A History of the Daniel Boone National Forest 1770 - 1970

When Daniel Boone returned from his exploring trip to the head of the Big Sandy to his home and farm on the Yadkin, it was apparent to all that his heart was not in it. As he paused in his farmwork or sat before his fireplace with his family in the evening, his gaze would drift to the blue of the mountains to the west. His old desire, born of the campfire stories of the Braddock army days to see the lush lands of Kentucky which lay beyond them, would well up again and again to fill his thoughts. In each man's life there are times and events which, when viewed in retrospect, definitely mark a milestone in his life. For Daniel Boone this was the year of 1769. In the early spring of that year an itinerant backwoods peddler wended his way slowly down the Yadkin Valley Road and, in due course, stopped at the Boone cabin to display his wares of fine cloth, needles, bright ribbons and similar items not readily available on the frontier and dear to the heart of the pioneer women and girls. This peddler was John Findley, a campfire companion and fellow teamster of Daniel Boone's Braddock campaign days. Needless to say, he was invited to stable his pack animals and welcomed to share the food and lodging of the Boone family, which afforded an opportunity to exchange with Daniel the stories of their respective adventures of the past 14 years.

His stories of Es-kip-pa-kith-i-ki and the wonders he had seen in Kaintuck' (as some called it) again thrilled Daniel Boone and held his family and his neighbors spellbound. These stories so impressed his listeners that some of them remembered John Findley and his stories of the wonders of Kaintuck' vividly many years later. Night after night, before the fireplace of the Boone home or in the local tavern, John Findley expounded on the wonders he had seen in Kentucky. Game in abundance and variety such as no man had ever seen. Deer at every lick, buffalo herds so large they could not be counted with their traces serving as trails through the great patches of lush cane; wild ducks and geese along the Ohio, in great flocks like clouds, available for the taking — it was a hunter's dream come true. The land was such as every settler dreamed of — fertile, green, lush, well watered, and available without limit for the taking. Indians, although he had seen no permanent villages there, from those Findley had encountered, seemed friendly. Certainly experienced woodsmen with rifles would be in little danger.

It was also found that John Findley wanted to return there for more trading, but he wanted to travel overland with saddle and packhorses to avoid that difficult and dangerous trip on the Ohio with an overloaded canoe. He was not a woodsman, and he needed a skillful woodsman who could guide him to Kentucky and who was experienced in the ways of the wilderness and with hostile Indians. His old Army friend, Daniel Boone, just happened to meet all of these requirements.

In retrospect, one wonders if John Findley's meeting with the Boones on the Yadkin was by change or by design. Had he heard of Boone and his exploits in the frontier towns, and did he connect his name with the boy teamster of the Braddock days? One can only wonder whether it was chance, fate, or design that brought them together again. The stories of the wonders of Kentucky had again fanned into flame those embers of desire to see Kentucky which had smouldered in Daniel Boone's mind for the past 14 years. Findley had his pigeon ripe for the picking.

In the spring of 1769, North Carolina was filled with apprehension and discontent. The hand of the Royal Governor was heavy upon the land. The Regulators led the revolt with lawless acts and mob rule which, in one case, caused Boone's friend, Judge Henderson, to flee from the bench when a mob took over his court and the militia was required to restore order. Although the Regulators were defeated and scattered at the Alamance, the bitterness that had spawned them remained. The Royal Governor of North Carolina, Governor William Tryon, was brutal, overbearing, and blood-thirsty, as he tried to bully the courts into executing more citizens. As a result of this discontent, North Carolina families were drifting as far west as possible to get out of the reach of the government. The deep fertile valleys of the Clinch, Powells Valley, and the Watauga country were filling up with families caught up in a movement to the frontier. All that separated these people from Kentucky were the high limestone cliffs and the rough, impassable terrain of the Cumberland Mountains.

Judge Henderson and his associates were fully aware of the situation, and considered the time favorable to launch their dream of a land empire — but where? The desires of Daniel Boone and the needs of Judge Henderson appear to have complemented each other. Fate, in the form of a summons for Boone to appear in court in Salisbury in March of 1769, brought them together again, where Judge Henderson represented Boone in legal action. Apparently anticipating an opportunity for discussion with Judge Henderson, John Findley and John Stewart, Daniel Boone's brother-in-law accompanied him to court in Salisbury. While there, the three of them discussed with Judge Henderson their plan of an extended trip deep into Kentucky. Such a trip would be expensive, and none of the three possessed the financial capability which such a trip would require. It is not known as to the extent which Judge Henderson encouraged them to make this trip to Kentucky, or whether he agreed to underwrite a part of its cost, but we do know he was in need of additional information as to the suitability of the Kentucky country for the plan of colonization which was growing in his mind. Here was a man who could obtain this information for him. It is only logical that, when they parted, there was an understanding between Boone and Henderson.

Immediately following their trip to Salisbury, Boone, Stewart and Findley agreed definitely on a plan to travel deep into Kentucky, hunting and trapping while there as a means of financing their trip, with a bit of profit, if all went well. Plans for the trip were started at once. The season was right — spring and summer ahead of them promised favorable weather. Supplies must be considered carefully. While they could live-off-the-land for most of their food after they arrived in Kentucky, they would still need salt and flour. In addition, they must have a plentiful supply of powder, lead, blankets, traps, camp equipment and supplies, which included gun repair tools and extra parts, such as springs and screws, which would be difficult to make in the wilderness. Horses for riding and pack purposes must be secured, as well as saddles and other horse gear. Certainly an expense of this magnitude was beyond the financial means of these three. It appears almost certain that Judge Henderson either financed the trip or at least arranged for a loan to the three partners, with himself as part of the security.

As a part of the plan, three hired camp-tenders were to be included in the party; William Cooley, Joseph Holden and James Mooney. Their duties, in addition to the regular camp chores, would be to keep the company in meat, working the traplines, stretching and tending the skins, caring for the horses, and similar duties, which would leave Boone, Stewart and Findley free to hunt and to explore. A sound plan, born of experience. It would take several weeks to get all of this equipment and supplies together, and the three started immediately on their tasks.

While preparing for this wilderness adventure, Boone and his companions considered the most desirable route to follow. Boone and Stewart were familiar with the country across the Blue Ridge, and they knew of Cumberland Gap, probably from stories brought back by Dr. Walker and the Long Hunters but, beyond that, they had little information. Findley had reached Es-kip-pa-kith-i-ki by travel south from the Ohio with the Indians, so he had no knowledge of trails or terrain between Cumberland Gap and the Shawnee town, which appears to have been their initial general destination in Kentucky.

John Filson, in his famous book, The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke, published in 1784, quotes Daniel Boone as describing the start of his initial trip as stating, "It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America, in quest of the country of Kentucky, in company with John Findley, John Stewart, Joseph Holden, James Mooney and William Cooley." Daniel's brother, Squire Boone, who was also to participate in the trip, had agreed to stay behind and assist the women of both families in planting and harvesting the crops and would follow with fresh supplies, joining the party in Kentucky in the late fall or early winter. This arrangement proved to be most fortunate.

Initially, the route lay through country familiar to Boone and Stewart, through Moccasin Gap, across Clinch Mountain, over Walden's Ridge and Powell Mountain, then up Powells Valley to Cumberland Gap, beyond which none of them had ever traveled.

On reaching the Powell Valley and approaching Cumberland Gap, Boone's party, to their surprise, encountered a group of about 20 men, under the leadership of Joseph Martin of Albemarle County, Virginia, busily engaged in the establishment of a settlement. They had already cleared the ground and were in the process of building cabins and planting corn. This was the settlement enterprise of Dr. Walker, who had traveled through Cumberland Gap and through Eastern Kentucky in 1750. This settlement, known as Martin's Station, was to become a well-known stopping point on the Wilderness Road and the last point of civilization before the final plunge through Cumberland Gap and into the wilderness of Kentucky. As Boone and his companions continued their travel and approached the break in the mountains made famous by Dr. Walker and his party some 19 years earlier, they were impressed with the ruggedness of the mountains on either side of the Gap. On their right, a sheer cliff loomed some 1,500 feet above them, while a smaller, rounded hill formed the other side of the narrow, v-shaped defile through which their trail led. As they climbed to the saddle of the Gap which marks the divide between the drainages of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, each man must have experienced a thrill at finally entering the fabled land of Kentucky. This was a particularly significant moment for Daniel Boone, who had dreamed of this visit since his Braddock Army days some 14 years previously. Now, he would see for himself the wonders of Kentucky.

As the little party entered the Gap, they left behind them the last of the Country known to any of them. Ahead lay unknown trails.

In 1769, frontiersmen traveling the western mountains were aware of the ancient Indian road used by all of the tribes in traveling the country west of the Blue Ridge, which was called Athawominee, meaning "the path of the armed ones," or commonly known as "The Warrior's Path." This ancient trail originated at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers where they formed the Ohio. It followed the Ohio southward to the mouth of the Kanawha River, then up the Kanawha and along New River, across the divide and down the Clinch, through the Powell Valley and through Cumberland Gap. It was at this point that Boone and his party first found and traveled the Warrior's Path.

From Cumberland Gap, the Warrior's Path ran north, crossing the Cumberland River near the present city of Pineville, Kentucky; then crossing the divide between the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers; following down Goose Creek, passing the present town of Manchester in Clay County, Kentucky; proceeding northwest to the vicinity of Gray Hawk in Jackson County, Kentucky. From that point, it followed down Station Camp Creek, crossing the Kentucky River at the present town of Irvine and continuing west and north, crossing the Red River near its junction with the Kentucky. This trail continued to the vicinity of Es-kip-pa-kith-i-ki, known today as Indian Old Fields, located about 10 miles east of Winchester, Kentucky. From that point, the Warrior's Path turned to the northeast, passing near Mt. Sterling, following Slate Creek to its mouth, where it crossed the Licking River and continued northeast to the Ohio River, where it crossed near the present-day city of Portsmouth, Ohio. From that point, the Warrior's Path continued north up the valley of the Scioto River and on to Lake Erie.

Boone and his companions crossed through Cumberland Gap and continued on the Warrior's Path, which followed a meandering creek, whose waters had a yellowish cast from the sulphur picked up as it flowed over the soft coal deposits of the area. This was Yellow Creek, which would be known to the many travelers of the Wilderness Road in the years ahead. They continued on the Warrior's Path, fording the Cumberland River near the present town of Pineville, and continuing on about eight miles to Flat Lick, where Indians had frequently camped in the past to boil the waters to make salt. At this point, Boone and his friends left the Warrior's Path following a trail blazed by hunters until they reached the vicinity of the Rockcastle River, where the hunters' trail turned sharply to the west. Here, they left the hunters' trail and turned north through a heavily timbered and broken country which showed no evidence of previous travel by white man or Indians, and which, today, is a part of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Camping briefly on the headwaters of the Rockcastle River to hunt, they continued, crossing the divide between the Cumberland River drainage and the drainage of the Kentucky River, making camp on what is now Red Lick, a fork of Station Camp Creek. The campsite and surrounding country appearing desirable, they decided to establish a base camp at this location, construct shelter for themselves and their equipment, and explore the country. They named the creek Station Camp, as this was to be their operating headquarters or station for some time. They arrived at this location on June 7, 1769, having been on the trail some five weeks from their start on the Yadkin in North Carolina.