In 'THE LONG HUNTERS' by Emory L. Hamilton it says the Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Virginia, only, and nowhere else on any frontier did such hunts ever originate. True, there were hunters and groups of hunters on all frontiers in pioneer days, but they were never organized and publicized as the long hunts which originated on the Virginia frontier. Most, if not all of the long hunts originated on the Holston in the vicinity of present day Chilhowie, but were made up of hunters who lived on both the Clinch and Holston rivers. The idea of this manuscript is to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that these long hunters were native to the area and were land owners, or residents along the waters of these two rivers. Perhaps no group in history, who contributed so much to the knowledge of the topography of our country, have been so nearly completely by-passed by historians as have the long hungers of the late colonial days. In almost every instance when the pioneer settler moved toward the extreme frontier, he had long since been preceded by the long hunter. When the first settlers were arriving at Wolf Hills (Abingdon) and Cassell's Woods in 1768 and 1769, the long hunters had long ago by-passed these points and were then hunting far away in the Ohio and Cumberland river basins of Kentucky and western Tennessee. Most of the rivers and streams, gaps, salt licks, mountains and valleys had long ago been named by these hunters. When the first settlers arrived, they, in most cases, adopted the names bestowed by the long hunters on natural land marks, with very few changes, and we are still using most of them after a lapse of nearly two centuries. Dr. Thomas Walker, on his trip to the Ohio, entered in his Journal on April 9, 1750, this statement: "We traveled to a River, which I supposed to be that which hunters call Clinche's River, from one Clinch, a hunter who first found it." (1) This entry was made almost twenty years before a settlement was made on the Clinch River and leaves little doubt as to how the river got its name. In the annals of American history there is no braver lot than these early hunters. Not only did they endure the rigorous winters in crude shelters, but the danger of sickness, privation, exposure, hunting accidents, and the very real and ever present danger of being scalped by the Indians. They were especially disliked by the Indians, being looked upon as robbers of their hunting grounds, which they truly were, and also, as forerunners of the ever-spreading, land-clearing, soil-tilling settlers. Castleton Brooks who was quite well-to-do, as well as Colonel James Knox, who is referred to as the leader of the long hunters and who later became very wealthy. There were those who enjoyed, above all else, the spirit of the hunt, among whom were Elisha Wallen, William Carr, Isaac Bledsoe, and others, who, all their lives were hunters and nothing but hunters. The last answer, but certainly not the least, was the profit derived from these hunts. It was not uncommon for a hunter to realize sixteen to seventeen hundred dollars for his season's take, and this was far in excess of what he could earn in almost any other lucrative endeavor. The hides and pelts were sold along the coast, where animals were no longer plentiful, and in England, for making leather, especially buffalo skins. The British market was lost at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and the long hunts were never again pursued after the Revolutionary War began.
The long hunters usually went out in October and returned the latter part of March, or early in April. Their winter's take consisted of both fur pelts and hides, especially the hides of buffalo which were wantonly slaughtered for the hides only, the carcass left to be devoured by animals and vultures. There are recorded events where hundreds and, a few times, where thousands were slain, and certainly the Indian was justified in his feelings that his hunting grounds were being robbed. The best descriptions of the long hunter have been left to us by John Redd, who knew many of them intimately, both in his native Pittsylvania County, and also in Powell Valley when he came out to Martin's Station in 1775. (2) According to Redd, the long hunters seldom hunted in parties larger than two or three men. Their reasons for this were two-fold; first, larger parties were more apt to scare game away, and secondly, the Indians were less likely to become suspicious of a small group robbing their hunting grounds, not to mention that smaller parties were less likely to be discovered by the Indians. Redd tells a very interesting story about Powell Valley that was related to him by the long hunter, William Carr. "Twelve miles south of Martin's Station on Powell River, there was a very rich piece of bottom land called 'Rob Camp'. In this there was the remains of an old hunting camp from which the land took its name. Some five years before Martin's Station was settled, *three men, with two horses each, and with their traps, guns and other necessary equipment for a long hunt, settled down in the bottom above alluded to, built a camp and spent the fall, winter and part of the spring there in hunting."
The long hunters went out together in large parties, built a station camp, then fanned out in twos and threes to range and hunt over large areas. The first known station camp established in Powell's Valley was that of Elisha Wallen in 1761. It is thought his party consisted of eighteen or nineteen men, but since no list has been preserved, only the names of a very few are known certainly to have been in the party. Wallen's Station camp, set up at the mouth of Wallen's Creek, was probably like other station camps, built of poles, sometimes only eight by ten feet, covered with puncheons or bark, walls on three sides, the front open, along which a fire was built for warmth. Upright poles were set up - often a forked pole was driven into the ground, with a cross pole on which the bark or puncheons were laid, sloping toward the back in order to drain melting snow or rain away from the fire. This type of shelter was known as "half-faced" camps. Other times an extra large, already-fall tree or large rock was used for the backwall of such a camp shelter. Some of Wallen's party are said to have seen the eleven-year-old carving of the name of Powell and so named the Valley, river and mountain. Ambrose Powell had been a member of Dr. Thomas Walker's exploring party of 1750." (6) "Redd says that when he knew Wallen on Smith's River in Pittsylvania County in 1774, he was then some forty years old and had been a long hunter for many years before. That he usually hunted on a range of mountains lying on the east of Powell's Valley and from Wallen the mountain took its name. Wallen described the ridge and surrounding country on which he hunted as abounding in almost every known specie of game. The animals and birds had been intruded on so seldom that they did not fear his presence, but rather regarded him as a benefactor, but soon learned to flee from his presence." "Wallen, along with the Blevinses and Coxes, who were connected with him by marriage, lived on Smith's River in Pittsylvania County in 1774. They owned no land, but were squatters. During the Revolutionary War, the Virginia Legislature passed a law that British subjects who owned land must come in and take the oath of allegience or their lands would be confiscated.
This only one of many well written articles about the long hunters. If you would like to read the whole article, it can be found at :
http://www.geocities.com/the_long_hunters/index.htmlI hope this helps a little.
Mike
