when it was admitted in
'49, but just threw it out when we cleaned house lately. I think it came
from Washington," said one dear old pioneer woman.

"What do you want of those old roads anyway," said another. "If you had
been over them as I have, you would know how much better these roads
are, and be glad they are gone."

It was hard to locate them from hearsay for when we asked "Did it go
through Alexandria," the answer was, "There was no town on it after
leaving St. Cloud, so I can't say just where it went, but we went to
Fort Garry and crossed the river at Georgetown."

Finally, after nearly a year's hard work, as we were on our way to the
Capitol to look over the first government surveys, Mr. George Ralph was
met, became interested, and drew part of these trails from the old plats
for this map.

When a surveyor goes into a new country to make a government survey, he
is required to place on that plat every trail, road or plowed
field--John Ryan, who worked in the forties was the only one we found
who always followed these directions. He would survey several townships,
and there would be the much-wanted road. Some other surveyor would do
the one below and there would be a break, but John would take hold again
a little further on and the trail could be joined from the direction
shown.

Later this map made was compared with old maps since destroyed at the
Army Building in St. Paul and found correct.

The three great routes for the Red River carts to St. Paul, the great
fur market, which used to come down by the hundreds from the Pembina and
Fort Garry country are shown. One through the Minnesota Valley; one
through the Sauk Valley, and the most used of all through the Crow Wing
Valley by way of Leaf Lake. They used to come to the head waters of the
Mississippi in 1808.[1] The Wabasha Prairie Road, called Winona Trail on
this map, was a very old one, as also were those leading to the sacred
Pipestone Quarries and the sacred Spirit Lake. There is a tradition that
there was a truce between all tribes when these trails were followed.
Mrs. J. T. M.

[Footnote 1: From Captain Alexander Henry's diary about the Red River
country in 1801, presented to Ottawa. He also says there were 1500 of
these carts there in 1808.]

The Book Committee

A sub-committee of the Old Trails and Historic Spots Committee,
Daughters of the American Revolution, Appointed by the Chairman.

Mrs. James T. Morris
Mrs. William