Kentucky travel | Travel Thru History

Shakerville, Kentucky: exploring a simple way of life

by Wynne Crombie

A rousing beat was coming from the 1820 Meeting House. The door was open and a demonstration of Shaker religious singing was in progress. It was a boisterous rendition of Loch Lomond. My husband Kent and I stepped in to get a closer peek. It reminded us of an American Indian pow-wow.

The guide told us that the music was particularly boisterous to shake sin out of the transgressors. A display of a cradle stood next to a sign that read: “1805 cradle used by Shakers to rock adults to shake out their sins.”

We were at Shakerville, Kentucky outside Lexington and we had come to experience Shaker Life.

The Meeting House interior was free of any central obstructions to provide the Believers plenty of room to conduct their services. It was built to withstand a considerable amount of vibration due to the expressive nature of Shaker worship. Music was a central element of their worship. For much of their history, the Shakers worshipped without instruments.

The village was bustling. Visitors were strolling along the dirt paths; a guided tour was visible in the distance and a horse and wagon ride had just crept up behind us.

We were ready to begin our discovery of a way of life that was simplicity itself.

Shakers started arriving at Pleasant Hill somewhere around 1805. As early as 1816 they were producing enough surpluses of brooms, preserves, packaged seeds and other products to begin regular trading trips to New Orleans.

By the Mid-1850s Shakerville (as it was called) was home to approximately 600 Shakers occupying 250 buildings and almost 2800 acres of land. The Civil War and Industrial Revolution took a heavy toll and the community dissolved in 1910. In 1961, it was reestablished as a non-profit educational entity.

Kent and I had some thirty-four surviving buildings to explore. These are structures without fanfare, simple lines without curves. The Shakers were self-sufficient. They took what they had and made do. Crops were grown, and the seeds saved for the next year’s harvest. They made their own furniture and wove their own cloth. Houses were painted either pale yellow or white. Stone chimneys graced both sides of the houses.

One of the original bath houses still exists. They were constructed for each gender. Near-by was the Post Office where both Shakers and local residents received mail.

We took time out to dine at the restaurant, The Trustees’ Table. Their motto is: Dine with straight from the garden ingredients. Bowls of seasoned relish, a selection of hot vegetables and homemade bread come with each entrée. Kent and I chose, Fried Green Tomatoes, as an appetizer. Smothered Pork Loins over cornbread dressing were our entrees. ($20). Another enticing entrée was Mrs. Kremer’s Fried Chicken. ($21.95).

In addition to dining, you can spend the night at The Inn. Visitors can choose from guest rooms, suites and private cottages. Rooms are furnished with Shaker reproduction furniture, original hardwood floors and magnificent views of the surrounding countryside.

Beds¸ single, double, and low trundle, were manufactured on site. The Shakers used raw local materials. A necessary function was the production of cloth and garments from wool and vegetable fibers produced on the farm. Examples… Linen, worsted, and linsey-woolsey were on display. The latter was in popular demand for the making of slave clothing. An interesting sight was an array of five Shaker brooms hanging on pegs. When the light is just right, they cast interesting shadows on the wall.

Water was pumped by horse power from a spring to the 19,000-gallon reservoir in the Water House. The water was then fed, via gravity, to the kitchens and wash houses in the Village.

Society was divided into families from 50 to 100 members. Each family had its own dwelling house.

There is one remaining privy or, as the Shakers called it, a Necessary. Instead of a trench, the privy had a clean-out vent on the back wall.

As we moved from building to building we discovered more looms, spinning wheels. homemade furniture and kitchen utensils. The finished products were all made by hand. A display of clothes showed shapeless gowns in grayish-blues and maroon. Clothes in muted blues and maroons were hanging on pegs. The white bonnets were shapeless; the long skirts formless and drab. There was little difference between the shoes and stockings worn by men and women.

Also intriguing were the ubiquitous stone fences. Our guide, Bertha explained that about four layers of stones are piled one upon another. The top layer is composed of stones laid on their sides. This is called, “coping.” The purpose was twofold: to weigh down the fence and to keep the cattle in. In addition to the stone fences, property was also marked with white wooden fences with horizontal slats.

Today, Shaker Village is very much a village at work. Farmers, historians, naturalists and many others work from growing the organic garden, to managing prairie habitat, caring for important artifacts, restoring historic buildings and building an apiary, real work happens here!

After exploring the village you can head over to The Farm to meet the animals and out into The Preserve to explore 3,000 acres of farmland.

Admission grants you access to a full day of discovery filled with self-guided and staff-led tours, talks, music, demonstrations, exhibitions, hands-on activities and more.

Jump on board the horse-drawn wagon or take a hay ride around The Historic Centre every weekend, from April through October.

The site is home to the country’s largest private collection of original 19th century buildings.

It is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Admission $10. (Ages 13 and up).

Photo credits:
All photos by Wynne Crombie

About the author:
Wynne Crombie has a master’s degree in Adult Education. Her work has appeared in: Alaskan Airline Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Travel Thru History, Dallas Morning News, Senior Living, Stars and Stripes, Birds and Blooms, Italy Magazine (UK) Get Lost (Au) Catholic Digest, Country Woman, Quilt Magazine, and Chicago Parent. She has taught in the United States and with the DOD at Aviano AFB, Italy and Berlin. (It was in Berlin that she met her husband of 55 years) They have retired to Lexington, Kentucky and love it.

Historic Homes of Lexington

Three Early 19th Century Houses Visited in a Day Trip to Lexington, Kentucky

by Wynne Crombie

The Mary Todd Lincoln House

Upon entering the Mary Todd House, it’s the original banister that catches your eye. Abe Lincoln on his visits could have placed his hands on the very same wood. This is the first house museum in America to honor a First Lady.

Mary’s grandfather was one of Lexington’s original settlers. Before Mary’s father, a prominent Lexington businessman, bought the house in 1831, the building had been a stagecoach stop. She lived here from the ages of thirteen to twenty-one. The style is late Georgian (early 19th century).

Today, the fourteen-room house (ten fireplaces) contains period furniture, family portraits and furnishings from the Todds as well as the Lincolns. The original property also contained separate slave quarters, (the Todds had five slaves) an outdoor kitchen, wash house, smoke house, and stables with a carriage house.

On the day we visited, the crimson drapes had been drawn (photo at top), commemorating the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

A nearby creek supplied the Todds with water. A slave auction site was located only a couple of blocks away.

Restored in the 1970s, the historic home now appears as it did when the Todds inhabited it. The furnishings are designed to chronicle life as it had been in the early 19th century. There were two parlors, one for the family and one for guests. Mary’s bedroom is especially interesting. The original desk displays her Bible and inkwell.

The house features period furnishings and many of the family’s personal possessions. The shawl on the back of a chair belonged to Mary as well as the original Meissen collectables. The candelabra the Lincolns used in the White House sits on the dining room table. The photographs next to an 1817 Bible belonged to Mary’s stepmother. Mary’s mourning wardrobe is laid out on her bed.

The Hunt-Morgan House

The chest of drawers was actually a desk, called a butler’s desk. The top drawer opens to reveal a desk a little over waist high. That way the speaker could stand and conduct business. Then, there was the piano with less than eighty-eight keys and four pedals instead of three.

We were back in the early 19th century at the Lexington home of John Wesley Hunt, confederate grandfather, who moved to Lexington in 1795. He became a merchant, horse breeder, hemp manufacturer, banker and first millionaire west of the Alleghenies. In 1814, he built a two-story brick mansion known as the Hunt-Morgan House. His grandson was John Hunt Morgan, a general in the Confederate Army.

The period furnishings give visitors a glimpse into the social interaction of the day. Rooms were dressed seasonally, with slipcovers, straw mats and rugs for summer, dark colors in the winter. There were nine bedrooms; the nursery being the smallest.

Fire screens had a special function. In 1814, women wore heavy makeup to cover smallpox scars. Their makeup would melt if they were seated too near the fireplace. Hence, the screen. They would bathe, but not often and only on special occasions. An embroidered screen is on display in the Hunt’s bedroom along with an original dining table and wooden mantel.

Air conditioning consisted of moving beds near windows in the summer. The ceilings were fourteen feet high, thus providing increased air movement. Oil lamps or candles were used for lighting. In addition, mirrors provided light reflection. The summer kitchen was outside, keeping additional heat out of the house.

Mr. Hunt conducted business from a room with special door to the outside. His original travel trunk is on display next to the chest of drawers. The visitor can also view his 1810 Bible and glasses. It’s hard to imagine dining ever being a casual affair with tables set with china and silver candelabras at either end. Check out the 1805 serving spoon.

Since photography had yet to come into being, portraiture was a frequent thing. The one of John Wesley Morgan, with an amused look on his face, sits in the main parlor. Card playing was a frequent source of enjoyment.

The artifacts reveal how people lived. Glasses had no sides and were perched on one’s nose. Hunt’s worn eyeglass case sits next to his glasses. The travel chest he used on his travels is on display in his office. (The trip from the east coast to Lexington took three weeks.)

A display of Civil War Museum artifacts is located on the second floor. Especially notable are the items associated with General John Hunt Morgan and his “Morgan’s Raiders.”

The Pope Villa

Right in the midst of a Lexington residential neighborhood is the 1811 house designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, known as, the “nation’s architect.” A friend of Thomas Jefferson, Latrobe oversaw the construction of the U.S. Capitol, and designed parts of the White House.

The design was unique: a perfect square, with a domed, circular rotunda in the center of the second story. Latrobe drew his inspiration from 16th Century Italian architect, Andrea Palladio.

Reservations to tour the house are a must. Jason, of the Blue Grass Trust, met us at the door. We could not help but notice that the interior was stripped of any wallpaper, or furnishings. It was down to the very basics.

As we walked on the wooden planks, Jason pointed out what had been the sitting rooms, the dining and bedrooms, etc. He also described what life was like in the early 19th century.

The absence of wallpaper allowed us to examine the horsehair makeup of the plasterboard. Behind, lay brick in a design known as Flemish Bond Brickwork. This gave the structure strength plus design.

On the second floor, we could look up and see the circular configuration where the dome had been. The dome was destroyed by fire in 1986. This enables the restorers to see remodeling over the decades down to basic Latrobe. After the fire, the property was purchased by the Blue Grass Trust. They have carefully restored the exterior to its 1812 appearance; the interior is an ongoing project.

Besides fundraising, the biggest question facing the committee was to which period it should restore the villa. It was decided that the restored home would represent the 1812 period and Latrobe’s original intentions as much as possible.

All three of these historic properties can be easily viewed in a day. It’s a wonderful informative step back in time on a day trip to Lexington.

Half-Day Lexington Kentucky Horse Farm Tour

If you go:

The Mary Todd Lincoln House is located at 578 West Main Street, Lexington, KY, 40507.
Phone: 859-233-9999

Hopemont, the Hunt–Morgan House is at 201 N Mill St, Lexington, KY 40507
859-233-3290

La Trobe’s Pope Villa is at 326 Grosvenor Ave, Lexington, KY 40508
859-253-0362

More Lexington, Kentucky Tours Now Available:

Ashland Henry Clay Estate Ticket with Guided Tour
Horse Farm Tour & Keeneland Race Track Visit
Bourbon Trail Day Trip with Buffalo Trace

About the author:
Wynne Crombie has a master’s degree in adult education. Her work has appeared in: Travel and Leisure, Grit, Dallas Morning News, Cat Fancy, Quilt Magazine, Italy Magazine, Irish-American Post, Catholic Digest, Get Lost (Au) Yours (UK) Air Force Times, Stars and Stripes, and GoNomad.com.

Photo credits:
All of the photos are by Wynne Crombie.

Mary Todd Lincoln House parlor
Mary Todd Lincoln House exterior
Mourning dress of Mary Todd Lincoln on bed
Desk at Hunt Morgan house
Hunt Morgan home exterior
Dining room of Hunt Morgan home with original china
John Hunt’s book and glasses
Pope Villa exterior
Interior of Pope Villa

Shaker Life At Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

by Wynne Crombie

The trees lining the landscape were just beginning to bloom when my husband Kent and I arrived at Pleasant Hill. It was bustling…visitors were strolling along the dirt paths, a guided tour was visible in the distance and a horse and wagon ride had just crept up behind us.

We were ready to begin our discovery tour of a way of life that was simplicity itself.

Shakers starting arriving at Pleasant Hill somewhere around 1805. As early as 1816 they were producing enough surpluses of brooms, preserves, packaged seeds and other products to begin regular trading trips to New Orleans.

By the Mid-1850s Shakerville (as it was called) was home to approximately 600 Shakers occupying 250 buildings and almost 2800 acres of land. The Civil War and Industrial Revolution took a heavy toll and the community dissolved in 1910. In 1961 it was reestablished as a non-profit educational entity.

A rousing beat was coming from the 1820 Meeting House. The door was open and a demonstration of Shaker religious singing was in progress. It was a boisterous rendition of Loch Lomond. We stepped in to get a closer look.

The Meeting House interior was free of any central obstructions to provide the Believers plenty of room to conduct their services. It was built to withstand a considerable amount of vibration due to the expressive nature of Shaker worship. Music was a central element of their worship. For much of their history, the Shakers worshiped without instruments.

Kent and I had some thirty-four surviving buildings to explore. These are structures without fanfare, simple lines without curves. The Shakers were self sufficient. They took what they had and made do. Crops were grown, and the seeds saved for the next year’s harvest. They made their own furniture and wove their own cloth. Houses were painted either pale yellow or white. Stone chimneys graced both sides of the houses.

One of the original bath houses still exists. They were constructed for each gender. Near-by was the Post office where both Shakers and local residents received mail.

We took time out to dine at the restaurant, The Trustees’ Table. Their motto is: Dine with straight from the garden ingredients. Bowls of seasoned relish, a selection of hot vegetables and homemade bread come with each entrée. Kent and I chose, Fried Green Tomatoes, as an appetizer. Smothered Pork Loins over cornbread dressing were our entrees. ($20). Another enticing entrée was Mrs. Kremer’s Fried Chicken. ($21.95)

In addition to dining, you can spend the night at The Inn. Visitors can choose from guest rooms, suites and private cottages. Rooms are furnished with Shaker reproduction furniture, original hardwood floors and great views of the surrounding countryside.

We came away with admiration on how self-sufficient and unpretentious the Shakers were. For example: looms and spinning wheels. It was amazing how these structures could produce such beautiful cloth. Hemp, one of Kentucky’s main crops before 1870, was used to make rope. One item to survive to this day is the Shaker chair. These were no nonsense chairs with rigid backs.

Water was pumped by horse power from a spring to the 19,000 gallon reservoir in the Water House. The water was then fed, via gravity, to the kitchens and wash houses in the Village.

Society was divided into families from 50 to 100 members. Each family had its own dwelling house.

There is one remaining privy or, as the Shakers called it, a Necessary. Instead of a trench, the privy had a clean-out vent on the back wall.

You had to use your imagination here as to just what took place, but one of my favorites was a display of an 1805 cradle next to a sign that read: “1805 cradle used by Shakers to rock adults to shake out their sins.”

Also intriguing were the ubiquitous stone fences. Our guide, Bertha explained that about four layers of stones are piled one upon another. The top layer is composed of stones laid on their sides. This is called, “coping”. The purpose was twofold: to weigh down the fence and to keep the cattle in. In addition to the stone fences, property was also marked with white wooden fences with horizontal slats.

After exploring the village you can head over to The Farm to meet the animals and out into The Preserve to explore 3,000 acres of farmland.

Admission grants you access to a full day of discovery filled with self-guided and staff-led tours, talks, music, demonstrations, exhibitions, hands-on activities and more

Jump on board the horse-drawn wagon or take a hay ride around The Historic Centre every weekend, from April through October

The site is home to the country’s largest private collection of original 19th century buildings.

It is open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Admission $10. (Ages 13 and up)

If You Go:

Shakertown at Pleasant Hill is a National Historic Landmark
3501 Lexington Road, Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Tel. 800-734-5611

About the author:
Wynne has a master’s degree in adult education. Her work has appeared in: Travel and Leisure, Grit, Dallas Morning News, Cat Fancy, Quilt Magazine, Italy Magazine, Irish-American Post, Catholic Digest, Get Lost (Au) Yours (UK) Air Force Times, Stars and Stripes, and GoNomad.com.

All photos by Wynne Crombie

Horse Racing Culture

Louisville, Kentucky

by Roy A. Barnes

Kentucky and the city of Louisville are to horses what North Carolina is to NASCAR. I got a chance to see some of the inner workings of Churchill Downs while meeting some very famous world class athletic celebrities of the four-footed kind, then relaxed at a horse racing-themed bar.

See World Class Athletes Up Close and Personal

“Only horses don’t have grandmothers like we do.”
“Oh don’t they just!”
– From the 1967 Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.

And boy does it matter, too, about the grandmothers of the horses! Many people think that it’s the stallions that make or break whether a potential horse will be a champion racer. But in order for a filly to be able to even have the chance to breed with one of the high quality stallions, she has to have come from quality lines, too. I learned this from my visit to the 2,000 acre complex of Three Chimneys Horse Farm which is a little over an hour’s drive from downtown Louisville in settings that can truly be described as picturesque and pastoral. This farm is home to numerous champions, including Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup winners.

The philosophy of ownership is that the fans really count in the sport of horse racing so they’ve made the place accessible to them. Guests can meet, greet, and pose with some quality horses like the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winner Big Brown and Dynaformer (father of deceased Kentucky Derby winner and fan favorite Barbaro). Dynaformer’s offspring have won more than 75 million dollars from racing. The Queen of England, movie stars, and politicians have visited this horse farm, but hey, even us commoners can partake in something that the rich and famous have frequented. I was told by our tour guide Jen that most horse farms aren’t really accessible to the public. Three Chimneys also does their best to implement “green”, eco-friendly practices wherever possible in their operations.

Accessible Celebrities!

I got to visit Smarty Jones (the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who’s currently residing in Pennsylvania). He came up to his stable door. How I wanted to pet him, but I was told that he has a tendency to bite, so I couldn’t. He was let out by one of the staff so I could pose with him, though for legal reasons involving the horses’ images, visitors can only show their photos offline to others.

I also got to see where the horses are allowed to run around. The stallions were alone in each of their paddocks because of their aggressive nature, including Sky Mesa, who saw us from afar and came up to the fence wanting to be petted, longing for some affection! But again, I was told by Jen not to. It seems that Sky Mesa likes to put on an act, and may bite your arm once you let your guard down!

In case you’re wondering how much the stud fee is for Dynaformer, it’s currently $150,000, and the breeding is very controlled and videotaped. For Big Brown, the stud fee is $40,000. The stallions can only breed at most 110 times during the breeding season because the ownership doesn’t want the market over-saturated. Beeding season takes place from February through mid-June, and not every filly can breed just because money is offered. Three Chimney’s Pedigree Specialist screens out many potential mates.

Captivated by History and Tradition

The Kentucky Derby is the longest consecutive running sporting event in America. Since 1875, 136 of these annual horse races have been run at Churchill Downs through 2010. Seeing it on TV all these years didn’t prepare me for the draw it would have on me while visiting. I stayed there some four hours, and could’ve spent much more easily as I took three tours and visited the on site museum. It’s one of the few places in the world that I felt glued to because of the ambience, the tradition, and incredible history that makes up the 160 acre complex. I am not usually a fan of guided tours, but I found their guides to be quite engaging.

I arrived early one autumn morning for the hour long Barn and Backside Van Tour, which offers visitors the chance to see the race horses train on the fabled track from the opposite side of the grandstands near the stables, which house more than 1,400 race horses as well as dorms for the employees. This guided tour provides some history and other many interesting facts about the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs. In 1937, it only cost 50 cents to watch the race in the infield, yet today to be able to hang out there, it will put you back some $40, even though your chances of seeing any of the race are virtually nil. Each year, some 100,000 people converge there to hang out and say they were a part of history.

Next, I took the 30 minute Historic Guided Walking Tour (which is included with the museum admission price), which allowed guests to go into the main grandstand and take photos of the winner’s circle across the track if we wanted to.

I was about to go into the museum when I heard a 90 minute Behind The Scenes Tour was about to happen. I felt led to take it, and I’m glad I did! Fans get to see such places as the clubhouse and locker room for the male jockeys, as well as find out about how these athletes must all be the same weight for the Kentucky Derby (126 pounds, but 121 if they ride a filly). It’s done by adding extra padding until the weight is reached. I also found out that jockeys wear several pairs of goggles around their eyes, so if one pair gets wet or soiled, they can de-layer for a clean one. We also got to go to the press area, Millionaires’ Row seating, and the track announcer’s booth. Believe me, this 90 minutes goes by too fast!

As for the Kentucky Derby Museum, one can easily spend many hours in this area admiring and learning about horse racing from the two floors of exhibits, including film footage of most of the past Kentucky Derbys. I watched the 1977 Kentucky Derby in the “Time Machine” exhibit. That particular race was the first one I remember watching as a kid, as I saw my favorite race horse of all time Seattle Slew overcome a bad start to win, and then go on to win the Triple Crown, the second to last horse to do so.

I learned at the “Winner’s Stable” exhibit that Seattle Slew was bought for a mere $17,500, and this interactive exhibit lets you pick up a phone receiver to hear commentary on him as well as other great Derby champions who have their own sections.

One exhibit not to miss here is the 360 degree theatre presentation called “The Greatest Race” (viewers constantly are turning around in the theater), which highlights the last Kentucky Derby run as well as goes behind the scenes of Derby Day.

Horse-Themed Bourbon Experience

After a day of admiring racing horses, a great place to relax for a drink is the Old Seelbach Bar in downtown Louisville. The Seelbach Bar has many pictures of race horses hanging on its early 1900’s restored walls, including some Kentucky Derby winners. Did you know that F. Scott Fitzgerald sipped bourbon here? The hotel itself was a setting for his novel The Great Gatsby, a place where the fictional hometown girl Daisy Buchanan may have actually gotten drunk because of her forthcoming sham wedding to Tom Buchanan!

We really got fast and friendly service one late Sunday afternoon in a rather dark setting with few people surrounding us. One of my friends commented on how she really liked dark settings for bars as I was drinking a bourbon cocktail called an Old Fashioned that was made with Maker’s Mark bourbon, a cherry, and some slices of oranges. I was told by the bartender that the Old Fashioned was invented in Louisville.

The bartender gladly gave me extra syrup so my drink was rather fiery in scent and strong in taste, but really sweet, too! I even sampled one of their house specials, a drink that really went down smoothly and had a distinctly fruity taste, for it contained Old Forrester Bourbon, triple sec, Angostura and Reychaud Bitters, plus some Korbel Champagne.

Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries Tour from Louisville

If You Go:

Three Chimneys Horse Farm (about 75 minutes drive from downtown Louisville, Kentucky): 1981 Old Frankfurt Pike, Versailles, Kentucky 40383. Phone: 859-873-7053. Tours by appointment only (currently $10). Website: www.threechimneys.com

Kentucky Derby Museum/Churchill Downs Tours: 704 Central Ave., Louisville, Kentucky 40208. 502-637-1111. Website: www.derbymuseum.org

Old Seelbach Bar at the Seelbach Hilton: 500 Fourth St., Louisville, Kentucky 40202. Phone: 1-800-333-3399. Website: www.seelbachhilton.com

Louisville Tourism Information: www.gotolouisville.com

About the author:
Roy Barnes writes from southeastern Wyoming and is a frequent contributor to Travel Thru History. Note: The writer attended a press trip sponsored by the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, but what he wrote are his own impressions without any scrutiny from the sponsor.

All photos are by Roy Barnes.

Daniel Boone’s Fort Boonesborough

Richmond, Kentucky

by Ronald D. Kness

This story began during the French and Indian War (1753-1764), while the 19-year old Daniel Boone worked for General Edward Braddock as a teamster/blacksmith and became acquainted with a wagoner named John Findley. Instantly, Boone became intrigued with Findley’s stories of fertile valleys teaming with abundant game west of the Appalachians in a place that would eventually become Kentucky. Findley had been here before the war as part of a trading expedition with the Indians.

Four years later during the winter of 1768-1769, Findley met with Boone convincing Boone to join him on a hunting trip to Kentucky. During this trip, Boone fell in love with this new land and vowed to return someday. Four years later, Boone and five other families would make the journey and be among the first white settlers settling here.

In 1773, Boone and a group of fifty settlers having been commissioned by Colonel Richard Henderson of the Transylvania Company, left North Carolina and began making a trail west which became known as the Wilderness Road. In the years following, thousands of settlers would follow this trail in a never-ending attempt to expand the west.

In the beginning, Boone and the settlers followed a trail used for centuries by the Indians called Warrior’s Path, and then Skagg’s Trace from the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, but the trails were too narrow for wagons to traverse and it was Boone and company’s job to widen the trails. Once at Hazel Patch, in present Laurel County, KY, Boone left the old established trails and began clearing a new one called Boone’s Trace.

Eventually the small party stopped and built a fort on the Kentucky River near present day Lexington, KY. Fort Boonesborough, became the second English-speaking settlement in this new land.

Fascinated by Boone’s story, I visited Fort Boonesborough. It is a short walk from the parking lot to the fort, but once inside, the sounds, sights and smells instantly transported me back to an earlier and much simpler time.

Upon entering, I hear a sharp crack, turn and in the courtyard to see the puff of smoke from a marksman’s black powder rifle. I walk around the inside perimeter of the fort. One of the first buildings I encounter is an interesting cabin – one of many inside the fort. I step inside and let my eyes adjust to the dim light. It is furnished meagerly with things the settlers used while living here – a crude four-legged table with a small slab-wood top, a mud and stick fireplace used for warmth and cooking, and a straw-filled mattress lying on the floor to sleep on. Walking further along the fence, I come to the company store. Today, visitors can buy crafts hand-made by the artisans, but back in the late 1700s, it was the only place settlers could purchase staple items such as flour, sugar and coffee after they had used up what they had brought with them. At the far end of the fort are period-clothed artisans working on their crafts. In one of the cabins, a man works leather making pouches and bags.

In another cabin, a woman weaves on a loom. In still another cabin further down, a woman works pottery using a foot-powered potter’s wheel. Across the path in the courtyard, we hear and see a blacksmith hammering red-hot iron just out of his forge.

Inside, the fort reeks with authenticity. It is easy to imagine that at any moment Daniel Boone himself will step out of one of the cabins. As I walk around the fort, the one question in my mind is how did Boone come to settle this place called Boonesborough?

While en route to Boonesborough, Indians had relentlessly attacked the small group of settlers and over time murdered several in the party, including torturing to death Boone’s seventeen-year old son, James. After establishing the fort in September 1775, Boone went back to Clinch Valley, Virginia, where he had left his wife and the rest of his family two years earlier on the trip out, and brought them back to Boonesborough.

Fort Boonesborough became a target for Indian attacks as soon as it was built, and continuing for the next few years, as the Indians did not like the westward expansion of the white settlers. This land was their traditional tribal hunting grounds and the Indians were determined to drive the settlers out, however the settlers were determined to stay.

Boone, and those inside the fort, fended off devastating Indian raids between 1776 and 1778. During one of the raids in July 1776, Boone’s daughters, Jemima, along with two other teenage girls, were outside the fort and captured by an Indian war party.

Boone and some of his companions went after the girls. Within two days, they caught up with the Indians, ambushed and killed two of them, and rescued Jemima and the other girls. This rescue account became the basis for James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans.

In 1777, Boone himself was captured by the Shawnee. About a year after his capture, he learned of a plan by his captors to attack Boonesborough. He escaped and made his way back to Boonesborough, covering the 160 miles in five days first by horse, until the horse gave out, and then finishing on foot, warning the residents of the upcoming attack and leading them to a successful resistance.

Once things settled down at Boonesborough, Boone learned his wife Rebecca, fearing he was dead, had taken the family back to North Carolina. Eventually, Boone was able to go back east, retrieve his family and all return back to Fort Boonesborough. But because of his capture, and living with the Indians, Boone never felt like he was trusted again at the fort. Eventually, this caused him to leave and settle in several different parts of Kentucky over a period of a few years.

In 1799, Boone left Kentucky because it was “getting too crowded” and he pushed farther west into the new frontier called the Louisiana Purchase, now present-day Missouri. The Spanish Government gave Boone a tract of land to encourage more settlers into the area. Boone spent the rest of his days in Missouri and died there on September 26, 1820 at the age of 86.

If you are in the area and enjoy history from this period of time, Fort Boonesborough is a must-see stop. There are other Boone historical places nearby including Boone’s Station and Boone’s Cave that add to the history of Daniel Boone and are worth exploring.

Half-Day Lexington Kentucky Horse Farm Tour

If You Go:

Kentucky State Parks website
Fort Boonesborough website

Today, Fort Boonesborough is a reconstructed working fort and a Kentucky State Park. As you tour the cabins, in many you will find costumed artisans working their crafts much like the settlers did back in the late 1700s. The fort is complete with cabins, blockhouses and furnishings. Resident artisans perform craft demonstrations and give modern-day visitors a true sense of what life was like for pioneers in Kentucky.

Admission: $7 adults, $5 children ages 6-12. Free for children under age 6. $3.00 (Admission also includes entrance to the Kentucky River Museum.) School groups of ten or more, Adult groups of ten or more $4.00. Tours are available 1 April to 31 October, 9AM – 5:30 PM. The hours of operation are 9 AM-5 PM everyday from April 1 through October 31. Phone: 859-527-3131. Location: 25 miles southeast of Lexington, KY.

About the author:
Ron Kness is a travel writer/photographer with articles and photos published in various house publications, in-flight magazines and other media sources. Ron is keenly interested in the United States history from after the Revolutionary War through the Civil War.

All photos are by Ron Kness.