Kentucky Pioneers

[Music] it is early in the 1780s and the rugged atory long known to Scouts and surveyors is attracting increasing numbers of settlers from the East along the Wilderness Road they come families with their an they trudge Northwest behind them the struggles of the Revolutionary War before them the conquest of a Wilderness the journey is long and arduous but it leads to a land of promise and for Walter Taylor and his friend George Simmons that is enough these men have fought for freedom they intend to make it real a purpose fully shared by Mrs Taylor and Mrs Simmons women of dauntless courage day after day the party follows the unfamiliar Trail sometimes crossing the beds of streams carved through Kentucky Limestone streams bordered by forests of cherry walnut Hickory and Oak and there's many a hill to climb in the course of the weeks of travel streams Hills and forests the trail of the Wilderness Road and more than physical hardship lies along the way here Taylor and Simmons catch sight of grim reminder ERS of a kind of danger an overturned and abandoned Kettle means but one thing Indians nearby is further evidence of the Swift and tragic raid a woman's shoe and a child's Bonnet not all who travel the Wilderness Road survive but the Fate that has fallen to others does not discourage these determined Pioneers they Salvage the abandoned Kettle and press on knowing well the danger that surrounds them but feeling a confidence born of Courage so the long days pass on the March while the evenings bring pauses for the night in camps beside the trail finally several days later the party have reached the Bluegrass Country not far away is their destination a fort called harod station since 177 5 an outpost of the frontier here Keen eyed sentries keep a constant watch ever on the lookout for signs of hostile Indians within the fort enclosure lives a small community of settlers some of them permanent residents others temporary visitors all of them busily engaged with the tasks of the frontier now from his post the Sentry catches sight of the group of new arrivals they were will be more than welcome here at harod station newcomers to the frontier mean so many more strong arms skilled in the use of rifles so many more Stout Hearts to Aid in the winning of a Wilderness and to The Travelers arrival at the Fort means the often dreamed of end of a long wearisome and dangerous Journey Little Wonder that there is rejoicing all around as Fort dwellers and newcomers greet each other the people of the fort Community know all too well what the long Trek from Virginia has meant it's good to see you again they too came over the Wilderness Road not so long ago a common purpose a common Faith unites the pioneers during their stay at the Fort the tailor share the cabin of the Carters friends known in Virginia household tasks are likewise shared and as Mrs Carter tends her baby boy Mrs Taylor busies herself with the cooking while little Mary Carter winds balls of Rags for weaving at the Fort spring Ruth Taylor fills a wooden water bucket nearby her brother John milks the family cow kept inside the fort enclosure along with other members of the fort's animal population highly prized possessions of the little Frontier community so life at the Fort goes on with tasks for each and for all lie from wood ashes is laboriously stirred into an iron kettle of boiling animal fat thus is prepared the soap that is needed for laundering clothes and for other household uses at the shop of the fort Carpenter Walter Taylor's host Mr Carter is showing him the tools he can obtain here to equip himself for farming a good strong plow shaped by the Carpenters skillful hands hands now engaged in fashioning household Furniture a broad axe will be needed for hewing the Timbers for floors for tables and for benches yes the carpenter just now completing a stool for a fort household can readily Supply a number of Tailor's needs he has helped equip many of frontiersmen now to locate teller's farmsite we'll take old Jim Bradley with us he knows this territory but an any man in the fort how's the land around here Mr Bradley well now I'll just tell you if a man plants his land in corn and takes good care of it he'll get a 100 bushels the acre with Midland care he'll get 75 and if he don't plant it all he'll still get 50 they say at the Fort that sometimes Jim Bradley does exaggerate just a little but he scouted this territory years ago and he knows every Hill and Stream in the busy life of the fort schooling for the children is not neglected a clay floored cabin serves as a classroom where Elementary lessons are provided for youngsters of widely varying ages what letter is this a a now for another letter but first the a drawn with charcoal must be erased perhaps the next letter will not be quite so easy what letter is this there seems to be a difference of opinion meanwhile in the Carter cabin household tasks proceed Mrs Carter is busy at her Loom weaving cloth strips into floor mats while Mrs Taylor takes up a kettle of melt melted Tallow from before the cooking fire Tallow she uses for pouring candles in a metal mold we'll need those candles for the big doing Saturday night they'll be ready yes the candles will be needed Saturday night and Saturday night they're ready the candles are ready the chicken pixon too and the corn dos [Music] too all hands up and SLE right I says to stranger why them ain't Indian mounds you're looking at them's Tater Hill little old Tater [Music] [Music] Hill lead to the right forand round swing Mall swing PA swing that pretty girl around the [Music] [Music] world the days go by and soon Taylor is felling trees from his own land for his own Log Cabin as the tree are felled John carefully trims them while nearby friends proceed with the work of fitting trimmed logs into the rapidly growing cabin and as new logs are made ready they're carried to the builders while Henry the faithful Taylor slave continues with the tree cutting yes Taylor owns land now 170 acres and soon he'll have a new home but before the cabin is finished the walls must be carefully chinked with chips of wood and good firm clay with this task too friends help as the cabin nears completion Henry begins plowing the tailor land in preparation for the planting of the first corn crop the plow is new to this soil and it brings the promise of a richer Freer life at last the day arrives when the tailor are ready to leave the temporary Haven of the fort to establish themselves in their new frontier home goodbye bye they go forth alone but they travel toward the freedom that is their goal darkness is beginning to envelop the Kentucky Hills and forests as the tailor complete their Journey but now they are home they are on land that is theirs and theirs alone and with land a man can be free presently as the smoke from their fireplace Rises against the evening Sky the tailor proud and secure in their Pioneer Faith face the radiant West that beckons still if things don't go right we can always move on let's not think about that not yet no but it's good to know there'll always be Freedom out there Freedom out there always