Bob and Kelli Phillips produced an episode of Texas Country Reporter focused on Trammel’s Trace. It aired on location stations and RFD-TV in early March 2023. You can now WATCH THE VIDEO HERE on their YouTube channel.
Welcome to Trammel's Trace
Trammel's Trace, the first road to Texas from the north, was used by Anglo immigrants since the early 1800's and by Native Americans for hundreds of years before.
I've been researching Trammel's Trace since 2005 when I learned that some old road ruts across our family land near Mt. Enterprise were remains of this early road. I have put together this book as a history of the road, an acknowledgment of its importance in early Texas, and a parallel history of the smuggler and tavern keeper for which it is named, Nicholas Trammell.
I hope that you will become part of this story by first buying a book (or two), but I also hope you will join the ongoing stories. Please use the CONTACT option to let me know you wish to be added to my email list. I'll be sure and update you on any related activities. Check out the ORDERS tab, not only to get a copy of the book but also for some free downloads. The MAPS option will not only let you download county-by-county maps as PDF files, there is a live GOOGLE MAPS OVERLAY that you can use while driving the back roads of East Texas to find the old route.
Low-light photo of Trammel's Trace. Hwy 77 between Naples and Atlanta, near Dalton Church. Site of a Texas Historical Marker. Photo by Bob Vernon.
A Living History that Continues
One of things about Trammel's Trace that attracted me is that it is still present in places across the landscape in southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Texas.
Meeting landowners who learn that rut across their pasture is a 200-year-old road for migration to Texas or standing at the edge of a river where hundreds of people crossed into a completely unfamiliar frontier, never fails to give me chill bumps. The sensation of standing at those same places on the ground where history happened is the feeling that will help this road be protected by landowners who have their own sense of history being present. I call it Paying History Forward.
The COUNTIES and LANDOWNERS options on the navigation bar tell some of of those stories. Check it out. Still not complete, but some pictures are there for you to peruse.
One of the most exciting developments since the book was published was the placement of a five-foot, black granite Trammel’s Trace MARKER in Nacogdoches. The Stone Fort Chapter of the Daughter’s of the Republic of Texas has commemorated the history of the Trace as part of the fabric of Texas history.
You can also follow updates here on the BLOG. I hope you will be a part of the conversation both here and in the Trammel's Trace group on FACEBOOK. There is much to learn, and still work to be done. The research never ends. . .