George Rogers Clark, 1752-1818, a Virginia surveyor, came to Kentucky to seek his fortune. In 1776, he thwarted the claim of Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone to the territory wet of the Appalachians by persuading the Virginia legislature to create Kentucky county. In 1778, Governor Patrick Henry ordered Lieutenant Colonel Clark to attack British posts along the Ohio. Clark's command of about 200 men captured for Virginia the Northwest Territory (all U.S. territory east of the Mississippi, north of the Ohio, and west of the Appalachians). While enroute to attack Kaskaskia, Clark noted the potential for a town at the mouth of the Tennessee River. Later, he used a Virginia treasury warrant dated September 15, 1795, to claim 37,000 acres at the mouth of that river. Clark died in 1818 deeply in debt, and title to this site eventually went to his younger brother, William, of Lewis and Clark fame.
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