Map out your route for success at the Muskogee Public Library
July 27th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
By Nancy Calhoun
Phoenix Correspondent
Very few people would take a trip across the United States without first consulting maps and planning their route.
The same was true for our ancestors. They also consulted maps and followed the established routes, whether waterways, railroads or roads.
Maps provide a wealth of information. Some of these early maps still exist in books, libraries or archives. Many have been reproduced and are available for sale or online.
Maps can define state and county lines and their changes over time. Early day colonial maps show states extending west. Records for early day West Virginia and even Kentucky may be found in Virginia records. County boundaries may have changed numerous times. Families may have lived in the same location for years, yet the county changed repeatedly as boundaries were moved.
Maps can provide the clues to find a missing relation. People moving followed established roads, rivers, canals, and railroads.
An example is the Great Wagon Road. Thousands moved west along this road through the Cumberland Gap in southwestern Virginia, one of the few routes through the formidable Appalachian Mountains. The roads then fanned out to take the travelers to various destinations west, south and north.
A section of this road went through a Calhoun family farm in the Teas, Virginia area. After more than 200 years, the deep road cut into the earth still remains, a silent testimony to the thousands of wagons that rolled and travelers who walked that road to a new home.
Maps are an often overlooked resource in historical collections.
Maps at Muskogee Public Library show what the area was like in the 1800s, Indian Territory, the various Indian Nations, where trails and railroads were located, census townships, and original Indian allotments.
“Historical Atlas of Oklahoma” by Charles Robert Goins and Danney Goble provides a wealth of information on the area which is now Oklahoma. Maps trace early explorers, show where the various native tribes lived, Indian and Oklahoma Territories, railroads, cattle trails, The Three Forks Area, removal maps, battles, ethnic groups, and many other subjects, illustrated with photographs and drawings.
An Oklahoma research classic for years, the newly updated volume adds a new dimension to research.
The Genealogy and Local History collection also contains similar maps for other states. “Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Indiana” is a newly acquired publication. It provides detailed township maps for all Indiana counties.
Researchers on their Cherokee background often use Trail of Tears books which contain maps showing the various routes used by the different groups. Other writers have written of their travels as they retrace the route of their ancestor.
Highly detailed maps of areas of Oklahoma are contained in atlases such as “Oklahoma Atlas and Gazetteer” and “The Roads of Oklahoma,” both available in the Genealogy and Local History Department.
