Buffalo Road
Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Buffalo Road. Buffalo herds opened first road in wilderness to present site of Owensboro. Bill Smothers, the pioneer settler of Yellow Banks, followed trail from Rough Creek, near present day Hartford, to Ohio River. Built his cabin at end of road, near here, 1797-98. An old court record says the buffalo road was a "place of great resort for that kind of game."
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Long before wagons and railroads, migrating buffalo herds carved the first practical paths through Kentucky's wilderness, and pioneers followed them. In 1797–98, settler Bill Smothers traced one such trail from Rough Creek to the Ohio River and built his cabin at its end, at the site that became Owensboro—then known as Yellow Banks. An old court record described the buffalo road as a great gathering place for game.
Why it matters
It preserves a vivid reminder that the earliest American roads and settlements often followed the trails of the animals and the land itself, guiding westward settlement along nature's own routes.
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Related people
- · Bill Smothers
Themes & tags
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