Paths to Possession

Paths to Possession explores the history of America's western expansion through the lens of transportation infrastructure from the beginning of European settlement in North America through the Early American Republic era.

In this wide-ranging survey of emerging transportation systems based on roads, water, and rail, author James R. Stocker demonstrates how they transformed spaces already inhabited by Indigenous communities into American territory. These routes shaped travel and trade, facilitating the expansion of colonial power, the projection of military force, and the acquisition of wealth through land speculation and economic development. Transportation corridors benefited European settlers, but Indigenous communities also leveraged their control over these routes to co-opt and resist the settlers' advancement.

Featuring seventeen original maps, Paths to Possession provides a new interpretation of the rise of American power grounded in material factors and sheds new light on the history of western expansion and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.