What route would a pioneer take from NY to Indiana?

Answer 1

The first Americans began to trickle into Indiana in the 1790s. Probably most first made their way from the vicinity of New York City to Philadelphia, either by going overland across New Jersey, or by ship, from New York down to the mouth of the Delaware River, then up that River to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia there was a wagon road across southern Pennsylvania to Pittsburg. From Pittsburg most would have floated down the Ohio River on flatboats to Indiana. The southern border of Indiana is the Ohio River. People in western New York could go by boat from the Buffalo area, by way of Lake Eire, and either get off near Toledo and go west for about 60-70 miles and cross into Indiana or stay on the Great Lakes and sail around, past Detroit into Lake Huron, then south down Lake Michigan to the vicinity of Gary, Indiana. This route by way of the Great Lakes became more accessible after the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, which made it possible to travel by water all the way from New York City to Buffalo, and then on to any place on the Lakes.