DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — Early Roads in Polk County. Now, before there was a highway, before there was a stagecoach, before a single settler had unpacked a wagon in what we now call Polk County, the land already had roads. And not rough ones, either.
The Creeks, the Alabamas, the Coushattas, the Kickapoos — civilized Indian nations, the marker calls them, and numerous — they had already been threading trails across this country for intercommunication. Think about that word. Intercommunication.
These weren't deer paths. These were roads with purpose. Take Long King's Trace.
Named for a chief. It ran out of Alabama villages, came right through the site of what is today Livingston, and passed the very spot where this marker stands. That trace existed before Livingston had a name, before it had a single building, before anyone had thought to call it anything at all.
Then there's the Coushatta Trace, which started all the way in Louisiana, wound its way through what is now Polk County, and kept right on going — more than a hundred miles west — until it joined an ancient road into Mexico. Louisiana to Mexico, and Polk County right in the middle of it. The Alabama Trace branched off El Camino Real — the King's Highway — east of Nacogdoches and made its way to the site of what is now the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation.
The Indians started many other local roads besides these. Then white settlement began in the 1820s, and a Mexican-Indian trail got a new calling card: the Nacogdoches-Liberty Stagecoach Road. The bones were old.
The traffic just changed. Now, moving goods in those early days — that was a different kind of puzzle. Settlers brought in their supplies by boat, up the Trinity River.
And along 72 miles of Polk County riverfront, they built twenty landings. Twenty wharves. Roads fanned out from those landings into the interior, and for many years, if you wanted to ship what the county produced, the river was your answer.
But here's the one that'll stay with you. Northeast of Livingston, there's a road still called the Old Israel Road. It was named for a religious colony.
The buildings of that colony have disappeared. Every structure, every trace of the people themselves — gone. And the marker draws the comparison quietly but plainly: as with many of the Indians, the memory of these people is preserved only in the road's name.
A road that outlasted everything built along it. In Polk County, the roads don't just tell you where to go — they tell you who was here.
What the marker says
Travel was of great importance in Polk County's early days. Civilized Indians-- particularly Creeks, Alabamas, Coushattas and Kickapoos-- were numerous and had many trails for intercommunication. Long King's Trace (named for a chief) led from Alabama villages through site of present Livingston, past site of this marker. The Coushatta Trace began in Louisiana, wound through what is now Polk County, joining (more than 100 miles west) an ancient road into Mexico. The Alabama Trace branched off El Camino Real (The King's Highway) east of Nacogdoches and came to the site of present Alabama-Coushatta Reservation. Indians started many other local roads. A Mexican-Indian trail became the Nacogdoches-Liberty Stagecoach Road, after white settlement began in the 1820s. Settlers brought in goods by Trinity River boats, establishing 20 landings (or wharves) on the 72 miles of Polk County riverfront. Roads led to the interior from the landings; boats handled shipping of county produce for many years. Northeast of Livingston is the "Old Israel Road"-- named for a religious colony whose buildings have disappeared. As with many of the Indians, memory of these people is preserved only in the road's name.