When people think of the early exploration of Kentucky, Daniel Boone is the first name that comes to mind. However, nearly two decades before Boone’s arrival, Dr. Thomas Walker, a physician, planter, and explorer from Virginia, set out on a groundbreaking expedition to map and survey the western frontier. On March 6, 1750, Walker led a party westward, marking the beginning of an important chapter in American history.
Walker was a leading member of the Loyal Land Company, founded on July 12, 1749, with the goal of surveying and settling lands granted by the British Crown. The company received a massive royal land grant of 800,000 acres in what is now southeastern Kentucky—territory of the Cherokee and Shawnee.
In charge of leading the first exploration of this rugged, unknown land, Walker embarked on his journey on March 6, 1750, with a small group of men. Their efforts would pave the way for future settlers and help define the future borders of Kentucky and Tennessee.
During the expedition, Walker named many of the region’s key geographical features, including the Cumberland Gap, Cumberland River, and Cumberland Mountain. According to a letter written by Colonel William Martin, son of General Joseph Martin, to historian Lyman Draper, the naming of the Cumberland Gap came about when Walker and his companions, traveling with Cherokee guides, discovered a fine spring in the Gap. There, they drank a toast to the Duke of Cumberland using the last of their rum, cementing the name in history.
Walker and his team constructed the first non-Indian dwelling in what is now Kentucky—a simple log cabin that foreshadowed European settlement in the region. Additionally, the expedition assisted Virginia pioneer Samuel Stalnaker in establishing his home at the westernmost point of colonial Virginia.
Beyond this first journey and others that followed, Walker played a key role in shaping the borders of future states. He was later commissioned to survey the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina west toward the Mississippi River—work that resulted in what’s now referred to as “Walker Line.” This boundary, which did not follow natural landmarks like rivers, still forms the border between Kentucky and Tennessee up to the Tennessee River today.
Though overshadowed by later frontiersmen like Daniel Boone, Walker’s contributions set the stage for westward expansion into Appalachia and beyond. His journal from the expedition is a piece of history that provides invaluable insights into the land, wildlife, and Native American presence of the time.
