Time Line for The Ohio Valley Region, Particularly
Kentucky and Boone County to 1800
Kentucky and Boone County to 1800
1654
Colonel Wood explores Kentucky. He reached as far as the Mississippi River.
1669
John Lederer makes three trips into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
1673
James Needham and Gabriel Arthur explore the region of Tennessee.
1730
John Salling of Williamsburg, Virginia, is the first American to explore Western Kentucky. He was captured by the Indians.
1735
Some Canadians on their way to Illinois find near the Ohio River "the skeletons of seven elephants." If these were found in Boone County this would be the first visit to Big Bone Lick by white men that we know of; however, this site was probably not in Boone County.
1729
French Canadian captain Charles Lemoyne de Longueil finds fossils along the Ohio River. He sent them to Louis XV in France. Many people say he found them in Boone County, but this cannot be proved. The evidence seems to prove that he did not find them in Boone County but at a site further southwest.
1740
Many bones are taken from Big Bone Lick (Boone County) to France.
1742
John Howard crosses into Kentucky from Virginia.
1750
Lower Shawneetown a major Indian settlement in Kentucky is established.
Dr. Thomas Walker of Virginia leads a party of Americans through the Cumberland Gap.
The Ohio Company hires Christopher Gist to explore Kentucky.
1751
Christopher Gist visits Big Bone Lick and Blue Licks in March of this year with a serving boy and a pack horse. Following this he visited Drennon's Lick. And proceeded to the Kentucky River near Frankfort.
1753
The word "Kentucke" is first used.
1755
Mary Ingles was captured by the Shawnee near Blacksburg, Virginia. She and a Dutch woman were taken to Big Bone Lick. They made their escape while procuring salt at Big Bone Lick.
1756
French traders establish the first village in Kentucky, opposite Portsmouth, Ohio.
1761
A party of hunters led by Elisha Walden comes through Cumberland Gap and explore the Cumberland River.
1763
The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the French and Indian War.
King George III issues the Proclamation of 1763 prohibiting settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains.
1765
George Croghan visits Big Bone Lick and takes away a single tusk. (May 30-31)
1766
George Croghan returns to Big Bone Lick. He carries off tusks and other remains.
Capt. Henry Gordon, chief engineer in the Western Department in North America, visits Big Bone Lick. He described the lick minutely.
Col. George Morgan visits Big Bone Lick and proceeds down the Ohio River to Ft. Chartres in Illinois where he is an Indian trader.
1767
George Washington began the first survey made in Kentucky. This survey was made on both sides of the Big Sandy River. He made another on the Little Sandy River.
1768
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix deeds to the British crown the title to lands south of the Ohio River and east of the Tennessee River and southward to the border of North Carolina.
1769
Daniel Boone, John Findley, John Stuart (Boone's brother-in-law), and three men other men cross into Kentucky.
1770
Daniel Boone comes to Big Bone, travels west along the south bank of the Ohio, reaches the Falls of the Ohio, and follows the Kentucky to near Frankfort.
The Long Hunters enter Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap.
1771
Simon Kenton and others visit the Ohio River Valley. They navigated the tributary streams.
1773
James Douglass camps with a party at Big Bone Lick. They collected many tusks, some of them ten to twelve feet in length, and used enormous rib bones to support their tents.
Pennsylvania veterans of the French and Indian War survey Virginia lands near the Ohio River in the Thompson Expedition.
Thomas Bullitt and a company of over forty men, including James Harrod and Hubbard Taylor, survey parts of Kentucky, reaching the Falls of the Ohio. Bullitt, Taylor, and the McAfees ventured into Northern Kentucky.
Daniel Boone brings his family to Kentucky but turns back when his son is killed in an Indian attack.
1774
Lord Dunmore's War begins a twenty-year struggle between Indians and whites for Kentucky and the Ohio Valley.
James Harrod, Abram Hite, Jacob Sandusky, and others navigated the Kentucky. They arrived in what is presently Mercer County. The company begin laying out Harrodstown.
1775
Daniel Boone, thirty-five men, and two women blaze the Wilderness Trail into Kentucky and establish Fort Boonesborough in present-day Madison County.
Nicholas Cresswell at Big Bone collected fossils and hunted bison. Journal (1774-1777)
Richard Henderson purchases a large portion of Kentucky from a group of Cherokee in the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals.
St. Asaph, later called Logan's Fort, is erected about a mile west of the present-day courthouse in Stanford.
McClelland's Station, the first stockaded station north of the Kentucky River, is founded in present-day Georgetown.
Simon Kenton and Thomas Williams enter Kentucky at Limestone Creek and nearby plant what is probably the first corn crop north of the Kentucky River.
Pennsylvanians stake out Lexington and name it after the historic Massachusetts battle. Permanent settlement begins four years later.
The Kentucky National Guard, one of the oldest military organizations in the United States, is organized under the name of the Kentucky Militia.
1776
Kentucky County created along with Montgomery County and Washington County to replace Fincastle County. This makes Virginia's claim to Kentucky definite.
About 200 people live in Kentucky, mainly in the forts at Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
Jane Coomes organizes at Harrodsburg what is probably the first school in Kentucky.
Molly Logan is the first black woman to arrive in Kentucky.
Jemima Boone and the Calloway girls are captured by Indians and rescued by Daniel Boone.
The first Baptists, Filson calls them Ana-baptists, enter Kentucky.
1777
A group of frontiersmen kill Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, a son, and some other Indians at Point Pleasant.
After his capture by Shawnee while on a saltmaking expedition, Daniel Boone is adopted by Chief Blackfish and his wife.
Daniel Boone escapes from the Shawnee and travels 160 miles in four days to warn the settlers at Fort Boonesborough of an impending invasion. The ensuing siege lasts ten days.
Petition of the Inhabitants of Kentucky Concerning Salt Licks. 25 November.
The House of Delegates meet at Boonesborough under a huge elm tree. They pass laws and sign a compact between the proprietors and the settlers.
George Rogers Clark's small army and several families land on Corn Island near the Falls of the Ohio. They erected a fort.
George Rogers Clark and a hundred seventy-five men take Kaskaskia by surprise.
1778
Louisville is founded.
1779
Bryan's Station is erected in present-day Fayette County.
Squire Boone establishes a station in Shelby County.
Floyd's Station is built at St. Matthews, Jefferson County.
Colonel John Bowman, the first military governor of Kentucky, establishes Bowman's Station in Mercer County.
Strode's Station is established in what is now Clark County.
Craig's Station settled by Baptists seeking religious freedom established east of Lexington.
All of the major Virginia land laws have been passed.
1780
Kentucky County, Virginia, is divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties. Kentucky County becomes the District of Kentucky.
Dr. Thomas Walker runs the deviant survey of Kentucky's southern boundary that becomes known as Walker's Line.
Samuel Goodwin founds a fort on the Salt River west of present-day Bardstown.
One hundred fifty settlers are captured when Martin's and Ruddle's Forts are attacked by nearly 1000 warriors led by British captain Henry Bird.
The over 600 inhabitants of Kentucky and Illinois ask the Continental Congress to form a new state along the Ohio Valley.
Transylvania Seminary (later becomes Transylvania University) is founded.
1781
A Virginia act allows the county courts to have surveys done for people who can not pay for them.
Pottenger's Station is established in Nelson County.
The first Baptist congregation in Kentucky is established near present-day Elizabethtown in Severen's Valley.
Lewis and Elijah Craig lead 500 members of the Traveling Church from Virginia to present-day Lancaster and found Gilbert's Creek Station.
1782
Indians at an intertribal council decide to eliminate the Kentucky settlements while British help is still available.
Native American and Canadian forces defeat a disorganized group of settlers at the Battle of Blue Licks in present-day Robertson County.
Monk Estill becomes the first freed slave in Kentucky history.
Supreme Court set up for the District of Kentucky.
1783
The Virginia General Assembly creates the District of Kentucky as a judicial region.
1784
John Filson publishes The Discovery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucke.
Spanish authorities close the Mississippi River and New Orleans to American trade.
The first statehood convention is held in Danville to discuss separation from Virginia. (December 27)
The first Presbyterian congregations in Kentucky are organized, by David Rice including the Pisgah Church near Versailles.
Nelson County is created.
1785
Valley View Ferry begins operation on the Kentucky River between present-day Fayette and Madison Counties.
Catholic families from Maryland settle in present-day Nelson and Scott Counties.
Bourbon, Madison, and Mercer Counties are created.
Second Statehood Convention meets. (May 23)
Third Statehood Convention meets. (August 8)
1786
Fifty Dutch families found Low Dutch Colony in Mercer County.
Bishop Francis Asbury appoints James Haw and Benjamin Ogden circuit riders for the District of Kentucky.
Bryan Station Baptist Church is organized.
The Danville Political Club is organized.
Frankfort is founded.
1787
James Wilkinson journeys to New Orleans to convince the Spanish governor that Kentucky is about to separate from the United States.
John Bradford of Lexington begins printing the state's first newspaper, The Kentucke Gazette.
1788
Mason and Woodford Counties are created.
1789
The Fourth Enabling Act in the Virginia Compact sets the conditions of separation.
Harmon's Station, founded on the Big Sandy River, becomes the first permanent settlement in eastern Kentucky.
The Indians launch their last major attack against the settlers in the Chenoweth Massacre near present-day Middletown.
The process for making bourbon whiskey is developed.
1790
The first U.S. census reports 73,077 persons living in Kentucky, 16 percent of them African American slaves.
1792
On June 1, Kentucky becomes the fifteenth state in the Union. Isaac Shelby is inaugurated as the first governor.
The legislature approves Frankfort as the state's first capital and the motto "United we Stand, Divided We Fall."
Innes's Station is established northwest of Frankfort.
Logan, Scott, Shelby, and Washington Counties are established.
1793
Gilbert Imlay publishes the novel considered to be Kentucky's first, The Emigrants; or The History of An Expatriated Family.
Clark, Green, and Hardin Counties are established.
1794
Kentucky riflemen fight in the decisive Battle of Fallen Timbers near present-day Toledo, Ohio.
Harrison County is established.
1795
The Treaty of Fort Greenville opens the Northwest Territory to settlers.
Harry Toulmin, James Brown, John Breckinridge, and John Bradford organize a subscription library to serve the subscribers and Transylvania University.
Campbell and Franklin Counties are established.
1796
James Garrard is elected governor by electors on a second ballot.
The Pickney Treaty guarantees to Americans freedom of navigation of the Mississippi River and the right of deposit of goods at New Orleans.
The General Assembly gives the county courts authority to oversee road construction and repair.
Henry Clay moves to Kentucky at age twenty.
The Kentucky Jockey Club is organized in Lexington.
Bracken, Bullitt, Christian, Garrard, Montgomery, and Warren Counties are established.
1798
Kentucky passes resolutions denouncing the Alien and Sedition Acts.
A new penal code abolishes the death penalty except for first-degree murder.
Fleming and Livingston Counties are established.
1799
The state's second constitution is adopted.
Transylvania University is established.
Barren, Boone, Cumberland, Gallatin, Henderson, Henry, Jessamine, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Pendleton, and Pulaski Counties are established.
Thomas Allin received a Commission from the Governor of Kentucky and became the first Coroner of Boone County.
1800
First Federal Census of Boone County: total population of 1,534; of this number 325 were slaves (more than 1 in 5). There were 15 free blacks.
The total population of Kentucky was 179,873 whites, 40,343 slaves, and 739 free blacks.
Committee was appointed by the Boone County Court to mark the best way from the courthouse to the salt works on Mud Lick and from thence to Eagle Creek.
First distillery in Boone County, by Archibald Reid.
Jeffersonian Republicans strong and Jefferson elected President.
Garrard was the first Kentucky governor directly elected by the people.
Start of the religious revivals.
Governor Garrard is elected to a second term.
Napoleon forces Spain to cede the entire Louisiana province to France in the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
Breckinridge, Floyd, Knox, and Nicholas Counties are established.
[Compiled by James Duvall, M. A.]