We have had an overwhelming positive response to our recent Clinton County Indian Trails story we posted earlier this week. When we have the opportunity, with the help of stories we have learned talking to locals, the Clinton County Historical Society, books read in the past and a little help from Google, we will bring you a history lesson and occasional features about the region we call home. Enjoy! Kevin Keith
11/27/25
To understand what the trails through Frankfort once looked like, the first step is to ignore the modern street grid entirely. Native routes followed ridges, dry ground, water sources, and visibility lines, not surveyed squares. When you strip away the streets, the shape of the land underneath Frankfort becomes clear — and with it, the old paths reappear.
We will start with The Southeastern Ridge Trail. The Oldest and Most Important. This was likely the primary trail across the land where Frankfort now stands.
Start by imagining today’s South Jackson / Walnut Street ridge — the long, gentle rise that runs southeast into the prairie toward Kirklin. That ridge is ancient. It has always been the driest, most navigable high ground leading into the future city site.
The probable historic path entered modern Frankfort roughly along the line of South Jackson Street, following the ridge toward where the courthouse now stands. If you stand on that ridge today, you can still feel the slight elevation above the prairie bowl to the east. Native travelers would have used that height as a natural guide.
This trail connected the White River basin (Delaware territory) and the Wabash towns to the north (Miami/Wea homeland). This was the most direct and important north-south corridor in the region.
Second is The Northern Wabash Trail following modern SR 39’s general path. It’s another major trail that approached Frankfort from the north, coming down from what would later be the Delphi–Wildcat Creek corridor. Native families used this northern line to reach the hunting prairies southeast of Frankfort, the sugar groves along Prairie Creek and the southern river systems. This trail would have roughly matched the terrain where SR 39 now runs, though the original route curved more gently.
Its probable historic path likely entered Frankfort from the north slightly west of SR 39 and then drifted eastward toward the central ridge where the courthouse would later be placed.
The land told early surveyors the same thing it told Native travelers that this is the path of least resistance.
There was also the always important Southwest Wildcat Connector I like to call The “Diagonal Trail”.
This is the most “hidden” of Frankfort’s ancient trails, but you can still see hints of it in the modern city’s street layout. Southwest of modern Frankfort, a trail branched off toward Sugar Creek, connecting to Wea and Kickapoo hunting territory and smaller Miami seasonal camps. This path curved northeast into the Frankfort ridge.
Look at Frankfort’s street map:
Several older streets subtly angle southwest, refusing to conform to the county grid. These reflect the old diagonal movement. Its probable historic path likely tracked the Mulberry/Jefferson Blacktop corridor, entering the modern city somewhere near Barner Street, before rising toward the courthouse ridge.
This was a connector trail, not a main route but it was extremely important to those who used it. Kind of like today.
Finally, the East Prairie Drift Route. It was seasonal and subtle. East of Frankfort the trails were not deeply cut because prairie soil doesn’t hold footpaths like forest land does. But there was a known east–west drift route that hugged the prairie margin, allowing travelers to skirt the timber without entering thick woods.
This would have crossed the future Frankfort area along a line that roughly parallels Washington Street, drifting slightly north of the courthouse ridge.
The trails converged at the current Courthouse Square. All evidence suggests that the courthouse square sits on the natural high point where these routes overlapped.
That is why the county commissioners chose it later.
They didn’t impose a settlement on random ground, they chose a place the land had already chosen.