Route 6 and Route 3 Were Native Footpaths Long Before They Were Highways

The next time you are stuck in Dartmouth's Faunce Corner Road/Route 6 gridlock, take a second and think about the fact that you are following a route that has been actively used for thousands and thousands of years. It's true.

Tim Turner, Director of Indigenous Education and Training at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, said that many of the highways crossing southeastern Massachusetts started as Native footpaths.

"A lot of the major highways that we know today and roadways were originally footpaths for Native people," Turner said. "And the reason why they have been made into roadways today is because they meet the path of less resistance."

From Footpath to Pilgrims Highway

In Plymouth County alone, Turner points to Route 6, Route 3, Route 3A, Route 44, Route 25 and Route 58. Even Route 66, one of the most famous roads in the country, was originally a Native American pathway, he said.

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Pilgrims Highway Misnomer

If you'eve ever driven along Route 3, you may have seen a sign that Turner points out is incorrect. "Long before it was the Pilgrims Highway, Wampanoag people were using this as a major roadway or pathway to Cape Cod," Turner said.

How Far Did Wampanoag Trade Routes Reach?

Wampanoag territory ran north to roughly Weymouth. Up in the area we now call Boston were the Massachusett, the people from which the state takes its name. Turner said trade moved steadily between the two nations, most likely along the corridor we now call Route 3.

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The larger network reached much farther. Archaeologists are currently finding wampum beads in the Great Lakes region, including Michigan. The quahog shells used to make wampum came exclusively from Massachusetts and New England. Natives would trade it for copper. The Wampanoags didn't make the entire trip to deliver the jewelry, but passed the trade goods from one nation to the next.

Those long pathways, though, were made by Native people walking over them for over 10,000 years. So the next time you are frustrated by heavy traffic coming on or off the Cape, you can be certain that you aren't the first one who lost their patience.