I guess what I am wondering is how easily people could get around this area since it is so mountainous in a lot of the area and has so many large rivers and creeks. Present day maps are crisscrossed with roads. I doubt there were that many roads back then. I read a book about the settling of Tennessee but the time period was 1790 to 1805, long before my ancestors started trekking around. In the book, most travel was done by canoes via the rivers. Does anyone know of any maps on the Internet that would be from the mid to late 1800's? Thanks much. Mary (Brown) Flowers Midlothian, TX From: "Carolyn S. Howard" <CarolynSHoward@comcast.net> Well, as far as I know, I certainly don't think it was easy travelling, but they could have done it, I'm think. There was no other form of transportation that I know of, other than by wagon trains, by horseback, by stagecoach, or by boats or steamboats. Also, railroads powered by steam locomotion were started up fairly early. Does anybody know of any other forms of transportation during that time frame? You can go on the Internet, you know, and put any word up at the top, like railroad history, steamboat history, whatever, and press "Search" and see what you get. Good luck. Sue Howard > Could this family have easily travelled from NC, to AL and then back to > TN during this time period of their births? > Can anyone point me to any writings from this period that describe the > modes of transportation in these areas after 1840 to 1870's? > > Thanks much. > Mary (Brown) Flowers > Midlothian, TX ____________________________________________________________ Click here to find the rental car that fits your needs. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw2i4KuMpzcxNh4tGKbc1XFbFoPZPlgXtuINoDRDYUP5459sx/