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Due to the state of road technology at the time, and the barrier of the Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Road was of limited usefulness as a means of transporting cargo. Transport over water tended to be cheaper; the Erie Canal (completed in 1825) was a more attractive option for transporting goods between the Midwest and the eastern seaboard. One important function that the road did indeed serve was the transport of settlerSettlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in "new" lands or colonies. In modern history, the word "settlers" is synonymous with terms like pioneers, colonists, or (as British people once called them)s.

1 See also

• National Auto TrailThe system of National Auto Trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on telephone poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in th

The following is copied from a page administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/trailsc.htm):

"After the Revolutionary War, Washington saw the need for such a road to link the States along the East Coast and the territories west of the Allegheny Mountains. He feared that without better transportation, the western territories would be drawn to the English in the north or Spanish interests in the south. President Thomas Jefferson signed the legislation authorizing the National Road on March 29, 1806, to serve as a portage linking the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. It went from Cumberland, Maryland (the head of navigation on the Potomac River in those days) to the Ohio River at Wheeling. The National Road to Wheeling, built of crushed stone and completed in 1818, soon became the route of commerce that helped bind the union of settled East Coast communities and the pioneer communities in the territories.

In 1820, funds were approved to extend the road to a point on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois River. The western terminus was changed to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1825. By 1833, the National Road was completed as far as Columbus, Ohio, and it would reach Springfield, Ohio, but beyond that point, the road was simply laid out to Vandalia (then the capital of Illinois). A dispute over location west of Vandalia was not resolved before the coming of the railroad rendered the road obsolete. "

2 External links

• North American Auto Trails