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Little more than a footpath before
Arkansas became a territory in 1819, Southwest Trail became a major immigration route in the 1820s. By the 1830s more than 80 percent of the Arkansas territory's population had entered through the Southwest Trail. The U.S. Army improved the military road during
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pioneers improved and expanded the older route. At the time of
Americans' first settling the Texas territory, the Red River was the border between
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Map showing the
Southwest Trail or Military Road as it was in the mid-1800s (in red) and the Natchitoches Trace that it replaced (in brown).
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From its origin as a footpath, to a series of rugged roads, highways follow much of the route today. Southwest Trail enters
Arkansas on
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to Letona Road to Mount Pisgah Road to Morris School Road to
Arkansas Highway 36 to Center Hill, then Arkansas Highway 305 to
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declined in the late 1800s, but the trail south of the river remained in use decades longer.
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to
Remount Road to Arkansas Highway 176 to Arkansas Highway 365 through North Little Rock.
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Southwest Trail was a general term for a network of trails linking St. Louis and
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Arkansas Highway 89, then Tate's Mill Road to Batesville Pike Road through
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The
Southwest Trail, also known as the Old Military Road, replaced the older
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324:. Washington was a key trading point near the southwest end of the trail.
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Southwest Trail in
Arkansas, Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
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From the St. Louis and Ste-Geneviève areas, the trail passed through
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was a 19th-century pioneer route that was the primary passageway for
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then Mount Olive Road to
Hollywood, then Arkansas Highway 26 to
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515:Historic trails and roads in the United States
269:From Rockport it takes Arkansas Highway 84 to
180:. Davidsonville was a pioneer key town on the
490:Southwest Trail at EncyclopediaofArkansas.net
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309:west to the current Arkansas-Texas border of
164:Two routes were used by pioneers en route to
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258:. At Fairplay it takes Old Military Road to
520:Native American trails in the United States
462:. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
407:. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
344:"Natchitoches Trace and Old Military Road"
168:. The older, eastern trail passes through
525:Trails and roads in the American Old West
348:Natchitoches Trace and Old Military Road
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126:and their enslaved Africans during the
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535:Historic trails and roads in Arkansas
530:Historic trails and roads in Missouri
378:. St. Louis Community College-Meramec
565:Native American history of Arkansas
560:Native American history of Missouri
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199:From Southside, the trail follows
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500:Arkansas Southwest Trail Research
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316:The trail is commemorated in the
453:"Historic Washington State Park"
372:"Trail of Tears in Wayne County"
106:Usage of the trail north of the
72:trace followed the Red River to
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495:Historic Washington State Park
460:Historic Washington State Park
318:Historic Washington State Park
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433:. Encyclopedia of Arkansas
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405:Arkansas Heritage Trail
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213:Arkansas Highway 124
209:Arkansas Highway 157
135:Arkansas Highway 166
217:Arkansas Highway 16
211:to Sunnydale, then
32:settlers bound for
283:Arkansas Highway 8
279:Arkansas Highway 7
225:Arkansas Highway 5
161:and Walnut Grove.
46:Natchitoches Trace
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401:"Southwest Trail"
89:European American
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70:American Indian
56:to present-day
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295:U.S. Route 278
264:Ouachita River
240:Arkansas River
201:U.S. Route 167
128:Trail of Tears
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108:Arkansas River
101:Andrew Jackson
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466:January 26,
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411:January 25,
382:January 26,
353:January 26,
271:Social Hill
190:White River
182:Black River
137:, north of
509:Categories
330:References
303:Mandeville
299:Washington
194:Batesville
178:Oil Trough
159:Strawberry
155:Smithville
147:Pocahontas
311:Texarkana
166:Southside
157:, Jesup,
124:Cherokees
78:Louisiana
66:Red River
50:St. Louis
260:Rockport
227:through
62:Arkansas
54:Missouri
30:American
291:Blevins
287:Antoine
229:El Paso
207:, then
151:Imboden
139:Maynard
64:on the
40:History
252:Benton
248:Bryant
233:Gibson
174:Newark
93:Mexico
58:Fulton
456:(PDF)
221:Floyd
114:Route
34:Texas
468:2016
439:2016
413:2016
384:2016
355:2016
322:Hope
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
