 Cumberland Mountain, a vital link in the Appalachian chain. Slowly, the ridge softens into muted shades of gold and bronze, then suddenly descends into its place in history. A Cumberland Gap, a fog grows in like a misty souvenir of its stories past. Stories of those who sought gain, those who sought new life, and even those who sought glory on the battlefield. There were many peoples from many cultures. They brought love and laughter along with their sorrows and griefs. But most of all, they brought hope, a blazing, joyous hope in the future. Scores of people have been drawn through this green chasm. Then, like the fog, they have drifted away into the mist of time. At one time, the pathway through the mountains was unknown to all but the buffalo and elk. Skilled Indian hunters made the first human mark on the virgin land. For these first people, the search was for food. The unexplored grounds of Kentucky became their hunting ground. For the Indians, the gap was also the key pass for the trail of trade and war that led from the Ohio to the Potomac, the great warrior's path. This land of caves and flowers remained relatively unknown until the spring of 1750. It was then that Dr. Thomas Walker and his party came to survey and explore, though he did not cross through into the blue grass country. Dr. Walker's studies enabled others to chart a map of the area as early as 1754. Yet, the movement west was still not begun. The French and Indian War would delay it for another ten years. It was the long hunters who would start the Exodus west. They found a land so abundant it surpassed their wildest dreams as word spread, larger and larger hunting parties arrived. Yet, it is the name Daniel Boone that shall always ring loudest throughout Cumberland Gap. This slender, middle-aged, and until then rather unremarkable man would carve his name into the history of the westward movement. By 1775, Daniel Boone had led a party of 30 axmen who blazed a 208-mile trail from Virginia to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap. The trail to the west was open. Chief land for sale in Kentucky, 2,000 acres. Would you say that well? That sounds real good. Spurred on by thoughts of fertile fields and boundless game, the pioneers prepared for their journey through the Cumberland Gap. They flocked to the trail, equipped with hopes and dreams and little else. Not even the fear of Indians nor the known hardships could deter these people with a dream and dream of opportunity and freedom. They were farmers and merchants, preachers and thieves. But mostly, they were ordinary people striving for a dream of ordinary proportions. Most endured the hardships of winter travel, endured by the dream of spring planting in the new land. They carried their worldly belongings along with their spring seed on their backs. They headed westward. There they would prosper or perish. And they did both. They came on foot and horseback. They braved not only physical discomfort, but the constant fear of Indian attacks. Attacks which began during the American Revolution when the British enlisted the Indians to restrain the pioneers. Even then, they picked up the pieces and continued on their way to the fabled land of milk and honey. For nearly a century, thousands of settlers passed through the Gap and staked claims deep into the western lands. The Old Wilderness Road became a major transportation artery, one that would be disrupted by war, a civil war. The Cumberland Gap suddenly took on new prominence. The Old Wilderness Road cut the south in half. The Gap must be secured. The south first garrison Cumberland Mountain and prepared for a northern invasion. Readyed for battle, they waited, but nothing happened. The difficulty of moving supplies the long distance up the mountain finally forced the south to evacuate. The north then took control. They too awaited a battle which never came. In time, the same supply problems which plagued the south forced the north to abandon the mountain. In less than three years, Cumberland Mountain and Gap changed hands four times. The south's fear of an invasion through the Gap was never realized. Cumberland Gap escaped the war without a major conflict. The story of Cumberland Gap has been longer than history records. It is a story of tremendous earth forces which carved a natural pass through the mountains. It has always been and still remains a valuable transportation artery which links the east and west. It is a story of flora and fauna, but mostly it is a story of people. Anybody coming my way, you know me. I'm a highway, I'm the Cumberland Gap. I'm not a simple story of a manhunt for glory. I'm the Cumberland Gap. Princes and paupers, I've seen them all. Little men growing big, I've seen big men fall. They call me the way west, but I believe I'm more to mankind than a hole through the mountain. So listen and don't be deceived. I'm the Cumberland Gap. I'm a restless yearning, a freedom like burning and the hope in the heart. A restless yearning, a freedom like burning. I'm the hope in the heart of yours.