The most heavily traveled road in Colonial America passed through here, linking areas from the Great Lakes to Augusta, GA. It was laid on ancient animal and Native American trading and warrior paths. Indian treaties among the governors of NY, PA, and VA and the 19 chiefs of the Iroquois League of Five Nations in 1685 and 1722 opened the colonial backcountry for peaceful settlement and colonization. In MD, it was known as the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, passing by Hagerstown and crossing the Potomac at Evan Watkins Ferry.