He found traces of earlier wanderers--probably hunters.

One of his companions was bitten by a bear; three of the dogs were wounded by bears, and one killed by an elk; the horses were frequently bitten by rattlesnakes; once a bull-buffalo threatened the whole party.

They killed 13 buffaloes, 8 elks, 53 bears, 20 deer, 150 turkeys and some other game.
4.

Hunters and Indian traders visited portions of Kentucky and Tennessee years before the country became generally known even on the border.

(Not to speak of the French, who had long known something of the country where they had even made trading posts and built furnaces, as see Haywood, etc.) We know the names of a few.