Whetzel Trace, the road to Indy and more
Posted by: DnRseekers
N 39° 35.609 W 085° 46.608
16S E 605030 N 4383354
Established around 1818 by Jacob Whetzel this was one of the first routes through the "new purchase" leading from east to west. It wasn't even intended to be a main road in the beginning...
Waymark Code: WMEZPY
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2012
Views: 10
This is one of three markers denoting Whetzel's Trace. Some of the other markers seem to have questionable facts on them however this one seems to be fairly factual.
As taken from "The history of Whetzel's Trace" by George R. Wilson:
"A trace that at once sprung into use was the Whetzel trace through the New Purchase. It appears that in 1817, Jacob Whetzel selected a tract of land in the Harrison Purchase, about Worthington, at the mouth of Eel river (before the treaty of Saint Mary’s, October 2-6, 1818), and that his home was near Laurel, on the Whitewater river, in Franklin county. To go from his home to his Eel river location by water would require a long voyage, part of it up stream. To avoid this he resolved to cut a trace across the Indian lands then about to become the New Purchase. In doing so his trace covered a distance of over sixty miles through a pro- meval forest. He struck the west fork of White river at the site of Waverly five miles north of a point sixty miles west of Laurel, thus he traveled west on an angle of only 4° 45’ 48" from Laurel - a remarkable achievement for a woodsman in his day - provided he really intended to travel due west of Laurel.
Feature Discription: There is a marker here to document the traces crossing of the curent roadway
Web address for the route: [Web Link]
Beginning of the road: Laurel
End of the road: Waverly
Secondary Web Address: Not listed
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