Kentucky Road

United States   Migration    Trails and Roads    Kentucky Road

The Kentucky Road was the first pathway to Middle Tennesse for white settlers. The Middle Tennessee pioneers of 1779 followed Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, but then split off that road and headed southwest on the north side of the Cumberland River toward the salt licks, hunting grounds, and prime farmlands of Middle Tennessee.

Historical Background
The Kentucky Road could also be described as a southern fork of the Wilderness Road. In 1779 Watauga pioneers led by James Robertson followed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and across the Cumberland River. Then they made their way on the north side of the Cumberland River past the "Kentucky barrens" toward French Lick (Nashville, Tennessee).

This route was the primary trail to the Cumberland settlements at least until Avery's Trace was opened in 1788. Avery's could not carry wagons until about 1795, and was a difficult trail. Apparently some pioneers continued to chose the Kentucky Road route at first because wagons could follow it easier than on Avery's Trace.

The road crossed difficult mountains, rushing rivers, and ran through Indian lands. Indian raids and white robbers both were significant problems, so many people chose to travel the road in large groups. But the risks were worth taking for the rewards of bountiful hunting grounds, rich farmland, and good salt licks. Until the 1794 Shawnee Indian defeat at Fallen Timbers, for hostile Indian reasons, the Wilderness Road was the preferred route to Kentucky and used by 75 percent of settlers. It also served as an important passage for cattle, pigs, and sheep drives into and out of Kentucky to market.

The Kentucky legislature paid for the footpath to be upgraded to a wagon road starting in 1792. The wagon road was finished in 1796.

Earlier peace with Indians along the Ohio River, and the opening of the National Road in 1818 provided an easier, safe, more level route to the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. With the introduction of steamboats at about the same time, traffic on the Wilderness Road declined until it was nearly abandoned in the 1840s. However, it was used by both Union and Confederate armies during the American Civil War.

The Wilderness Road was important to settlers in Virginia and Tennessee as well as Kentucky. Some settlers used the road before it passed the Cumberland Gap to reach extreme southwest Virginia, and northeast Tennessee. Other pioneers waited to split off from the Wilderness Road until they passed over the Cumberland River. Then they followed the north side of the river over the "Kentucky barrens" toward the fertile lands of Middle Tennessee (French Lick/Nashville) on a path that came to be called the Kentucky Road.

Route

 * Bristol, Washington, Virginia
 * Cumberland Gap at the juncture of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky
 * Boonesborough, Madison, Kentucky

Later west fork:


 * Harrodsburg, Mercer, Kentucky
 * Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky

Settlers and Records
Scots-Irish and Germans were the first to use the Wilderness Road in large numbers. For partial list of settlers who used the Wilderness Road, see:


 * Don Chesnut, "Fort Boonesborough Settlers" at http://donchesnut.com/genealogy/pages/fortboon.htm (accessed 3 August 2010), citing H. Thomas Tudor, "Early Settlers of Fort Boonesborough," Bluegrass Roots 5:1-14.
 * George W. Ranck, Boonesborough, its founding, pioneer struggles, Indian experiences, Transylvania days, and revolutionary annals (Louisville, Ky.: John P. Morton, c1901) [].
 * Robert Foster Johnson, Wilderness Road Cemeteries in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. (Owensboro, Ky.: McDowell Publications, 1981) [].

Internet Sites

 * Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association photos and historical articles about significant places, events and people along the 1775 Wilderness Trail corridor and the early American frontier. Emphasis on Virginia.
 * U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cumberland Gap National Historic Park photos, detailed history of the road and culture of pioneers, also, nature and science of the park.