A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest 1770 - 1970

In previous pages are the correspondence and discussion regarding the name for the National Forest when it was to be changed from a purchase unit to a national forest by Presidential proclamation. It will be recalled that the majority of the local leaders had recommended that the new National Forest in Kentucky be named the Daniel Boone National Forest. It will also be remembered that a poll taken of Regional Office Division Chiefs had recommended against the name of Daniel Boone, and in favor of continuing the name of the purchase unit as Cumberland in the proclamation of the new National Forest. And it will also be remembered that Assistant Regional Forester Ira T. Yarnall had summed up these various opinions in his memorandum of May 4, 1936, to the Regional Forester and had implemented the Regional Forester's decision that the name of the new National Forest to be proclaimed would be Cumberland.

On the recommendation of the Chief of the Forest Service and of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Cumberland Purchase Unit in Kentucky was proclaimed the Cumberland National Forest by the President of the United States on February 23, 1937.

The ink on the signature of the proclamation was barely dry when the first of a series of protests on the new name came to light. The first was a letter written by Senator Alben W. Barkley to the Secretary of Agriculture H. A. Wallace on February 26, 1937. Senator Barkley tells Mr. Wallace, "I am in receipt of protest from my constituents against a draft of a proclamation, which it is stated you have submitted to the President, to name the 1,388,214 acres of land now being purchased by the U.S. Forest Service in 17 counties in eastern Kentucky, the Cumberland National Forest. These interested parties are desirous of having it called the Pioneer National Park or the Daniel Boone National Park, preferably the latter."

On February 26, 1937, William Boone Douglass, President, American Order of Pioneers, writes to the Honorable President of the United States as follows: "Our Vice President, Mr. C. Frank Dunn, Secretary of the Daniel Boone Bi-Centennial Commission, — writes me under date of February 24, protesting against the naming of Kentucky's National Forest Cumberland, as given in the proposed proclamation submitted to you for your signature and issuance by the Honorable Secretary of Agriculture.

"I am sure that the sentiment, both state and national, is with the Commission in its desire that the Forest be named for Daniel Boone. Some three years or more ago I was told in the Forest Service that such a name would be satisfactory to it."

On May 5, 1937, a letter signed by Bailey P. Wootton, Director, Division of Parks, Department of Conservation, Frankfort, Kentucky, to the Forester, U. S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C. stated, "I notice quite an active move on for changing the name of Cumberland National Forest of Kentucky to Daniel Boone National Forest.

"I hope that this can be done, as it is a name we think more appropriate than Cumberland. We have Cumberland everything else in this section of the state and should like to see the Forest over which Daniel Boone hunted and fought named for him. Very truly yours, Bailey P. Wootton, Director."

The position of the Forest Service at that time was rather succinctly stated in a letter written by F. A. Silcox, Chief of the Forest Service, to Tom Wallace of the Louisville Times on May 19, 1938. In the closing paragraph of that letter Chief Silcox states, "Our position is that if or when the people of Kentucky generally agree upon a more appropriate name the Department will be glad to consider its adoption. Until then the continued use of the name Cumberland seems appropriate."

As far as the official record goes, this appeared to end the discussion as to the name of the new National Forest in Kentucky, and for nearly 30 years this name remained without question. About 1958, the Forest Supervisor of the Cumberland, who had been studying early Kentucky history as a background for the public relations program of the Cumberland National Forest, began to wonder why the National Forest had not been named for the famous pioneer who had blazed the Boone Trace across the Forest in 1775, who had explored the greater porter of the Forest in 1769, and who had been more instrumental than any other individual in the Transylvania Company establishing their initial settlement in Kentucky in 1775 at Boonesborough. The preceding information did not come to the attention of the Forest Supervisor, and he had no knowledge of the attempt made by the people of Kentucky to name the National Forest in honor of Daniel Boone at the time it was initially proclaimed.

It was decided to investigate the matter thoroughly to determine, if possible, the origin of the name Cumberland and its appropriateness as a name for the National Forest. After some study it was found that the name of Cumberland came to Kentucky when Dr. Walker and his party came through what is now Cumberland Gap in 1750, and named the large river encountered after entering Kentucky after the then-famous Duke of Cumberland. History tells us that the Duke of Cumberland was William Augustus who was the illegitimate son of King George II. In 1746, he commanded the Royal English Army which defeated the Scottish clans who had assembled under the leadership of Bonnie Prince Charlie who was trying to reestablish the Stuarts on the throne of Scotland.

On April 16, 1746, at the Battle of Culloden Moor, the Scottish Army was defeated. The Duke of Cumberland gave no quarter to the prisoners, ordered the wounded slaughtered and burned the houses in which wounded had crawled for shelter. Many of the Scottish chieftans, who had been captured by the English and disarmed, were butchered after they had surrendered. As a result of this, the Duke of Cumberland was forever after known as The Butcher. History has branded the Duke of Cumberland the Bloody Duke.

The families of the murdered Scottish chieftains were forced to flee Scotland to escape the wrath of the Bloody Duke who sought to stamp out the rebellion in the Scottish Highland through the murder of the families of the Scottish leaders. Many of these families came to western Virginia and North Carolina and from there migrated into eastern Kentucky in the very early days. Descendents of these families are still found throughout the eastern Kentucky area. It was found that when speaking to various service clubs and other organizations about the origin of the name of Cumberland that, following the meeting, several local people would come forward and state that they were descendents of these families of the Scottish chieftains, and that today the name of Cumberland was still most distasteful to them.

In studying the history of eastern Kentucky, another factor appeared as a result of the Revolutionary War. Many of the early settlers of eastern Kentucky came there because of land grants, rewarding them for their services in the Revolution. During the Revolution and for many years afterward, there was a definite opposition to names connected with the British. Prior to the Revolutionary War, the Kentucky River had frequently been named the Levisa in honor of the wife of the Duke of Cumberland. Following the Revolution, with many Revolutionary Army soldiers settling in Kentucky, public indignation against the name of Levisa, because of its British connotation, resulted in the renaming of the river the Kentucky River.

In considering these facts the personnel of the Cumberland National Forest felt very strongly that the Forest should be renamed in honor of Daniel Boone. Undoubtedly, the influence of Daniel Boone, more than any other single individual, had resulted in the early settlement of the part of eastern Kentucky occupied by the Daniel Boone National Forest. For example, he had first explored the area in 1769 and 1770, in company with his brother Squire. It was his report, in glowing terms of the desirability of the country as a colony site, that influenced Judge Henderson and his associates in the Transylvania Company to acquire title to the area through a treaty with the Cherokee and to establish their colony there. It was Daniel Boone who had blazed the first trail, the Boone Trace, from Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River on the mouth of the Otter, over which for more than 20 years a stream of settlers poured into the country. It was Daniel Boone who had provided the leadership and the reassurance to the early settlers at Boonesborough which had encouraged them to stay, to resist the Indian attacks and to settle the country. In view of these facts it appeared highly justified that an attempt to be made to change name of Kentucky's National Forest from that of the Bloody Duke to the name of Daniel Boone National Forest.

The first official effort to initiate action consisted of a letter written on September 1, 1960, from the Forest Supervisor to the Regional Forester, Region 7, at Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, recommending the change in name and supporting the recommendation with information similar to that above. Regional Forester Pyles' reply was neither favorable nor unfavorable. He pointed out that changing the name of a National Forest which had been established as long as the Cumberland was neither simple nor rapid. He pointed out that to make such a name change it would be necessary to secure the support of the people of the area, as evidenced by letters to the Secretary of Agriculture, to the Congressional Delegation, to the Chief of the Forest Service and by resolution passed by such organizations, which would demonstrate that the majority of the people were in favor of such a change. He pointed out that to bring this about was neither easy nor rapid. However, he did comment that in view of the information submitted the recommendation appeared to be logical and sound; and therefore, he pretty well left it up to the National Forest to take further action as they saw fit.

For the next several years the Forest officers of the Daniel Boone National Forest, in speaking in groups and organizations and in talking with key individuals, brought up the proposal and the reasons for it. In most cases the replies and the attitudes appeared favorable. The proposal had been the subject of news items by various organizations at various times and of discussions, all of which appeared to be favorable to the name change. However, it seemed difficult for the personnel of the National Forest to sufficiently inspire any organization or individual to initiate direct action to secure this change. Finally in 1965, a breakthrough came in the form of a discussion between the Forest Supervisor and Joe Creason, Special Feature Writer for the Courier-Journal newspaper in Louisville. Seated side by side at a banquet, Mr. Creason asked the Supervisor what progress was being made on securing the name change, which he had commented on favorably in his column several times. On being told that there appeared to be little or no opposition, but that no means of motivating direct action had been found, Mr. Creason asked the Supervisor what was needed to get this proposition off of dead center. The Forest Supervisor replied that he believed that a letter from the Governor to the Secretary of Agriculture might start the wheels in motion. Mr. Creason then agreed that he would try to motivate such action. As a result of this conversation, a small item appeared in Mr. Creason's daily column in the Courier-Journal suggesting that the Governor take such action. The paragraph ended, "How 'bout it Governor?" As the matter had already been discussed several times with Governor Edward T. Breathitt, this small item in the newspaper was enough to strike the necessary spark.

On May 20, 1965, Gov. Breathitt, responding to Mr. Creason's item in the Courier-Journal as well as to a great many resolutions from organizations, letters from individuals and advice from the Kentucky Historical Society, of which he was Chancelor, wrote a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman and recommended the changing of the name of the Cumberland National Forest to the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Secretary Freeman referred this recommendation to the Chief of the Forest Service in Washington, who initiated a study of this request from the standpoint of suitability of both the present name and the proposed name, measurement of the proposed name against the basic criteria established by the Forest Service in naming a National Forest, and the administrative advantages of the new name over the present name. After detailed studies of these facts, in the course of which the Cumberland National Forest was called upon to present information, discussion of the proposed change with both Senators and Congressmen from Kentucky, and consideration of the many letters and resolutions that had been submitted to both the Secretary of Agriculture and to the Chief of the Forest Service, an overwhelming majority of which were in favor of the name change, the Chief of the Forest Service recommended the change favorably to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Some of the letters written to the Chief of the Forest Service in support of the name change carry interesting comments such as a letter written on October 15, 1965, by the senior Senator of Kentucky, John Sherman Cooper, in which he states, "It seems to me that the proposal is an attractive one, as Daniel Boone has a natural association with Kentucky and it is a name which would stick in the minds of potential visitors from other states. However, I want to consult with groups in the area before a decision is made, and will keep in touch with you."

Another pertinent comment is a letter written by Congressman Tim Lee Carter to Secretary of Agriculture Freeman on October 21, 1965, in which he states, "Overwhelming sentiment in the Fifth District of Kentucky favors changing the name of the Cumberland National Forest to Daniel Boone National Forest. In response to literally thousands of requests, I, in turn, solicit your approval of the name Daniel Boone National Forest for the Cumberland National Forest."

Another most interesting letter was written by a junior high school teacher from Owensboro, Kentucky, on December 1, 1965, in which she states, "Our 7th grade classes study Kentucky during the fall semester. As a result of several articles in the Louisville Courier-Journal concerning the changing of the name of the Cumberland National Forest to the Daniel Boone National Forest, the classes have had many interesting discussions. They have talked about both sides of the issue and have come to the conclusion that the large majority favors changing the name to the Daniel Boone National Forest. Therefore, they wrote letters expressing their opinions in their own words and I have enclosed a number of them with this letter. Would you let us know the feelings of the Department of Agriculture and what the possibilities are of changing the name? Mrs. Joan Robertson."

On December 28, 1965, the Chairman of the McCreary County A.S.C. Committee sent to Senator Cooper the following resolution, "WHEREAS, the United States Forest Service has in the past, administered the Cumberland National Forest in a manner to be of great benefit to southeastern Kentucky and McCreary County, and

"WHEREAS, the leaders in this service have expressed a desire to change the name of the Cumberland National Forest to the Daniel Boone National Forest because, as they say, it will better identify and bring publicity to this particular area of the National Forest, and, WHEREAS, we have confidence in the leadership of the United States Forest Service.

"Now, therefore, we urge that their recommendation be taken and that this change in name be effected."

Another letter from the Chairman of the McCreary County Board of Education written to Senator John Sherman Cooper in Washington on January 11, 1966, states, "Upon a motion made by John Vahie and seconded by George Neal, the Board voted unanimously to express its approval of a change in the name of the United States forest lands in Kentucky from Cumberland National Forest to Daniel Boone National Forest."

Another significant supporting statement came in the form of a resolution from the Kentucky State Senate under the following:

"SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 43, Thursday, February 17, 1966, Senator Ed J. Kelly introduced the following resolution, which was ordered to be printed.

"A RESOLUTION requesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to change the name of the Cumberland National Forest to the Daniel Boone National Forest. WHEREAS, many civic organizations have gone on record as favoring the name Daniel Boone National Forest for the present Cumberland National Forest; and

"WHEREAS, Governor Edward T. Breathitt has indicated that he would assist in having the name of the National Forest changed to Daniel Boone National Forest; and

"WHEREAS, the life of Daniel Boone was more directly connected with the history of Kentucky and therefore it is fitting and proper to rename the Cumberland National Forest in his honor; NOW, THEREFORE,

"Be it resolved by the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky;

"Section 1 That the Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry Service, change the name of the Cumberland National Forest to the Daniel Boone National Forest.

"Section 2 That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Orville Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture and Edward Cliff, Chief of the Division of Forestry."

in the House of Representatives.

Another interesting incident which undoubtedly hastened the process of starting the government wheels turning in Washington occurred on February 16, 1966, in Lexington, Kentucky.

On that date the Third Annual Governors' Conference on Forestry was being held in Lexington, Kentucky. Banquet speaker for that conference was Edward P. Cliff, Chief, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. As Chief Cliff completed his banquet speech and was about to return to his seat on the platform, Gov. Breathitt, who was Chairman of the program that evening, called him back to the platform and commissioned him a Kentucky Colonel. After Chief Cliff had properly thanked the governor and was again about to return to his seat, the governor turned to him and said, "Just a minute, you understand that you are now a Colonel on my staff, do you not?" And Chief Cliff said, "Yes I do." Whereupon Gov. Breathitt said, "Now I would like you to expedite the changing of the name of the Cumberland National Forest to that of the Daniel Boone National Forest." Needless to say, this delighted the audience and when the uproar had subsided, Chief Cliff, now a Kentucky Colonel, assured Gov. Breathitt that he would take the necessary action.

Chief Cliff was as good as his word, and the following Monday morning a series of telephone calls from various divisions in the Chiefs office to the Forest Supervisor indicated that the wheels of government were turning.

Shortly after this, the necessary proclamation was drawn up and submitted to Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States, who signed it on April 11, 1966. On that date Kentucky's National Forest, which for approximately 30 years had been known as the Cumberland National Forest, was now henceforth officially known as the Daniel Boone National Forest. A copy of the Presidential proclamation is included in Appendix G.

Needless to say, planning was immediately started for a formal dedication of the newly proclaimed National Forest. In Kentucky, a special Daniel Boone National Forest Association was formed within the framework of the Kentucky Historical Society. Chairman of this association was Dr. Hambleton Tapp with W. A. Wentworth as Secretary. W. E. Caywood, Jr., publisher of the Clay City Times newspaper of Clay City, Kentucky, was designated Chairman of the Dedication Ceremony.

After some consultation it was decided that the dedication ceremony would be held at the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park at London, Kentucky. There was much "eyebrow raising" in Washington when it was reported that the ceremony would take place in a Kentucky State Park rather than on the National Forest itself. However, when it was explained that this State Park was located on the Old Wilderness Road, was famous as the site of two massive Indian massacres of settlers coming into Kentucky, and was adjacent to the Ranger Station of the London District, it was realized that this was an appropriate site for this ceremony.

After much planning, the date of Saturday, July 23, 1966, at 1:30 p.m., was selected for the dedication ceremony. Both Gov. Breathitt and Secretary of Agriculture Freeman had planned to take part in this ceremony, but an unexpected change of plans caused by a special emergency visit by the President of the United States to western Kentucky made it necessary that these dignitaries be represented by members of their staffs. When the day of the ceremony arrived, John A. Baker, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, represented Secretary Freeman and made the dedication speech. Edward P. Cliff, Chief, U.S. Forest Service, was present and also made a brief dedication speech. H. C. Erikson, Deputy Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service, Atlanta, Georgia, represented the Regional Forester, and also made a short address as a part of the ceremony.

The highlight and the drawing card of the event however, as well as the crowning honor of the Forest, came in the participation of actor Fess Parker, internationally famous as carrying the role of Daniel Boone in that television series nationwide. Mr. Parker travelled all night by airplane in order to be present at the ceremony. Prior to the ceremony, his gracious attention to everyone he met charmed all, young and old, men and women. By his friendly graciousness and his willingness to sign autographs and otherwise to participate in the ceremony, he was the outstanding feature of the dedication. His brief talk from the platform was undoubtedly the highlight of the entire ceremony for the some 5,000 people gathered in the amphitheatre of the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park on that hot afternoon.

Many other people and organizations participated in the dedication program, including a selected group from the Pine Knot Job Corps Center, a color guard from the Governor's Corps of Kentucky Longriflemen who fired a salute with their muzzleloading flintlock rifles, members of the cast of the pageant Wilderness Road, then playing at the amphitheatre at Berea, members of the pageant, Legend of Daniel Boone, then playing at the amphitheatre at Harrodsburg. Needless to say, both Dr. Tapp and Editor Caywood did an outstanding job of welcoming the guests and serving as masters of ceremonies. All went off smoothly and well thanks to the literally dozens of Forest officers, members of the State Department of Publicity, the State Police, and others who willingly helped with the arrangements, the ceremony, the parking and the functioning. It is impossible here to give credit to all who served so faithfully on this occasion, but their names are inscribed in the files covering the name change and this ceremony which is in the Forest Supervisor's Office in Winchester marked for permanent retention in the open file.

Subsequent experience with the administration of the National Forest under the new title of Daniel Boone National Forest has more than justified the recommendations and the action taken for the name change. The new name and the signs bearing it are of prime interest to tourists. One incident illustrated this new interest very well. For the 30 years that this National Forest had been named the Cumberland National Forest, no one could remember of having seen a tourist having his picture taken in front of one of the National Forest signs; yet, following the name change and the change of the National Forest identification sign, it was a common sight to see a tourist stop by the side of the road, line his family up in front of a Daniel Boone National Forest identification sign and take their picture. We felt that this item very definitely illustrated the added attraction of the name Daniel Boone to the National Forest visitor.

As a momento of the dedication ceremony, the leading participants were given miniatures of the Daniel Boone National Forest identification roadsign sign. It was most gratifying to the Forest officers of the Daniel Boone to be informed a number of years later that this miniature sign still remained prominently displayed in the office of Chief Cliff of the U.S. Forest Service in Washington. In addition, replicas of the proclamation were prepared in a form suitable for framing and were presented to many important dignitaries who had assisted with the name change.