LOCATI ON OF THE WILD ERNES S ROAD AT

CUMB ERLAND GAP NATI ONAL HI ST ORICAL PARK

by Jer e L Kr akow

August 1987

United S ta te s Department of the Interior National Park Service

CONT ENT S

Chapter 1 : Wilderness Road : Introduction and Overview 1 Overview 1 Literature 4

Chapter 2 : Cumberland Gap National Historical Park : Setting and Assumptions 9 Physical Setting 10 Cumb erland Mountains 13 Climate 13 Vegetation 14 Wildlife 1 5 Assumptions 15

Chapter 3 : Wilderness Road : Animal Trace to Modern Highway Antecedents 20 Anglos 21 Government Expenditures Virginia 27 Turnpike Era Kentucky 35 Road Standards 37 Turnpike Era Virginia 39 Road Standards 40 Canal 46 Object Lesson Road 47 D ixie Highway 50

Chapter 4 : Wilderness Road Location At Cumberland Gap National Historical Park : Sources and Evidence 52 Cartographic Sources 52 Eighteenth Century 53 Early Nineteenth Century 54 Civil War 5 5 Late Nineteenth Century 63 Twentieth Century 65 Sketches And Photographs 67 Travel Accounts » And Recollections 72

Chapter 5 : Wilderness Road Location : Findings and Conclusions 76

App endices 83 A : Text of Virginia L egislation Marking and Opening Road Over 7 1 7 9 . 5 Cumb erland Mountains , October 8

John Kinkead Petitions Virginia Legislature for Payment , m 1 1 7 1 . 7 Dece b er , 8 8 Bill for Services and Supplies in Road Building Over

20 1 7 1 . Cumberland Mountain , April , 8 88

Virginia Law Removing Obstructions on Wilderness Road ,

2 5 1 790 . 92 Decemb er ,

Virginia Law Ordering Mili tary Protection Along Wilderness Road ,

27 1 790 . 93 November , Act of Virginia to Op en Wagon Road to Top of Cumberland

1 7 1 792 . 9 4 Mountain , Novemb er , Letter by Daniel Boone Applying for Contract to Improve

1 1 1 79 6 . 95 Wilderness Road , February , Kentucky Gazette Announcement the Wilderness Road Open for

1 5 1 79 6 . 96 Wagons , October , E for ngineer H J . Eastin Report on Standar ds and Expenditures 9 7 Crab Orchard to Cumberland Gap Turnpike . Virginia Law Establishing Turnpike from Cumberland G ap

21 1 05 . 101 to Moccasin Gap , December , 8 m Christopher Greenup Protests Toll Gate at Cu b erland Gap ,

1 2 1 806 . 104 September , Virginia Legislation to Move Toll Gate from Immediate

2 1 07 . 106 Cumberland Gap Area , January , 8 on ' Toll Rates Price s Turnpike and Cumberland Gap Road ,

1 2 1 43 . 1 07 April , 8 Livestock Droving Census at Cumberland Ford an d - 1 22 1 50 . 10 Cumb erland Gap , 8 8 8

m 23 1 836 . Proposed Canal System Via Cu berland Gap , February , 1 1 5 3 1910 . Obj ect Lesson Road Summary , March ,

mb 14 190 . 11 7 Final Report on Obj ect Lesson Road , Dece er , 8 for Metes and Bounds Legal Description Green Clay Tract ,

9 1 06 . 1 26 April , 8

Illustrations 1 29

Maps 1 69

Bibliography 201

iv I LLU S T RATIONS

Prominently located in the sketch are the upper and lower Virginia

roads looking toward Cumberland Gap from the southeast .

0 ° The View is 8 west of north looking across saddle of Gap ,

Kentucky Road and Yellow Creek Basin on right .

Drawn by an engineer in the Army of the Confederacy commanded L by Gen . Braxton Bragg , the View looks east across ittle Yellow

Creek Valley toward Cumberland Gap .

Taken by an anonymous photographer during the Civil War - of ( 1861 1865 ) from the settlement Cumberland Gap , Tennessee ,

toward Cumberland Gap .

A View of the Cumberland Gap massif with the upper and lower

Virginia roads prominently shown .

Harry Fenn also sketched a View of the bridge over the saddle of ' the Gap and a corner of the Jones store in 1872 .

In the foreground is the mill complex alongside the stream d o emanati ng from Cu j Cave .

A View of the saddle of the Gap looking west with structures of ' the bridge and Jones store in the right center .

From the Tennessee side of Cumberland Gap one can glimpse the

physical setting and a sense of the road .

1 of This 888 photograph from the area Cumberland Gap , i Tennessee , prov des insight into the lower Virginia Road , the rapid growth of timb er on hillsides that only twenty odd years before were barren ; depicts extant structures in the saddle of the

Gap .

A panoramic view of the Virginia and Tennessee side of

Cumberland Mountain looking northeast .

A close - up View of a portion of Illustration

This excellent photograph of the saddle portion of Cumberland Gap demonstrates the narrowness of the locale and gives a View of the

bridge and commercial structures adjacent to it .

The obj ect lesson road built across Cumberland Mountain by the - U . S D . epartment of Roads ( U SDA ) in 1907 1908 is depicted here .

4 15 a . From the period of the 19203 this photograph serves to document of the upper road (white railing alongside it) , portions the lower

road and the iron furnace complex in lower center . 4 . 1 5b The other half of the previous photograph shows remnants of the of lower road , a small portion the railroad at left and the

continuation of the railing along the upper road .

Taken approximately in the later 19303 the character of the saddle

portion has changed considerably due to highway construction .

A 19403 ( early 19503 ) depiction of the saddle of Cumberland Gap

with a widened and leveled appearance .

This is the earliest known aerial photograph ( 1939 ) of the Vicinity

at Cumberland Gap .

Vi MAPS

' G a . 1 . Price s Turnpike and Cumberland p Road

" of 2 . A General Map the New Settlement called Transylvania ,

1 776 . including the notation of Cumberland Gap ,

" " of 1 793 . 3 . A Map of the State Kentucky , by Imlay ,

4 " of of . A Map the Tennessee Government formerly Part North "

1 794 . Carolina , depicts Kentucky Road ,

" " 5 . Map of the State of Kentucky ; with the Adjoining Territories , by

794 . . 1 J Russell ,

' 6 . Mu ns ell s map of Kentucky including Wilderness Road and

Cumb erland Gap .

" " 1 ? 7 . 49 Virginia and Kentucky Railroad Survey , 8

L 8 . Survey discrepancy in Walker and Henderson Survey ine , late

eighteenth century .

9 . P . William Jones map of Civil War era at Cumberland Gap , drawn

from memory in 1899 .

10 . Lower ( Tennessee ) and upper Virginia roads at Cumberland Gap ,

late nineteenth century .

1 " 11 . Mile 2 8 of Louisville and Nashville Railroad where old state road

crossed Cumberland Gap .

" " 12 . e 1930 . Old Cumberland Gap Road , near Colson Prop rty ,

13 . Switchback route as cending Cumberland Mountain from Gap Creek .

14 . of Route lower Virginia Road from Cumberland Gap , Tennessee

of 1936 . toward the summit Cumberland Gap ,

15 . Road configuration on Kentucky side of Cumberland Mountain ,

193 7 .

Figure Historical Vicinity Map

Figure The Topography of the Wilderness Road at Cumberland

Gap National Historical Park .

Figure The Trail Sy stem of the Southeastern United States ; note

Trail No . 5 and the trail network converging on Cumberland Gap .

- Figure Warriors Path as shown on Pownall Evans Map . Figure Tennessee (lower Virginia ) and Virginia Road portions of

1 833 . Wilderness Road near Cumberland Gap ,

Figure The Route of the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap

National Historical Park .

v 1 62 . Figure Ci il War Map , 8

1 6 . Figure Green Clay Tract Along Little Yellow Creek , 80

\Illl ACKN OWL EDGEMENT S

In order to determine with preciseness the location o f the historic

o f Wilderness Road , the author accumulated many debts in the course the study ; I wish to thank the following institutions and staff members :

Denver Public Library ; Filson Club ; Kentucky Department o f Libraries and Archives and James Prichard ; Kentucky Historical Society and Mary

Margaret B ell ; Middle s boro/B ell County Library and Linda Evans ; Missouri

Historical Society ; National Society Daughters of the American Revolution ;

State Historical Society of Wisconsin ; Tennessee State Library and

Archives ; Virginia Historical Society ; and the Virginia State Library .

University repositories assisting include the Margaret I . King Library

of - of University Kentucky , Norlin Library University Colorado and the

University of Louisville Library . Important aid was provided by the

Kentucky Department of Highways , the Huber Corporation and the

Seaboard System Railroad .

Considerable assistance to the effort came from the National Archives B and Records Administration , its Cartographic and Architectural ranch ,

- particularly Robert E . Richardson ; the General B ranch Civil Archives

B - Division ; and the Still Pictures ranch Special Archives Division . The

Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress also provided

for th e much assistance study .

f Many individuals rom the National Park Service , Denver Service

: C . K . Center , contributed Frederick Babb , Jerome A Greene , Ruth A .

. E . f . Larison , Nan V Rickey , Robert Schref ler , Mary L Tidd , and Robert

H . Todd . To former and present staff of Cumberland G ap National

: B . B Historical Park I owe thanks Frederick H . oyles and Daniel A rown ,

. O historians ; and Roy M Sanborn , superintendent . ther assistance came

D e Ros s et W . . D . . from Patricia C , Leishman , Mary Frances Lundy , Lois R

Turner , and Francis Wolfe . Federal Highway Administration staff at Cumberland Gap also helped

ff . : . R . me J Campbell , Donald Gra and Warren Lutz Others to whom I

am indebted are Charles Castner , Thomas P Field , Neal O . Hammon and

D eVo s e Ron Lee . A special thanks to Louis r y and Charles W . Wilson for files and records which helped shorten my research immeasurably Errors of mm omission and co ission are mine and mine alone .

G a 21 1968 . Aerial view of Cumberland p vicinity , November ,

- - of 1 45 B U G 5 186 . Courtesy the National Archives , Record Group , JJ

central Kentucky by way of Cumberland Gap and the Cumberland River 2 Gorge through Pine Mountain ( Pineville ) . At Hazel Patch the road

forked with one leg north to Boonesborough and the other northwestward

H . to Crab Orchard , arrodsburg and eventually Louisville

During the early historic and prehistoric periods the route had

origins as a game trail and path used by numerous native populations . A variety of animal trails existed on portions of what became the Wilderness

Road , principally near and through Cumb erland Gap . Of major

significance for locating the route through the gap was the migration of

to bison from grazing area grazing area , but more especially to and from

salt licks in Virginia , Tennessee and Kentucky . Thes e well defined

traces , sometimes several yards wide , were used by a variety of Indian

for . groups purposes of hunting , trade and warfare The trace or Warriors Path through Cumberland Gap had extensive use made of it by

Shawnee , Cherokee and other eastern woodland tribes . In short , native

peoples , and in due course , explorers , long hunters and land

via speculators , had access east and west a network of existing trails and

traces first used by animals . Following the vanguard came a floodtide of

to settlers , intent upon opening the great west agriculture , commerce and

industry .

As a transportation route the Wilderness Road provided a Vital link

- between the seaboard and the trans Appalachian country . It served as a pathway for exploration and settlement ; a return route for

Ohio - Mississippi River tra ffi cer s ; a route by which to lay claim to the

Mississippi River drainage during and after the American Revolution ; an access point for many settlers into the old southwest which in turn spawned further settlement to and beyond the Mississippi ; a vital communication line for information and passage of travelers ; and a source mm of much trade and co erce , esp ecially livestock .

2 Ibid LI TERATURE

of Through the years a number studies , books and articles , have

or focused on the Wilderness Road , including locating the original route f portions thereof . This study attempts to identi y as closely as possible the route through Cumberland Gap National Historical Park ; it is prompted by the relocation of Highway 25 E away from the Gap and

s o through a tunnel under Cumberland Mountain . In doing the study is a linear descendant of the several studies preceding it and has thereby

profitted accordingly .

Among the most important studies is that of Thomas Speed , The

of of Wilderness Road , which presents a narrative account the antecedents

of the road , general description the route , improvements made and the s historical significance of it . Speed uses a number of traveler accounts

of as descriptions terrain , landmarks , weather , road and stream ford

conditions , distance between points and dangers encountered . A chronological approach serves as an organizational scheme which conveys the role of major participants in the establishment and development of the

road . Speed includes several primary documents in the text which facilitate a reader or researcher interested in various aspects of the

Wilderness Road . In determining the significance of the route , Speed emphasizes the directness of the route for settlers to the old southwest f o . and the involvement travelers in economic , political or military affairs

For purposes of identifying specific locations of the road it is of very

limited use .

6 " of Another of the studies , Volume in the Historic Highways

"

. H America Series by Archer B ulbert , presents an idealized look at the

O f Travel 4

Wilderness Road and major historical figures associated with it . He underscores the historical significance of the artery as a conduit of f settlers , protecting the rontier during the American Revolution , the most direct path east from the settlements along the Ohio River and a nucleus of settlement in the old southwest and old northwest which laid solid claim

' to the Mississippi valley . Borrowing from Speed s study and with limited

documentation , Hulbert waxes romantic much of the time . In a similar B vein H . Addington ruce wrote a similar piece which glorifies the road a 5 and its founders , particularly D niel Boone . An undocumented work , it

conveys the image of considerable hardship , pluck , courage and ultimately

o th e triumph f civilization over the wilderness .

A relatively well documented work by Charles A . Hanna utilizes

of extant traveler accounts the route down the Great Valley of Virginia ,

' 6 through Powell s Valley and Cumberland Gap into Kentucky . Hanna rather carefully traces the role of Indians in the Ohio Valley and the routes of the Warriors Path through Cumberland Gap and northeasterly

of of into Virginia . In the course the book a good bit Indian place name

and site specific information is made available . Details from the journeys o f John Finley and Dr . Thomas Walker provide evidence of Wilderness

Trail locations in the area around Cumberland Gap .

191 1 to Another book also published in , devoted much attention 7 roads of eastern Kentucky , in particular the Wilderness Road . The

' 4 . ew : Archer B . Hulbert . Boone s Wilderness Road ( N York AMS 90 1 3 edltlon . Press , reprint of

5 . H . Addington Bruce . Daniel Boone And The Wilderness Road ( New

: 1910 . York The Macmillan Company , 5

6 . New . H . : Charles A anna The Wilderness Trail , Volume Two ( York AMS Press , reprint of 191 1 edi ti on .

7 . ortation Mary Verhoeff . The Kentuck Mountains Trans and Commerce 1750 to 1911 A Study g ; ti e Econom1o History oi a Coal ferr . H re 19 11 . P Morton Company , 5 ereafter r author , Mary Verhoeff , uses a chronological app oach in the section on transportation and documents much information pertaining to construction

no and maintenance of roads . Though information on exact and detailed r locations of the road is included , much other specific info mation related

to state expenditures , toll charges and improvements can be found . Well

documented and significant , in part because Verhoeff represents the first

woman published by the Filson Club , the book contains much valuable

information pertaining to the Wilderness Road in Kentucky .

The first attempt to detail precise locations of the route occurred in 8 1921 ' o with the publication of William A . Pusey s bo k . A physician by

17 2 of training , Pusey utilized a 8 journal the road kept by his

grandfather William Brown . In corroboration with Brown he used studies by Thomas Speed and John Filson and field reconnaisance to plot locations on topographic maps at a scale of from the Blockhouse on the

H to ' olston River Harrodsburg and Boonesborough . Du e to the map s

scale the area at Cumberland Gap is very small , thus better detail can be

found in the text descriptions . Accompanying the maps and text are 1919 1920 1921 several photos likely taken in , and , which depict many

important sites and road conditions along the route .

1947 ’ L . o Originally published in , Robert Kincaid s book n the 9

Wilderness Road has gone through four editions . Likely the most

- of popular book length treatment the topic , it weaves together many

to diverse vignettes of history related the road . Kincaid drew upon valuable primary and secondary sources and interviewed several resource

people during his research . It does not seek to identify specific locations for the length of the road but does provide much diverse information in a

9 . L . Robert Kincaid . The Wilderness Road . chronological framework . The Kincaid study includes . a useful

bibliography for students of the Wilderness Road .

During the forepart of the 19703 the National Park S ervice contracted with the Geography Department of the University of Georgia for a research study to identify the location of the Wilderness Road within

and nearby Cumberland Gap National Historical Park . The assignment

went to a doctoral candidate , Charles W . Wilson , who submitted a 10 significant interim report .

Wilson conducted an impressive amount of research in primary

sources ranging across travelers accounts , many cartographic sources and

of aerial photography ; records counties , toll roads , highway departments ,

livestock droving , stagecoaching , freighting and the Kentucky land office

' He and governor s papers ; plus laws of Virginia and Kentucky . concluded the report with a series of topographic maps accompanied by annotation which identify the location of the Wilderness Road from Rose

H . ill , Virginia , to the Cumberland Ford at Pineville , Kentucky The maps do not for pinpoint location the entire study area ; however , in certain

areas , supplemented by the text , they provide precise location .

Unfortunately because of personal circumstances Wilson did not complete a

final report .

Another study of note combines traditional research and

" 11 air hotointer retation or D p p remote s ensing methodology . Clarke unlap defined the study area as Cumberland Gap to Fort Boonesboro State Park

" 10 . . P L De Vors e . Charles W Wilson and rofessor ouis y , Jr Preliminary Research Report : Wilderness Road Cumb erland Gap Historical " N 63 Geography Research Proj ect , ( unpublished , ovember pp . " Herea er to De Vor s e referred as Wilson and y , Preliminary Research f' éeport g

" 11 . D Clarke unlap . A Remote S ensing Pilot Study On The Problem Of Locating And Mapping The Boone ' s Trace Portion Of The Historic Wilderness Road In Kentucky : 1775 (unpublished typewritten manuscript , 181 pp . with a focus on Boone ’ s Trace ( 1775 - 1792 ) before the Wilderness Road

improvement of 1795 . From journals and travel accounts plus secondary

literature , the author detected locations and features , then in combination m with land survey records , aerial photos , photogram etry , remote sensing and edge enhancement techniques identified relict segments of Boone ' s

Trace . Dunlap concluded that ground truthing and land survey records should be used in tandem to corroborate information from traditional

sources and remote sensing techniques . A final conclusion suggests that the National Park S ervice is best able to bring to bear an

interdisciplinary approach to the location of the trace or road .

Through the years no journal articles address the question of

of N specific locations in the area of Cumberland Gap save those eal O . 9 H . 1 70 ammon Writing in , he declared an intent to document the location t 12 of his oric roads before they disappeared from the scene . After a general discussion Hammon focuses on segments of the route (road and trace used interchangeably ) beginning at Cumberland Gap extending

' on to H northward Boone s Trace azel Patch , to the Kentucky River , and

’ via S S ’ L ' kaggs Trace to aint Asaph s ( ogan s Fort) . He devotes a final

to 79 section road improvements after 1 5 by the state of Kentucky . The article documents specific locations of historic Kentucky roads through a

of combination traveler accounts , land survey records and field observations

Literature about the Wilderness Road and the traces associated with

it is numerous and of very mixed quality . Many articles in popular magazines and scholarly journals exist for the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries , but few accurately address specific locations for such as the

vicinity of Cumberland Gap . Most notable for purposes of this study is

drawing upon s everal sources and disciplines including those above , in

of order to pinpoint locations the road .

Various delays stymied the proj ect but ultimately a consulting firm

presented a set of alternatives which included the present design . Another delay resulted from contentions over which agency would take the

lead ; finally the Office of Management and Budget declared the Park

197 for Service would fulfill the role . A revised Master Plan ( 8 ) called highway relocation and funding from Congress became available that year

from the Highway Trust Fund . The estimate for the entire proj ect in

1979 totaled over a six - year period with the actual proj ect

subj ect to various additional delays due to funding cuts . Figure

shows the route of the highway relocation presently in progress .

A concern for the historical resources associated with the highway relocation proj ect and restoration of the Wilderness Road prompted the

initiation of a Historic Resource Study b eginning in the fall of 1984 . Its purpose : to determine the location of the Wilderness Road through the

park , plus assemble a base map and set of historic photos , sketches and

maps .

PHYSICAL S ETTING

Physical characteristics of the landscape and human adaptation to them is integral to understanding the setting of Cumberland Gap and the

of location the route ( s ) through the park . An admixture of geology ,

physiography , climate and natural resources explains much about human

of patterns use in the immediate surroundings related to the Gap .

Old describes the Appalachian Mountain system when compared to the f o . f Rockies the western United States Once a sea , the upli ting action deposited the s ediments as the uppermost rock typ es which has since d been subj ected to consi erable erosion , mostly through significant

Not t precipitation and human activity . subj ected o uplifts and tectonic

10 A P H IS TO RY G A P NAT IO NA L H IS TO R ICA L P A R K

D STATES D E PARTM ENT O F TH E I NTER IO R AL P AR K S E RVI C E D E NVE R S E RVI C E C E NTER

GAP IVA T/0 /VA L

H/S TO R/0 .4 L

3 8 0 J UN 8 7 DSC

’ u activity as in the west , the Appalachians are quite stable and made p of 3 many subdivisions . The Gap is in the Cumberland Mountains section .

Cumberland Mountains

Extending some 1 50 miles northeast to southwest and some 25 miles

wide , the Cumberland Mountains encompass portions of Tennessee , 4

Kentucky and Virginia . Unique because of being bounded by geologic

one faults , in particular which forms Pine Mountain and the other

Cumberland Mountain , a differential erosion pattern created nearly 5 of vertical mountainsides in places . Notable as well is the coincidence gaps at Pine and Cumberland mountains which served as conduits of

G a travel for game and humans . Cumberland p , formed initially by a stream and then an upthrust which diverted the stream northward to the

Cumberland River , subsequently was enlarged and fashioned by wind and 6 of weather . The dominance landscape determined pathways for migration which influenced settlement patterns in the course of America ' s westering

experience .

CLIMATE

' A wide variety of climates exi s t in the Appalachian Plateaus due to

latitude and altitude . For the Cumberland Mountains the climate is principally a moderate one with the average yearly temperature at

3 . . U la ck . Karl B Raitz and Richard with Thomas R Leinbach , : Appalachia A Reg ional Geog raphy ( Boulder , Colorado Westview Press , 0 - . 4 4 f 1 . pp , ( herea ter cited as Raitz , Appalachia )

4 . man . F enn e E Nevin M , Physiog raphy Of astern United States ( New

5 . . 5 . 1 . Ibid ; Raitz , Appalachia , p

- 6 . . . 3 Ibid , pp 30 332 .

13 50 Middlesboro , Kentucky , degrees and the annual precipitation

inches . Moisture falls rather evenly through the year but the late

of summer and early fall period is somewhat drier . Western slopes the

Cumberland Mountains receive more moisture as the prevailing westerly air

masses rise over the mountains causing cooling , condensation and 7 f 3 - 6 consequent precipitation . Occasional snowfall each year drops rom

f . inches per all , perhaps as many as six times each winter Drainage of

f of f precipitation is to the Gul Mexico , though by di fering routes

‘ depending upon which s id e of the Cumberlands it falls . On the west the

Yellow Creek drainage flows northward to the Cumberland River , while on f the east , the low is southwesterly via the Powell , Clinch and Tennessee rivers

VEGETATION

Vegetation exhibits a great diversity at and near Cumberland Gap

O which is consistent with variances in climate and altitude . riginally the

of : forests contained a number species (mixed mesophytic) red oak ,

tu li tr ee white oak , beech , chestnut , basswood , sugar maple , hemlock , p 8 f and sweet buckeye . This Virgin orest thrived in moist , deep soils and

d " of tu li tr ees prove a boon to early s ettlers who reported , stands p , 5 f sugar maple , beech and oak that were eet m) or more in

" 9 o diameter . Variation f trees could be observed as latitude or altitude changed and an evolution from one forest type to another took place f across physiographic provinces . Many species comprised the orest f f f understory and ranged rom erns to lowers and herbs , mountain laurel

to rhododendron .

7 - . 5 1 3 . . 5 Raitz , Appalachia , p

I 8 . . . 6 . bid , p 8

- 9 . . 70 7 . Ibid , pp . 1

14 WILDLIF E

of A hospitable combination climate , Vegetation , water and

topography served to enhance habitat for many kinds of wildlife in the

Cumberland Mountains . Large game including deer , elk , bear and bison inhabited the region with th e latter especially preeminent in providing easy access because of traces laid down through migrations to grazing

m of areas and salt licks . Nu erous sp ecies small game abounded too , B ranging from squirrels and raccoon to repti les and foxes . ird life

of included wild turkey , grouse , owls , hawks and many kinds songbirds f In short , arriving Anglos had a rich variety of wildlife rom which to

draw sustenance and pleasure .

ASSUMPTION S

Several assumptions guided this study to identify the location of the

[ Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap National Historical Park . A basic assumption of considerable moment is the physical setting of the road ; changes caused directly and indirectly by human occupation and

use . As natural resources became known by frontiersmen and succeeding

generations in the Cumberland Mountains region , exploitation became the

t - rule in an unres ricted economic environment . A boom bust psychology led to a trial and error system which created considerable change in the

of landscape and environment over time . From denuding the hillsides timber resources in order to fire an iron furnace or for strategic

for purposes during the Civil War , or clearing a route a wagon road and

later roads and highways , the results remain to be coped with today . As

vegetative cover disappeared , plant and animal communities went through a succession which in some instances fundamentally altered the

environment or even the range . Additionally blasting and quarrying of

rocks , reducing highway grades and road building technology in

for conjunction with greater demand highway usage , combined to temp er physical evidence of roadways and the restoration o f the historic

landscape .

1 5 Figure 2 2

The topography o f the Wilderness Road at Cumberland Gap National

Historical Park .

Compiled by Jere L . Krakow .

Drawn by Robert H . Todd .

1 6

Another major assumption is that historic period roads followed game

to and Indian trails . From the valley of Yellow Creek the Powell River

Valley the route ascended to the saddle (narrowest confines ) of Cumberland Gap along contours and watercourses and descended along similar terrain ( see Figure These well defined trails served as a

for relatively easy means explorers , hunters , land speculators and

ultimately travelers and settlers , to penetrate the interior of the

- trans Appalachian west . Additionally it is assumed that the location of the road remained the same until heavy equipment and technology permitted greater construction capabilities beginning early in the

twentieth century .

A final assumption is one of focus ; paramount to this study is the 1 795 location of the Wilderness Road , developed in , as oppos ed to Daniel

’ Boone s trace , an earlier route through Cumberland Gap . Of course the

not trace and the road are mutually exclusive , often sharing the same t route , however , in places hey diverged from one another . In reconstructing the past as accurately as possible evidence of all kinds is taken into account and basic assumptions need explication as they bear on

the evidence borne in historical sources .

19 3 CHAPT ER.

WILD ERN E S S ROAD : AN IMAL TRA CE TO MOD ERN HIGHWAY

ANT ECED ENT S

When a herd of American buffalo left the area o f canebrakes along

Little Yellow Creek in what later became Kentucky , they began a gradual ascent along the wooded hillsides toward the saddle of Cumberland Gap

o some 500 feet elevation) above . This ft repeated phenomena had

ceased about 500 A D . but some years later renewed itself as once 1 again buffalo penetrated the southeast portions of North America .

B esides grazing areas these pathma ker s sought the numerous salt licks e that dott d present Kentucky and Virginia , and in so doing beat out a 7 well defined trace . Writing in 1 84 John Filson described such a trace

" f for near Frank ort , Kentucky , as large enough wagons sloping

" 2 with an easy descent from the top to the bottom of a very steep hill . f Other animals , but principally the buf alo , laid a basis for trails and later roads in the southeast

which greatly facilitated the movement of white settlers ' into the region . Kentucky s Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap to Louisville followed a series of buffalo

traces Indeed , travelers in the nineteenth century B i leaving the g Lick near Roanoke , Virginia , could travel over a thousand miles to the Grand Prairie of Illinois without leaving f ff roads originally derived rom bu alo traces . ( 3 )

" 1 . E Ro s tlu n d of rhard , The Geographic Ranges the Historic Bison In " The Southeast , Annals of the Association of American Geog raphers , 50 0 — . 4 Volume (December pp 5 406 .

2 . John Filson , Settlement , and Present State of

3 . . akle H G eo ra John A J , Images Of The Ohio Valley , A istorical g h 1 740 1 60 New Yor 7 8 lE: f d Univer 3 1t 197 . of Travel , to ( Ox or y Press , ) pp

20 The network of traces laid down by buffalo form the most important element in the location of what became a most significant trail used by

. N American Indians and in due course , frontiersmen and settlers otes

for William E . Myer , the search food , water and salt by many wild animals 4 for Su led native people to utilize them a variety of reasons . ch trails followed a path of least resistance avoiding difficult terrain as much as

of U possible . Foremost among such trails in the eastern half the nited

States was the Warriors Path . Following a number of buffalo traces the

route extended from the Ohio River southward to Cumberland Gap , looped through it then paralleled the Cumb erland Mountains northeasterly to the Great Valley of Virginia (see Figure route Specifically it

to N of departed the Lower Shawnee Town , moved south the orth Fork the m Kentucky River , struck the Cu berland River and traveled along it

Wasiota through Pine Gap ( ) , up Yellow Creek and ascended the

Cumberland Mountains , crossing at Cumberland Gap ; from there branches continued southeast to the Cherokee and Creek s ettlements or northeast

New through Kane and Moccasin gaps , along Poor Valley across the ,

S to Roanoke and James rivers , then down the henandoah Valley the

Potomac River . For several centuries the path had widespread us e by migrating animals and native p eoples and as such became an easily

adapted route by frontiersmen in s earch of Opportunities to the west .

ANGLO S

A variety of individuals from the original thirteen colonies traversed portions of the trail during the eighteenth century with speculation that

of Gabriel Arthur , captured by Indians , had the distinction being the

- first colonial traveler through Cumberland Gap in 1 673 1 674 . Significantly

who not Dr . associated with Cumberland Gap however , is Thomas Walker

" " 4 . 42nd E . of William Myer , Indian Trails the Southeast , Annual o t r f C . : U . S . O f E D . Re 9_ the Bureau _ thnolog y (Washington , Government i i O ffiEe 192 . 735 . Pr nt ng , 8 5, p

21

Walker ' s account gives confirming information as the description

Cu d o incorporates observations of j Cave , the spring which flows past the

iron furnace and the Indian road followed by the explorers . His notation

: O f vegetation is valuable laurel , beech and in the valley , clover and

hop vines , and he purportedly chose the name Cumberland (after the Duke of Cumberland) for both the gap and the large river encountered at Pine 6 1 754 - 1 7 63 Mountain Gap . During the French and Indian War ( ) exploration and travel temporarily halted but in 1 763 a group of long hunters led by Elisha Walden (Wallen) crossed into Kentucky through 7

Cumberland Gap . Typically their successful hunt brought others along

the same route for similar purposes . Unfortunately no record remains of their observations pertaining especially to the trail in and about 8 Cumberland Gap .

NO single individual has been associated with the Gap more than

Daniel Boone who used it for the first time in 1 769 . In that year he

accompanied John Finley , a compatriot from the French and Indian War ,

to . D on a hunting trip to Kentucky uring the exposure Kentucky ,

to including central and northern portions , he determined relocate there

with his family who at the time resided in the Yadkin Valley . Though

to i Boone tried move , he found that difficulty w th the Indians and

of demands Richard Henderson , lawyer and land speculator , intervened in

his resettlement . On a retainer from Henderson as agent and advisor ,

" Boone agreed to mark the trail from Long Island on the Holston [ River ]

"

6 . . : Thomas L Connelly , Gateway to Kentucky The Wilderness Road

natural phenomena in the region .

- 7 . . 14 1 1 5 . Ibid , pp . 1

8 . Numerous long hunters traveled through the Gap at this time including Isaac Lindsay John Finley and Kasper Mansker , B John Rains , Joseph Blake , Abraham ledsoe See Connelly , TO - 109 132 . Gateway Kentucky , pp .

26 9 " t through Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River . With some thir y men 10 17 75 B oone left the Holston Valley March , , and completed the task by

- mid April , a tribute to diligence , but more to the fact he followed

" f to Indian , hunter , or buf alo trails occasionally he would need 10 make a short cut by chopping out underbrush , removing logs

to f Initially this appears be a remarkable e fort , however , assessment should be tempered as the route had been used for centuries by wi ld

" of game and native peoples . The chief contribution this party was made m in trim ing back limbs , removing logs , and selecting suitable fords at

" ’ streams and crossings . Known in part as Boone s Trace , it served as a walking and pack animal route on the same track as the Warriors Path to Flat Lick before bearing northwest toward Hazel Patch and Rockcastle River ( see Figure

GOVERNMENT EX PENDITURES VIRGI NIA

In 1 779 the first government funding for a road across the

Cumberland Mountains into the County of Kentucky took place . The

Virginia legislature passed into law an act for purposes of building a good waggon [ sic ] road through the great mountains

[which will permit ] cementing in one common interest [ for ] all the citizens 1 2 of E the state . van Shelby and Richard Callaway received the appointment as commissioners to explore and make the recommendation of

Kin kea d e McB ri de the route ; however , John ( ) and William did the actual

9 . T o . 1 21 . Connelly , Gateway Kentucky , p

— 10 . . 1 21 . 9 1 05 . Ibid , p ; Kincaid , The Wilderness Road , pp . 9

1 1 . . L Thomas D Clark , A History of Kentucky , ( exington , Kentucky

. 1 79 The John Bradford Press , p , ( hereafter cited as Clark , A History)

27

work having been appointed by Washington and Kentucky counties .

The General Assembly asked the commissioners

to cause such road , with all convenient despatch [ sic ] , to be opened and cleared in such manner as to give passage to - for travellers with pack horses , the present , and report their to of proceedings therein the next session assembly , together of with a computation the distance , and the best estimate they can make of the practicability and charge of completing the 14 same and making it a good waggon [ sic ] road . ( )

Laborers working on the proj ect received compensation of 300 acres of 1 20 unclaimed land or pounds , their choice if they worked the entire 1 5 time .

At the time road law in Virginia adhered to requirements enacted

1 74 . during the 8 session of the colonial General Assembly County courts , s the law aid , had dominion over road repair and construction and as such

roads should be convenient for travel to and from Williamsburg , county 1 6 court houses , churches , mills and ferries . The guidelines specified

" " roads to be thirty feet broad at least and free from obstructions ;

" anyone felling a tree across a highway or killing trees within a distance 1 7 f " of sixty feet rom such highway , would b e subj ect to fine . All male

to E laborers , similar nglish road law , donated time each year between

April and August for purposes of building and maintaining roads under 18 direction of a county court appointed surveyor . Additional

13 . Ibid . ; Letter by Earl G . Swem in Mississippi Valley Historical 11 1 - 0 1 1 . Review , Volume , Number , (June pp . 1 2 2

14 . . 143 . Ibid , Hening , The Statutes at Large , p .

1 . 5 . 144 . Ibid , p .

64 p . .

1 7 - . . . 64 65 . Ibid , pp

- 1 . 8 . Ibid , pp . 65 66 .

30 requirements specified bridges have a level floor twelve feet wide and that points at which two roads intersect should have signposts for

" " 19 travelers to the most noted place on a particular road .

Once Kinkea d( e ) and McBri de completed the work on the road over Cumberland Mountain (July - August 1780 ) they petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for payment for themselves and their employees ( see

Appendix B ) . Likewise they billed for expenses of workers who supplied 20 principally packhorses and beef ( see Appendix C) . Specific details on the nature of the work within the area of Cumberland Gap are not extant except that in the bill presented by Kinkea d( e ) he spoke of work

s o as s d Completed that waggons [ sic ] has p [ sic ] , and has

"

E . rendered much ease and xpedition to Travelers , etc

Again in 1 790 the General Assembly passed an act designed to make

improvements to the Wilderness Road ( see Appendix D ) . A rationale

' given in the Act s preamble stated :

the road leading through the Wilderness to the district of Kentu cke y [ sic ] , is much out of repair , whereby the intercours e between the inhabitants of the said district and the 2 eastern part of this state [Virginia ] is greatly obstructed . ( 2 )

Particularly noted in the legislation was the section of road from the

Russell County line to Englis ' s station [ 3 miles from Crab Orchard ]

in the said district .

- 19 . 66 Ibid . pp . 68 .

20 " . Cumberland Gap Road S ons Of The Revolution in State of Virg inia

" " 21 . D Notes and ocuments , Missis sippi Valley Historical Review , Volume 2 II (June p . 1 2 .

p . 184 .

2 3 . Ibid .

31 1 779 Like the work authorized in , details remain obscure though it seems demonstrable that an intent to make the route usable by wagons

began with legislation in 1 779 and 1 790 . Vegetative cover rapidly reclaimed the landscape in the humid climate of the Cumberlands requiring

regular road repair . The need to maintain and use the road with regularity during the 1 780 3 points to the demise of buffalo herds that kept it defined and moderately passable ; sustained settler traffic during

for . the next three decades , contributed as well to the need maintenance

For the remainder of the 1 790 3 a variety of actions pertaining to the road through the wilderness continued to emanate from the General

1790 to Assembly of Virginia . In late the assembly passed an act protect

travelers on the road .

That the commanding officers are hereby authorized and directed to order out of their resp ective counties alternately in f of O every year , thirty e fective men , in the months ctober and to Novemb er , rendezvous on the road leading through the

wilderness , at the east foot of Cumberland Mountain , on the of O of : fifteenth ctober , and on the tenth day November whose duty it shall be to guard and protect such company

through the wilderness , as may be in readiness at the place o and n the days above mentioned . ( 24 )

Continued concern responsive no doubt to public petitions and

concerns , manifested itself in another act legislating improvement of the

to m 179 2 road Kentucky . In Nove ber of the Virginia assembly once again sought to facilitate movement of goods and people over the Cumberland 25 Mountains . The wagon road would extend

from the blockhouse in the western extremity of the to of county of Washington [Virginia ] , to the p Cumberland of Mountain , in the county Russell (now Lee) b eing where the f road rom the state of Kentucky terminates .

4 2 . 20 For Ibid . p . 2 . the complete text see Appendix E .

5 . 2 . . 5 44 . Ibid , p

26 . Ibid . For the complete text see Appendix F

32

State funded projects on the Wilderness Road in Kentucky transpired

after Indian depredations took place . Governor Isaac Shelby addressed 1 793 the legislature in November noting , the President of the

United States [ authorized him ] to establish two blockh ouses on the

Wilderness Road leading to the Holston Settlements , provided they could

be garrisoned by militia .

Shelby stationed troops at a blockhouse on Laurel River and at one

or 1 794 f on Turkey Creek f up to a period of six months and in , a ter the

battle of Fallen Timbers (Ohio) , attacks ceased . Muster rolls and payrolls for the militia during 1 793 and 1794 specifically use the name " Wilderness 31 " f f for Road . It is the earliest ormal , official designation identi ied the

" " " to th e to or Wilderness Road ; earlier ones refer road as , through the

wilderness .

Actual physical work on the road by Kentucky commenced in

" 1 795 to m " November , with An Act opening a Wagon Road Cu berland Gap , 32 000 for E2 . and appropriating , the proj ect Crab Orchard was chosen as a beginning point and it would terminate on the top of Cumb erland

" 33 Mountain , in the gap through which the present road passes . The law authorized commissioners to employ workers of various kinds and specified th e of 30 for road should be built to standards feet wide , except bridges ,

" " 34 and accommodating wagons up to one ton weight . It further stated

" " " that when completed the road was to be considered as established , and

" might not be changed , altered , or obstructed by private individuals , or

30 . 1 05 . Verhoeff , The Kentucky Mountains , p .

" 3 1 . 1 787 Muster Rolls folders , Kentucky State Historical Society

Collections Frankfort .

32 . . 5 1 . Speed , The Wilderness Road , p

33 . ff 1 06 . Verhoe , The Kentucky Mountains , p .

34 . Ibid .

34 of L . by the court of any county , without consent the egislature

Among those who sought to be a commi ssioner was Daniel Boone ; at 62 years of age he applied to Governor Shelby to head the proj ect ( see

letter in Appendix G) , but the governor chose , instead , Colonel James 36 Knox and Colonel Joseph Crocket . The latter announced the road open 37 " " 1 5 1 79 6 H . in the Kentucky Gazette , October , ( see Appendix ) Though the route somewhat changed location north of the Cumberland

to um . River , south C berland Gap it remained on the old Warriors Path

According to Kincaid the only opposition to the improvement came from packhorse entrepreneurs who saw widening of the road as tantamount to 38 being put out of business by wagon freighting .

TURNPIKE ERA KENTUCKY

During this significant period in the history of the Wilderness Road

for when much traffic used it , an ongoing need maintenance and

to o improvement continued . Due many demands n the treasury of the

for i m United States , funds transportat on beca e scarce and various states

to attempted raise money for roads through tolls assess ed users . Both

Kentucky and Virginia developed a system Of turnpikes as a means to pay for roads and the maintenance of them . Each assumed responsibility for major roads from the counties who previously functioned as the main

for administrative unit ; however , pressure improved roads led to state

- 35 . . 106 107 . Ibid . , pp

6 . 3 . H Addington Bruce , Daniel Boone And The Wilderness Road ( New

- Road , pp . 188 190 .

37 . 9 1 . Kincaid , The Wilderness Road , p . 1

3 . 8 . Ibid , p . 19 1 .

35 “

o . control f major thoroughfares Kentucky , concerned about the

179 7 of Wilderness Road , enacted legislation in for purposes creating a 40 turnpike with a tollgate at Cumberland Ford . A toll schedule for users

4 of ranged from % cents to depending upon the kind of animal , size 41

of . wagon , sex and age user A year later in order to encourage

to to settlers move Kentucky , the legislature exempted persons removing 42 with their families to this commonwealth Despite legislation the Wilderness Road " remained little more than a pack road until when 43 improvements began in earnest . More and more Kentucky turned

management of major roads over to private interests .

Legislative acts in Kentucky through the nineteenth century illustrate concern with the turnpike system and many pertain to the

" " on Wilderness Turnpike Road . A good bit of emphasis focused funding of the road and insuring that toll charges would b e used to defray

of maintenance and repair costs . Kentucky borrowed the system

“ for supplying labor road repair from Virginia . Over the years requirements varied related to work responsibilities ; the following typifies arrangements

E very male citizen in B ell county , Kentucky , between the age of f - f m of sixteen years and orty ive years , living within one ile

said road , shall , under the direction of an overseer , work at

" 39 . . : O f Turner W Allen , The Turnpike System In Kentucky A Review

0 4 . Ibid . The state purchased two acres of land for the tollgate at present Pineville and the highest bidder (Robert Craig) collected tolls from which road repairs were paid .

4 1 . f . 108 . Verhoef , The Kentucky Mountains , p

" " 42 . Allen , The Turnpike System , p . 244 .

43 . 0 . . 18 Clark , A History , p

36 least four days ou t of each year on repairing and keeping in s o repair th e aforesaid road , bridges , and forth ; but the said county court may excuse any person from working on said road 44 on account O f disease or infirmity . ( )

Road Standards

Requirements and standards Often reflected the amount of money available from the Kentucky legislature ; in 1839 it directed b e spent improving the Crab Orchard to Cumb erland Gap portion of the

45 " road . Studies to determine priorities ascertained that the descent from

" 46 Cumberland to Yellow Creek des erved first place . Later th e same year E E for H . . Resident ngineer Kentucky , J astin , filed a full report ( see

App endix I ) and detailed plan . Specific mention Of Cumberland Mountain included :

4 one . 1 . maximum grade degrees ( foot rise in fifteen feet bas e)

of m . 2 . revetment walls instead sloping embank ent 47

26 . 3 . feet wide road

Engineering standards and requirements sought to improve conditions for users ; in the following law specific requirements are listed :

The road must be made O f 1 . the best and most durable material that can

conveniently be procured in its neighborhood .

2 . The stone or gravel must b e at least ten inches deep and that part of the road covered with it must be at least ten feet

broad . If the road is made of wood it must be at least eight

" " 44 . of th e Laws Kentucky , Acts of General Assembly of Kentucky , 1 3 - 88 1 4 . 88 1361 . , p

" ' " 45 . T O Appendix The House of Representatives Journal , Kentucky - 225 . 1 39 1 40 1 f . 8 8 . Leg islative Documents , Vol ( Frank ort , p

46 . Ibid . , p . 226 .

47 - . . 3 Ibid pp . 0 5 307 .

37 feet broad and covered with plank not less than two and a half

inches thick , with suitable turnouts at convenient distances .

3 . If a turnpike , it shall have a grade not exceeding three if degrees , with all necessary dirt turnouts ; and a plank road ,

a grade not exceeding two degrees . to to 4 . It shall be so made as present , or obtain with use , a

t f . smoo h , hard , permanent sur ace

5 . It shall have good convenient embankments and necessary

culverts to facilitate its being crossed by other roads .

6 . f It shall have all need ul side drains , culverts , and

bridges .

‘

7 . The planks , stone , or gravel part shall be made near to

of f . 48 one side the road , except in crossing ills or deep cuts ( )

Point number three restricts the ascent or descent on the road thereby accommodating wheeled traffic and providing insight into road locale for

the Cumberland Gap area .

No sati sfactory management system evolved and a variety of

of . commissions representing sectors the turnpikes , by county , were tried Early in the nineteenth century the governor appointed directors by

county as the search for improved administration continued . Predictably the turnpike system in Kentucky had many demands placed on it as

population increased and livestock in particular crowded the roads ,

to especially the Wilderness Road , as drovers moved stock northern and h f sout ern markets . Un ortunately more traffic required more expenditures for maintenance and repair ; for a frontier state the lack Of capital served

to . as a hinderance development , including the transportation system This resulted in increased pressure for state government and private investors to assume more responsibility for roads and other aspects of 49 f transportation . In due course pressures reached the ederal

of government , which increased support for roads at the turn the

twentieth century .

" " 48 . O f of of Laws Kentucky , Acts the General Assembly Kentucky ,

49 . During the first half of the nineteenth century this was referred to " " as internal improvements .

38 TURNPIKE ERA VIRGINIA

Similar kinds of pressures and problems existed on the Virginia

segment of the Wilderness Road . T o the consternation of many

" " of Kentuckians , Virginia established a tollgate in the saddle the gap 50 to near the state line . Responding a petition from Lee County in 1 804

" " to repair the road s o that wheeled carriages would no longer travel to

B eans Station , then back north to the gap , the Virginia Legislature

authorized construction of a turnpike in 1805 . The County Court of Lee

County moved to erect a turnpike " on the road leading from

" " " 5 1 e s L e e to Mo k r on [ sic ] Gap through County Cumberland Gap .

Virginia intended the toll charges to be used to repair that road but

o access to many nearby roads depended n crossing Cumberland Gap .

Numerous travelers protested and even the governor and legislature of

Kentucky remonstrated to their counterparts in Virginia for relief ( see

"

. D Appendix K) espite these efforts , however , a body of armed 5 2 men guard [ ed ] and compel [ led ] the payment of toll ; Relief followed in 1807 when the legislature of Virginia repealed the act and 53 moved the tollgate ( see Appendix L ) .

Early on Virginia looked to the ocean and the cities of Baltimore and

Philadelphia for goods and markets . In time demands for roads to the

not interior increased , but sparsely populated areas could provide the 54 labor or taxes needed under traditional road laws . Consequently ,

50 " " . 107 . Verhoeff , The Kentuck Mountains , p . The saddle of Cumberland Gap refers to tg e narrowest point between the mountains through which the Wilderness Road pas sed .

5 1 . Ibid . See Appendix J .

5 2 . Ibid .

53 . S of Samuel Shepherd , The tatutes at Large Virginia ( Richmond ,

3 . p . 27

" - " 54 . 1775 1 60 Phillip Morrison Rice , Internal Improvements in Virginia , 8

Ph . D . o . 44 ( dissertation , University f North Carolina , p , " (hereafter referred to as Rice , Internal

39 ' anc ea f ff turnpikes , a p for some , could not be justi ied either as tra ic did

not generate enough revenue to pay for and maintain them . Only when the commercial advantages of trade with the Ohio Valley came to be recognized did Virginia merchants realize the market potential of the 5 5 interior and thereby demand roads . Significantly this did not develop

during the period of highest travel along the Wilderness Road , as Virginia spent only a relatively small amount of money between 1 785 - 1 81 5 on the

5 6 ' route During the first decade of the nineteenth century Virginia s General Assembly permitted toll privileges in Montgomery and Lee counties and in 181 6 passed legislation creating funding for " internal

" improvements through a newly created Board of Public Works . This Board received authorization from the General Assembly in 1831 to survey a route from Abingdon to Cumb erland Gap by way of the Scott and 5 7 - " 262 Lee court houses . The route some 4 miles long would connect with ’ m Price s Turnpike between the Roanoke and James rivers . A ore specific act passed in 1832 directed the survey route and standards for construction including grades not [ to ] exceed five degrees

to 18 - brush , timber and rock be removed for a smooth foot wide surface ; timber cut back 12 feet from the road shoulders " except on steep hill - sides [ where it ] shall be left standing on the lower side of the road

" and ditches cut to drain water across the road through paved gutters or

" 58 culverts .

Road Standards

Further leg islation in 1 834 noted that the state and counties would f und a portion of the cost and private subscriptions be willingly accepted .

5 . 5 . . 1 1 5 . Ibid , p

5 6 . 3 4 . Ibid . , p . 8

5 7 - 6 . 32 . 1 30 18 1 4 . Virginia Acts , 8 , p

5 Vir 1n1a - 94 . 8 1831 1832 . g Acts , , p For the route mapped out see Map

1 . No . unfortunately the 1833 map contains little detail for the immediate environs of Cumberland Gap .

40

Figure 3 3

Tennessee (lower Virginia ) and Virginia Road portions of Wilderness Road

m 1 33 . near Cu berland Gap , 8

. " Courtesy of B ook B , Alteration in the Location of the Cumberland Gap and Price ' s Turnpike in the Counties of L ee and Scott Made in the Year

Virginia State Papers , Virginia State Library , Richmond .

42

Public Works due to economic reasons associated wi th hard times in the ‘ nation ( Panic of 1837 ) and the lack of agreement with the counties to

share in the funding . Once the responsibility for maintenance and upkeep fell to the counties the road resorted to a series of county roads 64 and not a state highway . Tolls collected did not always get used properly and the combination of factors created numerous problems by

185 0 ( see Appendix M for example of toll charges ) . Yet at the time some

E who improvements were made by the Principal ngineer reported ,

the Cumberland Mountain is ascended at 3 degrees without loss of

" 65 of 6 . distance , instead degrees , assumed by the Old location An assessment of the results from changing the grade was included in a

wter who report by John H . Ya wrote

1 4 . S . 1 1 Red Sulphur Springs , ept , 8

J . Brown , Jr . Second Auditor .

Dear Sir

In yours of 6th July informing me of my appointm ent by the Board of public works as engineer of the Price ' s turnpike ou and Cumberland gap road , y request me (after I shall have Visited the whole line of road) to communicate the result in a

report to the Board O f public works . Having accepted that

appointment and entered upon the duties thereby imposed , and of to having visited the whole line said road , I proceed now give such information as I have been able to collect in relation : to the road and its management , as follows , to wit The first section of said road commencing at the gap of Cumberland mountain and extending eastwardly along the face of the of mountain , was undertaken by Nelson Preston for the sum 5000 1000 $ , at the rate of $ per mile . The first location made at of this place was on a grade six degrees , and on that location

the road might have been made at considerable less exp ense , f but it seems that the late engineer , a ter consultation with the to to county director , was induced change that location , and

" " - 64 . . 394 396 Rice , Internal Improvements , pp ; Thirty First Annual of g : Report _ m Board of Public Works ( Richmond Shepherd and Colin , 262 p . .

" 65 . E Claudius Crozet , Report On The xamination Of The Cumberland ' " of Gap And Price s Turnpike Road , Twenty Sixth Annual Report , Board

: 9 . Public Works ( Richmond Shepherd and Colin , p .

44 of place it on a grade three and three and a half degrees , which (from the peculiar formation of the mountain ) was the o only other grade that could b e adopted . This alteration was n not f doubt a valuable one , only on account of the ormer grade

being obj ectionable , but also because there is another road ' wa leading from Abingdon by the y of B ean s station , and of uniting with this road in the gap the mountain , which road f has heretofore usually been pre erred by travellers , and with

which this road must necessarily come in direct competition .

And it is therefore not an unreasonable calculation , that the of i additional cost , constructing the road upon the new locat on , will be more than counterbalanced by the additional travel of thereby secured . The construction this section of road on f the new location was regarded as being so very dif icult , that it is said the proposals made at public auction for its

construction , ranged from thirteen to seven thousand dollars . on A contract was subsequently made with Mr . Preston the

terms above stated . Mr . Preston has been actively engaged of during th e season and a part last fall , has nearly completed f about our miles , and will , he thinks finish the whole in the of 1 500 course of this season . He has received the sum $ , and has lately received an order on the treasurer of Lee for $ 1 700

more . It appears that this contract was made with 9 to . 1 1839 Mr Preston , the th June , and the road was b e t 4 of finished by the l s D ecember 18 0 . The second section five miles adjoining the former and extending from the fifth to the of not end the tenth mile , has yet been placed under contract , of in consequence a want of funds ; notice has b een given , for on 1 7th however , that it will be offered contract the of this 66 month . ( )

This account illustrates the amount Of grade preferred by highway

builders and users for wagon traffic on roads like the Wilderness Road .

With the technology available at the time , the amount of cutting and f filling over small creeks appears negligible , rather roads tended to ollow the contour up stream by means of loops to accomplish a gradual ascent or

descent where the creek narrowed .

' Vawter s comment about the relative use of the two roads which met

in Cumberland Gap serves to illumine a traffic pattern for the 1840 3 .

66 . Twenty Sixth Annual Report O f th e B oard of Public Works ( Richmond

70 . Shepherd and Colin , p . 2

45 Studies underscore that a sizeable amount of stock drovers used the

Wilderness Road in the nineteenth century with many herds destined for 67

N . O f Tennessee , Georgia and the Carolinas ( see Appendix ) course the major market in the southeast served to emphasize the route to B eans

Station , which would have followed the branch descending or ascending

1 790 -1 10 f . For 8 rom Cumberland Gap , Tennessee the years when the f greatest numbers of people used the road , the pre erred route followed the contour lines around Cumberland Mountain into the Gap ; it logically extended southwestward from the Great Valley via Abingdon through

o Moccasin and Kane gaps t Jonesville and Cumberland Gap .

of Through circumvention routes , bypasses , armed force and various

to other tactics , turnpikes began lose effectiveness in both Kentucky and

Virginia as the nineteenth century neared a close . Both states began to authorize purchase of such routes if a small percentage of the electorate 68 so desired . In Kentucky a tollgate war broke ou t and the raiders caused wholesale abandoment of the tollroa ds and many fees went 69

. to 1 00 uncollected According Allen , by 9 most counties in Kentucky had purchased the stock of the turnpike companies ( public and private) 70 and the roads became free . Early this century both state and federal

government became much more involved in financing , constructing and

maintaining public roads .

CANAL

A rather unique scheme to improve transportation in southeast Kentucky and adjacent areas came about during the canal boom era in the

" - 67 . D eVor s e 44 47 . Wilson and y , Preliminary Res earch Report , pp .

" " 68 . Allen , The Turnpike System , p . 25 5 .

6 9 . Ibid . , p . 25 6 .

70 . . 2 Ibid , p . 5 7 .

46 ' United States . Kentucky s Board of Internal Improvements authorized a feasibility study in 1 83 5 to ascertain whether navigation on the Kentucky 71

River and its tributaries could be improved . While doing the survey

R . P . the engineer , Baker , examined the area beyond Cumberland Ford toward Cumberland Gap and concluded that navigation could be connected between the Cumberland and Powell rivers by means of canals and a 72 tunnel through Cumberland Mountain . He proposed that the tunnel be 700 - 800 yards long and the water be acquired from the spring flowing out

of Cu o . E h of f of the mouth dj Cave xplaining furt er , he said the rate low provided enough water for a canal to convey water traffic down Gap

to Creek Powell River ; after that the route lay by the Clinch , Tennessee ,

H O to iwassee and koa rivers , a canal to Augusta , and the Savannah River 73 the Atlantic Ocean . Descending Cumberland Mountain the canal served

as a route to Yellow Creek and then the Cumberland , Kentucky and Ohio

rivers and finally the Gulf of Mexico . Financial considerations and the

Panic of 1837 brought the scheme to a halt and land transport continued

- to serve the residents of the tri state area .

Just after the turn of the twentieth century the first major realignment and modernization of the Wilderness Road over Cumberland

Gap was initiated . Under the umbrella o f the United States Department of f 1893 Agriculture , the O fice of Public Roads , created in and a precursor of of the present Federal Highway Administration , had charge the project .

" 71 . R . P . E To Baker , Report Of The Principal ngineer , The Board Of 19 1 36 O f Internal Improvements , January , 8 , in Journal The House Of

7 2 . Ibid . , p . 85 .

7 3 . . . 90 for Ibid , p ; the complete text of the report see Appendix O .

47 It sought to demonstrate the efficacy o f improved road building f techniques topped with a macadamized sur ace , smooth and water

Off O f resistant . Called object lesson roads , the ice Public Roads hoped that by constructing them at many locales they would quickly find favor

and be diffused throughout the nation .

Federal participation in road building had been cy clic with heavy involvement beginning in 1806 with an appropriation to fund construction 7 of the Cumberland or National Road . Ultimately some $ million found its way into that proj ect by Numerous other projects received funding but the Panic of 1837 and the growth of railroads slowed activity

for " to a trickle until late in the nineteenth century . With the push good roads " the new bureau launched several efforts including Object lesson

no f for roads which had ederal funding , instead providing expertise 75 demonstration proj ects . Local governments supplied monies and

sometimes labor , machinery and materials in the partnership .

F or the residents of the Cumberland Gap area the beginning of what became a -mile roadbed over Cumberland Mountain eventuated with the " " c c E . arrival of Fay Mc lure , project supervisor and Road xpert Mc lure

to f 1907 traveled the area rom a nearby Tennessee proj ect in February , for the purpose of assessing the nature of th e work and estimating the 76 costs .

" After spending time in the field he wrote , The work will be a

difficult piece of construction , as a considerable portion will be side hill f work , along a shel on the side of the mountain a reference to

75 - . . 7 10 . Ibid , pp .

76 . c to f E Off of Mc lure Loder ( Acting Chie ngineer , ice Public Roads ,

U . S . t 2 1 907 RG 30 Depar ment of Agriculture) , February 8 , , , NA , File

329 .

48 distance came as a result of road loops along c' ontour lines farther up

watercourses where bridging was easier ( see aerial photo , Illustration

Work began on the proj ect in July of 1907 and consumed some 1 5

of months before completion in October 1908 . An inspection report June 19 0 1 detailed its condition , noting maintenance in the intervening months

f for ff a ter it opened tra ic , and the impact it had on the nearby communities especially road building methods and mileage in

Middlesboro . The project did make available for the first time , a very good road over Cumberland Mountain and served to diffuse ideas about 90 improved road construction in the region . In July 1 8 as the new road neared completion the B ell County Court formally abandoned the old county road from the Virginia - Tennessee state line at Cumberland Gap

" ' " 84 N ly down the mountain to the Jno [ John ] C . Colson house . The property occupied a tract of land on Cumberland Mountain along the " Old

"

F . state road above the brewery , subsequently the J . Schneider Packing

Company .

DIX I E HIGHWAY

A principal figure in the road improvement program at Cumberland

of Gap and later in all Kentucky , Joe F . Bosworth , used the example from the obj ect lesson road to launch a good roads movement in 85

. f of Kentucky In time per ected sections , the road such as at

" " 83 . L . E . O O m Boy kin , Report f Inspection f Cu berland Gap Road , June

1 1 19 1 0 . RG 30 329 . , , NA , File

" 84 . Louisville and Nashville Railroad C . V . Div . Mile mile marker - O f - right way map . The map is annotated with contract data and cites B ell

O B 7 . 430 f County rder ook # , p , which is missing rom the B ell County courthouse in Pineville . The Louisville and Nashville Railroad is now merged with and known as the Seaboard and Southern .

85 . 5 . . 3 2 Kincaid , The Wilderness Road , pp

50 Cumberland Gap were linked and helped draw together an organization to f m promote a thoroughfare rom Detroit , Michigan , to Mia i , Florida , known 86 as the Dixie Highway . A portion followed the Wilderness Road , notably

through the Yellow Creek Valley and Cumberland Gap , present highway

25 E .

What began as a buffalo trace and Indian trail in due cours e became

for for a pathway explorers and land speculators , then a major route

. for settlers , travelers and drovers As more usage occurred demands f improvements resulted in efforts to identi y , build and maintain a road

over the historic Wildernes s Road . A remarkable flow of humans has continued now for centuries across Cumberland Mountain and through

Cumb erland Gap .

- 6 . 8 . Ibid , pp . 35 2 3 5 3 .

5 1 CHAPT ER 4 WILD ERN ESS ROAD L OCATI ON AT CUMB ERLAND GAP

NATI ONAL HISTORICAL PARK : SOURCES AND EVID ENCE

A diverse body of evidence collectively serves to identify the route of th e Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

on in Kentucky , Tennessee and Virginia . Unlike overland journals the f Oregon Trail , for example , or ship logs and mani ests , little extant information remains from first - hand accounts by travelers through the

of f Cumberlands . This compilation evidence is there ore dependent upon

historic maps , sketches , travelers descriptions , photographs , legislative 3 actions ( see Chapter ) road construction records , land entry records ,

- tru thin . recollections , aerial photographs and ground g the locale Basic

for assumptions , explicated earlier , add to the knowledge base

determining road location .

CARTOGRAPHIC SOURCES

A variety of cartographic materials exist to aid in identifying

of locations the Wilderness Road . Many are O f a scale that make it difficult to precisely locate particular small sections of the trail at a point

such as within Cumberland Gap National Historical Park . Generally the eighteenth century maps serve as a means for orientation to an entire

of region the southern Appalachians . As more intensive activities took

place in the locality of the study area , map makers completed larger scale f maps to document in ormation pertaining to turnpikes , strategic defensive

emplacements , land entries , industrial developments and highway construction

Designations for the Wilderness Road vary on the maps and

o f to E explication terms needs be underscored . arlier in the study the route of the Wilderness Road was defined but in a locale such as

5 2 of Cumberland Gap a number labels appear , esp ecially given the junction

there of three states and several alternati ve roads . Particular attention should be paid to Figure in which the roads from Virginia through

the Gap that continue into Kentucky , are called the Wilderness Road .

Separate sections are known by other names : 1 ) the upper Virginia

Road which follows the contour lines along Cumberland Mountain , past

Cu dj o Cave to the saddle of the Gap ; 2 ) the lower Virginia Road which swings down along a tributary of Gap Creek into the community of e 3 Cumb erland Gap , Tenness e ; ) the Tennessee Road which approaches from the south ( B eans Station and Tazewell ) and junctions with the lower

Virginia Road along Gap Creek ; and 4 ) the Kentucky Road which b egins at the state line in the saddle of the Gap and continues down the

of northwest flank Cumberland Mountain , along Yellow Creek Valley to the

Cumb erland River .

Eig hteenth Century

Mapping the Wilderness Road during the eighteenth century occurred

of most often as a byproduct a larger effort to map a region or state .

B ecause of this maps tended to be drawn in small scale and specific

for details cannot be found particular locations . Of importance , however , is the fact that the route by mere inclusion exhibits credence and

significance . A year after Boone marked the trail through the Gap in 1775 , an unknown map maker explicitly labelled Cumberland Gap on a map

1 ' " " " of Indian towns . Imlay s Map Of Kentucky in 1 793 located the Road " 1 794 " to Virginia and Cumberland Mountain on it , and in A Map of The

" " " Tennessee Government , included the Kentucky Road across Cumberland

1 . 3860 1 776 . G4 Map , US G , , , Library of Congress , ( see Map

No .

53 2

Gap . Also in 1 794 the Russell map clearly delineates roads in Kentucky 3 including the Wilderness Road and the Cumberland Gap .

Early Nineteenth Century

Larger scale maps drawn in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

are of marginal use in identifying the road location , although of general

o use within the vicinity f Cumberland Gap . Among these early maps showing the Wilderness Road is an 1801 map of roads in the southern

' 4 Appalachians ; Mu ns ell s map is the best pre - Civil War map of Kentucky

A prominent mapping project instituted by the Board of Public Works

of in Virginia , produced a set of maps for the entire length the

' Cumberland Gap and Price s Turnpike . Mile markers and stations are

" " 5 noted on the map with zero mile marker being within the Gap itself . Another extant map completed during the railroad era plots a proposed

rail line from Abingdon to the Virginia border at Cumberland Gap . The Virginia and Kentucky Railroad survey gives a glimpse of road location

th e through southwestern Virginia to Gap . An undocumented map drawn

" f " 2 . o 1793 A Map of The State Kentucky , from Verhoeff , The 7 N " of . 4 O Kentucky Mountains , p , see Map . A Map The Tennessee Government formerly Part of North Carolina taken Chiefly from Surveys " 1 7 4 o . S . Sm 9 f by Gen ith Others , , Map Collection , Library Congress , see Map No . 4 .

" 3 . of of 1 794 Map the State Kentucky with the Adjoining Territories , ,

. 5 . Map Collection , Filson Club , Louisville , Kentucky , see Map No

" - " 4 . D es E 1801 Carte De La Partie Meridionale tats Unis , , Map " f of 3 60 1 01 . T3 o the Collection , Library Congress , G 8 , 8 , ; A Map State of " 1 1 6 . Kentucky , 8 8 , Luke Munsell , see Map No .

" ' " 5 . 1 33 R6 1833 Cumberland Gap and Price s Turnpike , 8 , MS , 1 . L . Pt , Virginia State ibrary , Richmond , Virginia The entire set

1 . consists of 10 sheets with the first 20 miles reproduced in Map NO .

" " 6 . Abrin ton o Map of Railroad from g [ sic ] t Cumberland Gap ,

7 . RI S No . , Virginia State Library , Richmond , Virginia , see Map

54 after the Henderson and Walker survey line discrepancy , records distances and some physical features in addition to the roads leading into 7 Cumberland Gap from Tennessee and Kentucky .

A large scale map drawn in 1838 depicts a small section of the

m of Wilderness Road along Gap Creek in the com unity Cumberland Gap ,

or f Tennessee , and the upper Virginia Road which ollows the contour of

to 1 838 Cumberland Mountain ( see Figure The map , attached the

" " of Report of the Board Public Works , notes improvements made in the

road , most significantly the percent of grade and the survey stations along the Virginia Road ; the route of the Tennessee Road leading to the 8 saddle of the Gap is also shown .

Civil War

During the Civil War Cumberland Gap held strategic importance for

both Union and Confederate forces . In the Fall of 1861 at the behest of

of Jefferson Davis , President the Confederacy , Maj . Gen . George B . 9 to Crittenden proceeded occupy the Gap . B efore they could fully complete fortifications the Confederates found a Union Army commanded

by Brig . Gen . George W . Morgan threatening to cut off supply lines and

th e of E o force them from strategic heights the Gap . arly in the summer f 1862 ' Morgan s troops assumed control , forcing evacuation by the 10

Confederates . In due course Morgan , beleaguered by the enemy ,

7 . Miscellaneous map , date unknown , Charles W . Wilson map files , m H M Cu berland Gap National istorical Park , iddlesboro , Kentucky , s ee Map

No . 8 .

" ' 8 . Alterations in the Location of the Cumberland Gap and Price s of Turnpike in the Counties Lee and Scott made in the year , of ' Board Public Works , Cumb erland Gap and Price s Turnpike Papers ,

Book B , Virginia State Library , Richmond , Virginia .

9 . U . S . D m f epart ent of the Interior , National Park Service , History Q_ G a H 3 E E . . 1 . Cumberland p National istorical Park , by dward Tinney , p

10 . Ibid . , p . 14 .

5 5 Figure 4 1

The Route of the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap Nati onal

Historical Park .

Compiled by Jere L . Krakow .

Drawn by Robert H . Todd .

5 6

" of began one of the masterful retreats the Civil War , thus by 1 1

6 . September 18 2 , the south resumed control of the area A year later

Confederate Brig . Gen . John W . Frazer found the cycle continuing when

E . o . he surrendered troops and supplies t Maj . Gen Ambrose 1 2 on the Burnside . From then Gap saw little action during the remainder

of the war , although Lt . Gen . Ulyss es S . Grant toured there in early

" 13 1864 and deemed the road unsuitable for military travel .

Large scale maps are few and the most significant ones were drawn

. to during the Civil War by Union Capt S idney S . Lyon attached General

' of 1 62 two Morgan s forces . A set 8 maps ( see Figure at a s cale of

inches to one mile detail a number of cultural features , in particular ,

road location . By utilizing overlay and composite techniques ( see Figure

it is possible to determine rather specific road position . An assumption identified earlier is that roads remain basically in the same

of of location despite the passage time , and the changing technology

' of L users and construction techniques . Correspondence supportive yon s

o maps supply added knowledge about the physical setting f r the roads . A practical surveyor and Kentucky State Geologist Lyon described the

to road from Lexington , Kentucky , Cumberland Gap . About the area at th e Gap he wrote :

' 11 From the Gap to the foot of the Mountain 41 miles , Road 1 5 crooked , running generally under a steep rocky escarpment to 60 of feet high , in many places the road is cut into the face a cliff which d ecends [ sic ] almost vertically from 1 0 to 75 feet two or below the road b ed . In three places only is the road

sufficiently wide to allow the passing of wagons . The rocks

forming the Cumberland Mountain , at and near the Gap , dip to

— 1 1 . . 14 1 5 . Ibid , pp .

12 . Ibid .

13 . Ibid . , p . 1 5 .

14 . Crai hill to l s t s to g Totten ( Lieutenant Engineer B rigadier General , E 25 1962 RC 7 7 5 3 50 27 . Chief ngineer ) , December , , , NA , Box , C

61 the north at angles varying from 30 ° to The road decends [ sic ] the Mountain in a North Westwardly direction the alignment of the road contains two acute angles and owi ng to ff of this the narrow road bed , the di iculties the road are

greatly increased . The grade is not greater than one foot in

twelve . The road bed in many places is a notch cut into rocks

dipping across the road at an angle of from 30 to 50 degrees . The strata forming the bed of the road being very different in

hardness , travel soon cuts the road into deep ruts , wearing away the softer parts of Strata much more rapidly than the harder ones ; the hard ones are frequently found lying between of on of two soft ones . The alignment the road the slope the m Mountain might be greatly i proved , and a permanent road bed

made by covering the road bed with broken limestone , which

can b e had in any quantity near the notch of the Mountain .

All the hauling of the material would be down hill . From the foot of the Mountain the road is n ecely [ sic ] level to of 3 - 5 Crawfords , at the foot rd Log Mountain miles

crossing Little Big Yellow Creeks . The Bridge over Big

Yellow Creek was destroyed in the Spring of 1 862 by a flood .

The Creek is fordable only in dry Seasons . ( 1 5 )

Correlation between the maps and the narrative indicate the descent on the Kentucky side followed contour lines s o to make the grade

negotiable for teams and wagons . A path of least resistance is indicated by evidence such as notching a road bed from the rocks laying at 30 ° to 80 ° angles , and the acute turns , one Of which bends sharply

- west northwest after passing the saddle area . Once down the mountain the road closely follows Little Yellow Creek and Yellow Creek north to the Cumberland River ford at Pineville . A general correlation is observable with two other Civil War maps drawn by a participant during the war and

99 . P . redrawn by him in 18 The maps ( see Map No . 9 ) by William Jones f f 62 depict the roads , orti ications and structures in 18 when he served

" 1 5 . . of Captain Sidney S Lyon , Itinerary of a march made by a body

U . S . . ] . G eo . Forces , under Brig Gen W . Morgan from Cumberland Gap to

. 1 7th O 1 7 1 62 Greensburg Ky between Sep ct 3d September , 8 , RG 77 B o 00 , NA , x 53 C 5 5 .

62 ' with Morgan s army , and redrafted many years later . Without scale and

' preciseness , nevertheless relationships may be Observed between Jones

' and Lyon s map s which provide corroborative information for road location

of G a Confederate map s the region around Cumberland p , drawn at a

1 6 for relatively small scale ( inch miles ) , are marginal road location in

O f f the historical park . nly very general in ormation may be gleaned rom

th em .

Other important large scale maps drawn b ecause of minerals exploration in the Cumberlands and adjacent mountains after the Civil

of . War , brought word of promising deposits coal in the region A variety of speculators and potential entrepreneurs considered mining and transporting of coal as a means to fame and fortune ; the individual who personified industrialization in southeastern Kentucky came from S cotland 1 7 via Montreal and Boston , Alexander A . Arthur . He arrived near the 1886 Gap in on a scouting trip and moving quickly , s ecured monies from

British investors to launch his speculative , exploitive enterpris e called

the American Association Limited in the Middlesboro B asin of Kentucky .

An early effort of Arthur resulted in a race by competing railroads to tap

- of : the coal rich seams the nearby mountains his Knoxville , Cumberland Gap and Louisville Railroad reached the foot of the Gap first while the

— 1 6 . 21 1 9 1 46 1 9 . 9 16 Jones to cousin , March , 8 , William F Jones Papers , 8 , 3 8 1 . Collection Joint Collection University of Missouri , Western Historical Manuscript Collection Columbia and State Historical Society of Missouri " of Manuscripts , Columbia , Missouri ; William P . Jones , Map Cumberland " Gap , Filson Club , Louisville , Kentucky .

7 - 1 . 31 3 13 . Kincaid , The Wilderness Road , pp . 2

63 competing Louisville and Nashville arrived th e same summer of 1889 .

of Prior to the railroads pushing into the area , construction a railroad tunnel under th e Cumberlands commenced in 1888 and th e two gangs working from opposite ends completed the bore in August of Linking the two lines the tunnel provided a nearby alternative transportation form and route to the Wilderness Road over Cumberland

to M Gap . At the time prominent writers traveled iddlesboro to cover

of activities the American Association , including Charles Dudley Warner who described the 1888 journey on the Wilderness Road from Pineville over Cumberland Gap to Harrogate °

We drive from Pineville to Cumberland Gap , thirteen miles , now two over the neglected Wilderness Road , the mules of the

wagon unable to pull us faster than two miles an hour . The of - road had every variety badness conceivable loose stones ,

ledges of rock , bowlders , sloughs , holes , mud , sand , deep - fords . Settlements were few only occasional poor

shanties . We climbed up to the top of the mountain over of to a winding road ledges , bowlders , and deep gullies , rising

an extended pleasing prospect of mountains and valleys . The not pass has a historic interest , only as the ancient highway , f o . but as the path armies in the civil war It is a narrow , a o r deep road between overhanging rocks . On u way down the wild and picturesque road we crossed the state of Virginia E 0 and went to the new nglish hotel in Tennessee . ( 2 )

Available maps from the p eriod of rapid development and

industrialization support road locations shown on previous maps . Tracts suitable for purchase by the American Association were mapped and

segments of the Wilderness Road appeared on them , such as the upper

f of Virginia Road , the Tennessee Road and the switchbacks rom the town

of Cumberland Gap to the saddle the Gap ( see Map No .

- 18 . Kincaid , The Wilderness Road , pp . 317 325 .

- 19 . . 3 . 25 . Ibid , pp 24 3

20 . . . 320 . Ibid , p

64 Twentieth Century

A map from the period of rapid industrial development shows the railroad right - of- way for mile 218 ( Kentucky portal area ) ; this Louisville

' " of - Rd xd and Nashville Railroad map contains a notation , old state road " f Cumb . Gap , which places it ascending a ridge adjacent to the ormer 21

John C . Colson property . This alignment correlates with other

O f . evidence from maps , photographs and recollections early settlers

Several years later the Kentucky Utilities Company mapped the area below

to Fern Lake the lower portion of Little Yellow Creek , including a small

portion of the Wilderness Road . Lab elled at the junction with the Baptist Gap Road is the " Old Cumberland Gap Road " which passes by the Colson 22 prop erty as it climbs toward the summit . Two maps of the same vintage

as the previous map , show the road from Cumberland Gap , Tennessee , toward the summit along the switchback route and correlate with earlier 23 maps and with one another . A significant feature drawn on the second

of map listed in the footnote entry , is a rock slide across a portion the

road near the top of the Gap .

One other map of importance drawn during the 1 930 3 has no labels

on for the roads depicted it ; however , the road configuration fits well

on with earlier maps , in particular the roads the Kentucky side of b " " Cum erland Gap . The two roads are the old state road which ascends

- - 21 . f o of 21 . iv . D Map right way , Mile 8 , C . V D ( Corbin ivision ) E Louisville and Nashville Railroad , Real state Department , Jacksonville ,

Florida . The Seaboard System Railroad presently owns the Louisville and

No . 1 1 . Nashville Railroad , see Map

22 . 1 1930 Kentucky Utilities Company Map , August 8 , , District Office ,

Pineville , Kentucky , in Cumb erland Gap National Historical Park map f Ma No . iles , Middleboro , Kentucky , see p 1 2 .

" 23 . Plat of Lots at Cumberland Gap Va ( sic ) Made by The Eastern Ky Co W " " A . 13 . LMU Land , . Jones , Sur , undated see Map No . Forest "

O S . 2 f U . 5 E Tract South Highway To Cumb erland Gap , Tennessee , Jack 22 193 6 ma f of Williams , November , , both in p iles Cumberland Gap

14 . National Historical Park , Middlesboro , Kentucky , see Map No .

65 the west side of Cumberland Mountain after crossing the Louisville and f Nashville Railroad tracks near the ormer Colson property , and the Object lesson road completed in 1908 across the Cumberland range in Kentucky 24 and Virginia

One other important source of mapped information falls in the general

- ma category of land entry records survey plats . These legal documents p and record the descriptions of lands granted to individual owners under

of the metes and bounds system of survey . Though limited use in

pinpointing location because of the extreme variance in mapping skills , a

f - lack of scale and a propensity toward ree hand drawing , nevertheless

fo some historical information may be gleaned from them . Those located r the study area when aligned with the probable route of the Wilderness

" " Road often contain a designation of Kentucky Road , plus other features

to such as streams , structures , landforms and a letter code corresponding

e boundary points used in th written legal description . Often the survey

system used stream banks and vegetation , usually trees , thus ground — tru thing proved of little value since str eam meander and

disappearance of trees eliminated points of reference . Some caution is

advised even though the Wilderness Road appears on a plat map , yet some

general idea of location might be ascertained . Writing about the problem for D a report on the location of avis Tavern , National Park Service

Historian Ricardo Torres - Reyes Observed :

Some of the plats have the junctions [ streams ] unmarked ; of others do not show the path the Wilderness Road , especially the point where the road met Little Yellow Creek ; one plat has the station on the right while another has it on the left of the

Road . It is quite Obvious that the creeks and the road had not

" 24 . F . C . O O Ma 13 1937 Map Copied by tey , from riginal p , August , in of map files Cumberland Gap National Historical Park , Middlesboro ,

Ma . 1 5 . Kentucky , see p No

66

Illustration depicts the scene below the summit O f the Pinnacles looking nearly due west with the Kentucky Road in the foreground and the Yellow Creek Valley at the right below Mingo and Third Log

6 of . 2 . 18 mountains . Drawn by Capt Sidney S Lyon in , the relationship a section of the road and terrain is Visible

' f A Confederate engineer in Gen . Braxton Bragg s orces drew the scene in Illustration from a vantage point looking east across Little

Yellow Creek Valley . Significantly the road is shown crossing the valley before entering the tree - covered hillside en route up Cumberland

Mountain to the Gap . Defensive earthworks and fortifications dot the

to mountainsides of what proved be a strategic locale during th e war . From the same period an anonymous photograph ( see Illustration

provides insight into the road system on the Tennessee and Virginia side ,

especially the upper and lower roads . Note the absence of trees on the

to mountainside which succumbed to the armies occupying the area , the

iron furnace and to travelers along the Wilderness Road .

William Cullen Bryant accompanied by illustrator Harry Fenn traveled

1872 to through Cumberland Gap in , prepare an article that contained 6 several depictions of the setting . Illustration again serves to reinforce route locati ons from Virginia and Tennessee into the Gap as

previously described . Located at the summit are buildings such as Jones Store which Fenn captured in Illustration along with a bridge 27 constructed over a rather narrow defile through which the road passed .

Another P enn sketch ( Illustration presents a careful look at the mill

Cu d o alongside the stream emanating from j Cave , and above it wagons

moving along the upper Virginia Road toward the saddle of the Gap . A final portrayal of the setting ( see Illustrati on permits a glimpse of

230 - 237

27 . Ibid . , p . 235 .

68 Figure 4 3

1806 . Green Clay tract along Little Yellow Creek ,

69 the saddle area , including Jones Store , the bridge and the road into and

out of the Gap .

During 1886 well - known Kentucky author James Lane Allen wrote an 28 article on Cumberland Gap which also contained an illustration by Penn .

The picture ( see Illustration delineates the roadway , structures and

the natural setting on the Tennessee side o f the summit . Allen describes the setting in a sentimental and progressional way anticipating the famous passage by Frederick Jackson Turner some seven years later :

It was late in the afternoon when ou r tired horses began to the long , winding , rocky climb from the valley the brow of

the pass . As we stood in the passway , amid the deepening shadows Of the twilight and the s oleumn repose of the mighty two landscape , the Gap seemed to be crowded with invisible and of countless pageants human life , the one passing in , the other passing out ; and the air grew thick with ghostly - of utterances primeval sounds , undistinguishable and strange , creatures nameless and never seen by man ; the wild rush and whoops of retreating and pursuing tribes ; the slow steps of watchful pioneers ; the wail of dying children and the songs of homeless women ; the muffled tread of routed and broken - armies all the sounds of surprise and delight , Victory and

defeat , hunger and pain and weariness and despair , that the

human heart can utter . Here passed the first of all the white race who led the way into the valley of the Cumberland ; here passed that small band of fearless men who gave the Gap its " " name ; here passed the Long Hunters ; here rushed the armies O f the civil war ; here has passed the wave of westerly f f emigration , whose force has spent itsel only on the Paci ic slopes ; and here in the long future must flow backward and f orward wealth beyond the dreams of avarice . B eneath the shadows O f the pinnacle - the limit of our journey reached - we 29 slept that night in the Poor Valley of Tennessee . ( )

P enn From a spot similar to the depiction of a freighter , a photograph in 1888 shows the Tennessee side and the road ascending to the Gap ( see Illustration At the saddle area the bridge and a

" ‘ 28 . m Ja es Lane Allen , Through Cumberland Gap On Horseback , - z 50 66 . . X . Harpers New Monthly Mag a ine , Vol LX III , (June pp

2 9 . Ibid . , p . 66 .

70 building are still standing while new growth timb er has once again

reclaimed the mountainside . Approximately of the same vintage , a photo

of taken near the vicinity Fort Farragut to the west of Cumberland Gap ,

v of Tennessee , pro ides an excellent panorama the road network in

Virginia and Tennessee ( see Illustration just prior to development

- u of by the American Association and the railroad . A blow p View the lower center portion depicts the iron furnace area and a road scar along the upper Virginia Road near Cu dj o Cave ( s ee Illustration

The best photograph of the building complex and bridge over the Wilderness Road in the saddle of the Gap is found in Illustration

1900 or to An estimated date for the photo is , just prior building the

1907 - 190 of of object lesson road in 8 , at the time development the

- American Association holdings in the tri state area . Road improvements

- S . t made in 1907 1908 by the U . Agriculture D epar ment as an object

4 - 14 lesson , may be seen in Illustration that permits examination of the f road surface , shoulders , ill , materials and general engineering qualities .

Changes , ever present and seemingly accelerated in the twentieth

century , cropped up in myriad ways around Cumberland Gap . The two - part photographs in Illustration documents modernity at Cumberland Gap with the very observable railing running the length of

U . S . 25 E n e o Highway ( upper Virginia Wilderness Road ) , remnants f the

r 9 lower or Tennessee road , the railroad which penet ated the area in 188

- 19 20 3 and the pre cast concrete tiles in the foreground . This late

photograph illustrates the relatively few trees at the. ti me and the

of f scattering structures in the town o Cumberland Gap . Later changes in the saddle of the G ap appear in Illustration taken in the 1 930 3 ; an earlier service station and the entrance to Skyland Road app ear on the f le t and the amount of road cut may be Observed on the right . A successor service station and the intersection of Skyland Road and 25 E in the saddle is apparent in Illustration

A significant early aerial photograph ( 1939 ) serves as a measure of change in the lands cape at Cumberland G a p where a variety of roads lace

71 the area , yet not as many as during the Civil War ( see Illustration

Engineering know -how plus heavy construction equipment have fundamentally altered aspects of the physical setting for the historic

Wilderness Road ; however , vegetation hides scars quickly in a humid

f of climate thereby obscuring many changes . Care ul scrutiny the photograph reveals traces of the lower Virginia Road ascending up a tributary of Gap Creek and a portion O f the Kentucky Road descending

down the mountain to Little Yellow Creek valley . Much more pronounced

is the upper Virginia Road which highway builders enhanced , especially

“ during 1 907 - 1908 when the object lesson road was completed ; in Kentucky

too the road is very pronounced , as it descends the mountain on much of

25 E . the same route , with few exceptions , as present Highway

TRAVEL ACCOUNT S AND RECOLLECTION S

Research efforts have identified very few travel accounts which contain descriptions of the landscape and Wilderness Road at Cumberland

Gap . Latter day travelers tended to be as brief as their eighteenth and

" nineteenth century counterparts with notations typically a brief , crossed b " Cum erland Gap today .

James Lane Allen journeyed over the route in 1885 from Pineville south to Cumberland Gap and described the road as replete

with sloughs and sands , mud and , holes , and jutting

of ledges rock and loose bowlders and twists and turns , and general total

" 30 depravity .

Five years later Allen described a " mountain boy " who passed by in

t an ox drawn wagon near Middlesboro and began o climb up to th e pass .

" " 30 . m m Ja es Lane Allen , Mountain Passes Of The Cu berlands , The

: e d . Cumberlands ( Lexington , Kentucky King Library Press , reprint ,

72 " of Slowly , slowly , winding now this way and now that across the face 31

. the mountain , now hidden , now in sight they went Approaching the summit by gradually as cending via turns and easier contours gives an insight into road placement on the Kentucky side of Cumberland Mountain

F . i B . A Civil War veteran , Stevenson , writing twenty years follow ng

o o the war recalled the impact f the war n the terrain of the mountain . n 1 62 When General Morgan aba doned the Gap in 8 , his troops mined the

area and upon evacuation ,

huge masses of sandstone were at various points detached and to made ready for a blast of powder turn them into the road , and at other points the roads were mined and great pits blown 3 out after the rear guard had pass ed . ( 2 )

No - doubt large scars , quarry like holes and pits that dot the roadside

and adjacent areas , stem not only from road construction over many

too . decades , but from military action Additional insight into road conditions and remnants of the Civil War are recorded by an anonymous traveler in 1891 :

m We drove from Pineville to Cu berland Gap , thirteen miles , two of th e over the now neglected Wilderness Road , the mules o wagon unable t pull us faster than two miles an hour . The - road had every variety of badness conceivable loose stones ,

ledges of rock , boulders , sloughs , holes , mud , sand , deep

fords . We crossed and followed up Clear Creek (a muddy

stream) over Log Mountain ( full of coal ) to Canon Creek . few - Settlements were only occasional poor shanties . Climbing

over another ridge , we reached the Yellow Creek Valley ,

through which the Yellow Creek meanders in sand . The north o f side Cumberland Mountain , like the south side of Pine , is a

conglomerate covered with superb oa k and chestnut trees . We

3 1 . . 1 2 . Ibid , p .

" 32 . B . F . b Stevenson , Cum erland Gap , A Paper Read B efore The Ohio O f o f " Commandery The Loyal L egion the United States , ( Cincinnati

H . C . 1 7 . Sherick Co p .

73 u to o f climbed p the mountain over a winding road ledges ,

boulders , and deep gullies , rising to an extended pleasing

prospect of mountains and valleys . The pass has an historic

interest , not only as the ancient highway , but as the path of

armies in the civil war . It is narrow ; a deep road between

overhanging rocks . It is easily defended . A light bridge to f - thrown over the road , leading the ri le pits and breastworks

on . the north side , remains to attest the warlike occupation

Above , on the bald , highest rocky head on the north , guns or were planted to command the pass . Two three houses , a ' on blacksmith s shop , a drinking tavern , behind which the f O ld of rocks our men were playing sledge , made up the sum its

human attractions as we saw it .

Just here in the pass Kentucky , Tennessee and Virginia

touch each other . Virginia inserts a narrow wedge between the

other two . On our way down the wild and picturesque road we f cross th e State of Virginia . We passed a magni icent of spring , which sends a torrent water into the valley , and turns a great millwheel - a picture in its green setting - saw the of opening the tunnel , with its shops and machinery , noted the

few houses and company stores of the new settlement , climbed to th e hill and sat down look at the scene . The view is a

striking one . ( 33 )

193 Recollections gathered by Robert L . Kincaid in 8 contain observations of road location and condition in addition to information

about buildings and settlers on Cumberland Mountain . Sterling K 76 Turner and his brother Samuel J . T . ( born in 1861 and 18 respectively ) f recalled their Grandfather , who came rom North Carolina in the late

of eighteenth century , telling about the mass canebrakes along the Yellow and Little Yellow Creek valleys and the difficulty getting through them 34 the despite buffalo trails that wound all through them .

34 . Transcript of Oral History Interview of Marcellus Turner by Robert

R . Kincaid , Kincaid Papers , Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

29 19 3 . Library , July , 8

74

CHAPT ER 5

WILDERN ES S ROAD L OCATION : FI NDINGS AND CONCLUSI ON S

A considerable variety O f sources contain information bearing on the location o f the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap National

Historical Park . Inquiry into the documents and graphic materials serves

f . T O to illuminate patterns for identi ying road whereabouts reiterate , underlying assumptions used to guide the study include : 1 ) early traces

of and trails followed paths least resistance first employ ed by animals , ff 2 especially bu alo , and native population ; ) the location of roads remain basically on the same routes though certain locales experienced relocations due to changes in road engineering and technology ; 3 ) environmental changes in the landscape occurred in the vicinity of Cumberland Gap because of human occupation and use ; and 4 ) the study focuses on the

' Wilderness Road and seeks to pinpoint it rather than Boone s trace , an

f to . earlier , less developed and more dif icult route specifically situate

Certain documentation that enables findings and conclusions to be drawn for this study include the timeless use of the Cumberland Gap by

a f to g me animals , in particular the eastern buf alo migrating grazing lands

to O f f and salt licks the east the Cumberland Mountains . Well de ined and

of O beaten down , the trace from the crossings the hio River into the

Atlantic coast states formed the basis for on e of the most important routes of prehistoric and historic native populations in all o f North America .

This trace and natural passageway over Cumberland Mountain permitted early Anglo hunters and explorers to p enetrate western hinterlands well f be ore the American Revolution on a known , albeit risky , well marked path

of Observations such as that Dr . Walker in 1 75 0 document specific natural phenomena in the immediate area O f Cumberland G a p : Cu dj o

f f s G a s Cave , the spring emanating rom it that eed p Creek , the phy ical

of G a I I on setting the mountains and p , the ndian road , ndian markings

76 nearby trees and the route into and along Yellow Creek valley to the

Cumberland River at Pine Gap . Other observations and associations with

Cumberland Gap stem from Daniel Boone , prominent frontiersman of the

- f of trans Appalachian region . Boone , a requent user the trace , improved 1 775 it for Judge Henderson in , and four years later Virginia enacted

legislation designed to build a wagon road to tie the county of Kentucky

or to the rest of the state . When the builders petitioned f payment in

Eg g 1 780 they noted that wagons used the road , a probable ending date

' to Boone s Trace in the Cumberland Gap locale .

Road maintenance and improvements continued to b e addressed in the

last two decades of the eighteenth century . Both Virginia and Kentucky

to sought repair what appeared to be a rather miserable road , looked

after by local residents who worked off road law requirements each year

for a specified number of days . Virginia attempted to standardize roads

: with criteria of bridges twelve feet wide with level floors , signing at

intersections and roads of thirty foot width , though it is doubtful such

width ever existed over Cumberland Gap until the twentieth century . During 1795 - 1 796 Kentucky committed a sizeable expenditure for

upgrading roads ; from Crab Orchard to the state boundary line at

Cumberland Gap the road underwent improvement to accommodate wagons .

This effort consisted of bridging and widening the road to a thirty - foot

standard . Concern for traveler safety caus ed the establishment of

blockhouses and guard details to protect groups en route to or from

Kentucky .

of 1 12 When public monies grew scarce after the War 8 , more and more states turned to private enterprise to fund road building and

o maintenance . The era f turnpikes had begun . At the time Kentucky

found the section of the Wilderness Road most in need of repair to be the

stretch from the Gap to Yellow Creek ; and it specified the maximum grade

f - to be our degrees with a road width of twenty six feet .

Virginia , somewhat earlier than Kentucky , entered into turnpikes

too . Standards enacted in the 1830 3 required a grade not to exceed four

77 degrees and a smooth surface some eighteen feet wide . Later in the

1830 3 the legislature reduced width to fifteen feet and due to pressures

f f to f f . rom armers , six eet through ields During the same period the

grade at Cumberland Gap changed to three degrees , although earlier some evidence suggests the upper Virginia Road may have been a six degree v ff grade . The steepness may ha e contributed to more tra ic using the road via B eans Station and Tazewell in Tennessee rather than through

Jonesville in southwest Virginia .

It seems apparent that from early on Kentucky and Virginia devoted

a good bit of attention to the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap .

Confirming data about the importance of the route exists from a variety of

of two secondary sources that detail the role the states , plus the

of for importance the route early travelers , native populations and E migrating animals . vidence of actions taken to improve the route and establish standards for road building and maintenance exist in a number of primary sources .

A variety of primary and secondary sources support ive of road

building and maintenance data , also address the location issue of the

Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap National Historical Park .

Cartographic sources examined did not contain a single large scale map that delineated all precise locations of the Wilderness Road at Cumberland

G a p ; rather several maps serve as a basis , in conjunction with other f o to f of . kinds documents , enable the identi ication the road

Map s drawn prior to the turn of the nineteenth century depict large

regions and thus at small scale do not permi t exactness . The major purpos e of such maps revolves around the inclusion O f Cumberland Gap and the trail passing through it ; it calls attention to the importance of f the natural eature in the Cumberland Mountains . Most designations label

the road either the Kentucky or Virginia road . As the Wilderness Road approaches the G a p several maps differentiate out the upper and lower

of Virginia roads and the Tennessee Road , most these , however , date f rom the nineteenth century .

78 Important large scale map s appeared with the Civil War armies .

1 6 2 ma f Captain Ly ons 8 p shows roads , de ensive emplacements , houses ,

streams and other features . Noteworthy for this study is the road configuration showing the routes along the contour line of Cumb erland

o Mountain from Virginia ; the roads into the settlement f Cumberland Gap , f Tennessee , rom Virginia and Tennessee ; and the switchbacks ascending

from the valley of G ap Creek to the summit . On the Kentucky side the road configuration coupled with contours gives the first cartographic

record of the routes descending into the Yellow Creek drainage . Ly on

t of reports two sharp turns in the road descending in o Kentucky , one which occurs after passing through the saddle of the Gap about 700 feet while the other switches back approximately feet farther down the

mountain at the head of a drainage . Maps of railroad and utility companies corroborate the configuration on the Kentucky side and refer to

" " " " the road by names of old state road and old Cumberland Gap road .

Meanwhile on the Virginia - Tennessee side the upper and lower roads appear on maps that confirm location and configurations still yet in evidence

Ground - tru thi ng during the fall and winter of 1984 - 1986 on the

of of slop es Cumberland Mountain substantiates the existence road beds ,

f of on shoulders , cuts and ills early roads that appear the maps noted

above . Though some portions have b een considerably reclaimed by

vegetation , mostly timber , evidence points rather conclusively to routes

a addressed by travelers and m p makers . At one location on the lower

O end f the Kentucky side several parallel wagon ruts may be seen . Road grades observed during ground - tru thi n g correlate rather closely to recommendations on requirements made by legislatures in Virginia and

Kentucky ; and road supervisors likewis e reported grades that

- tru t ground hin g verified . The route conformed to contour lines requiring

greater distance but more gradual ascents .

The preponderance o f illustrations and photographs portray the

o f f f Virginia and Tennessee side Cumberland G a p . All rein orce the acts o f f an upper and lower road , switchbacks on the one ascending rom Gap

79 w Creek valley and the relative lack of trees on the mountainsides . A fe good illustrations and photographs present th e character of the saddle area as a narrow passageway over which the Civil War armies built and maintained a bridge ; a portion of the bridge apparently found use in

' m O f Jones store . Later photographs docu ent some the quarry ing and

scarring as road builders employ ed more technology , especially at the summit

Recollections and travel accounts from 1885 into the twentieth

ou t - of century point over and over the rough , pot holed , rocky character

r emember a nc es the road with its many twists and turns . Additional

m - of include the springs near the sum it , the rather steep walled portion

the saddle and insights into the flora in the vicinity of the G ap .

of The combination basic assumptions , road clearing , building and

o f maintenance ; standards pertaining to degree grades , width and other f requirements ; and the corroborative evidence rom historical , cartographic and graphic documents all lead to particular conclusions about the location of the Wilderness Road at Cumberland G a p National Historical Park .

Specific findings for the Wilderness Road location study follow

1 . The Virginia road divided about 600 feet east of the present

of 25 E 5 intersection highway s and 8 .

2 . The upper Virginia Road maintained elevation along the contour line

and ascended to the summit of Cumberland G a p on a route that

loop ed to the head of hollows and drainages much like the Obj ect

o 0 s o lesson road f 19 8 . In doing it passed the mouth of Cu dj o Cave f and over the spring issuing rom it .

3 . The lower Virginia Road descended into the valley of Gap Creek

of G a ( present Village Cumberland p , Tennessee ) where it intersected

with the Tennessee ( Tazewell ) Road ; and on the same route via

switchbacks , went upward to the summit where it intersected with

the upper Virginia Road . The Kentucky ( State) Road began on the state line at the summit

( saddle ) of the Gap and descended down the mountain turning

sharply west about 700 feet from the state boundary ; continuing

f o f along contour lines to the valley loor Little Yellow Creek , it

wended through canebrake and swamp to Yellow Creek ; followi ng

that stream northerly it passed through Pine G ap and across the

Cumb erland River ford ( Pineville) .

f th e to 61 - 5 . The con iguration of saddle prior the Civil War ( 18 1865 ) constricted travel to a rather narrow passage which has since been

widened and flattened by quarrying and filling .

of 6 . The grades the road as determined by the states Of Virginia and

to 1 840 not to f Kentucky prior were exceed our degrees , while width

f to - of roadway varied rom eighteen twenty seven feet .

7 to . Where terrain permitted it , the road shifted parallel locations due

to to deepening rock cuts , mud or other impediments travel ; a

notable locale of such may be observed about 300 feet above the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad tracks on the Kentucky side of

Cumberland Mountain .

From time immemorial animal and human traffic utilized a natural

passageway across the Cumberland Mountains . No other important statement need be made except to underscore the continued use o f the route of the Wilderness Road by travelers in the late twentieth century - a

continuum across time , a link with the past .

81

APPENDI X A

Text of Virginia Legislation Marking and Opening Road m O over Cu berland Mountain , ctober 17 79 .

O CTO BER 1779— 3d or CO MMO NW EALT H. 1 4 3

CRAP . X II.

An a ct j br ma r/ring a nd openi ng a roa d over the Cu m ber la nd m o u n

ta ins znto the co u nt enlu c/c y q ey .

W HEREAS g rea t numbers of peo pl e a re settli ng Preambl e .

on the w a e s o f the O hio i ve to the wes w up t r r r , t a rd o f umbe la nd mou n a ins in the co un the C r t , ty o f Kentuc e a nd ea adva n a es wi l edo u nd to the com k y, g r t t g l r monwealth fr o m a tree a nd e a sy co mmunica tio n a nd interco urse betw een the inha bit a n ts in the ea stern a nd ' ' n a s he eof ena b in hem to a flo r wester p rt t r , l g t d m utua l nd su o to e ach o he a nd cemen in in o n aid a pp rt t r, t g e o in a ll the ci i en s w comm n terest t z s o f the ta te, to hich oad h o u h h ea m un a g ood wag g on r t r g t e g r t o ta ins in in th u will to the settl ement s e sa id co nty g rea tly co n but such ro ad necessa i a ssin fo r tribute: r ly p g , a con siderahle dista nce thro ug h a tr a ct o f ro u g h a nd unin e co un ca n nei he be made in the usua habitabl try, t r l th ad acen inha bi a n s no r ca n the ractii way by e j t t t , p r c ha e be o e ud ed o f un i the cability o rg pr p rly J g , t l country ha t h been expl o r ed a nd such r oad tra ced o ut: na cted b the G eneral fl sscmbl T ha t v Be it e y y, E an and Ri ha d Ca l awa be a o in ed fo r hat Shelby c r l y, pp t t u ose a nd he a re he eb em o we ed and autho cd fo m p rp , t y r y p r r ark x o th co u ac nt to a nd on ba th W K " NI 0 riz ed to e pl re e ntry adj e , n the Cu mbe and m o unta ins a nd to tra ce o ut a nd sides rl , , mai a mark the mo st convenient road from the settl em ents the cum“, the ea s side o f the sa id mo u n ains o ve the same l-m d mo u on t t , r , g ” M ” the O en co u n in the sa id c o un y o f Ken uo into p try . t t at? y. such a wi h a ll co nvenien kcv; and to cause r o d, t t des ich to be o ened a nd c ea ed i n such m a nner as to pa , p l r assa e to ave ers wi h ack-ho ses f or the g ive p g tr ll t p r , nd e t heir oceedin s he ein to th present; a r po r t pr g t r e i of a mb y o eth wi h a co m u a tion next sess on sse l . t g er t p t dis ance a n the best es ima e he can make o of the t . d t t t y f i i h s the practicabil ty a nd cha rg e o f co mpl et ng t e a me makin it a o od w a o n ad a nd the sa id Eva and g g g g ro ; n “ b and Richa d Ca awa a l la y befo e the Shel y r ll y . t l r s o f ubli acco un f i un o n oa h auditor p ck ts a a r acco t , t , disbu semen s ma de a nd cha es incu ed in of the r t , rg rr the execution of this act; which the said auditors are

85 W " V LA S O I IRGINIA,

' he eb re ui ed to ad ust a nd se e a nd ive a w are r y q r j ttl , g r ant on the t re asu ry fo r such sum as sha ll to t hem a ppea r j ustly due t hereo n; e xcept the w a g es and pay o f the a bo u rs a nd mi i ua d each o f who m o n l re l it a g r , the certifica te o f the sa id E va n S hel by or Richard Ca ll a way that he ha th been empl oyed during the who l e ime o f ha se vice sha be en i ed to a ant of hree t t t r , l l t tl g r t hundred ac res o f any w a s te o r u na ppr o pria ted l ands w i hin his s a e fo r w hic h no u chase mo ne shall t t t t , p r y be d m d o b o f h c o mmo nw o ne e ande n e ha l f t e ea l th, o r hu ndred a ntl t wenty po u nds a t the optio n O f the c l aim a nt; a nd in the sa me pro po rtio n fo r the l i k e certifica te o f se vice du i n a esse ime a nd exce t the co m r r g l r t , p pe nsa tio n to the sa id E va n Shel by a nd Richa rd Cal a w a f or heir o wn o e which is he eb reserved l y, t tr ubl , r y to the utl tnent o f h enera l assemb j g t e g ly. G uard fo r And whe ea s the o ns em o ed in makin and , r pers pl y g r ot e c ti o n p cl ea ring the sa id ro a d ma y be expo sed to da ng er from i n In. ag a st h t e India ns, the sa id E va n Shel b and Richa rd Cal d u o s, ho w y roc u a wa a re he eb em o w e ed f o m ime to ime to p re d . l y, r y p r , r t t , a pply to the commanding o ffi cer o f the most co nveni ent co un o r co un ies fo r suc h mi i ia ua d not ex ty t , l t g r , ceedin wi h the a bo u e s em lo ed fift men as g ( t l r r p y ) y , he sha hink necess fo r o ion which u ard t y l l t a ry pr tec t ; g , su ch commanding o fli cer is empowered and required

to fu nish a cco din . In ca th dea h disabil r r g ly se o f e t , it or efusa to a c o f h o f t c mmissio ne s the y, r l t eit er he o r , o u o f the co un in which he r ided sha nomina e c rt ty es , l l t a o er e son to fill u the va ca nc which no mina pr p p r p y, io n shall ive the e son named the same owers a nd t g p r , p , entitle him to the like co mpensation as if he had been b here y particu l a rly appointed .

APPENDIX C

Bill for Services and Supplies in Road B uilding Over

20 1 7 1 . Cumberland Mountain , April , 8

A P PE N D IX D

O o n Virginia Law Removing bstructions Wilderness Road , 7 December 25 1 90 .

LAW S O F V RGINI I A.

V CHAP . LI .

JIn a rt removing obstr uctions from the road lea din throu h the IVildm m s to Kentucke g g y.

Passe d th 25 th e c b ( e o f D em e r. 1790 . )

P rea mble ‘V . l . t s e s S teer . IIEREAS i i r pre ent ed to t his present G e ne a Assemb y ha the o ad e adin hro u h the ‘V r l l , t t r l g t g il de ness to the dis i f ntuckey r tr c t o Ke , is much out of re ai whe eb the in ercou se be ween the inhabi a p r , r y t r t t nt s of the said district and the east ern part of this state is g reatly t obs ruct e d.

P a t o f the S izer . 2 . Be it ena cted b the Genera l Assembl That r y y, ta s s clu e ro m e f a sum no t exceedin six hund ed o unds out of he u g r p , t h c e rt ai n c o u no e t lie t ax s due from he counties of J effe rson Nelso n la in t ie s a p pro p ri , , t coin e ce a nd M adison shall e and the a is he a e d to o pe n , M r r , b s me re the o a d t r o by appropri at ed to the purpose of O pe ni ng and improving Ke nt c k u ey. the said road t hro ug h the W il de rness from the ’ l ine o f Russe l cou nty to E ng l is s st atio n in the sa id dis trict a nd ha J ohn Lo an H a Inne s Isaac She b C o mm i ssi o n , t t g , rry , l y, r i ' c s a o nt e d. S a mue M Du w e ll and J ohn Mi e en emen be a pp l l l r , g tl , p o i n ed co mmiss io ne rs who or an h ee of hem are p t , y t r t he r eby impmve red a nd direct ed to sttperintend the said w o and to con a c wi h so me fit e son to under a rk , tr t t p r t ke

the cl eari ng a nd i m provi ng the said re ad. l u th ena ted T ha it sha . d be it er c ll S szc r . 3 . n be U nderta ke r to f r , t a ive a p re fe r. condi ion i n the said con ac ha a efe ence sha b g t tr t , t t pr r ll e e nc e to the fi t i ven b the s a id u nde aker for abo u rovision or any g y rt l r , p ha bi t a nt s o f O he necessa ies ha ma be w an ed and fu nished or “34 co u mg c , t r r t t y t r , fo r ne cessa that can be obt ai ned from the inhabit ants of the said

rie s fur. . counties in discha rg e o f the publ ic t a w s due from their ' t tshetl ; respect ive co unt ies ; and the seve ral account ' of such per so n who ma have discha e d hei a xes as a fo esaid s y rg t r t r ,

be i uida ed and ad us ed b the sa id. undertalrer shall l q t j t y ,

he and a ce tifica e an ed by him for the amoun he eof T o g ra nt t m r t g r t t t r , c e rti ficat es in the ime and numbe of da s se ved the ime express g t r y r , t t he e o : r f r w h t se vic w as e fo med and the a o wa nce fo r en he r e p r r , l l such se vice w hich said ce ifi ca e an ed as afo esaid w hich shall be r , rt t g r t r , t a ble i n b c e va the she iff o f tha co un in w hich rcc c t shal l e r e i bl e by r t ty, disc ha r e o f g the said pe rson pe rforming the said ser vice was resi the t a xe s d n discha e of the ub ic axes due f om ha coun e nt , i r l t r t t ty, due fro m said g p and the same sha be ecei d in se t ement of his ac c ountiea. l l r ve t l w t who s ha w counts ith he receiver, ll be allo ed the same is accop t wi h th in the se ttl ement of h n t e tre asurer. - n be it w ther enacted t nd St ar . 4 fi d f , That he sa id un U e rt aker to ha efo re he e nte s int th i lw m‘ dertaker s l l , b r o e execut on of the i ' c‘ ” said wo k en e i n o bond wi h a o ved secu i in the r . t r t t ppr r ty althf ltf of we ve hundred o unds wi h the s a id boa d of penalty t l p . t r fo rg i n g; of missione s for the fai hful e formance of the said It" co mm ! com r , t p r a in to be recove a b e on fai ure b mo i n i undert k g , r l l , y t o n an re n of record u o n ivi n ten da s revious notice y g , p g g y p thereoi A PP E N D I X E

Virginia Law Ordering Military Protection Along Wilderness Road , 7 7 90 . November 2 , 1

‘ V CIIAI . LX I.

’ Ii t (wt to a u thoriz e a nd direct the comm a nding officers of certa i n co unti es wi thin the di s trict o [ t w i ne/fe to order o ut ua rds or certa i n f y, g j

purposes.

a sse d the t v mb ( P 37 h o f No e e r.

‘V Il' l th I . I RRAS e w P reambl e . S tz cr . e int ercours bet een this country and Kentuckey is much int errupt ed by the dc pre tla tious a nd murders committ ed by the host il e tribes ' o t lntlia us who l ive cont ig uo us to the road l eading t hroug h the - h t G s t i ts to be S e er . 2 . li e it ena cted T a he commandin o fli c r u , t g e s ' ' i c i of the co unt ies of M e rCe r I tncoln and Madison shall be , o , hbitiiiie biiii. and t e are hereb author i z ed and di rect ed to orde r out h e , ( 0 pm “ , hy y " o f hei es ec ive co un i e s a e na e in e ve ear m e n" , t r r p t t lt r t ly ry y , ' ”" O u h the hi e ffec ive m en in the mon hs of c o e a d ts t rty t , t O t b r n No y o mbe to e ndez vous on the o ad e adin th o u h the r , r r l g r g w i de ness at the e as foo of Cu mbe a nd l r , t t rl mou nt a in . on

the fi ftee n h ( la o f O c obe a nd o n the e n h da o f o t y t r , t t y N ve tnher: T hat the said g uard shall be comm a nde d by such person as the comma nding offi ce r of the county f o m w hic h hey are a e n sha ll hin tit to a o i t r t t k t k pp n , w hose dut y it shall he to g uard and prot ect such com a n h o u h the w i de ness as ma be in ea d n s p y t r g l r , y r i e s at ' the lace a nd on the da s ali o vcme l t e l he ua p y n ou d. g rds sha be c a ed o ut a nd e fo m the du y he ein e ui ed ll ll p r r t r r q r , a lternat e ly ii i the orde r in w hich the counti es are he rein ftvrc a etl i t bc n m n t his ar . vid T o o e i ze r . 8 . Ji m! be “ u ther ena cted That the a o pr S f r . s id offi ccr a o in ed as a fo e said and the uar dun pp t r , g der him or out sha fu ni sh hemse ves w i h th ne ss a , ll r t l t e ce ry a ms ammuni i o n a nd ovisio n fo r the u se a fo r , t pr p rpo s re - ai chi n pay ; s d . The said otii ce r s ha ll rt e e ivc for his servic es six i l sh l ing s per daman de ach of the g uard four shill ing s on day: The ir several ac count s sha ll be l i quidat e d and ad f j ust e d by the comma nding ofli c er of the county rom w hi ch the w e e o de e d who s ha ansmit on oa h to y r r r , ll tr t t v he a xes f r the said dis ic a a o l he recei e r of t t o tr t , p y r l spec i fying part icu l arl y the name s o f t hose be l o ng i ng to a nd the ime of he i e n e in in o and each compa ny. t t r t r g t Ce rtificfl ct l eaving the se r vi ce : he sltall also g ra nt to e ach person a - " titi t a te e x e ssi n the numbe o f da s he se ve d the cer pr g r y r , 3 t ime when the servucc was erfo rmed a nd the a ll o w ance p , ag a in ,“of ‘ ' ' r su h se vice w hic h sa i d cct ttttca t ra n e d as afo e ta xes. fo c r , g t r ' ' d h e c e va by the lte ritl ot the s aid co un s ai , s a l l be r i bl e s ty

disc ha e the u ic ta xes d ue f o m the sa id co u n y in rg of p bl r t , and the s a m e s ha l l he recm ve d fro m him i n the se ttl e

’ w h s ha ll be ai me nt o t his a c c ou nt s w it h the rece tvt r, o l ow e d the sa me in the se ttl e me n t o f his acco un t s in l ik e

ma n ner a s he is by la w a l lo w e d fo r ot he r certtticates re

ceivable for the taxes of the said district .

93 A PP E N D IX P

Act of Virginia to Open Wagon Road to

T o o f u 17 1 7 p C mberland Mountain , November , 9 2 .

CHAP. XXXVI.

fl it act to fa cilita te the i ntercourse of the inha bi ta nts of thi s Commo nwea lth with the State O f Kentucky.

P ass o ve m ( ed N be r 17 .

"“W ‘NC Sec 1. W it is e s t the esent s . H EREAS r pre ent ed o pr G ene a Assembl hat o enin a wa on oad from the r l y, t p g g g r bl oc khouse in the w ester n e xtre mit y of the county of W ashi n on to the to of Cumbe a nd mount ain in the g t , p rl , coun o no w ee bei n w he e the oad f om ty f Russe l l . ( L ) g r r r the s a e e n uc y e minates wi be of eat ub t t of K t k t r . l l g r p lic util ity in faci l i t at i ng the int e rcourse fro m the extreme southw este rn parts of this st ate w ith our eastern brethren at the sea o rt o wns and as the same on account of the p t , , l eng th of the w ay and the many di fficulties attending the o e nin he eof cannot be c ea ed b the ordinar meo p g t r . l r y y t hod prescribe d fo r opening ro ads ; and as this Assembly are at all times will ing to contribute every encourag b l ment to such desig ns as are represe nt ed to be of g enera u i i as Inc as is consis en wi h udence and ood t l ty, t t t pr g cono (e my. t -o mmm w fl ' S 2 h t W a e h An eer . Be it ena cted, T a illiam T t , Jo n i le rson a W a mes u e son , Ch rl es Cox, alt er Prest on, J F lk r , Thomas Be r and Thomas W a en en eme n be and M , a,” row r y ll , g tl , , ro m t he the are he eb a i n e d comm i ssio ne s to e x o e f y r y ppo t r , pl r , L m’ l' m m Vi ew and ma o ut the hes and mos e i i b e wa for s , rk t t l g l y i f ' w a on ro ad f om the said b ock-house in the coun of "n g g . r l . ty

t t m ‘ t l‘lt W ashin on to the to of Cumbe and moun ain in the i bt d g t , p rl t , i m ou nt a n said coun of Russe now Lee and to e ort to the ! ty ll , ( ) r p " " " P " ne e i o i nion wi h es t to s t G nera l Assemhlv. the r , t r ec "n fw t p p nu ?t. o the ac i cabi i of sai d o a d the di s ance be ween the "w " u , M , pr t l ty r , t t ' ‘ - ' ‘ c lti l lv said aces and a s an t Sl llll l lC ol the es e nce which pl , l o p would necessarily be incurred in O pening a wag g on ro ad as e afor said.

A P P END IX H

h e Wild ern e s s R d Ke n tu c ky G a z ett e Anno u nc ement t oa

o W n s O ct ber 1 5 1 79 6 . O pe n f r a g o , o ,

THE W ILDERNESS RO AD from Cumberland G ap to lem en Kentuck n w om lea W a o the sett ts in y is o c p ted. g g ns loaded with a ton w ei ht ma as w ith ease with four ood g , y p , g ' horses - Travellers will find no difiiculty in procuring such necessaries as they St and in need o f o n the road; and the abundant crO now row in in Kentuck will afiord the p g g y, emig rants a cert ainty o f being supplied with every noa n u y

of life o n the mos: conveni ent terms. Joseru Cantx m j a u z s Knox ' Commis oners A PP E N D I X I

Eng i n e er H J . Ea s tin Re po r t o n S ta n dar d s a n d Expe n di tu r e s

for Cr ab O rchar d to C u mbe r la n d G a T u r n ik p p e .

R " ' ' EPO RT O . J. I H EAS IIN. RESIDENT NG E INEER.

- Crab O rcha rd a nd O m aha land

’ .E nontn n s on “ W a d 9 . g , H y I , 183

av I h e loca ted, and assisted in lacin unde r co ntra ct such rtie s p g . pa o f Crab O rchard and Cumberland G a Th rn ike Ro a d as o u to p . y directed be loca te l d in Apri last. The to ta l e ng th o f the va ri es sectio ns i s mil i- - es a nd o s. The estima ted cost o f the radi incltt li u p g ng . ng g r b bin clearin dra inin c ulverts and a l g . g . , l the maso nry in sm all to g e t er with the an rs tructures of suc h bridg es as have a span if less than thi rt feet is 58 or ll ? (I) r a of y . , ta pe mile. Th nnet the bridg v o er the Cumberla nd and Ro ckcastle riven will he 88. The esti ma ted cost er mile for radin and brid i is (I ) . The n , p , g g g ng , o e trac t rice er le fo r radin when a ve ra e is The to t p , p , g g , g d, al ’ ’ ’ oest ot the per oontract is m fis g and the to tal a l t d the r adin and the brid es er contracts is I7 . The detailed oust g g g , p , ’

' ot the artim lar secti o ns are iven in schedtde s oeom n in this re w t. p g A . p y g p

G ra bbi n emf Clea r i n — w o g g The h le of the w ork to he impm d . is to he clea red fifty fee u s nd g raded thirty feet w idg elea r of the rned draiu .

.w hi ch will re ui re th r bb t t f The m ma r q e g u ing of hir y fi e fee t. axi l: g d e o ur de rees w ! r i s f g . hich on occurs on one sectio n, (the Cumbe land moun

tain the residue in no exceeds three and one ha lf de re e . ;) , g s

r — ces w here Caloorts ca d D ni u . These are pro vided fo r in all ins tan b y ' ' w var the ir di memi onss w ill be re quire d to narry ofi the ats r. I hey y in ' w t to o n Drains win being frorn t o lee three and ne half fee t i their axia.

be made o n the mo unta in seetio ns. nnder the em ba nkments, w hen built on ' ideli ro und from w hid i an water do w durin the w et seasons oi ths a ng g . y n g year.

- B urba nk-eats a nd E ra m in a — Emh nkme nts made of common ea rth ° w i side 33 o to ve base s of o ne and a half a re es tima ted th a slo pe of l . r ha foo ln sand earth the are to ho ld ! to e ttle te thei r feet fo r es nh t ri se. y y s lo e r a t ba w o fee t to o ne foo t e r endi cular ber t na tural s p . o ses of t p p ' n aI Those embankments made ot the loose iobk are no have a h se d o e fent riss o r to alo e a t an of O n the mountai n i ds. to os eh , p a . t " faoe ol the hill is to he ent inte w here the na ural slo pe eaoeeds m . benches e e to receive the embankment and e vnnt ho riz ontal , no ug h p

. to H. W 39 App R.

97

Vir g inia Law Es tabli s hi ng T u r npi ke from

o c c s G a D ecemb er 2 1 1805 . Cumbe rland G a p t Mo a in p , ,

nd b it urtli rr enacted ha as soon as the said at — ACT to autho ri z e the cou nts court of Lee to e rec t a turn i ke 3 . A e j , T t e shall Ca n . 12 Ah p g - ' o r toll- ale o n th e roa d leadi n fro m M oeken o n a to Cumberland a e e rec ted i t sha ll be lawful for such ate kee er to demand a g g g p g p. b , g p ad throu h the w e co u nt“ re i ve all ersons assin throu h the same the followi n g ce of p p g g , g m . P ssed Decem ber ( a or to lls i n : For eve r man si x and o ne i i alt er cents for eve - , y , q ; y W here as it i s re res ented to thi s eneral asse mbl that a turn horse mule or ass si s and one uarter cents and for ever carri a p g y, , , q , y g e uke or toll ate on the ro ad le adi n fro m Blockerson a to Cu m f an kind i ncludi n team and dri ver ti reli e and one half p g g g p o y , g , cents berland a thro u h the co u nt o f Lee for the ur ose o f kee i n er whee l : P rom /rd T hat e rsons not resi di n more than g p, g y . p p p g p , p g four the said ro ad in re a i r wo u ld he of u hhc uti li t mi les from such ate shall not be sub ect to a ment of p , p y g , y p y tell for ' ur f the sai m 1. B e i t M err ure m m tu l T hat the co t o d ene of as tn thro u h the same. j , y p g g L M arc u ll b ee are hereb autho ri z e d at their nes t h co rt or as soon d. A fair li st of the to s a a le b this act or established b t y , , p y y , y he thereafter as shal be convenie nt a ma o rity o f the members bei n court of sai d count as here i nafter di recte d shall be ke t u l , j g y, , p p at resent lace on the sand m ad for he erection o t r m ti me to ti me for the i nformati on of assen to fix u o suc h t the toll a e f o ers. P , p n p , g . , p g of each ate as to them shall see m most ex edient and shall have And the toll- atherer or ate-kee er shall be sub ect to a line of g , p , g g p , j M " ? to o nt fo r the bui ldi n and com leti n such ate and us d llars for ever da the same s hall be omi tted to be recorered P c ract g p g g . e o y y . ' shall mo reover a i nt a kee er thereo f who shall enter into bond wi th costs b warrant be fo re an ustlc. oi the e ace i n the and ppo p , , y , y j p M d s h c h m as t ufi cien sec uri t to the co urt t e n si tti n i su su he co unt of Lee for the use of the art com lai ni n . t y g , n y , p y p g l u! court sh l thunk ust f r the fa ithful e rformance of the do 5 . A nd be it urther ena cted T hat the moncv arisi n fro m such f a l j , o p f , g Ues of his e and shall acco unt with the l l ld co urt monthl ate shall be de osited in the hands of the cle rk of the an d court offic , y, g , p . 1 t - an o ath oni he s ll rec ei ve b m tua of this act : P ro and shall consti tute a fund for the i m ro vi n and ke e i n the said h , for all m es ha y g p g p g n ded rected on that ar ll r e the sai d co urt t such nevertheless T hat such ate shall not be e t road i n re ai r and sha be aid b o d r o f , o , g p p , p y °f t i he said w uncti on wi th the ussell count su e ri ntendents ai i d l i bo i i rers as s hall be e m lo t l unde r thi s act, re ad lying be t ee n i ts j R y p , p y W an the sai d cou rt bei n sati sfied of the tlfl lt . of thei r acco u nts : P re d L ee co urthouse. g j ' 9 rrhcl ha i at a n t m the tolls recei i cd shall be A ad be a le sa nd ed That the said co urt shall have ntdt d ni vc css, T t f i e , j ung . y m - m r than sutli cient for the ur herei n menti oned i t shall be the front i ers la c l auch districts on said road as m o e ose , to side, to y , p p duty o f the sai d co urt to reduce the tolls so as to produce a fund i he aid of this act and shan the. abtil seem most to requ re t , h equal i n the purposes contemplated by t is act. ts o ver such di stricts who shall sever ll li k oi nt su e rintendaa , a y e from after the p p ti . T his act shall commence and be i n force and aecurruas i n such th and enter i nto bo nd with sulli crent . aa as oa , r a f March ne xt and shall conti nue i n force for the term of fi st d y o , al di rect for the fai thful erformance of the d . as the sand co urt sh l , p o ten ears and no lo n er. a w y , g m b this act. S uch au e n atead nts, ho. u . ties requi red of the y p an labourers bor he an d co urt shall em lo so m y , e. and qusred by t , p y he shall deem necessar and shall roceed to p a . carri ag es as t y y, p heir res ecti ve di stri cts as to them shall a suc h repai rs o n t p , ”. shall make mont l l . T he most to promote the pu b ic g ood y hy te n s t the said court and shall be sub ea turas o f thei r proceedi g o , p g o f and be remo vable fro m e thos b the sa d court fa the co ntrol , y i , he dischar e of the duti es litera l any mi sconduct or neg lect i n t g ; w nce to th and shall recei ve fo r thei r servi ces such allo a s as e and

court shall seem yust.

101

A P PE N D IX K

n u P t ts T ll te be l n d G a Chris tophe r Gree p ro es o Ga a t Cu m r a p ,

S e tembe r 1 2 1 0 6 . p , 8

- - - Ca s ts fo re st G uan i ne re re s Go t sa m e.

' an e ht ' I he r e the host-1 t of hack -si n on da vi t of hi t . h atn l Ha rt and Fo g y rt. ‘ ‘ Frankfo rt. the eei ti fiu h e d " n ear-c l a d ” Crockett and J ames True ( all ru t-cm ' Kn ut h] tahle characlc s) M ing f l oll g ate lately erected ti e-ar the to p of th e m a on the Vir inia aid com laini Cu berland G p, g e, p ng o f the unj ust. mass w ol i ( as h} dnct of thoee ho ha ve the di rectloo t. [ he re all »many vart-l

co m pla ints made to me on tha t subject. and believe the a ssi duct of thona who ha ve hxd the at t he re rehensi ble It h g e o p . as all ) b-aa reps! eented to me lhe t the in ha bitants who li ve m ute fo ot of the motto ’ taih ou tlae w-t sidq are ohlig ed to pnm thro the Gap to e mill al tho [no t of ntain on sid and cons e en the mou the east e, qu tly are compe lled wi n f i v to pa y toll thout deri vi ng any be efit rosts t. I hn q there fo re, to ' - ' request your Excelld scy to interpun and ru tify the abuse if lo yolas ' r t o co ns titutional po wer; if other me. ha t y u ca use the sam e to be

se ni r o ] to you r next Ge nera l Aq .

APPE N D I X L

Vi rg inia L eg i s lation to Move Toll Gate fr om

e nu r 2 1807 . Immed iate Cumberland G a p Ar a , Ja a y ,

— l i he t oas t . A and e a n t act au hori sin e Ca s s 72 . An CT ts amend xp g the y - e msrt of Les ta erect a turnpi ke er tall g ets on the road leadi ng from Mesh

s to the mid count . e a m g a p Cumberland g ap, W y crass-s h een , my.) ' W he re as rt ta represented to This g eneral assembly that a turnpike o toll~ at thoriz ed b an act of the last session of assembl has r g e au y y, been erected on Cumberland mountai n by the directi on of the count cou of Le e for the ur ose of collectin a fund to kee y rt , p p g p the ro e air from M n a Cumberland a throu h ad in r p oc harso g p to g p, g the county o f Lee ; and it appears to this g eneral asse mbly that it is not re asonable that the said turnpike or tollo g ate should be erected at the be fore mentioned l because travellers usin the Tennes p ace, g ' see os main Kentuchy road are suhieet to the paymens ot tollaal ' ' ‘ ' tr rel e ell as thm a the road bd s“troll b ‘h rocee ds o f the said turn ike : For rg tnud whe reo f p p y , B e i t m o rta l null d ala ru l I . . T hat it s ha ll not be la wful tor the o r 14 0 to conti nue l tu - said co urt rnpi ke or toll g ate on Cu mbe rland unta in or so near the sa me that trare ll mo , ers using the T e nnessee Kentuck ro ad wi ll be su b e or main y j cted to the payment ot tolls at ad ets ; but it s hall and ma be lawful for t o u a g g y he said c rt, nd here b r ui red to erect the s a they are y eq nd turnpike or toll-g ate at i table lace o n the an d road leadin m y su p g from Cumberland g ap oc kerson a eastward of the unctio n o to M g p, j f the said ro ad with he T ennessee or ma n Kentuck ro ad to all res ects t y , p conforming the restri ctio ns limitations and e m iu to , pr m of the act of the last en sess io n of the g eral assembly. Am! be i t url/arr m ed a l That all sums d i 2 . f , m er! at the toll ate heretofo re erected and not et disburse d shall be a g y . pplied ex elusively to the improt ement of the pass at Cumbe rland g ap user

the Cumbe rland mountain.

3. T his act shall commence and be i n fo rce from and after the rst da o f March next and shall conti nue in forc fi y , e for the term of ears and n nine y o long er.

A PP E N D I X N

Li ve s to c k D r oving C e n s u s a t C umbe rlan d For d

- a n d Cumbe rl n d G a 1 22 185 0 . a p , 8

Li vestock Passi ng Cumberland Ford Or Throug h Cumberland Gap

5 Value M .

Ho rs es and Mules

Sta l l-f ed St eers 236

Mules

Nunb ers Val ue

Mules

liethers (sheep)

Drovers Used

P m Via C u mbe r l nd G a r opo s e d Can al S y s t e a p ,

u 23 1 83 6 . F e br ary ,

85 wetsm d ths O umbertbnd and K-nfl yrivefl nu lhe m alty ef Get “ riew o s inin M r it need be ro fi tabl town, with e f a esrta g p e to ' t neo riners b a so -tin a re ues t lm ca s-mt the. y u g my q ' “ ' ” ' vie ws as to the be ne ficial efleets of the W oe-c d lf lm nd p .

tio of t In purs uance of th ese instructions, i mamthe exa mina n he h . ' t two r va ext din the -f tig uoue sources of the tribu a ries d the i l . n g su m ina ban of the Cumbe rland to Cumbe rland Ford, 16 mi les above h e? ’ re s l a minati ons sa tisfi m mind bou rvtlls . The u t ot these ex ed y that “ ' ” it c ould be proctic uble to eomtemd e we rim by o oo-d by tat“ the wa ter out of the' Cumbe rla nd ri ver at Cumberland Fordx

T a ki i to co s i w ve r the ci rcu msta nces d the i ng n n de ratttm, ho e , “ t and the cha rac te a s res cts its na vi a ble ca -an of the O ry, r, pe g p y, hmi be - v the r i icular fa lls a nd o ther ssriaue elnt tland ri er, e be ng pe rpend , i‘ w ha umrs l iao tious belo , i t a ppea red to me t t, conside red as a y lstd measure confined to ea trade like to be resented b that cou , r ly p y nt y, or dependent upon a uspices to be furnrshe d by the s e e m ti th e i ve alone t b abtei-d b tfi o : r rs , ha t no equiva lent obj est would e y n e“ o th vi ati i n of eir na g on. As the some time ho w v as ved i the former re ort , e e , obser n p , the . “ r m eult d obse rva ti ons a nd enquiries extended throug h a rm d ad' ' ' ers l earn i rof lo me n i tha t re o d coun y n p essiona l emp y t n g i n try, h d sense ea rs a re a ted on m mind s etmn im rs-etm of th y g o, c y g p e M ca bility of a caua l w hich would om os m' the &ra ne d e nd Tam rtrere. a Prom re presenta tionu made me bythe Hon. J mes h ave and ' ' tlem ot Be rboo m lle and othe r: a t Cumber a nd rd d th I g en en , l f o , e qu ' g raph' y ot the country betwee n Cumberla nd Ford and Cambe r“ ’ n sd fmm the ir mg g s stione ot ths lity of an adeqtmt ' sourw of w a te r for supplyi ng the eu mni t rel d a canal throug h the Cumbe rla nd Mountain a t the latter noon d pa nt, “appeared to me to be pos si ble that a eonnen oo could be by tho means ef ected be twe C rl d and o we ll‘ iv hic lat o the umbe an P s r er, ( h ter strea m ia a c pious w' but a w lo sou tri ary of the Tenn-ss , flo i ng o ng the thern base of the ' Cumbe rland Mm mim) and thus cemtinue the m o net i on ot ths oa vig ew ' - v t tion d the K entucky and Cumb. land ri o to, thm g b to he Tenne ss v l tho ri ert If thh could be sf eetsd h re wou dd t is ng h , bs no infi n

‘t r ci hle ti ra d e to the eonti nnanes of no unbrokr n c ha i n o f l . t ltl

2 2 . a 2 2 2 . L 3 2 2 . o 2 2 . 2 : 2 : 5 . . : 2 E 3 v 6 . 3 S . . a . : 3 3 s m o . 2 3 . 3 . 5 : - £ : 0 5 2 3 . 2 2 : 4 4 o 2 v : 9 3 . . 3 . 3 0 . . . 2 5 2 o . 2 2 2 2 2 : . 3 : 3 2 . . £ 3 3 . 2 o 2 o 3 8 : 3 . 3 2 2 2 . : o o 2 . . 5 8 . 2 5 . u 2 . 2 . . . 2 : 3 2 . 2 o : 2 2 : c 2 2 bo a 2 i : 2 2 . 3 : b 2 . 2 2 2 2 . a . a 5 2 g : . 2 o n 2 . 2 : : : : . . a : 2 : . 2 . : . 2 2 3 . 3 . o v . . 9 . . . b 2 x . a 3 3 2 3 . 2 2 . . . v 0 3 3 3 . a : : 2 . . 2 . a 2 v . 2 . o 2 . . . x 3 : . . : . 2 2 2 o 3 . : . 2 2 3 . . : : . 8 a o : . o 3 . 5 . 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 : 2 2 : : : : 6 5 -2 . : . 3 8 . 2 2 3 2 0 a £ 3 . . 2 6 2 c . 2 : . 2 0 : 8 3 m s 3 2 : 3 0 . 8 2 a 3 : . : 2 . 2 : 2 3 8 2 . . 3 : 2 2 o 2 3 a 2 : . 2 . m . 2 . o b 2 : = a : . 9 b 3 . : . b a z . c 3 a . a 2 . e 2 g . 9 3 b $ t -) 2 : a 3 a . 2 1 . o : 2 3 m : . . 8 : 4 3 n 8 l ; . 3 0 a S 8 2 3 2 o n h 2 . e 2 : : e . o H : 0 : . . 3 : 5 3

n . . a 2 2 3 2 2 : : 3 n : 2 : . . 3 . o 2 a . n a . E . . . . o fl a 2 . 2 2 3 2 3 . 0 2 o 5 . 2 3 2 . : . 3 2 f 3 . h : . . 3 o o c a a b 2 5 2 . J . . 2 4 3 s e a . . g : 2 3 a a . 2 a a 5 2 8 . c n n 3 . . 9 u 2 . . — . . 3 2 o 2 » a a a : : 3 a 3 2 . 3 2 8 o 3 . m 2 Z . . . a 5 . 2 . 2 . 3 a 3 : 2 . : 2 . 2 3 : 2 o : 2 : 5 h : 3 . . 3 e . 2 3 o 2 . 3 1 a : 3 o 2 . s : . 2 . a . 2 - . . 2 : . 5 . Z 2 3 9 S 3 : 0 o a a . a . 2 a 3 . h . . 5 ? . A 2 3 x 3 2 : . . . . a 3 3 . r 4 3 A a . 2 . 2 . a 2 : . : 2 2 . 8 2 . : h b . . 5 2 2 . o . 2 . 2 . : . a . : : 1 2 2 J 3 . 3 2 . . 3 c . h . e 3 B 3 3 . 0 3 . o . 3 . 3 2 c . 9 2 3 2 3 a . . 3 3 2 : : 6 3 3 : 5 4 o . : a . 2 o a 0 9 a . n 3 n : . 2 3 2 9 3 i . 2 . . 3 2 h o 3 3 : 1 . e . h 3a o . 2 3 m 8 o a m s 8 2 3 m - e n 3 . 3 C 0 : 9 a 8 . c . . . E ! : 8 3 2 o o 3 O ‘ 2 a u s 2 2 3 c . 8 b 8 . . 4 n 3 s 3 3 3 . 3 . a 3 n 0 e . 3 . 0 t ! 3 a .

1 13 96

uni-m l n un -m o! the m at ic din i n ot Ru nn i n md to pm ido W id th. U na: p 1 0: (un i-had ” W h itm an -ma in tho v M y ri er. - th o t h h lh pd qin fat an in . appeal Inn of is Re p r , and pe rha ps ti ve chu b o win that i t has bu w i nce es foc in di ca m ” , y g t: . poch lly

Inn-d u ll d it under tho M v of var bad hu nk. tho , m p y All which is ll s mitted W a y ub . K 3 m ; g A 2 ism I “ , St. Ky. 3 41 .1t , Feb. 1838.

APPEN D IX Q

b ect L es s on Ro Final Re ort on O ad D ecember 14 1908 . p j , ,

1 1 7 F AG RICUL TURE. c o ru - t r s t c no uns.

O F O BJ ECT LEl 8 O N RO AD

Pu ct

a me r bis ect ion : [ 1 1d ' M fi Tea m N o f

I . cu res.

’ (a) Name eech man s arrival

; L aken dow } i E xca vati on sta rted (h) T n G A L J L ZQ E _ M ( )

.Le (k) Crushi ng started:

com m S urfacin sta t ed .0 ( ) g

1

v ft m a xi mu m cu t - era e cu t fis j . (c) A g , ; , Q 0 m a xim u m 1 3- l 6 1 5. d ve ra l 4 4 ; ft . m ( ) A g e fi l, ; .

‘ e ini m um a de o n o ld roa d 5 : e r ceg xt m a xi mu m rade er ce ( ) M g r , p ; g , p nt.

i ni m u m a de on new ro a d ie r cen t m a xi m u m ra de er cent (f ) M g r , 1 ; g , p .

' w o rts m ust be ex lai ned this re rt x e i An diecrepe ncy bet een final re port and daily re p p in po by the e p rt n charg e. If w s umment the answers m a be co nti nued on the b ank fo o wi n re eati n speoes le t for ans ers are not . y l m . ll g , p g the num ber and lette r o f question.

1 18

("l Avera g e ca pa city o f crusher fo r 0 ho u rs

i z e o f st : Ca l . (d) Camj ity o f bi ns fo r ea ch s o ne

(0 ) Heig ht ma te ria l w as ra ised to screens :

(9 ) Dia mete r and leng th of screen :

(h) Leng th of each

Di mensi ons of dust j acket a nd sins o f mesh :

(k) Ki nd and ca pac ity of wag ons used for di t erent pu rposes :

6 . DIS TANCES .

(a ) A vera g e hau l for exca vati on :

(b) Q ua rry to crush

c v ra m rusher it r a to ( ) A e g e fro c , p , o c r

a s ed i ta milea e b rai l: (d) If m a teri l is hi pp n, s te g y

(e) Avera g e ha ul of wate r for crusher

(f) A vera g e ha ul of w a ter for spri nkler

(g ) A vera g e ha ul of w a ter for

0 . M AT ERlALfl .

(c) W h a t i s y o u r

(6 ) Method o f tra nspo rta ti on to cru sher

- M ethod f lo a di n ru shed m a teri a l : i a l 0 ) o g c N a r du

1 20 N I 7 . DIM S B O NB.

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(g ) F uel used a t cm . M

(71) F u el used by rolle

1 21 (f) Mate ria ls in culverts and bridg es

(j ) Ma teri als i n u nderdra ins : M

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to La bor f a v . tal (f ) or bo e . , 0.

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n l a u tho ti s a f (r) Cost per da y of each machi e hi red by loca ri e , nd coat o i ts opera tion :

‘ to tal 7 5 , -

1 22

A PPE ND I X R

Cla T ra c t Me te s a nd Bo u nds Le g al D e s cription for G r e en y ,

A 9 1 0 6 . pril , 8

o a s u v s a a i n f i l A c o py f s eve r l r e y ppe r e s .

Kno x Co unt y Ke nt u cky , Apr i l 9 t h , 180 6 . S urve ye d f o r

1 a o n a bo v n i e i nni G . Cl a y , 90 c r e s e e t r s be g ng (A) t wo be e c he s

a nd a s h t r e e c o r ne r t o l a nd o f Ri c ha r d Da vi s , s t a nd i ng o n

Indi a n l i ne a t t o ot o t Bl ack Mi ng o Fb unc a i n a bo ut 10 po l e s s o u t h Li t t l e Ye l l ow Cree k : r unn i ng wi t h s a i d Da vi s ' l i ne N

‘ ' 3 1 8 7 2 po l e s c r o s s i ng Li t t l e Ye l l ow Cr ee k a nd s a i d Da vi s

f i e l d t o (B ) . a wh i t e oa k a t t he f o o t o f s a i d Mi ng o Nb un t a i n :

' 5 4 w 80 po l e s t o bla ck o a k s h i cko r y a nd po s t o n e a s t

A o n s a l so 180 a c re s ne wa r r a nt a nd e nt ry . Be g i nni ng

w un l a s t s ve (N) , whi t e oak a nd s ee t g c o rne r ur y s t andi ng o n

S t a t e roa d j us t a bove Four Ni l e Cr e e k : N 2 7 ! 3 3 po l e s t o

e a hi a (R ) . be e ch , co rner t o a 30 a c r e s ur ve y ch t s d y o n Fo ur

l N 6 B 60 o le s c ro s s i n Mi e Cr e ek . bra nch Be g Ye l l o w Cree k : p g

s a i d Fo ur Mi l e Cree k ne ar S t a t e r oa d wi t h l i ne o f s a i d 30 a c r e

s ur ve y t o whi t e oa k a nd s o urwo o d o n hi l l : N 6 6 B as po l e s

c r o s s i ng S t a t e roa d a nd P i ne Ri dg e t o wh i t e oa k : N 4 6 8

a nd 5 2 po l e s c r o s s i ng Ye l l o w Cr e e k t o (W) , whi t e o a k be e c h ,

b l a c k o a k on e a s t ba nk s a i d Cr e e k : runni ng dow n bi ndi ng o n

me a nde r s Ye l l ow Cr ee k N 2 9 w 1 9 po l e s : N 3 B 6 5 po l e s S 6 9

B 8 5 po l e s S 3 7 B 2 1 po l e s t o a ubl e pop la r a nd two na pl e s

s t a nd i ng a t t he f oo t o f h i l l a t t he uppe r e nd of t he na r ro ws

(T ) : S 14 N 90 po l e s t o (w) , whi t e oa k on po i nt o f a r i dg e

be l ow a bra nch : S 2 7 po l e s c r o s s i ng br anch t o (X ) , be e ch

o n e a s t ba nk Ye l l ow Cr ee k a t na r r o ws be l ow He nry Ra i ns ' ho us e

l / 4 n i l e : Up wi t h ne a nde r s s a i d c r ee k 5 1 7 2 1 po l e s t o

l a r g e c he s t nut o n ba nk o f cr ee k be l o w s a i d na r rows t he c our se

c o nt i nue d es po le s t o bla ck o a k a nd hi ck o ry co r ne r t o 340

a c r e s ur ve y a bo ve a e nt i one d : r unn i ng wi t h a l i ne o f s a ne wes t

i 7 s po l e s c ro s s i ng Bi g Ye l l o w C r ee k a nd S t a t e roa d t o Be g i nni ng .

Illu s trati on 4 3

Drawn by an eng in eer i n the Army of the Confedera cy commanded by B raxton B ra th e Vi ew loo s ea s va G en . k t a cro s s Little Yellow Cr ee k lle g g , y wa C W The ildern es oa i s n t o e rou nd . to rd umberlan d G a p . s R d i he f r g

o Arm S i n a C urtes of the U S . al Cor s S i nal Cor s Photo r hi c y . y g p , g p g p

Labora tor Wa s hin ton D . C . Cumberla nd G a Nati onal Hi s tori cal Park y , g , ; p o ph to collecti on .

134

Illu s tra tio n 4 6

Ha r ry P enn a ls o s ketch ed a Vi ew of the bridg e over th e s a ddle of the Gap

and a corn er of t e on es s tor e in 72 . I u s tration in Willi am Cu ll n h J 1 8 ll , e

B r ant e e er a r We ve n Vol . N d . Pi ctu r e s u Am i c o 9 La n d Li I 1 ew y , g ; 3 , , (

Yor k : D . A leton An d Com an 1 72 pp p y , 8 )

Cou rtes of T h e Fils on Clu b hoto colle cti on L ou i s ville K entu ck y p , , y

140

7 Illu s trati on 4 .

In the for e g rou nd i s th e mill complex a long s ide the s tr eam ema na ting from w Above the mill ar e a on s movi towar d Cumberland G a . Cu dj o Ca ve . g ng p

1 New Th e L an d We L ve n Vol . i I , , ( 1872 )

Co u r te s of T he Fils on Clu b hoto collections L ou s iville K entu ck y p , , y

14 2

Illu s tr a ti on

A vi ew of the s a ddle of the Ga p loo kin g wes t with s tru ctu re s of the ' bri d e an d o e r e n th e r t e stratio wa s i g J n s s to i ig h center . T h illu n n Willi am Cu llen P ctu r es u e meri ca or Th e L and We Li ve B r ant ed . i A y , , g ; I n Vol . 1 New Y r k : D A leton A o . nd Com a n , , ( pp p y ,

F rom The Fils on Clu b hoto collecti on Lou i s ville K entu ck p , , y

144

Illu s tr a tion

From the T ennes s ee s id e of Cumberland G ap one ca n g limp s e the phy s i cal Th e s e c b a s ettin a nd a s ens e of the roa d . k t h H rr P enn a ear ed g , y y , pp " in a n a rti cle b ames L a ne Allen Throu h Cu mberla n d G a O n y J , g p " Hor s eba ck Har e s New Monthl Ma a o I u r z in e V l . LX X II ne , p y g , , ( J

Cou rtes of The Fils on Clu b hoto collecti on L ou i s ville Kentu ck y p , , y

14 6

Illu s tration 4 18

T hi s i s the earli e s t known a erial photog r aph ( 1939 ) of the vi cinity at Cumberl nd G a ver r n u n ce s s t em l c es the r e : n e a p . A y p o o d road y a a a ot the well d efin e d u er and l wer r ds th e b e ct les s n r d pp o oa , o j o oa the r e s ent 25 an d S k l nd R d V er s i ni i c nt th e r d p E y a oa . y g f a ly oa des cen din g from the G ap to the Y ellow Cr eek drainag e may be s een in th e u er cen te Ph t r h t ken for th e A ri cu ltu r e S t bili z ti n pp r . o og ap a USDA g a a o a nd C ns erv ti S vi ce A ril 19 n er 39 . o a o , p 8 ,

C u rtes of the ti n l Ar chives Rec r d r u 1 45 can 2340 o y Na o a , o G o p , # , BUG - 1 8 69 .

16 6

MA P S

1 69 1 . Map No .

' berl n Pr i ce s T u rnpik e an d Cum a d Gap Road .

C u rtes of th e Vir ini St te ibr r Ri chm nd . o y g a a L a y , o

C 0 o p e 8 ”

a

$ 0 3 0 0

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P

0 8 . 0 ( m 5 0 0 m 0 m 0 i 0 2 o w 0

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. w 0 0 A 2 o 0 a 8 £ O 8 8 0 > ” s c H o 8 m m 0 8 a 0 8 > o fl 8 8 S h 0 5 a 2 8 m . 5 5 Q £ 8 9 “ o 0 5 £ 3 5 3 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 2 0 ? 0 8 8 0 9 5 0 4 0 0 0 . > 0 0

0 o > . 0 0 0 0 2 0 u . 2 w ¢ 9 m 5 0 4 s 0 2 . fl 0

1 76

7 Map No .

" " Vir ini and Kentu ck R ilr d S u rve 9 ? g a y a oa y , 184

Cou rtesy of Vi rg i nia State Library

Ma p No . 8

S u rve di s cr e nc in lk er and en der s n S u r ve ine l te y pa y Wa H o y L , a t ei g h eenth centu ry .

C u rt es of Ch rle s ils n files Cumberl nd G a ti n l i s t ri c l o y a W o , a p Na o a H o a

Par k .

10 Map No .

wer T ennes s ee and u er Vir ini r ds at Cumberl nd G a l te Lo ( ) pp g a oa a p , a nin eteenth centu ry .

t Courtesy of Cumberland Gap Na ional Hi s tori cal Park .

188

1 Ma p No . 1

" Mile 218 of Lou i s ville a nd Na s hville Railroad wher e old s tate road cros s ed u r " C mbe land G ap .

C rtes of the S e r d S s tem R ilr v u b d cks n ille Fl rid . o y a oa y a oa , Ja o , o a

190

Map No . 1 2

"

O ld Cumberl nd Ga R d ne r C ls n Pr ert 1930 . a p oa , a o o op y ,

C u rtes of C mb n d Ga ti n l i s t c l P k o y u erla p Na o a H ori a ar .

13 Map No .

Switch c din Cumberl n ba k rou te a s cen g a d Mou ntain from G ap Cr e ek .

G Cou rtesy of Cu mberland ap National Hi s tori cal Par k .

194

14 Map No .

R ut e of l wer Vir ini R d fr m Cumberl n d G a T ennes s ee t w r d o o g a oa o a p, , o a

the s ummit of Cumberl nd Ga 1936 . a p ,

Courtesy of Cumberland G ap National Hi s tori cal Park .

196

1 5 Map No .

R d c nfi u r ti n on K entu ck s ide of Cumberl nd u nt in 1937 . oa o g a o y a Mo a ,

Cou rte sy of Cumberlan d G ap National Hi s tori cal Par k .

198

B IB L IO GRAPHY

MANU S CRIPT S

' " endix To The u s e O f Re r es ent tives u rn l Kentu ck App Ho p a Jo a , y - t t 39 40 Vol . 1 Fr nkf r K en u ck 1 0 e i s l tive D cuments 18 18 84 . L g a o , a o , y ,

" Re r t O f The Prin ci l En ineer T o The rd O f Intern l ker R . P . Ba , po pa g B oa a

" e t O n The Ex min ti n O f Th e Cu mber l nd G a Cr z et Cl u di u s . R r o , a po a a o a p ' " And Pri ce s T u rn ike R d 26th Annu l Re rt r d of Pu bli c p oa a po , B oa ir i i - r k Ri chm nd V n 1 30 . Wo s ( o , g a ,

" Rem te S ens in il t S tu d O n Th e r blem O f D unl Cl r ke . A P P ap , a o g o y o ' Lo cating And Mapping The B oone s T ra ce Portion O f The Hi s tori c ildernes s R d In Kentu ck : 1 775 n u bli s he d nu s cri t W oa y U p Ma p , 9 1 83 .

Co chran

The S t tu tes at ec O Henin illi m ller . r e ein A C ll ti n f All g , W a Wa a _ La g , B g o o The ws O f i r ini lu e V 1n1a : e r e V V m 13 . Ri chm nd 1r La _ g a , o o , g G o g

C chr n 2 . o a , 182

l c nes il i m F . C lle ti ns . int ve of i s s r Jo , W a o o Jo Collection Uni r s ity M ou i Wes tern Hi s tor i cal Manu s cript Collection - Columbia and S tate Hi i c l S ci et of is s u ri n s t r u s cri ts C lumbi i s s u ri . o a o y M o Ma p , o a , M o

ws of Kentu ck Act s of the ener l As s embl of K entu ck La y , G a y y , - 1883 1884 .

" u s ter R lls 1 787 f lder s K entu ck S t te i s t ri c l S c et M o o , y a H o a o i y C lle ti o c ons Fr ankfor t Kentu cky .

She her d S e he S t tu tes a t mu l . T V i chm nd r e of ir ini . R p a a La g g a o , Vir i ni g a , 1836 .

Tr ns cri t of O r l is t r Intervi w a p a H o y e of Marcellu s T u r ner by Robert L . Kin c id Kinc id P er s Cumberl P r a , a ap , and G ap National Hi stori cal a k ib r r u l 29 1 93 . L a y , J y , 8

201 I vi w o a d S mu el n . T . T r an s cript of O r al Hi s tory nter e f S ter ling K . a J mberl nd G a T u r n er b R ber t . Kin c id Kin c id P er s Cu y o L a , a ap , a p

ti n l i s t ri c l P r k ibr r Au u s t 10 1940 . Na o a H o a a L a y , g ,

i chm n d Twent S ixth Annu l R e rt of th e B r d of Pu bli c r ks . R y a po oa Wo o ,

Vir ini 1 41 . g a , 8

Vi r g inia A cts 1833 - 1 839

l Ar chi ve . . R e c r ds o C . ti n s Rec r d r u 30 f Was hing ton D . Na o a o G o p o

O ffi ce of Pu bli c Road s .

" d u i s D e Vor s e P limin Res e r ch Re rt : ils n Ch rles . an r e r W o , a W Lo y , a y a po Wild ern es s Road - Cumberland G ap Hi stori cal Geog raphy Res ear ch " P l s h e d Re rt vem r ect . n u b i ber 1975 . oj U p po , No

GO VERNMEN T DO CUMEN T S

U . S . ri cu ltu r e O ffi c e G 3 D e rtment of A of Pu bli c R ds NA R 0 . pa g , oa , ,

S . e rtment of the Interi r t n rk S ervi ce . Fin l U . D i l P pa o , Na o a a a

es s ee ,

"

S . e U . D rtment of the Inter i r t P r k S er vi c e i s t r O f pa o , Na ional a , H o y Cum " Tinne . berl nd Ga ti n l i s t r i c l P r k b Edw r d E . a p Na o a H o a a , y a y

s hin t n D . C . 19 65 . Wa g o , ,

U . S . D e r tment of th e Inter i r ti n l P r k S ervi ce D vi s T vern pa o , Na o a a , a a S ite Lo cation S

- Ri c r d T rr es Re es . D enver y a o o y ,

i s h n t n D . . c Rec r u 77 . War e rtment C ti n l Ar hive s . rd D Wa g o , Na o a o G o p pa , O f i c f e of the Chi ef of En g ineer s .

B O O KS AND PERIO D ICAL S

Allen mes " P " n e . u nt i s s es f the Cu mb s he , Ja La Mo a n a o erland , T Cu mb in t n K e tu erl n ds . ex n ck : Kin ibr r Pr es s r e rint a L g o , y g L a y , p

Allen " T u r n er W . h e T u rn ik e S s t em n K entu ck : A R evi ew O f S t te , T p y I y a " R d P li c In T h e in eteenth T h e Fils n Clu b i s t r oa o y N Centu ry . o H o y u rt erl 2 u l 239 - 2 5 9 Q a y 8 ( J y .

202

" l Im r vements i i r ini 1 7 75 Ri ce Phili rri s n . In ter n n V , p Mo o a p o g a ,

ti n ni ver s it of rth C r lin 1 9 62 . Ph . D di s s er ta o , U y No a o a ,

" h e e r hi c R n es of the i s t ri c i s n In The Ro s tlu nd Er h r d . T , a G og ap a g H o B o " S u the s t Ann ls of th e A s s ci ti n of Ameri c n e r her s Vol . o a , a o a o a G og ap ,

5 0 D e c ember 1 9 60 . ,

e i dern e s s R d : D f Th e R u t es O f S ee d Th m s . T h l A 1 ti n O p , o a W oa o o

" mberl nd G a A B ef r e The O hi S tev . P en s n B F . Cu er Re d o , a p , ap a o o " Cin cinn ti Comman dery O f The Loy al L eg ion o f the United S tates . a

Co . 1 5 . H . C . S heri c k , 88

" " in tes a nd D cu ments i s s i s s i i V lle Swem E rl . etter , a G L No o , M pp a y

1 u . i t ri c vi ew V lume 1 1 . H s o al Re , o , No , J ne 19 1 5

1 75 0 - 19 1 1 :

Company 19 1 1

MA P S AND PHO T O GRAPH S

ls Fi n Clu b u i s ville Kentu ck . o , Lo , y

ibr r of C D n r es s e r h and Ma ivi s i n . L a y o g , G og ap y p o

ti n l Ar ch e i v s C rt r hi c a nd Ar chite ctu r l r n ch . Na o a , a og ap a B a

ti n l Ar ch v P - D v i e s S till i ctu r es B r n ch S e ci l Archives i i s i n . Na o a , a p a o

S e b r d S s tem r d Es v l R il Re l t te Divi s i n ck s n i le Fl rid . a oa y a oa , a a o , Ja o , o a

T enn e s S t t s ee e ibr r a nd Ar chive s s hville T enn e s s e e . a L a y , Na ,

Vi r ini S t t e ibr r Ri chm nd Vi r ini a . g a a L a y , o , g

Univer s ity of Mi s s ou r i Wes t er n Hi s tori cal Manu s cripts Colle ction a nd S tate i s t ri c l S ci et of i s s u ri C lu mbi i s s u ri . H o a o y M o , o a , M o

204 ' As th e ti n s rinci l c ns erv ti n enc th e D e rtm ent of the Na o p pa o a o ag y , pa Int erior ha s ba si c r es pon s ibiliti e s to protect and con s erve ou r land and w ter en er a n d miner ls fi s h a n d wildlife r ks a nd r ecr e ti n a , g y a , , pa a o T he r e e . a as , a nd to en s u r e th e wi s e u s e of a ll th es e r es ou r c s D epartment als o ha s major r es pon s ibility for Ameri can Indi an r es er vation

S . commu niti es a nd for people who live in i s land territori e s u nder U . admi ni s tration

NP S D - 27 Au u s t 19 7 , g 8

i - u . s . G O V E R N M E NT P R I N T I NG O F F IC E : 1 9 8 7 0