Some maps are more useful than others for this type of research, although all need to be examined critically. Many maps printed in Britain, especially in newspapers, are not reliable, and even show imaginary roads. But other British maps published at this time reproduced manuscript maps produced by British Military Engineers and can generally be relied on within limits. This is especially the case with John Montresor's map of the Province of New York (published in 1775, but apparently an exact copy of a map made around 1764). It shows many of the roads that have been mentioned in this discussion, including the road from New Hampshire to Lake Champlain. You can see it on the Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3800.ar106702. I have written a Web article on the reliability of several of these maps, including the Montresor map, which you can view at http://www.nymapsociety.org/FEATURES/ALLEN.HTM

Many of the most useful of these maps for research into roads are manuscript maps that show small areas (such as the Niagara River or the area between Fort Edward and Fort William Henry). Some of these can also be found on the same Library of Congress Web site as the Montresor map (search under New York State or under the names of specific towns or forts). I have put together a fairly comprehensive database of early nineteenth-century New York State maps, which is not publicly available. Any researcher who wants to know what manuscript maps exist for a specific area, can send me an e-mail, and I will check my database.