Land Fever
Why did so many people brave the dangers of frontier life to come to Clark County and the Bluegrass? The answer is land — cheap land, fertile land. The quest for land drove the settlement of Kentucky.

John Findley was a hunter and fur trader who, in 1752, spent several months at the Shawnee town Eskippakithiki in Clark County. Findley returned to the eastern colonies with tales of rich land. It was Findley who told Daniel Boone, then 21, of the beautiful, fertile land teeming with game.

Seventeen years later, Boone finally reached the Bluegrass. It was the "second Eden" Findley had described and Boone decided to settle his family there as soon as possible. He was not the only one. The reports of Kentucky's riches brought back by Boone and others fueled the rush to this "promised land."

Hope of a Better Life
The dangers of reaching Kentucky, the threat of Indian attack, and the realities of harsh life on the frontier did not slow the wave of settlement. Land in Kentucky was fertile, and it was cheap compared to land in the east. It could be bought on easy terms and was even given away if certain conditions were met.

Every settler came in the hopes of making a better life. Many came to escape the hardships created by the Revolutionary War. Most were farmers who were not prospering back east. Some were recent immigrants. A few were younger sons of aristocratic families with limited expectations back home. And some were slaves who had no voice in the decision to come west but who shared in the peril.

In just fifteen short years, between 1775 and 1790, the population of Kentucky rose from just 150 to over 73,000. More than 11,000 of the new residents were black, of whom only 114 were free. Almost all of these settlers lived in the Bluegrass or on its edges. The face of Kentucky was changed forever in those years.

Pioneer Landmarks
Because of its close proximity to Fort Boonesborough, present-day Clark County was well known to early hunters and explorers, and many who settled in Clark County first passed through Boonesborough. At least nineteen early settlements have been documented within the present boundaries of Clark County, although the location of some remains elusive.

1. Eskipakithiki
2. Fort Boonesborough
3. John Strode's Station
4. Stephen Boyle's Station
5. William Bramblett's Station
6. William Bush Settlement (Lower Howard's Creek Settlement)
7. John Constant's Station
8. Elijah Crossthwait's Station
9. John Donaldson's Station and related settlement
10. Dunaway's Station
11. Frazier's Station
12. John Holder's Station and Boatyard
13. David McGee's Station
14. Tracy's Station/Stoner Settlement
15. William Scholl's Station

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Show me all markers in:  Winchester, KY  |  Clark County  |  40391  |  Kentucky  |  United States of America

The Eye of the Rich Land
A Long, Steep Road
Roads in the Wilderness
Rock and Man
Defending the Kentucky River
Three Confederate Raids
Common Cliffside Plants
Thomas B. Brooks, Army Engineer
A Defensive Strategy
An Unrealized Plan

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