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Daniel Boone Steps Through Time

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In late spring 1769, Daniel Boone, America’s pioneer hero, made his first excursion through the Cumberland Gap into the storied land of “ken-te-ke.” When he passed through that magnificent portal in the Appalachian Mountain barrier 250 years ago, he set in motion America’s eventual westward movement. 

To reach Cumberland Gap in those early years, Boone and those thousands upon thousands who followed him afterward, traversed a route through southwest Virginia, passing through natural barriers at Moccasin Gap and Kane Gap and fording prodigious rivers at shallow crossings. The landscape of that passage remains today a beautiful corner of America, where visitors can sample its pioneer history by following the footsteps of Daniel Boone through Scott and Lee counties. 

Anderson’s Blockhouse

Venturing into the wilderness was a dangerous proposition in the late 1700s. “Safety in numbers” was the order of the day. Pioneers would gather at John Anderson’s Blockhouse, awaiting the arrival of other like-minded folks. His post was near the North Fork of the Holston River near Moccasin Gap and today’s Weber City, Virginia. When the group believed they had enough guns to assure them relative safety on their trek, they would head west toward Cumberland Gap. 

A replica of Anderson’s Blockhouse stands at Natural Tunnel State Park in Scott County, Virginia. It was built by the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association, Inc., whose members interpret throughout the year at several events the experience of westering pioneers. The annual Frontier Muster and Trade Faire in April and the Frontier Harvest Festival in October feature demonstrations of open-pit cooking, encampments of pioneers and long hunters, and reenactments of skirmishes. These popular events also include colonial merchants offering handmade clothing, children’s games, and items common to life on the frontier in the 18th century. danielboonetrail.com

Natural Tunnel State Park

Elsewhere in Natural Tunnel State Park, visitors will find a railroad tunnel along Stock Creek, the opening engineered from a natural, water-carved tunnel over 800 feet long and 100 feet high. That natural tunnel was there when Daniel Boone first ventured up Stock Creek after crossing the Clinch River. A chair lift carries visitors down-and-back to the creek and tunnel opening where a short trail leads also to the relocated historic Carter Cabin. The “Lighting of the Tunnel” in late October makes for a festive experience viewing the tunnel opening at night from around a campfire while drinking apple cider and enjoying live acoustic music echoing off the towering limestone walls of the natural amphitheater. virginiastateparks.gov

Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Interpretive Center

Opened in January 2019 in Duffield, the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Interpretive Center provides an engaging look at the experience of early pioneers passing through the valleys of Southwest Virginia in the late 1700s. Visitors follow a winding path marked in the carpet to experience exhibits sharing about the landscape, the flora and fauna, the native peoples who lived there relatively peaceably at the time, and the challenges and dangers facing those who dared to trespass on their journey passing through. The Center shares the experience of regular folk who ventured into a wilderness with a courageous spirit, uncertain of what hardships would confront them but determined to reach, if they survived, the mountain gap into their “promised land.” Exhibits include informative, live-action video and a 3-D model of the Clinch and Powell River valley terrain. Visitors learn about the technologies of the day—flintlock, compass, candles, axe—and about the skills for survival—hunting to eat, foraging for herbs, making salt, listening carefully for danger. The Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail Association delights in sharing this part of America’s story. The Center is in Duffield at 371 Technology Trail Lane overlooking Kane Gap. It is operated by Natural Tunnel State Park. virginiastateparks.gov

Wilderness Road State Park

When Daniel Boone first passed through these valleys in 1769 in his quest to reach the rumored Cumberland Gap from his home in North Carolina, he was more than surprised to find a young Joseph Martin and his party of men building an outpost well into the Virginia wilderness. This was a station from which the later-celebrated General Joseph Martin intended to provide shelter and supplies to others heading farther west to explore. The original station site was at today’s Rose Hill, but the story of this outpost is interpreted today at Virginia’s Wilderness Road State Park at its Martin’s Station replica. The fort and cabins were all built using traditional skills and tools of the period. The men and women building it gamely labored to recreate an authentic space from which to interpret life on the frontier. Visitors can walk among the cabins, blacksmith shop, cook house, and fort and talk to interpreters in period dress performing duties and skills of the day. In May and October, Martin’s Station hosts it largest annual juried reenactments, welcoming reenactors judged to be authentic in their clothing and accouterments. “Raid on Martin’s Station” is the most-viewed event of the year as several dozen Native American reenactors attack the settlement in a fierce shooting battle complete with “structures” torched and “captives” carried off. The captors later return to play out a negotiated return of the kidnapped women and children. virginiastatepark.gov; historicmartinsstation.com

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

America’s westward movement began in earnest when the path through the Cumberland Gap became the preferred passage for migrating settlers to get through the mountain barrier. Dr. Thomas Walker had first reported back east in 1750 about the gap, through which parties of native people had been crossing for centuries along paths created during millennia of migrating herds of bison and deer. Indeed, Daniel Boone was led to the gap in 1769 on the hopes of his hunting companion John Findley that rumors of this passage’s location were true. 

Today, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park welcomes visitors to explore the landscape of the gap and its rich history as a portal through the mountains. Able visitors can walk through the historic gap passing over a restored landscape of the 18th century reconstructed after US Hwy 25 was removed. They can drive to the top of the Pinnacle and from the overlooks view three states while hawks soar below them. Films, videos, and exhibits in the visitor center share a broad range of information about natural and social history. And even though he did not discover it and never lived there, no American is more strongly associated with Cumberland Gap than Daniel Boone. nps.gov/cuga

In his footsteps

From Moccasin Gap near the state line with Tennessee to Cumberland Gap at the state line with Kentucky, Southwest Virginia offers at several sites along the way an inviting peek back in time into the lives of those Americans who lived in and passed through this land with an ambition for moving west and at a time when the American nation was not yet a dream. You can follow that route today by following the footsteps of Daniel Boone—the ones he left 250 years ago in 1769.

Learn more:

Information about the life of Daniel Boone told by putting his life on the landscape is found in the book, In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone and the companion DVD, On the Trail of Daniel Boone, by Randell Jones. Both are available through danielboonefootsteps.com. 

Experience Pioneer Days 

Here are just some of the opportunities to visit these interesting sites in 2019. These sites have other interesting programming throughout the year as well. 

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