Barnesville was on the main north/south trail after the military put in the telegraph to Van Buren. Without holding Barnesville they could not have kept the telegraph operating. It appears from the old maps that the original trail hit Logan Creek Valley at the spot where William Copeland and Samuel Hanger had their store. This was approximately 2 miles down the valley. Barnesville was also on the main east/west trail. Any traffic from Wayne County, Patterson/Greenville, and points east of there going to Shannon County would have passed through Barnesville. When the Shannon County courthouse was established at old Eminence/Round Springs, Shannon County included all of Reynolds County. People from west Reynolds and East Shannon had more ties with each other than they did with the rest of their respective counties. Logan Creek Valley and Webb Creek Valley were major traffic corridors. Where Clearwater Lake is now is where Carter's Mill was located. This was pretty much the junction of Black River, Logan Creek and Webb Creek. Webb Creek provided a good road to Van Buren from Black River having to only pass over one hill basically to hit the military road at a point just north of Hen Peck where one could go to Van Buren or Barnesville. Logan Creek provided access from Black River to Barnesville to Shannon County. There are some old maps available that explain this better than I am able.