ABSTRACT
A chain of inland towns linked the highways from the seaboard with routes to the interior. In Massachusetts, Northampton and Pittsfield were outposts on seaboard with routes to Vermon. Between 1775 and 1800 the American pioneers, from Georgia to Maine, shared a common experience. Alike they had to traverse mountains, grapple with the ancient forest, and contend with the Indians. Intent upon keeping in touch with older communities, pioneers usually chose a home site near a stream or close to a road or trail. In the early days of a settlement they commonly brought in and sent out goods and livestock by land. A marked slowing down of the rate of increase in New Hampshire and Vermont after 1810 denoted that emigrants from southern New England were seeking new homes in Maine or in lands west of the Hudson. Dixie Frontier agriculture served mainly to provide the farmer and his family with products they consumed.
