Running Mad for Kentucky

by Eslinger, Ellen

• ISBN13: 9780813123134
• ISBN10: 0813123135
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-23
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" The crossing of America's first great divide -- the Appalachian Mountains -- has been a source of much fascination but has received little attention from modern historians. In the eighteenth century, the Wilderness Road and Ohio River routes into Kentucky presented daunting natural barriers and the threat of Indian attack. Running Mad for Kentucky brings this adventure to life. Primarily a collection of travel diaries, it includes day-to-day accounts that illustrate the dangers thousands of Americans, adult and child, black and white, endured to establish roots in the wilderness. Ellen Eslinger's vivid and extensive introductory essay draws on numerous diaries, letters, and oral histories of trans-Appalachian travelers to examine the historic consequences of the journey, a pivotal point in the saga of the continent's indigenous people. The book demonstrates how the fabled soil of Kentucky captured the imagination of a young nation.

Author Biography

Ellen Eslinger is professor of history at DePaul University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	viii
Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(68)
Part One. The Revolutionary Era
Chapter 1. William Calk, 1775	69	(6)
Chapter 2. Nicholas Cresswell, 1775	75	(16)
Chapter 3. James Nourse, 1775	91	(13)
Chapter 4. James Smith, 1783	104	(10)
Chapter 5. Peter Muhlenberg, 1784	114	(11)
Part Two. Postwar Expansion
Chapter 6. Samuel Shepard, 1787	125	(5)
Chapter 7. Mary Coburn Dewees, 1788	130	(16)
Chapter 8. John May, 1788	146	(11)
Chapter 9. Joel Watkins, 1789	157	(18)
Part Three. A New Era of Peace
Chapter 10. Moses Austin, 1796	175	(8)
Chapter 11. Francis Baily, 1796	183	(39)
Chapter 12. David Meade, 1796	222	(14)
Chapter 13. Andrew Ellicott, 1796	236	(13)
Notes	249	(28)
Sources	277	(2)
Index	279