The Great Indian (and Wagon) Road

The Great Indian Road, called Philadelphia Wagon Road by many settlers, was developed by Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) warriors traveling in the 1700s through the Great Valley of the Appalachians, which they called Jonontore, from Cohongaronto north of the Potomac to raid the Catawba in the Carolinas. In 1743, Iroquois headmen complained that Europeans had settled along the road in violation of a treaty. The Lancaster Treaty of 1744 clarified the road’s direction and acknowledged the Iroquois’ right to travel through Frederick County to New River settlements and farther south. The road later brought immigrants to the Valley in Conestoga wagons, and today U.S. Route 11 generally follows the historic road.

Virginia · United States