Interesting post off today's VA-Southside board. It's nicely paragraphed but the Rootsweb system will probably truncate it; sorry about that. Maynard Why and when many of the settlers migrated? During the 1740s, travel in the Colonies was very restricted. It is said that many settlers of that time period rarely traveled more than 20 miles during their lifetime. However, this was not necessarily true for the Scottish immigrants, who moved often to keep away from the encroaching settlements in search of new land. So, they moved to the back country where the hills and mountains reminded them of home. Restricted migration was especially true in the area which became NC. In NC there was almost no travel except through the coastal towns. And, settlers in NC west of those coastal towns were nearly non existent. Generally, settlement did not start until the 1750s. Inland travel by settlers in VA began during the 1740s and was only by the "Great Pennsylvania (GP) Wagon Road" and migration overland of hardy souls from the shores and river basins of the Chesapeake Bay by the "Upper Road" or the "Fall Line Road". The "Upper Road" branched in Spotsylvania County and went through Orange County, NC. During the 1740s, the proprietary governor of the Granville District began to issue grants to Quakers and others from the tidewater counties of VA, attracting them into the northern half of NC. By 1750, the "Upper Road" became an important wagon route for southbound migrations into that portion of NC. Many of the families in viz of Culpepper/Spotsylvania/Orange Cos, VA went with the migration to Orange Co., NC which started at the Bermuda Hundred on the James River in Virginia. via the old Occaneechee Indian Path which went through Orange County, NC. And, later went through NC to SC in the area that became Pendleton District, SC, where my gggg grandfather Andrew Caddel later settled after 1800. Many of Andrew CADDEL's neighbors in Orange County, NC - the Leas, Greens, Hendersons, McNeills, Andersons and other allied families, came from the counties of Spotsylvania, Hanover, New Kent, Prince George, Charles City, James City, and Surry of VA . Travel along these roads was extremely slow because of the many rivers, mountainous areas, and dense forests across VA and NC. During the 1740s, only the "G P Wagon Road" could handle any volume of travelers. A treaty with the Indians in 1744 gave the white men control of the "Roads" for the first time. At the time they were only foot paths a few feet wide where settlers walked and lead pack animals. They were previously Indian trails used to trade or make war along the frontier, and generally followed the Appalachian Mountains. Travel by wagon was almost impossible. During 1765 - 1775, more and more settlers came, clearing the paths wide enough to accommodate wagons. However, by that time, Andrew Caddel (my ancestor) had already been in NC for over 10 years. Even the best of wagons could travel no more than five miles a day. Later the "GP Wagon Road" traversed the Colonies from Pennsylvania (PA) to Georgia, a distance of 800 miles. The French and Indian War (1753 - 1763) severely restricted travel. The British and French finally reached an agreement on 10 Feb 1763, the Treaty of Paris, which gave the British all the land east of the Mississippi River. Prior to that there was no westward migration And, the peace treaty signed in 1763 provided that no British settlements were allowed west of the Appalachian Mountains. This land to the west was set aside as Indian hunting grounds. This increased the migration south along the GP Wagon Road to escape the war. After peace was declared, settler migration expanded. In the fall and winter of 1765 more than a thousand wagons passes through western NC. The proclamation of 1763, which prohibited westward settlement, angered the colonists and established a beginning point which culminated in the Revolutionary War with England. Bill Caddell