Into the Bluegrass and Wilderness

Lewis and his party, including Pierre Chouteau and the Osage Indian delegation, departed Louisville on 11 November 1806, following today’s U. S. 60 to Frankfort, KY. The party of Osage Indians and Pierre Chouteau left Frankfort and traveled to Lexington, KY then followed the Buffalo Trace to Maysville, KY and taking the northern route to Washington, D.C. via Wheeling and Winchester, VA. We have found no reason why the two groups separated. Possibly it was easier to find food and lodging for the smaller groups. 

Clark did not leave Louisville until early December. He was preparing for his courtship with Julia Hancock when he reached Fincastle, Virginia. With York, Clark would travel the Wilderness Road from Louisville through Danville where Clark checked on his nephew John O’Fallon, attending school. At some point in their travel and possibly at Danville, York was directed to return to Louisville and purchase corduroy or dark velvet for of sherryvallies, overalls that buttoned on the outside to cover other clothing. Lewis and Sheheke and party had traveled through Danville, KY a few weeks earlier on their way to Washington.⁽¹⁾ 

Following the Wilderness Road, Clark and York would have joined the Boone Trace, the first trail into Kentucky cut by Daniel Boone and his group of axmen in March 1775. The Wilderness Road and Boone Trace join at Bimble, east of Barbourville and on U. S. 25 E, generally following the same corridor South through the Cumberland Gap.^(2)(3)(4) https://boonetrace1775.com/

Lewis was leading his party along a route he had traveled before. On 24 July 1797, Lewis wrote to his mother, Lucy, from Shelbyville, KY and advised that he would be in Frankfort the next day to arrange payment for property tax on land in present day Estill and Powell County, KY. This was land inherited by the children of William Lewis. Meriwether further explained that he would “set out for Georgia the next day”. His trip to Georgia would be related to settling John Mark’s estate and property owned by the Marks children.⁽⁵⁾ 

In 1806, Lewis and his party, including Sgt. John Ordway, arrived at Cumberland Gap on or before 20 November 1806. Revolutionary War veteran Col. Arthur Campbell, on learning of the Lewis party being in the area visited with them and provided John Ordway with a letter of introduction to Jedidiah Morse, geographer, concerning the publication of Ordway’s Journal, a journal later purchased by Lewis and Clark.⁽⁶⁾

Lewis may have thought that his celestial observations were over when he reached the mouth of the Columbia River. While at Cumberland Gap, Col. Campbell prevailed on Lewis to make a celestial observation to help settle a dispute concerning the location of the Walker Line, the state line between Virginia and North Carolina and Kentucky and Tennessee. With Lewis’ Survey Certificate we know that he was still at Cumberland Gap on 23 November 1806, one of the most hallowed historic locations on the North American Continent.⁽⁷⁾ As we will see, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark crossed this impediment to travel on numerous occasions during their public service to the America people.

Lewis and Clark followed the corridor from Danville, KY along U.S. 150 to through Stanford, Crab Orchard, connecting to U.S. 25 in Mt. Vernon, KY, then following U.S. 25 South to Corbin, KY before taking U.S. 25 E through the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.