Kentucky was the first region west of
the Allegheny Mountains to be settled by American
pioneers. James Harrod established the first
permanent settlement at Harrodsburg in 1774; the
following year Daniel Boone, who had explored the
area in 1767, blazed the Wilderness Trail through
the Cumberland Gap and founded Boonesboro.
Politically, the Kentucky region was originally part
of Virginia, but statehood was gained in 1792. Gen.
Anthony Wayne's victory in 1794 at Fallen Timbers in
Ohio marked the end of Native American resistance in
the area and secured the Kentucky frontier.
As a slaveholding state with a considerable
abolitionist population, Kentucky was caught in the
middle during the Civil War, supplying both Union
and Confederate forces with thousands of troops.
Kentucky prides itself on producing some of the
nation's best tobacco, horses, and whiskey. Corn,
soybeans, wheat, fruit, hogs, cattle, and dairy
products are among the agricultural items produced.
Among the manufactured items produced in the state
are motor vehicles, furniture, aluminum ware,
brooms, apparel, lumber products, machinery,
textiles, and iron and steel products. Kentucky also
produces significant amounts of petroleum, natural
gas, fluorspar, clay, and stone. However, coal
accounts for 85% of the total mineral income.
Louisville is famous for the Kentucky Derby at
Churchill Downs, and the Bluegrass country around
Lexington is the home of some of the world's finest
race horses. Other attractions are Mammoth Cave, the
George S. Patton, Jr., Military Museum at Fort Knox,
and Old Fort Harrod State Park. |
