Cumberland Gap
by
Park Historian, Cumberland Gap National Park, Kentucky
One of these trails, known as the "Warriors Path," passed through Cumberland Gap and connected the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the tribes along its length claimed Kentucky as their hunting grounds. Their travel back and forth across the Cumberland Gap soon formed a distinctive trail that anyone could follow.
Dr. Thomas Walker was one of those who followed this "Native American Road" when he "discovered" the way through the mountains in 1750. Walker and his companions spent the night in a cave near the crest of the pass which they aptly called "Cave Gap." This title was soon changed to Cumberland Gap after a river to the north which Walker had named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland. Dr. Walker's journal mentioned an easily travelled break in the mountain wall which would allow passage to the fabled lands of Kentucky. For the next twenty years, however, few settlers braved the trail described by Walker, and its location seems to have been virtually unknown.
Daniel Boone was forced to make two trips in search of Cumberland Gap before he made it across the mountains in 1769. Once the way was found, he made several trips along this route into Kentucky, including an abortive attempt at settlement which was halted when his son was killed by Native Americans.
The Native Americans had welcomed early colonists and had even helped them survive the rigorous winters of the eastern seaboard. They believed there was enough room for all and that the two races could live together in peace. However, many of these friendly tribes were no longer in existence by the late 1700's. The tribes farther west watched as the tide of settlers crept ever closer and they came to the realization that Native Americans and colonists had opposing concepts of land ownership and use. An area that could support only a few nomadic Native Americans would support a large number of settlers provided it was cleared, planted, and the ownership parceled out to individuals. The Native Americans were continually pushed back until finally they were forced into conflict with the newcomers in a fight for their survival.
Nothing could stem the continuous flow of European people toward the mountain barrier. Although passageways through the mountains became dangerous, the lure of cheap land was too great for the colonists to resist. The opportunity for extensive profits encouraged the formation of land companies which in turn encouraged westward movement. In 1775 a group of these land speculators formed the Transylvania Company and purchased the Shawnee Native Americans' claim to a large section of land in southern Kentucky, including a right-of-way through the Cumberland Gap.
Daniel Boone was then hired to mark a trail to this Transylvania land. He and thirty axe men blazed a trail that would become known first as Boone's Trace and later the Wilderness Road. At its end they built the village of Boonesborough. The pathway into Kentucky was now marked, and the westward movement of settlers began in earnest. Travel along the Wilderness Road was so dangerous that immigrants were forced to band together in large groups for mutual protection. Cumberland Gap was the point of greatest danger, and at one time it was necessary to assemble troops there to assist and protect travelers.
Traffic slowed to a minimum during the Revolutionary War when the British armed western Native American tribes and encouraged attacks on the settlements in Kentucky. With the end of the War, the major Native American threat was over and the Native American's power was broken. Immigration into Kentucky swelled to its greatest proportions in the years following the War, and in 1796 the Wilderness Road was improved to accommodate wagon traffic. It has been estimated that 75% of the people going west prior to 1800 went along this route.
Many famous names have been connected with Cumberland Gap but more important were the nameless, faceless thousands who became the settlers of the West. When they walked through Cumberland Gap into the wilderness of Kentucky, these pioneers left behind their old ways and carved out a new life. They came not simply to trap furs and then move on, but also to build, plant crops, and raise families, and they became totally self-sufficient. The mountain people of Kentucky remember Daniel Boone with his long rifle and buckskins, which have long since disappeared, but their real kinship lies with the settlers whose plow and axe are still used today.
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