Southwest Trail

The Southwest Trail was a 19th-century pioneer route that was the primary passageway for American settlers bound for Texas.

At the time of Americans' first settling the Texas territory, the Red River was the border between Mexico and the United States.

The Indian trace was the southern route of two followed by Cherokees and their enslaved Africans during the Trail of Tears.

[2] From its origin as a footpath, to a series of rugged roads, highways follow much of the route today.

It then passes through communities of Attica, Pocahontas, Imboden, Smithville, Jesup, Strawberry and Walnut Grove.

Map showing the Southwest Trail or Military Road as it was in the mid-1800s (in red) and the Natchitoches Trace that it replaced (in brown).