1400 - 1600
This period is often referred to as the age of exploration and colonization. While this certainly did not mark the beginning of man's exploration of his world, improvements in ship building technology and navigation enabled him to extend his adventurous treks farther into the uncharted oceans . Although many early explorations ended in trajedy, the success of some and the lure of the unknown encouraged more and more hardy individuals to follow.
Who were the first explorers to reach the coast of the Americas? The Norsmen from Greenland and Iceland, followers of Welsh Prince Madoc, Columbus, or perhaps some other unknown group of explorers we will probably never know for certain. What we do know is that there were many such adventurous individuals, from numerous countries, who were engaged in these explorations and who contributed to the growing knowledge of our world and its diverse bounty.
Gradually, fragile settlements began to be established by European Countries on the North and South American Continents. Invariably these European explorers discovered that they were not alone in this "New World". There were already strange people living here. Following Columbus's erroneous example, they usually referred collectively to them as "Indians". Conflicts usually arose shortly after the two cultures came into contact.
1600 - 1700
As permanent settlements in the "New World" began to be established and expanded by France, Spain, and England, the opportunities of this vast wilderness began to be apparent . For many the lure was one of Nationalism - the desire to see their country assume preeminence in this global race for colonization . For others it had more to do with a desire to acquire personal wealth or power . And for still others, the vast wilderness held the same lure as the uncharted ocean they had braved to get there. They just had to know what lay across the next hill .
What ever the impetus, the colonists couldn't long be contained in their tiny settlements along the coast. Gradually they began to venture inland. At first it was just the most adventurous or visionary . In 1654,
passed through Wood's Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on to the New River (which was orginially called Wood's River). The bounty he encountered and the opportunities he forsaw caused him to be a staunch and persistent advocate of further Westward expansion. In 1671 and again in 1673, General Wood organized additional expeditions that traveled deeply into the mountainous wilderness of what was to be Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Wherever these expeditions traveled they found seemingly endless forests filled with game. Buffalo, deer, elk, bear, and various types of small game were encountered at almost every turn in the trail. Rivers and creeks were cold and pure and teeming with fish of all types. It was truly a hunter's paradise. Little wonder that the earliest explorers were often "long-hunters" seeking pelts for the growing European markets.