Michigan's Shore Indian Trail and Hull's Trace & the War of 1812

From the October 25, 2022, Thumbwind by Michael Hardy.

The Shore Indian Trail was one of five major routes of land travel leading to Detroit and was well-known by early settlers.  The trail begins at the rapids of the Maumee River to Toledo, then closely follows along the shore of Lake Erie through Monroe and Brownstown to Detroit.

This trail became a crucial tactical element in the War of 1812.  The U.S. was concerned with supplying Fort Detroit early in tnhe war (it was still in American hands).  Since the British Navy controlled the Lake Erie, overland supply was the only option.

Starting in June 1812, troops under the command of General William Hull constructed what became known as "Hull's Trace," a 200-mile military road running from Urbana, Ohio, to Fort Detroit.  One hundred and fifty men under the command of  Hubert Lacroix completed "Corduroy Road" on July 4, 1812, with a bridge over  the River Huron.

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812: Remains of Part of the Old Corduroy Road Still There

From the Michigan Historical Marker on Hull's Trace (Trail).

"Hull's Trace, which linker Detroit and Ohio, was to be Michigan territory's inland lifeline during the War of 1812.  However, the Detroit River and Lake Erie gave the British easy access to the Michigan portion of the road.

"American efforts to use the road to bring supplies  and men from Frenchtown, present-day Monroe (Michigan), were foiled twice before Hull surrendered Detroit on August 16, 1812.

"After the war, Hull's Trace was used  for ever-improving roads, beginning in 1817 with a new military road.  In 2000, low water levels in the Huron River revealed a quarter-mile of old corduroy road, lying three to six feet beneath Jefferson Avenue.

"Ax marks were  visible on some of the logs.  This rare example of a surviving corduroy road is listed in the National Register of Historic Places."

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812-- Part 3: The State of Michigan Marker on the Trace

"In April 1812, as the United States prepared for possible war with Great Britain, Michigan's Territorial Governor, William Hull,  became commander of the Army of the Northwest.    His first task was to lead his army from Dayton, Ohio, to Detroit, building Hull's Trace, a two-hundred-mile long road, as it marched.

"The army left Dayton on June 1.  As they cut the trace through the wilderness from Urbana north, it laid logs crosswise across swampy areas to create a rough, but stable corduroy roadbed that could support supply wagons.

"In late June, a detachment  from Frenchtown, commanded by Hubert Lacroix also worked on the road, attempting to follow a route laid out  under an 1808  territorial  Legislative Council act.  (This must have been McCloskey's work, see previous post.)

"On June 18, 1812, war was declared.  Hull's army arrived in Detroit on July 5."

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812-- Part 2: Who Was McCloskey?

Evidently, the route of this road/trace was originally laid out by someone named McCloskey who won a lottery in 1808 (to mark the route?)  and there is a map of it in the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library.

The article says that he must have traveled   the existing (Indian?) trail, taking compass readings as he traveled.  Somewhere around the Huron River, he may have deviated from the trail because Hubert Lacroix wrote in 1812 that he wasn't able to find the slashes on the trees  for the original route.

Hull's Trace ran close to Lake Erie and the Detroit River, making it vulnerable to British attacks by water.  As a matter of fact, the first land-based skirmish of the war, the Battle of Brownstown, was fought on a road just  north of this section.

The later battles of Maguaga and Frenchtown were also  fought along the trace. 

Hull's Trace has been considered Michigan's first road at the beginning of the settler era.

--Brock-Perry

Hull's Trace & the War of 1812: 200 Miles Long from Ohio to Detroit

From the October 2, 2021, Thumbwind site (Having Fun in Michigan)  "Michigan's Shore Indian Trail-- Hull's Trace & the War of 1812" by Michael Hardy.

The Shore Indian Trail was one of five major routes of traveling by land out of Detroit and the best-known for early settlers.  The trail began at the rapids of the Maumee River in Ohio to Toledo then closely along the Lake Erie shore through Monroe and Brownstown to Detroit.

From Detroit, it went northward along the Detroit and St. Clair rivers, past Fort Joseph, Fort Gratoit, to the Thumb.

The Trail became a crucial tactical element during the War of 1812 when the United States became concerned about supplying Fort Detroit and the surrounding Michigan Territory area.  The British controlled Lake Erie, so overland supply was the only option.

Starting in June 1812, troops under the command of General William Hull constructed what became known as "Hull's Trace" (also called Hull's Trail), a military road running 200 miles from Urbana, Ohio, to Fort Detroit.

One hundred and fifty men under the command of Hubert Lacroix completed the "Corduroy Road" on July 4, 1812, with a bridge over the River Huron.   (A corduroy road uses logs to get across swampy, wet areas, in case you're wondering.)

--Brock-Perry

1872 Reunion-- Part 17: Welcome Kentuckians!!

"Welcome to you of Kentucky, who in our day and youth, baptized as the 'dark and bloody ground,' from savage cruelty....  Welcome and thank God that you are permitted to pass over the river of the Ohio no longer a vexed and fettered  boundary of the institutions social, domestic, or municipal antagonistic to Christianity, and that where you encountered in your early march the wild forest and still wilder savage, flourishing towns and cities and fruitful fields delight to meet and welcome you.

"The lonely line of the Hull Road is to-day a great highway of travel and one succession of fertile farms.  The seat of Winchester's camp is there before you; behold its spires, its towers, its broad fields and busy life.All around you in earnest devotion behold its generous people."

The mayor was talking about slavery, Indians and Winchester's camp was Monroe, Michigan.

--Brock-Perry

Ohio's Hull Historical Trail

From Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Trails System, Ohio's Historical Trail Route No. 11.

The Hull Trail follows State Route 53 from Urbana through West Liberty, Bellafontaine to Kenton.  Then it takes Route 31 to Findlay then Route 25 through to Van Buren, Bowling Green to Perrsburg past Fort Meigs.

It crossed the Maumee River at Turkey Foot Road then north on Detroit Avenue passing the site of old Fort Miami and then by Maumee City and Toledo.

After that, it was State Route 25 to the Michigan border where it connected with the southern end of the Michigan Division of the Tri-State Revolutionary War Memorial Trail to Detroit.

So, That's How to Get There?  --Brock-Perry

Hull's Trail

From HMdb.

I have been writing about the War of 1812 in Ohio the last two weeks.  James Findlay was supposed to lay out a trail across Ohio to Detroit for General William Hull.  This route became known as Hull's Trail.  Of interest for you road folk out there.

A rough passageway through Ohio to Canada used by Hull's Army on their way to attack the English at Detroit.  Woodsmen cleared the trail to permit the Army and Ohio militia along with their artillery and baggage to travel through what was then a virtual wilderness.

The route through Hardin County, Ohio, is marked by stone columns from the old county courthouse.  Looking at the photos, there apppear to be about eight markers in the county.

General Hull was at Detroit when the war began and had gone to southern Ohio to raise troops.

A Roadway Through the Wilderness.  --Brock-Perry