For most of the 1700s, hunters, traders, warriors, militia, war captives, and diplomats used this early Native American path as part of a regional network of trails. It provided a direct route between Fort Duquesne/Fort Pitt, a major trade center, and the Delaware Indian community of Kuskusky, now New Castle. By 1800, Europeans who began moving into the area built homes and churches adjacent to the path.