New roads suitable for horsedrawn vehicles were one of the first improvements in the transportation network. The sometimes swampy terrain of the St. Lawrence valley made road building a difficult and expensive proposition. Because logs were available and cheap they were used to build corduroy roads like the one shown here. Stage coaches became the first public transportation on land between major centres. The trip was slow, unpredictable, and quite uncomfortable. For local travel, settlers gradually acquired buckboards and buggies such as are shown here, but travel over long distances was still time-consuming, expensive, and sometimes dangerous.
