One book you might find enlightening, though it is of a popular rather
than a scholarly nature, is Richard F. Palmer, "The 'Old Line Mail':
Stagecoach Days in Upstate New York" (Lakemont, NY: North Country Books,
1977
        There is also useful discussion, and maps, in D.W. Meinig, "Geography of
Expansion, 1785-1855" in John H. Thompson, ed., "Geography of New York
State" (Syracuse University Press, 1966 and later editions). A map on p.
158 shows NYS-Albany-Pittsburgh Routes as of 1818.
        The basic alternatives, so far as I know, would have been wagon from
Albany, or boat via the Mohawk River (which already had canals around
Little Falls)

Hugh C. MacDougall
Secretary/Treasurer
James Fenimore Cooper Society
8 Lake Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326-1016
<[log in to unmask]>
<http://library.cmsu.edu/cooper/cooper.htm>

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> From: Ruth Ann Messick <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: From Saratoga Springs, NY
> Date: Monday, July 19, 1999 12:56 AM
>
> Before the Erie Canal was built, what was the main mode of transportation
> across NYS (via what is now Rt. 20) when a family was moving bag and
> baggage
> to take up residence elsewhere?  Particularly wondering about 1800 time
> period from Springfield, MA to Oneida County.
>
>
> God Bless
> Ruth Ann
> [log in to unmask]