![]() In the rolling land of the interior, park-like savannas stretched for miles, with clusters of burr oaks and blue ash trees interspersed by grasslands, and vast stands of river cane. There were vast tall grass prairies, licks where salt water bubbled out of the ground, and an estimated 1.5 million acres of wetlands. This included elk, black bear, American bison and large predators - wolves and mountain lions. Old-growth forests covered 90 percent of the 40,395 square miles.īy the end of the 19th century, many of Kentucky’s native species that were here in 1750, were effectively extinct as a result of human activities. There were 13,000 miles of rivers and streams teeming with fish and mussels. This unique area west of the Appalachian Mountains, that would become America’s 15th state in 1792, was bounded on three sides by major rivers, and had five distinct physiographic regions. We might have killed three times as much meat, if we had wanted it,” wrote Walker, in a journal entry upon completing the trip on July 13, 1750. “We killed 13 Buffaloes, 8 Elks, 53 Bears, 20 Deer, 4 wild Geese, about 150 Turkeys, besides small game. What he wrote about the plants and animals observed, and what his party encountered, whetted the appetite of a generation of land-hungry Colonial Americans who would follow.Īfter erecting a crude cabin near what is today the town of Barbourville, Ky., Walker and his men spent the next few weeks exploring what must have seemed like a land of opportunity. ![]() Walker found incredible natural resources, diverse fauna and flora, clean streams, and rich mineral deposits. ![]() Kentucky’s historical era began when Virginia physician and land speculator Thomas Walker passed through Cumberland Gap on April 13, 1750. The research for this article is courtesy of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. This second article in a two-part series, in honor of Kentucky’s 225th anniversary of statehood, focuses on the 150 years from 1750 to 1900, with a timeline of human use of natural resources.
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