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United States  Gotoarrow.png  Migration  Gotoarrow.png  Trails and Roads  Gotoarrow.png  Wilderness Road

Wilderness Road Map.png
The Cumberland Gap in Winter.
The Wilderness Road started at Bristol, Virginia (splitting off the Great Valley Road) and headed west along the Virginia-Tennessee border to the Cumberland Gap, across the nearby Cumberland River, and then went northwest to Boonesborough, Kentucky. Eventually, an extension of the road would reach Louisville, Kentucky on the Falls of the Ohio River.

Contents

Historical Background

In 1774 Judge (and land speculator) Richard Henderson of North Carolina hired Daniel Boone to blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. An estimated 70,000 pioneers followed the Wilderness Road on foot or horseback into Kentucky and beyond before it was reopened as a wagon road in 1796.

Route

  • Bristol, Washington, Virginia
  • Cumberland Gap at the juncture of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky
  • Boonesborough, Madison, Kentucky 

Later extension:

  • Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky

Settlers and Records

For partial list of settlers who used the Wilderness Road, see .

Wikipedia
 Wikipedia has more about this subject: Wilderness Road

Internet Sites

Resources

  • Johnson, Robert Foster. Wilderness Road Cemeteries in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Owensboro, Kentucky: McDowell Publications, 1981. FHL US/CAN Book 973 V3j.

Sources

v • d • e
Links to Tennessee-related articles
Topics
Counties
Anderson · Bedford · Benton · Bledsoe · Blount · Bradley · Campbell · Cannon · Carroll · Carter · Cheatham · Chester · Claiborne · Clay · Cocke · Coffee · Crockett · Cumberland · Davidson · Decatur · DeKalb · Dickson · Dyer · Fayette · Fentress · Franklin · Gibson · Giles · Grainger · Greene · Grundy · Hamblen · Hamilton · Hancock · Hardeman · Hardin · Hawkins · Haywood · Henderson · Henry · Hickman · Houston · Humphreys · Jackson · Jefferson · Johnson · Knox · Lake · Lauderdale · Lawrence · Lewis · Lincoln · Loudon · McMinn · McNairy · Macon · Madison · Marion · Marshall · Maury · Meigs · Monroe · Montgomery · Moore · Morgan · Obion · Overton · Perry · Pickett · Polk · Putnam · Rhea · Roane · Robertson · Rutherford · Scott · Sequatchie · Sevier · Shelby · Smith · Stewart · Sullivan · Sumner · Tipton · Trousdale · Unicoi · Union · Van Buren · Warren · Washington · Wayne · Weakley · White · Williamson · Wilson
Extinct
Counties
Major
Repositories
Migration
Routes
Cumberland River · Mississippi River · Tennessee River · Avery's Trace (or Cumberland Trace) · Black Fox Trail · Bolivar and Memphis Trail · Butterfield Overland Mail · Catawba Trail · Chattanooga-Willstown Road · Cisca and St. Augustine Trail (or Nickajack Trail) · Cisco and Middle Tennessee Trail · Cumberland and Great Lake Trail · Cumberland and Ohio Falls Trail · Georgia Road (or Federal Road) · Great Indian Warpath · Great South Trail · Great Trading Path · Great Valley Road · Jackson's Military Road · Jonesboro Road · Kentucky Road · Lower Warpath (or West Tennessee Trail) · Maysville Turnpike · Memphis, Pontotoc and Mobile Trail · Mississippi and Tennessee River Trail · Nashville Road · Nashville-Saline River Trail · Natchez Trace (or Chickasaw Trail) · Old Cherokee Path · Tennessee, Ohio and Great Lakes Trail · Unicoi Trail · West Tennessee Chickasaw Trail · Wilderness Road · Illinois Central Railroad
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