A chapter is devoted to the esthetics of the highway, a subject just coming to the attention of road men who have heretofore been mostly concerned with distances, grades, widths and surfaces, which, by the way, are frequently mentioned in the text. As in all building construction the first appeal was made to material things and their relation to the pocket-book, while the last and most enduring appeal is spiritualistic and is made to the pleasures of the imagination. The same idea of making the road a means of catering to the preservative and pleasure instincts of man is considered in the final chapter on aids and attractions to traffic and travel. Safety and warning devices are discussed as such, while comforts and conveniences are means for luring the average citizen to the highway, to the camps and parks, for the broadening effect upon his character, the health of his body, and the enlightenment of his soul. Thus we close a most hurried journey from the very beginning of roads to their modern far superior yet very imperfect attainments. The main thought throughout has been the road as a usable agency in the economic and entertaining phases of life. Each equally important to the wealth, health, and happiness of our people. The mind easily travels ahead to a time when separate roads will be devoted to the two great ends of business and pleasure. Then the flight of fancy passes on to still another period of time and sees the highways made inoperative and superfluous, overgrown by weeds and grass, for the argosies of business and pleasure have taken to the air. GEORGE RICHARD CHATBURN. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA March 9, 1923. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE TRANSPORTATION A MEASURE OF CIVILIZATION 1 Stages of Civilization: Direct Appropriation; Pastoral; Agricultural -- Manorial and Feudal Systems; Handicraft -- Merchant Guilds, Effect upon Trade, Domestic System, Government Control, Agriculture; Industrial -- Building of Canals, Smelting Iron, Invention of Steam Engine, Railways Developed. Some Historical Roads and their Influence: Early Highways -- Asiatic, Greek, Roman, Pre-Historic American. CHAPTER II TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: EARLY TRAILS AND ROADS 34 First Settlements near Coast. Birch Bark Canoe, Meagerness of Roads. Settlement follows Waterways. Portages. Lines of Travel -- Through Alleghanies, from the North, Boone’s Trace or the Wilderness Road, Calk’s Diary. Explorations -- Marquette, Lewis and Clark, Fur Companies. Western Trails -- Oregon, Salt Lake, Later California, Santa Fé, Gila and Spanish. Turnpike Roads, Wagon Road Neglect, National Participation -- Cumberland Road. Early Inns. CHAPTER III WATERWAYS AND CANALS 70