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''[[United States|United States ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[United States Migration Internal|Migration ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Wilderness_Road|Wilderness Road]]'' | ''[[United States|United States ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[United States Migration Internal|Migration ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Wilderness_Road|Wilderness Road]]'' | ||
Daniel Boone and 35 axmen blazed a trail called the '''Wilderness Road''' from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky for the Transylvania Company. When the trail opened in 1775 it became the route of 70,000 settlers who came to Kentucky on foot or horseback before the trail was upgraded to wagon road in 1796.[[Image:Wilderness Road Map.png|650px]][[Image:{{CumberG}}]] | Daniel Boone and 35 axmen blazed a trail called the '''Wilderness Road''' from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky for the Transylvania Company. When the trail opened in 1775 it became the route of 70,000 settlers who came to Kentucky on foot or horseback before the trail was upgraded to wagon road in 1796.<ref name="WildpediaRd">Wikipedia contributors, "Wilderness Road" in ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Road (accessed August 4, 2010).</ref>[[Image:Wilderness Road Map.png|650px]][[Image:{{CumberG}}]] | ||
=== Historical Background === | === Historical Background === | ||
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In 1774 Judge Richard Henderson, a land speculator of North Carolina, hired Daniel Boone to blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. 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. | In 1774 Judge Richard Henderson, a land speculator of North Carolina, hired Daniel Boone to blaze a trail through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. 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. | ||
The Kentucky legislature paid for the footpath to be upgraded to a wagon road starting in 1792. The wagon road was finished in 1796. | The Kentucky legislature paid for the footpath to be upgraded to a wagon road starting in 1792. The wagon road was finished in 1796.<ref name="WildpediaRd" /> | ||
The opening of the [[National Road]] in 1818 provided an easier, more level route to the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. With the introduction of steamboats at about the same time traffic on the Wilderness Road declined until it was nearly abandoned in the 1840s. However, it was used by both Union and Confederate armies during the [[ | The opening of the [[National Road]] in 1818 provided an easier, more level route to the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. With the introduction of steamboats at about the same time traffic on the Wilderness Road declined until it was nearly abandoned in the 1840s. However, it was used by both Union and Confederate armies during the [[United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865|American Civil War]].<ref name="WildpediaRd" /> | ||
=== Route === | === Route === | ||