When the northwestern tribes threatened Fort Pitt and Fort Henry--or Pittsburg and Wheeling, as they were getting to be called,--they threatened one of the two localities which served to cover the communications with Kentucky; but it was far more serious when the Holston region was menaced, because the land travel was at first much the more important.
The early settlers of course had to suffer great hardship even when they reached Kentucky.

The only two implements the men invariably carried were the axe and rifle, for they were almost equally proud of their skill as warriors, hunters, and wood-choppers.

Next in importance came the sickle or scythe.

The first three tasks of the pioneer farmer were to build a cabin, to make a clearing--burning the brush, cutting down the small trees, and girdling the large--and to plant corn.

Until the crop ripened he hunted steadily, and his family lived on the abundant game, save for which it would have been wholly impossible to have settled Kentucky so early.