The Long Hunter by Emory L. Hamilton, p. 29, The Mountain Empire Genealogical Quarterly, Spring l984.
Originally posted at http://www.angelfire.com/co3/Skaggs/stories/long.html
The Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Va., only and nowhere else on any frontier did such hunts ever originate. True, there were hunters and groups of hunters on all frontiers in pioneer days, but they were never organized and publicized as the long hunts which originated on the Va. frontier. Most, if not all of the long hunts originated on the Holston in the vicinity of present day Chilhowie, but were made up of hunters who lived on both the Clinch and Holston rivers. The idea of this manuscript is to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that these long hunters were native to the area and were land owners, or residents along the waters of these two rivers.
Perhaps no group in history, who contributed so much to the knowledge of the topography of our county, have been so nearly completely by-passed by historians as have the long hunter of the late colonial days. In almost every instance when the pioneer settler moved toward the extreme frontier, he had long since been proceeded by the long hunter. When the first settlers were arriving at Wolf Hills (Abingdon) and Cassell’s Woods in l768 and l769, the long hunters had long ago by-passed these points and were then hunting far away in the Ohio and Cumberland river basins of Ky. and western Tenn.
Most of the rivers and streams, gaps, salt licks, mountains and valleys had long ago been named by these hunters. When the lst settlers arrived, they, in most cases, adopted the names bestowed by the long hunters on natural land marks, with very few changes, and we are still using most of them after a lapse of nearly two centuries. Dr. Thomas Walker, on his trip to the Ohio, entered in his Journal on April 9, l750, this statement: “We traveled to a river, which I supposed to be that which hunters call Clinch’s river, from on Clinch a hunter who first found it.” This entry was made almost twenty years before a settlement was made on the Clinch River and leaves little doubt as to how the river got its name.
In the annals of American history there is no braver lot than these early hunters. Not only did they endure the rigorous winters in crude shelters, but the danger of sickness, privation, exposure, hunting accidents, and the very real and ever present danger of being scalped by the Indians. They were especially disliked by the Indians, being looked upon as robbers of their hunting grounds, which they truly were, and also, as forerunners of the ever-spreading, land-clearing, soil-tilling settler.
Just why was this particular group of men given to hunting, instead of tilling the soil as most settlers? Perhaps there are three answers to this question; first, the spirit of adventure born in some people which they are unable to quell, among whom were James Dysart and Castleton Brooks who were quite well-to-do, as well as Colonel James Knox, who is referred to as the leader of the long hunters and who later became very wealthy. Secondly, there were those who enjoyed, above all else, the spirit of the hunt, among whom were Elisha Wallen, William Carr, Isaac Bledsoe, and others, who, all their lives were hunters and nothing but hunters. The last answer, but certainly not the least, was the profit derived from these hunts. it was not uncommon for a hunter to realize sixteen to seventeen hundred dollars for his season’s take, and this was far in excess of what he could earn in almost any other lucrative endeavor. The hides and pelts were sold along the coast, where animals were not longer plentiful, and in England, for making leather, especially buffalo skins. The British market was lost at the outbreak of the Rev. War and the long hunts were never again pursued after the Rev. War began.
The long hunter today would be called a scientist, naturalist, explorer, or some other high-sounding name, for he had to be master of many arts. He knew the sky and what a sunset foretold; he knew the wind and could tell it by smell, as to weather dry or moist, and could wet his finger with spittle and tell in which direction it was blowing. He could, in numerous ways, tell the seasons, predict the weather, and by the stars he could tell the time and direction. He knew the plants and where they grew, and by feeling the moss and shaggy bark of a tree, determine the north and find his direction by night. He knew the medicinal properties of plants and how to treat his wounds and ailments there from.
He knew his rifle, how to use it, repair it, and even in some instances how to make one. He knew the use of the hunting and skinning knife, the tomahawk, and other tools and weapons of the hunt and the kill, which was often times the kill of an Indian whose skill and cunning he was forced to match and outwit in order to survive. He was aware of , and knew the habits and animals and birds and was able to distinguish the true call of such from the imitation by an Indian. He received his training from masters of natural history to survive. The very toys of his childhood were imitations of his future life.
The long hunters usually went out in Oct. and returned the latter part of March, or early in April. Their winter’s take consisted of both fur pelts and hides, especially the hides of buffalo which were want only slaughtered for the hides only, the carcass left to be devoured by animals and vultures. There are recorded events where hundreds and, a few times, where thousands were slain, and certainly the Indian was justified in his feelings that his hunting grounds were being robbed.
The best descriptions of the long hunters have been left to us by John Reed, who knew many of them intimately, both in his native Pittsylvania Co., and also in Powell Valley when he came to Martin’s station in l775.
According to Reed, the long hunters seldom hunted in parties larger than two or three men. their reasons for this were two-fold: first, larger parties were more apt to scare game away, and secondly, the Indians were less likely to become suspicious of a small group robbing their hunting grounds, not to mention that smaller parties were less likely to be discovered by the Indians. Redd tells a very interesting story about Powell Valley that was related to him by the long Hunter, William Carr.
“Twelve miles south of Martin’s Station on Powell River, there was a very rich piece of bottom land call “rob Camp”. In this there was the remains of an old hunting camp from which the land took its name. Some five years before Martin’s Station was settled (Martin first came to Lee county in l769, explored the valley, but stayed only a few days. He returned in l775 and established his Station, hence the referred to event must have taken place in l770), three men, with two horses each, and with their traps, guns and other necessary equipment for a long hunt, settled down in the bottom above alluded to; built a camp and spent the fall, winter and part of the spring there in hunting.”
At that time peace existed between the whites and Indians. These hunters were very successful in killing game and lived in perfect harmony with the Indians, who frequently visited the hunters and congratulated them upon their success in taking game. This intimacy continued until the spring, at which time, the hunters concluded that they had as much fur and skins as they could conveniently carry home. Accordingly, they commenced packing loaded their horses and were in the act of setting off for home, with the earnings of their successful hunt, when twelve or fifteen Indians came up, took possession of their horses, furs, guns, and in fact all the hunters had, and in exchange gave them three of their old guns, and told the hunters that the land they were hunting on belonged to the Indians, and also the game, that they would spare their lives that time, but cautioned them never to return.
Reed tells of another interesting camp he saw in Powell Valley. He states: ” I was b. on the 25th day of Oct. l755. In Jan. l775, when we were on our way out to settle Martin’s Station in Powell’s valley, in going down Wallen’s Creek, near its junction with Powell river, where the hills closed in very near the creek, was found the remains of an old hunting camp, and in front of the camp the bones of two men were lying bleached. they were said to be the bones of two men who went out hunting in the fall of l773 and never returned. their names I have forgotten.
In another letter to Dr. Lyman C. Draper, Redd has this to say in his answer to a query made by Draper: “The remains of the camp I saw in Powell Valley were on its north side; and as well as my memory serves me, were within forty or fifty yards of the mouth of Wallen’s creek at the ford of Powell/s river. The camp was built beside a large limestone rock which served for the back of the camp. The names of the persons whose bones I saw there I should be unable to accurately distinguish were I to hear them. This may be possibly the camp pitched by Bonne’s war party. The bones I saw were not known certainly to be those of the two long hunters having gone on a long hunt in Powell Valley in l773, who had not returned. The camp was eight or ten miles from Martin’s Station.
Redd’s reference to “Boone’s war party” must be a reference to the spot where Daniel Boone’s party camped in l773 to await the party coming to join them from Castlewood, which was ambushed and massacred near the head of Wallen’s Creek on Oct. l0, l773. the location described by Redd also fits the general location of Elisha Wallen’s hunting camp of l76l.
Redd says the long hunters set out with two pack horses each a large supply of powder and lead, a small hand vise and bellows, a screwplate and files for repairing their rifles, and while he makes no mention of it, they also carried a supply of flour and bread. In fact, on the way out they could carry quite a lot of supplies as each hunter had two pack horses.
The long hunters went out together in large parties, built a station camp, then fanned out in twos and threes to range and hunt over large areas. The first known station camp established in Powell’s Valley was that of Elisha Wallen in l76l. It is thought his party consisted of eighteen or nineteen men, but since no list has been preserved, only the names of a very few are known certainly to have been in the party. Wallen’s station camp, set up at the mouth of Wallen’s Creek, was probably like other station camps, built of poles, sometime only eight-ten feet, covered with puncheions or bark, walls on three sides the front open, along which a fire was built for warmth. Upright poles were set up—often a forked pole was driven into the ground, with a cross pole on which the bark or pucheons were laid, sloping toward the back in order to drain melting snow or rain away from the fire. This type of shelter was known as “Half-faced” camps. Other times an extra large already-fallen tree or large rock was used for the backwall of such a camp shelter. Some of Wallen’s party are said to have seen the eleven-year-old carving of the name of Powell and so named the valley, river and mountain. Ambrose Powell had been a member of Dr. Thomas Walker’s exploring party of l750.
Redd says that when he knew Wallen on Smith’s river in Pittsylvania Co. in l774, he was then some forty years old and had been a long hunter for many years before. that he usually hunted on a range of mountains lying on the east of Powells’ Valley and from Wallen to the mountain took its name. Wallen described the ridge and surrounding country on which he hunted as abounding in almost every known specie of game. The animals and birds had been intruded on so seldom that they did not fear his presence, but rather regarded him as a benefactor, but soon learned to flee from his presence.
Wallen, along with Blevins and Coaxes, who were connected by marriage, lived on Smith’s river in Pittsylvania Co. in l774. they owned no land, but were squatters. During the Rev. War, the Va. Legislature passes a law that British subjects who owned land must come in and take the oath of allegiance or their lands would be confiscated. Redd says that some in Pittsylvania Co. did this, and Wallen, the Blevinses and Coxes, packed up “enmass” and moved to the frontier for fear they would have to pay many years back rent as squatters. He states that the Blevins and Cox families settled on Holston River, above Long Island,, (now Kingport) and that Wallen settled on the Holston about eighteen miles above Knoxville, and that in l776 he stopped by to see him, and was informed by Wallen’s wife that he had then been on a hunt for two months. Redd further states that Wallen later moved to Powell Valley, lived there a short time and then moved to Mo.
Redd’s statement of Wallen’s movements is borne out by a letter written to Dr. Draper by F.A. Wallen, a nephew to Elisha, from Fairlan, Livingston Co., Mo., dated Oct. l5, l853, in which he says: “He (Elisha) moved from Va. to Tenn. thence to Ky., thence to Washington Co. Mo. at a very early date.”
That Elisha Wallen lived for sometime in Powell Valley, near Martin’s Station is further proven by a letter to Col. William Martin, son of Gen. Joseph Martin who built Martin’s Station. This letter is dated Dixon Springs, (Tenn.) 7 July l842, and is also to Dr. Draper. In the letter William Martin tells of going on hunting trips with Wallen who lived near his father’s station in Powell Valley. He said Wallen told him of going back and forth to Pittsylvania Co. where he lived, of his helping col. (William) Byrd establish fort Chiswell (l76l) of being at fort Loudon, and of building a fort at Long Island of Houston. Col. Martin says that he was intimately acquainted with Wallen in his latter days. The time col. Martin knew Wallen was in l785 and thereafter, as he did not come out to his father’s station in Powell Valley until l785.
In Wallen’s party of l76l, some were known to hunt as fart away as the Cumberland river in western Tenn. Among those known to have been in this party, besides Wallen, there was his father-in-law Jack Blevins, his brother-in-law, William Blevins, Charles Cox, William Newman, William Pitman, Henry Scaggs, Uriah Stone, Michael Stoner; James Harrod and William Carr. At this time, William Pittman was in his early twenties, six feet tall and of fine appearance. There were several Pittmans and more than one named William.
Of this William Pittman, John Redd says; “In the latter part of Feb.l776, Pittman and Scaggs came to Martin’s Station in Powell Valley. They were returning from a long hunt they had taken in the “Brush” on the northwest side of Cumberland Mountain. They returned earlier than usual and their reason for doing so was that they had seen a great smoke some distance off which they knew was Indian “ring-hunting”, and besides, they had seen Indian tracks through the woods, where they were hunting; whereupon they set out for home. They spent some eight to ten days at the Station. While they were with us, they showed some silver ore they had found on top of a little hill in their hunting ground.
They said that while they were hunting, a snow fell some twelve to eighteen inches deep. Scaggs and Pittman went out through the snow to kill some game. after going a short distance from their camp, they discovered that on top of a certain hill, there was no snow, while all the surrounding hills were covered with it. This led them to go upon the hill and see the cause of its not being covered with snow like the rest. On arriving at the summit of the hill, they discovered that it was covered with a very heavy kind of ore. Each of them put some of the ore in their shot bag and returned to camp.”
“When they arrived at the camp, they took some of the ore, and by means of their hand bellows and some thick oak bark, it was melted and they found it to be silver ore. They brought it back with them to Martin’s Station—the silver they had extracted and some of the ore. The silver was pronounced by all who saw it to be very pure.”
“Scaggs & Pittman were said to be men of a very high sense of honor and very great truth. By the next fall the war with the Indians broke out and they went no more on their long hunts.” He further states that in l776 Scaggs and Pittman lived on New river.
In Washington Co., Va., Land Entry Book I, p. 86, dated Nov. 8, l782, I find where William Pittman once owned the land on sugar Hill, overlooking St. Paul. Va. This is the land upon which John English settled in l772, where his wife and children were killed by Indians in l787, and which he sold to the Bench Baron Pierre De Tubeuf in l79l, and the site where the Baron was murdered in l795. The land had changed hands many times by assignment of warrant before the Baron bought it. English obtained it from Henry Hamlin who had obtained it from Joseph Drake, another long hunter, and Drake had gotten it from William Pittman, who in turn had received it from Thomas Pittman and Joseph Drake. Just what relation Thomas was to the long hunter, William Pittman, is unknown.
Henry Scaggs left the area and moved on into Ky., dying on Pittman’s Creek in Taylor Co., Ky., about l808 or l809, upwards of 80 years old. Collins, in his “History of Ky.”, says: “He was six feet tall, dark skinned, bony, bold, enterprising and fearless. He and his brother (Perhaps Charles) were noted hunters, and nothing but hunters. It was from Scaggs that Scaggs Creek in Rockcastle Co., Ky., got its name.
In l779 Henry Scaggs wads living on the Clinch in Tenn. He had been hunting for twenty years on the other side of the mountain, and this fall in addition to a party of upwards of twenty men, with extra pack horses, he took his young son. In Powell Valley, his party had the not-very-unusual luck of being attacked by Indians, who, though they killed no man, took eleven of their horses. All the hunters turned back except Scaggs, his son, and a man remembered only by the name of Sinclair (undoubtedly this was Charles Sinclair who lived on New river at Sinclar’s Bottom). Scaggs’ young son sickened and died on this trip and because of the severe winter of l779-80, the ground was so frozen he had to bury him in a hollow tree.” the severity of this winter is attested in many Rev. War pension claims.
Of William Carr little is known, except the little left to us in the Reminiscences of John Redd, who says: “He was raised in Albemarle Co., Va., and at a very early age removed to the frontier. In l775 I became acquainted with him in Powell’s Valley. He lived on the frontier for twenty years or more and had spent the whole time hunting, Carr hunted over in Ky., beyond the Cumberland Mountains to the right of Cumberland Gap in a place called “the bush”. Carr always returned with his horses laden with furs and skins. He described the game as being so gentle the animals rarely run from the report of his gun.”
“Carr was the most venturesome hunter I ever knew. He would frequently go on these hunting expeditions alone. After the breaking out of the Indian War of l776, few men ventured on these long hunts. Carr determined to take one more long hunt, and as no one would go with him, he determined to go alone.
I do not know just where Carr resided on the frontier. it is hard to trace the name since the records show both a William Carr and William Kerr, and whether they are one and the same I do not know. In a land suit in Augusta Superior Court in l809, (Fugate vs. Mahan) with the land in question lying on Moccasin Creek, Agness Fugate Mahan, widow of Francis Fugate, said: “that in l77l, Francis Fugate purchased the land in question from William Carr, a “Negro man of color”, and that Carr was supposed to have bought the land from John Morgan, one of the first settlers in that area.”
In the same suit John Montgomery, another witness said: “William Carr is supposed to be a near relation to Gen. Joseph Martin.”
In connection with Agness Fugate Manhan’s statement about William Carr being a Negro man of color, John Redd tells this intriguing story:
“William —–was b. in Albemarle Co., Va. He was the first son of his mother; notwithstanding his mother and her husband were both very respectable and had a fine estate, yet when William was born he turned out to be a dark mulatto. the old man being a good sort of a fellow and withal, very credulous, was induced by his better half to believe the color of his son was a judgment sent on her for her wickedness. William was sent to school and learned the rudiments of an English education and, at the age of eighteen he was furnished with a good horse, gun and some money and directed by reputed father to go to the frontier and seek his fortune and never return.”
“In the early part of the spring of l775, I became personally acquainted with William at Martin’s Station in Powells valley. He was then about forty years of age; he never married, and had been living on the frontier something like twenty years. He lived in the forts and stations and lived entirely by hunting. Notwithstanding his color he was treated with as much respect as any white man. Few men possessed a more high sense of honor and true bravery than he did. He was possessed of a very strong natural mind and always cheerful and the very life of any company he was in. He had hunted in the “brush” for many years before I became acquainted with him. He was about the ordinary height, little inclined to be corpulent, slightly round shouldered and weighed about l60 to l70 pounds and very strong for one of his age.
One William Carr was in Capt. Robert Doak’s militia company June 2, l774, and a William Carr was also in the Cherokee campaign under col. Christian in the same year. Beckley, in his “History of Tazewell Co.”, tells of a hunter named Carr making an early settlement in Tazewell Co., Va.
Another long hunter, who was in the Clinch area for sometime, was Uriah Stone, and it seems he made land improvements in many places where he hunted, probably with the hope of selling them as he did one in the present Tazewell Co., as shown by a land suit in Augusta Co. Superior Court, Maxwell vs. Pickens, filed l807. In this suit James Maxwell stated:
“In l772 I went from Botetourt co. where I lived to present Tazewell Co. to make a settlement. I was in company with Samuel Walker. found a tract with some improvements, viz.: the foundations of a cabin, some rails split and some trees deadened. That night we fell in with a party of hunters, among them Uriah Stone, who claimed to have made the improvement, and I purchased it.”
In the same land suit Lawrence Murray stated: “Thirty-three years ago (l774) I was in Wright’s Valley at Uriah Stone’s cabin.”
Another land suit in the same court, Wynn vs. Engle’s heirs, the same Samuel Walker referred to in the other case, stated that he came to the head of the Clinch in l77l, and the following year he came again with Robert Moffett. Shortly thereafter two men came out, viz.: Uriah Stone and John Stutler.
Note from Ida—-You will note how often Martin’s Station is mentioned. I found where Cherokee Rose or the Beloved Woman went to Martin’s Station and warned them that the Indians were going to attack. I started wondering why an Indian woman would go to a station and warn them. What I found was that Joseph Martin was living with one of her daughters and he had a wife back in Va. The wife in Va. knew about the Indian woman. She died and he went back to Va. and Md. another white woman named Graves. Note that one line of Skaggs tie in with the Graves family. Cherokee Rose had another daughter living in the Martin’s station. She did not want her daughters killed. Now who was Cherokee Rose. She was also know as Nancy Ward. There is a film that you can get at LDS about Nancy Ward. Nancy Ward was lst married. to an Indian. She went to battle with her husband against another tribe of Indians. Her husband was killed and she picked up his gun and continued to fight, because she did this she was given the title of Beloved Woman or Cherokee Rose. She later maried a man from England. Nancy Ward was given lot of power after she fought with her husband. She was given the right to decided who was to be burned at the stake and who wasn’t. She saved a Mrs. Bean from being burned at the stake. The Nancy Ward film give all of her descendants. There are many Martin’s listed. Apparently if you can tie in with the Nancy Ward lines you don’t have any trouble getting a number.
James Smith, a Pennsylvanian, left his home in the fall of l765, and the following spring of l766 found him in the Holston country of Va. Where settlement was thickening in the general vicinity of Samuel Stalnaker’s place.
There, Smith, in company with Joshua Horton, William Baker, Uriah Stone, for whom Stone’s river in Tenn. was named, and another James Smith from near Carlisle in Pennsylvania, had gone west.
Stone returned to middle Tenn. again in l767, and at this time, or soon after, Stone made an improvement on a claim to “A certain place known as Stoner’s Lick, on the east side of Stone’s river. Stone was a juror in the Fincastle court of July 7, l773, and on this same date, he, along with Obediah Terrell, Gasper, Mansker and Castleton Brooks were witnesses in the case of John Baker versus Humphrey Hogan, all of whom were long hunters. Then again in the Fincastle court of Nov. 3, l773, there was a motion by Uriah Stone to stay the proceedings of a judgment obtained against him by Obediah Terrell. The last mention of Stone in the Fincastle records was on Dec. 6, l774, when Gasper Mansker was a plaintiff against Uriah Stone and Jacob Harmon.
Michael Stoner, whose real name was George Michael Holsteiner, along with Isaac Bledsoe, Gasper Mansker, John Montgomery and Joseph Drake were on the Cumberland in l767 and are said to have had a station camp in l768 on what is now Station Camp Creek, north of Cumberland in middle Tenn.
A group of hunters from South Carolina, who were on the Cumberland in l767, make mention of meeting James Harrod and Michael Stoner on Stone’s river, who were from Fort Pitt by way of the Illinois.
This is the very same Michael Stoner who was at Castlewood and went with Daniel Boone in l774 to Ky. to warn the surveying parties of Indian dangers just prior to the outbreak of Dunmore’s war, and without proof, there is every evidence that Stoner was much better acquainted with Ky. than was Boone, for Boone’s first trip through Cumberland Gap was in l769, and after having missed finding the gap on previous trips, he was at this time led through the gap by John Findley, another long hunter and settler on the Cumberland River in Tenn.
While trying to find someone to send to Ky. to warn the surveying parties, on June 22, l774, Col. William Christian wrote to Col. William Preston that he was thinking of sending out a certain Crabtreee to search for the surveyors, having him do this as a sort of atonement for his late achievement in murdering some friendly Cherokees. Having some doubt about the ethics of this, however, he next thought of sending out Joseph Drake, who, as one of the long hunters, was tolerably well acquainted with Ky.
Col. Preston wrote Captain William Russell of Castlewood about this matter, and Russell, on the 26th of June, l774, answered Preston saying: “I have engaged to start immediately, on the occasion, two of the best hands I could think of, Daniel Boone and Michael Stoner, who have engaged to search the country as low as the Falls (Louisville), and to return by way of Gasper’s Lick on Cumberland, and through Cumberland Gap.”
Michael Stoner went to Ky. with Boone when he made his settlement at Boonesboro, and Cotterill, in his “Ky. in l774” implies that Stoner was with Boone’s party when they made their unsuccessful attempt to settle in Ky. in l773, and that he had been a close associate of Boone for several years before, Boone and Stoner having first met on the New River, and that, when Boone’s party was turned back in l773, he had probably been living with the Boone family on the Clinch.
Stoner, born about l748, was also a member of Boone’s road-cutting party through Cumberland Gap and was still alive in l80l, when he made a deposition in Wayne Co., Ky.
He married a doughtier of Andrew Tribble. He was wounded at the siege of Boonesboro, fainted from loss of blood after he had refused to let anyone come to him, for he was outside the fort walls. His wounds were only flesh wounds, one in the hip and another in the arm. After losing his land grants he settled with his father-in-law near Price’s Station.
Two other long hunters of Powell Valley were William Crabtree and James Aldridge, both of whom were probably in Wallen’s hunting party of l76l. Of these two, John Reed, says:
“I have seen them both frequently, but know nothing of interest connected with their long hunts. More of an Indian scout and hunter than a farmer, William Crabtree was a real backwoodsman, tall, slender and with slightly red hair.
The Crabtrees lived on the Holston, a numerous family, with many of the same name, therefore it is hard to distinguish which William was the long hunter, but it is believed he was the William who was a son of William and Hannah Whittaker Crabtree whose residence was at the Big Lick near Saltville. If so, he was born in Baltimore Co., Maryland, circa l748. His first wife was Hannah Lyon, sister to the long hunter, Humberson Lyon. After her death he was married in l777 to Katherine Starnes and she died in Tazewell Co. in l8l8. The father of William Crabtree, whose name was also William, lived near the Salt Works (now Saltville) where he died in l777. -Note the name Humberson Lyon. Remember Aaron Skaggs was taken into court for cohabitation with Sarah Lyon. No one knows who Sarah Lyon was. Was she the wife or daughter. of Humberson Lyon. Also Humberson stole a bunch of furs from James Skaggs).
Redd says: “I know not where Crabtree was from originally. In l777 he was living on Watauga, not far above its junction with the Holston. I know not what finally became of him. He was about thirty years of age.”
Of the long hunter, James Aldridge, this writer has been unable to recover any data of significance, as he seems to be mentioned in none of the court records. Some writers have said that he lived on the New River, but John Redd says he lived in the neighborhood with the Crabtrees on Holston. He is described as being about 30 years of age, a dark haired, heavily built man, stoop shouldered, but with a sprightly mind.
Humberson Lyon, was another of the long hunters who early hunted on the Cumberland. He was a brother-in-law to Willaim Crabtree, having married his sister, Hanna Crabtree. (Note from Ida—will if he was a brother-in -law of William Crabtree then he could not be the husband of Sarah Lyon as many think. Many say that Crabtree started the Rev. War when he killed the Indian. A good paper back book is, “The Last Frontier” by Alan W. Eckert. You can purchase this book at your local book store and it is not high. It give you a lot of back ground as to what was going on in that day & time.) Humberson will was exhibited in Washington Co., Va. court on March l6, l784, and proven by the oaths of Isaac, Job, and Hanna Crabtree, and who, along with William Crabtree were wit. to the will. Abraham Crabtree was administrator & his securities were William & James Crabtree. The will was probated march l6, l784, and he left his estate to his wife and sons, William, James, Stephan and Jacob, and daughter Susanna.
Humberson Lyon was a Juror in Fincastle Co. in l773, & was recommended Captain in the Washington Co., Va. militia, Oct. 9, l780.
In l769, a party of approximately forty hunters, with James Knox as their leader spent more than a year in the Cumberland country. Many conflicting account of this party of l769 have been written. Much of the confusion because the party split into several parties, each going in a different direction. Everybody is pretty well agreed that they went in a body over the Hunter’s trail to Flat Lick (near Stinking Creek, about eight miles north and a little west of Cumberland Ford).
Just about all the long hunters heretofore mentioned in this manuscript were on this hunt, and those not mentioned previously being the Bledsoe brothers, Anthony, Abraham & Isaac, John Baker, Thomas Gordon, Jacob Harmon, Castleton Brooks, John Montgomery, James Dysart, Humphrey Hogan, David and William Lynch, Christopher Stoph, William Allen, Joseph Brown, and Ned Cowan.
The Bledsoe brothers, Antohony, Abraham, and Isaac were tall men of fair complexion and of English origin. Their parents had come from England to Culpepper Co., Va. Their mother died and they left home because of an unkind step-mother. They came about l767 to the New River country. Anthony, the eldest, married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Ramsey, a noted Indian fighter and active in the French and Indian War.
Abraham Bledsoe became a professional hunter, but Isaac and Anthony were interested in land. Both settled in middle Tenn. about l784. Isaac, at this time about twenty-four years old, and after surviving years of border warfare in Va. and Eastern Tenn. spent two or three years in Ky., and, when that was safe from the Indians, went back to Bledsoe’s Creek, and there he was killed , as was his brother Anthony, by the Indians.
Isaac Bledsoe was a Captain in the Cherokee Campaign in l776. He lived on Highway 58, between Bristol and Gate City, about five miles outside of Bristol. His land is now the property of the Saphr family who bought from him in l782.
A very interesting letter is to be found in the Draper Collection written by General William Hall, of Lucustland, Tenn. , to Dr. Draper, dated 2lst. of July l845, wherein he says:
“Sir, you wish to know something about Col. Bledsoe’s discovering Bledsoe’s Lick and the route of the long hunters, and Col. Mansker’s killing the buffaloes at Bledsoe’s Lick for the tallow and tongues.
“The long hunters principally resided in the upper country of Va., and North Carolina, on the New River and Holston River, and when they intended to make a long hunt, as they called it, they collected near the head of Holston, near where Abingdon now stands. Thence they proceeded a westerly direction passing through Powell’s valley crossing the Cumberland mountain where the road now crosses leading to the Crab Orchard in Ky. Then crossing the Cumberland River where the said road now crosses Rockcastle, and leaving the Crab Orchard to the right and continuing nearly the said course, crossing the head of Green River, going on through the Barrens, crossing Big Barren River at the mouth of Drake’s Creek; thence up Drake’c Creek to the head, crossing the ridge which divides the waters of the Ohio river from the waters of the Cumberland, and the hunters, after crossing the ridge, either went down Bledsoe’s Creek, or Station Camp Creek to the river and then spread out in the Cumberland ready to make their hunt.
The first trip that the long hunters made was about l772 or l773. There were several very enterprising, smart, active members along. I will name a few: Col. Isaac Bledsoe, Col. John Montgomery, Col. Gasper Mansker, Henry Scaggs, Obediah Terrell, two Drakes (this would be Joseph and Ephraim), and a number of other could be named.
When the hunters crossed the dividing ridge first named, they fell on the head of Station Camp Creek, and went down it about three miles and from Cumberland river, came to a very large, plain, buffalo path, much traveled, crossing the creek at right angles north and south. The south side of the creek was a pretty high bluff and a beautiful flat ridge made down to the creek. The hunters pitched their camp on the bluff and on the buffalo path, and they made that their Station Camp from which the creek took its name.
Col. Bledsoe and Col. Mansker, the first night they pitched their camp, agreed that the buffalo path that ran by their camp must lead at each end to Sulphur Licks or springs, and they made an agreement that night for Col. Bledsoe, in the morning, to take the north end of the path, and Col. Mansker to take the south side of the path, and each to ride one half day along the path to see what discoveries they could make and give themselves time to return to camp that night and report what they had seen.
They were both successful in their expectations. One found Bledsoe’s Lick at the end of thirteen miles, and the other found Mansker’s Lick at about twelve miles. They both returned that night, with great joy, to their companions at the camp, and made known their discoveries of the two licks.
Col. Bledsoe told me when he came to Bledsoe’s Creek, about two miles from the lick, he had some difficulty in riding along the path, the buffaloes were so crowded in the path, and on each side, that his horse could scarcely get through them, and when he got to the bend of the creek at the Lick, the whole flat surrounding the lick of about one hundred acres was principally covered with buffaloes in every direction. He said no only hundreds, but thousands.
The space containing the Sulphur springs was about two hundred yards each way across, and the buffalo had licked the dirt away several feet deep in that space, and within that space there issued out about a dozen Sulphur springs, at which the buffalo drank. Bledsoe said there was such a crowd of buffaloes in the Lick and around it, that he was afraid to get off his horse for fear of getting run over by the buffaloes, and as he sat on his horse he shot down two in the lick and the buffaloes tread them in the mud so that he could not skin them. The buffaloes did not mind the sight of him and his horse, but when the wind blew from him to them they got the scent of him, they would break and run in droves.”
(Note from Ida—Note the following info. Apparently this is Dr. Denumbreun family. Remember he is the one that has written books about Aaron Skaggs. He recently died.)
The same year that Bledsoe discovered the lick, a Frenchman by the name of Denumbre, who lived at Kaskaski on the Mississippi river, with a party of French hunters, in a keel boat, came up the Cumberland river to the mouth of Bledsoe’s Creek, and came to Bledsoe’s Lick and killed at the Lick, and around in the vicinity of the Lick a sufficient number of buffaloes to load their boat with tallow and buffalo tongues. The second year after, when Bledsoe and the long hunters returned, when they crossed the ridge and came down on Bledsoe’s Creek, in four or five miles of the Lick, the cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they thought they had mistaken the place until they came to the lick and saw what had been done. Bledosoe told me that one could walk for several hundred yards around the lick, and in the lick on Buffalo bones. They then found out the cause of the canes growing up so suddenly a few miles around the Lick which was in consequence of so many buffaloes being killed.
Sir, you was mistaken in thinking that I told you that Col. Mansker was the person that had killed the buffaloes at Bledsoe’s Lick for tallow and tongues.
The Frenchman referred to as Denumbre, in the foregoing letter, was really Demunbreun, and of him Willims, in his “Dawn of Tennessee History”, states:
“Some long hunters about l766 or l767 observed on the bluff near French Lick, a hut or trading post—evidently that of Timothe Demunbreun who, about that time arrived at that place in a sail boat and began to trade with Indians and Hunter.”
In a long footnote, Williams tells a lot about this Frenchman. The Footnote says in part: “He and his family for some time lived in a cave on the banks of the Cumberland between the mouth of Mill Creek and Stone’s river. A marker at the cave has been erected by the Daughters of the American Rev. Demuenbreun had a lineage and a career more remarkable than our historians conceived. His name in full and correctly was Jacques Timothe Boucher de Montbrun, descendant of Pierre Boucher who was the first French Canadian to be raised (l66l) to the rank of nobility in recognition of his work in bringing colonists into Canada.
Filed Under : 
Aug.27,2010
1) Lt. Daniel Boone- Jno. Anderson Ensign
