A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest 1770 - 1970

The virgin hardwood forests of eastern Kentucky, as they existed some 200 or more years ago, were by the reports of early visitors, the finest and most majestic known at that time.

Cherry's History of Kentucky pictures the land which greeted early settlers as little short of a lush and verdant paradise. It states, "This territory, a changing scene of hills and mountains, rivers and valleys, forests and open stretches of fertile lands called 'Barrens' interspersed with numerous rivers, choked by fallen trees and fed by pure springs, wind in and out and up and down the fertile valleys."

"Dense forests crowded to the water's edge, reaching back in endless profusion. Giant forests of oak and tulip, beech and ash, sycamore and linden, cedar and pine, and many other varieties of trees grow so close that their leafy branches spread a canopy through which the rays of the sun could scarcely penetrate, producing twilight effects even at high noon."

Another traveller of Kentucky's earliest days writes, "In more than a thousand leagues of the country over which I have travelled at different epochs, in North America, I do not remember having seen one to compare with Kentucky for vegetative strength of the forest."

In 1785, Francois Michaux, a noted French botanist, was sent to America by his government to study the flora of North America. He spent the next 12 years travelling over the eastern part of what is now the United States. His reports on what is now Kentucky possibly served as a basis for the language quoted from Cherry's History above.

In 1802, Michaux, the French botanist, still travelling across Kentucky, was impressed by the size and height of trees which he saw along his route. His writings mention particularly the tulip poplar, the white oak, sycamore, and black walnut.

Over a quarter of a century earlier, Daniel Boone had laid out a trail from Cumberland Gap to Fort Boonesborough to mark the way to the Transylvania Settlement on the south bank of the Kentucky at the mouth of Otter Creek. He also reported trees of enormous height and circumference along his route.

Based on these and other observations, it is believed that of the 26-million acres which comprises present-day Kentucky, at least well over 24-million of these acres of the state's surface area supported magnificent forests. Estimates of volume in these forests, based not only on observations such as those quoted above, but on the timber cruises and actual cuts of some of the early mills, appears quite certain that volume averaged from 10,000 board feet per acre on the poorest sites to well over 60,000 to 70,000 thousand board feet per acre on the better sites and undoubtedly occasional sites in the coves and the lower north slopes supported stands equalling 100,000-board-feet per acre by the standards of merchantability in vogue in those early days. It has been estimated that the total volume of timber in the area now comprising the present State of Kentucky ran in excess of 122-billion board feet. This estimate, based on the merchantability standards of the early timber industry, would probably be at least double that volume when estimated by the merchantability standards in vogue today.

Today, 200 years after the early settlement of Kentucky, it is unfortunate that the land along the Cumberland, the Laurel, the Rockcastle and the Kentucky rivers, so abundantly clothes with magnificent forests, contains only two small areas which have been set aside for study and preservation of examples of the virgin timber of Kentucky. These two tracts are the Rock Creek Natural Area in the London District of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Laurel County, and the Lilley Cornett Woods which is now being managed and preserved by the Division of Forestry deep in Letcher County of southeastern Kentucky.

Destructive land use, exploitation of the forest resources, and over 100 years of widespread and recurring forest fires have so changed the character of the forests of eastern Kentucky as to have little similarity to those magnificent forests which inspired Boone, Filson and Michaux.

To the pioneer farmer, the forest was an obstacle which must be cleared away before land could be plowed. Indians lurked in the forest, and wild animals were there to attack straying livestock. Therefore, the larger the clearing the safer the farmstead.

As new settlers arrived, the need for cleared land grew and log rollings, at which trees were piled and burned, became more and more frequent. The rich soil of the bottoms and the coves was cleared first. Since there was no market for lumber or other timber products, burning was the easiest way to get rid of these magnificent trees. In many instances, where the size of the tree made it almost impossible to cut them with the crude tools available to the pioneer, they resorted to girdling them deeply with an ax and allowing them to die on the stump and planted their corn between these skeletons of the magnificent forest giants. This is particularly true on the better sites of the bottomlands along the streams.

There was no improved pasture in the forested area and the settlers' livestock foraged in the woods. They burned the woods during the winter months, believing that burning improved and increased the growth of grasses in early spring as well as destroyed snakes and insects.

As the young state of Kentucky grew, markets developed for fine timber. Loggers swarmed into the forests, streams were filled with logs, while sawmills dotted their banks.

Tulip trees, white and red oak, and chestnut formed the bulk of the timber production in Kentucky but ash, cucumber tree and basswood were also utilized in large quantity. In this process the best trees growing near the creeks and rivers were harvested first as they could be floated downstream to the larger sawmills.

The big timber operations in New England and the lake states to the north and east had, in many places, exhausted the cream of the virgin stand by shortly after the Civil War, and these loggers now cast their eyes on the forest lands to the south and west. Beginning in the early 1870's, just as Kentucky was recovering from the effects of the Civil War, timber men and land speculators moved into the backcountry of eastern Kentucky seeking either to buy lands and mineral rights in fee simple or to contract for the cutting of hundreds of thousands of logs to be delivered at different points at a specified time.

Most of the big timber in Kentucky grew in the hills completely away from any established form of transportation. To think of hauling it out by wagons, steamboats or railway was out of the question. The only way to get logs to the sawmill and to market was to float them down the rivers. However, in Kentucky these loggers were dealing with hardwood, much of which did not have the buoyancy and floating capability of the pine logs of the north and the east. To meet this situation the resourceful loggers bound the logs into rafts, the size depending on the size of the logs and the size of the stream, thus utilizing the more buoyant logs and species to aid in floating the more dense and heavy logs and species to the mill.

From a very early date loggers had drifted small rafts of logs down from the hills to collect money to buy the bare necessities of life. It was their practice to cut the logs in the summer, let them dry and season in log decks along the stream during the summer, early fall and winter, and to form them into rafts, which could be floated down in the wild flushes of high water, or tides as the mountain people called them, of the spring rainy season. These early loggers had little or no concept of the bigger logging operation which would take place in eastern Kentucky between the dates of 1870 and 1920.

Doctor Thomas D. Clark, professor of history at the University of Kentucky, has stated, "It is doubtful that anywhere in North America was there greater confusion as to landownership on the one hand and the precise boundaries of timber tracts on the other. Litterally hundreds of thousands of deeds in eastern Kentucky are still boundary deeds. That is, they do no more than wave a feeble legalistic hand in a general direction of a boundary and back up the best guess that an old timer can make as to the total amount of acreage that it might contain." He goes on to states, "This was enough confusion, but added to it was the fact that there were both overlapping claims, and boundaries of land on which no one had a claim of record."

Professor Clark goes on to state that it was in this country that the great logging operations were started, and, simultaneous with these operations, a series of court actions were initiated, some of which endured as long as the logging of timber continued. In eastern Kentucky, land had never been especially regarded as valuable, except where it was level and cleared. In their minds, as in the minds of the early pioneers, forest land was waste land. The rough hill land and the endless winding benches, where the heaviest timber grew, was looked upon as having little more value than cover for game, for ticks and rattlesnakes and for moonshine stills. The activities of the timber buyers gave it a new value and made it an instrument of community discord, between families and between individuals, in thousands of cases.

The bulk of the merchantable timber was made up of more than half a dozen major species of trees. The huge and towering yellow poplar, sometimes measuring as much as six and seven feet in diameter at breast height, was found in the damp coves and immediately above the limestone cliffs. Interspersed with these stands were sugar maple, linden, black and red oak, butternut, black walnut, chestnut, and giant buckeye. Lower down on the slope and spreading out across the bottomland was shagbark hickory, white ash, hemlock and white oak. Interspersed in these stands we find an occasional black cherry, sweet gum and cucumber. Under foot throughout these stands was a tangle of grapevines, shrubs and ground cover plants where they could find a ray of sunlight streaming through the canopy high overhead.

From 1870 through the early 1900's, in some cases as late as the close of World War I, logging in the big timber country of Kentucky followed a regular seasonal pattern. Loggers worked in the woods in the dry months of the year cutting logs and snaking them to stream banks where they were decked for seasoning and could be floated down during the spring rainy season behind splash dams on the small streams or to be rolled into the flooded branches during the spring rains to be drifted to the mills below the mountains.

To the observant visitor in some of the forests of today it is still possible to verify some of the stories of the diameter of the logs produced from the early timber. An occasional moss-shrouded stump in some secluded hollow, or the decaying remains of a heavy butt log, too far up the hollow and too heavy to skid to the stream, may be found. In some cases the slopes and the benches show the remains of the old logging roads where teams of oxen, mules and horses skidded logs to areas called bunching grounds. Sometimes these bunching grounds were located at the top of a long steep slope or even above low cliffs where the logs could be rolled down the slope to a lower level with a minimum of effort. In those cases these bunching grounds were frequently known as dumping drops. To the observant traveler of Kentucky's woods it is still possible to identify these brair choked dumps with the remains of log stops decaying and overrun with blackberries and briars at the foot of the slope. The path of these log slides may frequently be observed better from the opposite side of the hollow where a difference in the vegetation can be detected. Frequently aerial photographs will disclose these areas and make them more easily discernable than when standing in the area itself.

Professor Clark, in some of his writings, describes another monument of the very early logging days known as steer stops which were constructed with locust or cedar posts. These were the places where oxen were suspended to be shod to enable them to walk over the rocky ground and the sharp limestone rock of the mountainside. Today it would probably be impossible to find either teams of oxen or ox drivers throughout the mountain logging country. Some of the stories of the logs which were skidded by these ox teams are almost beyond belief. In this day of skidding tractors and power loaders it is really amazing what these men and animals accomplished. In many cases logs were snaked down from the slopes in tandem tied together by dog or coupler chain, by crotch grabs, by ring dogs, and even by rafting dogs or boom chains. Eventually mules and horses replaced the slower but sure-footed oxen in the latter days of the big logging era.

With the advent of the big timber companies into the logging operations of the eastern Kentucky mountains, it was immediately apparent that the characteristics of hardwood timber did not permit utilizing the stream driving methods of loose logs which had been used for nearly a century on the pine and spruce logs of Maine and the lake states.

Prior to 1900, the great bulk of the logs from the eastern Kentucky mountains were drifted down the rivers in huge rafts to mills at Louisville, Nashville, Frankfort, and Cincinnati. Running the rafts was a he-man's job which called for experience and skill equal to any of the log drivers whose fame has existed from the days of the river drives of Maine and the lake states. Many tales still exist of the hair-raising experiences of riding log rafts down the upper reaches of the Cumberland, the Kentucky and similar streams. These big rafts, once launched on the turbulent surface of the swollen streams, rushed down to constricted narrows between high limestone cliffs, and over rock-strewn shoals which could well become dangerous raft breakers. One such area on the Big South Fork still owes its name of Devil's Jump to its numerous successes in destroying log rafts in its boulder-strewn narrows of rushing current. The tale is told that the name Devil's Jump came from the fact that the loggers who rode the rafts were called raft devils, and it was a common saying that when you reach that stretch of the river, known today as Devil's Jump, located at the present site of Blue Heron, the devils had better jump. The reputation on this stretch of water was known the length of the river. This particular landmark is located in the heart of the Stearns Ranger District of the Daniel Boone National Forest, and is the site of a proposed high power dam which has been the subject of a controversy for the past 20 years.

Professor Clark writes interestingly of some of the experiences of the three forks of the Kentucky above the present town of Beattyville. The old timers still tell hair-raising yarns of running these three forks on the log rafts then down the Kentucky to the mills at Beattyville, Ford and Frankfort.

There were two major rafting seasons. The first came with the fall rains, usually in November. The second, and longer period, came with the spring rainy season from February to late April.

In the headwaters on the small tributaries, small dams, known as splash dams, were built across the smaller creeks and tributaries and when pools of water had been built up behind these dams by the heavy rains upstream, the logs decked on their banks were rolled into these pools and the splash dams were opened, either by blasting or some other device, and the resulting splash or surge of water would carry the logs down the small stream to the next pool behind another splash dam below. This continued until the logs reached a main stream or the stream itself became large enough to float a log raft and there they were bound together with hundreds of chains and the skill, gained by years of experience, into rafts which would be floated down the main stream to the mill. It was not unusual for logs cut high up on headwaters of the small streams to run through anywhere from five to 20 of these splash dam operations before reaching a main stream large enough to form the logs into a raft. Once this was done and the raft bound and chained to the satisfaction of the rafting crews and the logging foreman, a small crew would be put aboard the raft for the run down the swollen river to its destination at some sawmill. It was not unusual for a big log raft to make its way down as much as 150 miles of river, swollen by the spring freshnets, within a period of five to seven days.

The key man on a raft crew was the oarsman. He was usually an experienced hand who had started as one of the minor members of a raft crew and had learned his craft from observation and experience under the direction of an old and experienced oarsman. He had to be able, by observation, to read the water at the various shoals and narrows, to identify, from landmarks, the spot where known eddies or whirlpools existed, and to start well upstream to avoid areas where projecting rocks were almost certain to tear the raft to pieces. Once the raft crew has started their run there was little opportunity for them to sleep or rest until the raft had arrived at its destination.

At the destination of these rafts such as at Louisville, Cincinnati, Frankfort and for the areas on the Daniel Boone National Forest, places like Beattyville and Ford, the rafts were brought into great booms and were held in place by thousands of dog chains, a dog chain being a short link of chain with a heavy spike on either end, one spike to be driven into one log, another spike to an adjacent log, and a chain of these logs would form a boom that would hold the floating logs until they were ready for use by the sawmill. Today an understanding observer can occasionally see evidences of these booms, snubbing trees, holding chains and other equipment of interesting activity of the past.

As might be expected, the theft of prime logs from the log rafts and log drives became prevalent. This practice had grown up in the lake states and in the Northeast so it was not unusual for the same difficulty to develop on the log drives here in Kentucky. As in other states, log brands were registered with the county clerks in the same manner that cattle brands are registered in the West. These log brands were the property of their registered owners and the log branded with a log brand remained the property of that owner no matter where found. Certain individuals made a practice of searching out prime logs which had escaped from a raft or a boom and of removing the brand by a process called "de-horning" which consisted of sawing off a thin slice from the end of the log bearing the log brand and stamping their own brand on the freshly cut end. However, most actions have reactions and this was no exception. The owners of branded logs quickly became aware of this and adopted a practice of branding their logs on the side rather than on the end. Those branded on the side had the advantage that the brand could not be removed without leaving a readily detected and telltale scar. While this did not completely eliminate the practice of log theft, it certainly did make the covering up of such theft somewhat more complicated. Beginning in the late 1800's railroads began to extend deeper and deeper into the forest areas of eastern Kentucky and as they did, the lumberman ceased to drive their rafts for long distances. In the period between 1880 and 1900, was the end of the long log drives by raft and the beginning of short drives and overland movements by railroads to the mills.

As the railroads were extended into the mountains, the big mills moved to the railheads, usually upstream along the major rivers. During this era some of the major operations, to which timber cut within the area now within the proclamation boundary of the Daniel Boone National Forest was rafted to large mills located in centers along the river like Valley View, Ford, West Irvine, Beattyville, and Jackson. Some of the big companies operating these mills were the Swan-Day Lumber Company, the Mowbray-Robinson Lumber Company, the John Mayo Lumber Company, the J. G. Brown Lumber Company and scores of others whose names have long been forgotten by any but the older residents. Most of these lumber companies either owned thousands of acres of timberland outright or at least the cutting rights on them. Today the sites where these big mills operated are no longer identifiable. The sawdust piles have long disappeared and some of them have been occupied by building or housing development.

During the early lumbering years in Kentucky, from 1800 to 1830, most of the timber cut in the state was utilized at home. Following the Civil War, lumbering increased significantly as large companies moved into the state from the cut out areas of the lake states and, by 1870, the lumber industry was recognized as a major industry of the state. In 1870, Kentucky produced 214 million board feet of lumber which gave it a rank of 15th in lumber production in the nation.

Much of the area of the northern part of the Daniel Boone National Forest was within the drainage of the Kentucky River which served to bring huge rafts of logs to the mills located at railheads at Jackson, Beattyville, Irvine, Ford, Valley View and Frankfort. Few people realize that Frankfort, the capital city of the Commonwealth, was once a booming lumber town. Between 1890 and 1920, from five to seven band mills, with a combined daily capacity of 150,000 to 175,000 board feet of lumber, operated there.

On the south end of the Daniel Boone National Forest the principal rivers were the Upper Cumberland River and its tributary, the Big South Fork. Unfortunately Cumberland Falls, located a few miles below Williamsburg, prevented rafting above that point. Establishment of mills and the harvesting of timber on the Upper Cumberland was delayed until the railroads penetrated that area. However the principal tributary, the Big South Fork, brought its share of logs and rafts to the mills located at Burnside where it joined the main Cumberland River. Because of the transportation factor, the early sawmill center towns were clustered along the major waterways.

Lumber production in Kentucky reached its peak shortly after the turn of the century. In 1907, nearly one billion board feet of lumber were produced by Kentucky sawmills which provided employment for over 30,000 people. Unfortunately much of this lumber was shipped to neighboring states for manufacture, and many of the products produced from this lumber were again imported for local use.

Secondary wood-using industries got an early start in Kentucky. During the pioneer days many of the craftsmen worked as individuals, often as itinerants, but a few did initiate businesses which grew into larger shops employing a number of men. One of these industries, based on the utilization of Kentucky's fine hardwoods, was that of the manufacture of wagons and carriages, which began early in the state's history and remained an important industry for 125 years. As late as 1930, at least 11 wagon manufacturers still operated in Kentucky.

The portion of Kentucky within which the Daniel Boone National Forest lies has contributed materially to the development of industry since Kentucky's earliest days. With the establishment of the iron industry there before 1800, large areas were cutover annually to produce the charcoal to feed the furnaces, as well as for fuel for the families who operated them. During the period of railroad development within Kentucky and adjacent states, Kentucky hardwoods provided crossties, bridge timbers and planking for railroad car construction.

Early in the life of the state, forest fires began to take their toll. As early as 1831, forest fires had become such a menace that a special act of the Kentucky Legislature, applying only to Harlan County, provided a penalty of $20 for setting fire to the woods if the individual were a free person, and of a whipping of not to exceed 39 lashes, if a slave. Similar acts, applying to other heavily forested counties, were passed in 1835, 1840 and 1846.

In 1877, a visitor to Kentucky wrote, "There is a practice of yearly 'burning off of the woods' which has done almost irreparable injury to the forest in those parts where the timbers are the finest. In many places this practice has been going on so long that the old forest is rapidly dying out, and there is nothing coming on to take its place."

In 1884, Charles S. Sargent noted in his Report of the Forest of North America that in the census year of 1880, Kentucky burned 556,647 acres of forest land. Only five other states burned greater areas that year, and they all had much larger areas of forest.

Sargent also reported, "The forests of Kentucky suffer severely from the almost universal custom of using woodlands for pastorage . . . . what the fires spare, browsing animals devour; hogs root out seedlings, and by selecting the sweet acorns of the white oak in preference to the bitter fruit of the black oak, are gradually changing the composition of the oak forest. The injury, too, inflicted by the constant stamping of animals and the constant packing of the land about the stems of old trees is very great, and all reports speak of the gradual dying of old trees left standing in the pastures of Kentucky and Tennessee." Despite this, the warnings and recommendation of these scientists went unheeded for many years.