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Latest comment: 8 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion
I thought "named for Benton MacKaye, the Massachusetts forester and regional planner who first had the idea for the Appalachian Trail in 1921" was odd, because, as I understand it, the trail was established by Native Americans. I marked as dubious. It seems like there would be a better way to word this. Biosthmors (talk) pls notify me (i.e. {{U}}) while signing a reply, thx 01:51, 9 November 2015 (UTC)Reply
There is no doubt. The vast majority of reliable sources attribute the Appalachian Trail's creation to Benton MacKaye and his paper An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning. In that paper, he proposed a single trail spanning the Appalachian Mountains, something which did not exist at the time. Native Americans did not establish the Appalachian Trail; however, in a few places, the trail's current route may follow or parallel an old trade route. This is the exception, not the rule. The majority of the trail's length was created in the past century; this is well documented.
Thanks then. Best. Biosthmors (talk) pls notify me (i.e. {{U}}) while signing a reply, thx 20:07, 9 November 2015 (UTC)Reply
You're welcome. I wouldn't be surprised if several people credit Native Americans by word of mouth. The fact some modern day trails and roads got their start as Native American trade routes helps play into this.
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