. Our country in story . OAD As soon as a path four rods wide had been cleared forsome miles, stone, gravel, and sand were hauled to coverthe track. The middle of the carriage-way was built alittle higher than the edges of the road-bed. Drains andditches were dug to lead off the water, and massive stonebridges were constructed over the rivers. Some streamswere shallow enough to be forded, while others could becrossed by means of ferries. Mileposts were erected allalong the course of the new highway. The road measured nearly seven hundred miles. Joinedto Braddocks Road, it formed a great, broad
. Our country in story . OAD As soon as a path four rods wide had been cleared forsome miles, stone, gravel, and sand were hauled to coverthe track. The middle of the carriage-way was built alittle higher than the edges of the road-bed. Drains andditches were dug to lead off the water, and massive stonebridges were constructed over the rivers. Some streamswere shallow enough to be forded, while others could becrossed by means of ferries. Mileposts were erected allalong the course of the new highway. The road measured nearly seven hundred miles. Joinedto Braddocks Road, it formed a great, broad highway, WEST TO THE MISSISSIPPI 253 extending from Chesapeake Bay at Baltimore throughMaryland in the direction of Frederick and Hagerstownto Cumberland. From here it continued northward intoPennsylvania, over Henry Clays bridge spanning theMonongahela River at Brownsville, across several rangesof the Alleghany Mountains, down to the Ohio River atWheeling, and, later, on through Ohio, Indiana, andIllinois, to ^ 5?ssw A CONESTOGA WAGON AT A TOLLGATE The first two hundred and seventy miles were macad-amized. The building of the entire highway cost thegovernment ten million dollars. Portions of it were even-tually made over to the various states through which itpassed, on condition that they keep it in repair. To meetthis expense, the states erected tollgates, or pikes, atwhich travelers had to pay a toll, or passage fee, beforethey were permitted to continue their way. PART Two. LIFE ON THE OLD NATIONAL PIKE No sooner was the Cumberland Road completed thanpopulation from the East fairly poured into the Middle 254 OUR COUNTRY IN STORY West, settling in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and traveler who passed along the Old National Pike at thetime wrote, Old America seems to be breaking up andmoving westward. The few families that went fromeach place on the seaboard were scarcely missed, but whenthey met on the great road to the West, they made anendless procession
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