a blueprint for these roads because the Indians knew how to utilize features of the landscape, such as dry ridges and wind or water gaps, to make travel feasible.)

4. Explain that in 1817 the United States was at the end of this important road-building era in transportation history, and soon a new mode of transportation would make the trip across the state faster and somewhat easier. Project Source 4: Photograph along the Pennsylvania Canal, and discuss using questions below. Then, before the Civil War, another important mode of transportation made the canals obsolete. Project Source 5: Photograph of Train at Horseshoe Bend. Project Source 6: Photograph of Pennsylvania Turnpike Tunnel. Each of these transportation systems had to deal directly with the physical features of the landscape and this was often accomplished through technological advances (portage railroad, bridges, tunnels, etc.) (See the Crossing the Alleghenies story Image Gallery for more pictures of growing transportation technologies.) Unlike Native American paths, these new routes of travel would also have a much larger impact on the environment. For each of the images projected or viewed on the Web, ask student use evidence from the picture to discuss these questions:

• Speculate about what tools and technology were most likely used in the 1800s to build this road.


• Speculate on the impact these new roads had on the physical environment as they were created and also as they were used.


• How extensively was this mode of transportation used? Explain its most efficient uses. How long did this form of transportation last?


• What changes were made to the "cultural" landscape as these new travel routes were built and traveled upon?

6. Ask what patterns they can see over time when thinking about the Indian trails, roads, canals, railroad, and highways. (slower>faster; carry more freight; from minimum impact to great impact on the land; smaller expense>larger expense; fewer travelers>more travelers; less pollution>more pollution; more routes destinations as time goes on (part of the environmental impact, etc.) After a time of adjustment, newer transportation systems tend to make older transportation systems less attractive or obsolete. Why? Give some examples.

7. Students should now reconsider the trip they were to make across the state. Provide a Pennsylvania Transportation map (Source 6: Transportation Map of Pennsylvania) to each group. Have students study the map and compare it to the map of Indian paths, Source 2: Key to the Indian Paths of Pennsylvania. What conclusions can be made in regard to the modern highway system and the paths indicated on the Indian Path map? Now compare it to Worksheet 1: Physical Map of Pennsylvania on which you drew a route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Does the path you drew correlate with any of the modern roads? Why or why not? Is the best route always the most direct route?

If students had taken into consideration physical features of the landscape they may have come close to predicting where a modern roadway was built. Have students speculate on why even modern roadways follow the Indian paths. Would there be such a close correlation if the landscape had been completely flat instead of mountainous? (Even with the most modern technology, the physical landscape will still influence where roads will be located.)

8. Summarize the lesson by pointing out that there is evidence of former Indian paths on the landscape of Pennsylvania, but it is often buried beneath modern roadways, abandoned canals and railroad beds. The Indian paths that crossed the Allegheny Mountains provided a blueprint for transportation systems to come. Although the method of transporting people and things changed, especially through the use of technology, many of the paths remained the same.

Day 3

1. Have students select a modern highway route across the state, traveling from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Each should write a descriptive trip log of the journey, including items such as the names of the original Indian paths it follows, major cities it passes through and notations of physical features. The log should also include information on the purpose of travel, estimate of the time it takes to make the journey and reason for selecting the route. It should be modeled after the journal entry of Morris Birkbeck.