This is an interesting article that was written many years ago in 1931 by Rev. James F. Price. It's a look into some of our very early history of the land and the settlement of our county.
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The early pioneers of our Western Kentucky that later would become Crittenden County were a most neighborly and visit-prone people right from the beginning. This can be attributed to many factors, not the least of which was the dark, gloomy, largely unbroken forest which blanketed our virgin landscape and cast uncontrollable fears of Wilderness Fever caused by too much loneliness and isolation. Added to this was the nagging fear of Indian trouble .
The pioneer of original Livingston County was that hardy breed of perpetual western movers we term the Scotch-Irish. Even though they were relatively poor, in most instances, they retained the overbearing family and neighbor ties as the system was developed in the deep South. There were a few of the planter-aristocrats who attempted to set up plantation type farms, these were usually in the river bottoms, but these people soon realized that this land was just not suitable for such uses, and soon adapted themselves down to the smaller cropping method of provision farming.
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Traveling To Western Kentucky
The Pioneers migrated to what became Crittenden County by both the overland routes across the Cumberland Mountains and across Kentucky or through the Cumberland River Valley through Tennessee by wagon, foot and pack-horse, and by the river flatboat route down the Cumberland, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.
By far, the former overland routes were mostly always taken by the home seeking, very few of whom lived near rivers in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee, and fewer yet had any river boats nor navigation skills, and since few had money to buy or build boats and rent crews or pay passage, the river pirate and hostile Indian danger on the rivers decided the way this county was settled, which was traveling on land.
The overland travelers in the virgin Kentucky and Tennessee forests always traveled in groups as a means of protection against the ever-present larger savaging-wild animals, such as wolves and panthers, who would follow the pioneer's herds of cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry in packs awaiting the opportunity to attack a straggling animal or even a child.
They also traveled together for protection from possible attacks of hostile Indians or robbery and murder by land pirates, although there was less actual danger of Indian attacks in Kentucky, since they using the state only as a hunting ground, and had become adjusted to sharing the game with the white settlers.
When the groups of overland traveling pioneers arrived in west Kentucky they considered the wooded rolling hill-land of what was to become Caldwell and Eastern and Southern Crittenden County as prime land, for the pioneers were convinced that land that would not grow trees would grow nothing, and most of them were quite familiar with hill-farming in their original homes in the south, thus the first sections of original Livingston County to become settled were its Eastern and Southeastern half.
The original permanent settlement of what was to become Crittenden County was determined to a great extent by the only roadway that naturally led through the desired homestead country in a south to north direction.
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Roadway known as the: Saline Trace, Chickasaw Trail and Flynn's Ferry Road
Geologically a natural break, formed by parts of Camp Creek and Piney Creek in very early times formed a basis for a North-South track or trail through the eastern part of the County from the plains or grasslands of middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky to the salt-licks along the Saline River in Southern Illinois.
The first use of this pathway was made by the great herds of buffalo and other grazing animals that had inhabited the grasslands from time immemorial as the route to travel to secure the supply of salt, which was necessary for their health.
The "Saline Trace" was built by the buffalo, which has been called the trail maker or engineer, because of his habit of finding the route of least resistance between salt licks and cane breaks. His trail, some 4 or 5 feet wide, was hard packed by many hoofs. Indians adopted and followed his traces, or paths.
Before Crittenden County was settled, the Chickasaw tribe of Tennessee sent hunting parties into the area. One of these early camps was located in the vicinity of Piney Fork church, near whee the present highway crosses the creek west of the church.
The Kaskaskia Tribe representing the powerful Illinois nation, often camped on lower Camp Creek near the site of Weston. Thus these large groups of Indians often came into conflict over possession of hunting rights in the land that was to become Eastern Crittenden County.
Early Crittenden County tradition tells us that in about 1790, warriors of these tribes met near the Piney Fork campsite, and in a running battle from there to the river, more than 200 Indians were killed. The Chickasaws won the battle and immediately made provisions for the spoils to be transferred to their camp. They cleared a road along the trail for the use of their wagons, by 1790, the Chickasaw had adopted the full use of the white man's freight wagon.
When early settlers located, at what would later become Weston, the road was known at the Chickasaw Trail, but soon in 1803 it would become know as Flynn's Ferry Road for George Flynn who opened a ferry and established a better road to Big Spring in Princeton.
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Armstrong and Centerville
The land that is now Crittenden County is a rolling plateau cut by three main north-south running valleys which are clearly divided by high ridges between them in its southeastern quarter which were the first sections to be settled by the pioneers after the Centerville neighborhood had been taken up.
The Armstrong's were among the first settlers of (what was to become) Crittenden County. James took up 200 acres on Livingston Creek, the site of Centerville, where he had already built a residence a few years earlier. Logan Armstrong and Samuel Armstrong took up 200 acres on the same creek. The three tracts were all surveyed in 1799. (There is a Kentucky Historical Marker to mark the site of Centerville on the Crittenden-Caldwell line on Highway 641.)
The Piney Fork Valley was next preferred by the homesteaders. It begins as a narrow valley in the south, near where the original Piney Creek Baptist Church was located and is separated from the Tradewater River Valley by the Haw, Blackburn and Piney Bluffs ridge on the east, but soon broadens to the Twin Knobs-Wilson Hill ridge on the west. (Who would have ever dreamed that the once historically known Twin Knobs would be no more, and a modern highway would now be where they once stood. These knobs were landmarks known for miles around by pilots in the air and from travelers on the highways.)
This valley was very fertile to the basic pioneer crops and was well drained by both forks of Piney Creek and watered by numerous ever flowing springs. The land was also blanketed by a fine virgin growth of hardwood timber. These factors made it the ideal location for successful pioneer settlement and it became the "cradle" of Crittenden County.
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As each generation dies out, much of our past history is lost. It's nice to have these written facts to still read and recall the very early days of our county and it's pioneer people.
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