Shawnee warriors led by Chief Blackfish have lurked outside Logan’s Fort for weeks, forcing its inhabitants to live under a cloud of fear and anxiety. Venturing outside the Kentucky frontier fort is risky, but food is scarce, so on May 30, 1777, three brave women put on their bonnets and leave to milk cows under the protection of William Hudson, Burr Harrison, John Kennedy and James Craig—all armed with flintlock muskets.
The party immediately is ambushed.
A shrill war cry echoes throughout the forest, and the Shawnees pounce from their lair. Hudson is gunned down, and a warrior in tribal war paint holds his scalp high as a battle trophy. Rapid gunfire is exchanged as the settlers race back toward the fort in terror. The women make it to safety, as does Kennedy, although he’s gravely wounded. Harrison lies injured outside the fort, but Col. Benjamin Logan, the fort’s namesake, shows courage by risking his life to drag Harrison to safety.
It’s just the beginning of a 13-day ordeal.
That’s how the re-enactment of the Logan’s Fort Siege of 1777 plays out annually at a reconstructed fort in Stanford (Lincoln County), a small Central Kentucky town established in 1775. It’s especially noteworthy this year as Stanford (some say the name is derived from “Standing Fort”) commemorates the 250th anniversary of its founding with a roster of history-focused events this spring.
Ken Hill, a history buff from Columbia (Adair County), spearheaded the inaugural Logan’s Fort re-enactment in 2016.
The idea came to him after he led a presentation for school children at the fort several years ago. He was disheartened to learn that only a handful recognized the name Benjamin Logan. He joked that Logan “didn’t have as good a publicist as Daniel Boone,” the widely lauded hero of westward expansion who founded Fort Boonesborough, a settlement 45 miles northeast of Stanford, the same year.
“Logan’s Fort was almost forgotten,” Hill said, “but a lot of critical and key elements of Kentucky history took place within sight of that reconstructed fort. I’ve tried to make Kentucky history real for people.”
This year’s re-enactment takes place on May 17 at the reconstructed fort on 500 Martin Luther King Jr. Street in Stanford.
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Before Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792, it was a wild frontier, a violent and bloody place where only the strong survived. Fortified towns were common, and there were several in Central Kentucky during the colonial era. Their main purpose was to protect settlers who were encroaching on Native American tribal hunting grounds from retaliation.
In an effort to manage relations with American Indian tribes after the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British crown issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonial expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains and reserved the land for indigenous people. It was largely ignored by land-hungry colonists and did nothing to stem the ever-growing tide of settlers.
The reenactment at Logan’s Fort is an opportune time to reflect on a complex founding story and how the collision of two vastly different cultures shaped the modern United States.
As Hill noted, it’s impossible to discuss Kentucky’s early history without bringing Daniel Boone into the conversation. In addition to numerous books about the famed frontiersman, much can be learned at Fort Boonesborough State Park near Richmond. It features a replica of Kentucky’s first fortified settlement, founded by Boone in 1775.
In the spring of that year, Boone and a crew of ax-wielding pioneers cleared a narrow route called Boone Trace through the Cumberland Gap, a break in the Cumberland Mountains at the junction of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. This narrow, hazardous passage was the first road into Kentucky, a gateway from the East Coast colonies into an uncharted wilderness. After the route was widened and improved in the 1790s, Boone Trace became known as the Wilderness Road.
Fort Boonesborough, a settlement on the banks of the Kentucky River, was the end of the line for the axmen’s weeks-long odyssey.
The Boone Trace 250th Commemorative Relay honors these literal trailblazers with a 250-mile hike that kicks off from Kingsport, Tennessee, on April 23. Teams hike 10 miles a day, passing along an ax symbolic of Boone’s axmen to the next team.
The journey culminates in a celebration on June 7, when hikers enter the reconstructed fort and are greeted by Daniel Boone himself—actually, Steven Caudill, a re-enactor who is a descendant of one of Boone’s brothers.
This working fort with costumed interpreters offers an enlightening glimpse of pioneer life. Sparsely furnished one-room cabins are reminders that meeting the basic human needs of food, shelter, clothing and security was a never-ending task.
A gunsmith crafts firearms similar to those used in the fort’s defense, and women in colonial attire demonstrate weaving and spinning techniques.
The memorabilia cabin illustrates Boone’s abiding impact on the American imagination and mid-century pop culture, much of it inspired by the Daniel Boone TV series that ran from 1964-1970. Boone-inspired coonskin caps marked many a Baby Boomer’s childhood and remain oddly iconic of the explorer despite historians denying he ever wore one. Lunch boxes, books and toys are among the nostalgic collectibles.
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Not every 250th anniversary celebration in Central Kentucky focuses on pioneer struggles. Lexington, known worldwide as the “Horse Capital of the World,” boasts a horse-racing history that can be traced back to the settlement’s founding. The first formal racetrack opened in Lexington in 1789, predating Louisville’s Churchill Downs, built in 1875, by 86 years.
On the outskirts of Kentucky’s second-largest city are dozens of horse farms that awe visitors with their bucolic beauty.
“Meet the Neighbors” (that’s NEIGHbors) on June 14-15 is a free annual event that offers tours of some of the most prestigious horse farms in the Bluegrass Region. (Outside of this event, tickets can be purchased at visithorsecountry.com.) What better time than the anniversary of the city’s founding to celebrate the evolution of its signature industry—the breeding, racing and selling of Thoroughbreds?
Many horse farms are open for tours, but Runnymede is the granddaddy of them all. The 365-acre Bourbon County farm was founded by Confederate Col. Ezekiel F. Clay in 1867, making it the oldest continuously operated Thoroughbred breeding farm in Kentucky.
In a verdant pasture surrounded by lush rolling hills, mares and their wobbly foals frolic in the warmth of the sun, captivating the equine enthusiasts at the fence. A chestnut filly with a gleaming coat wanders over to greet them, and a little girl offers a peppermint, holding her hand out flat, as instructed. She giggles as the horse’s warm muzzle tickles her palm and is delighted by the interaction with the majestic creature that is equal parts grace and power.
Brutus J. Clay III, chairman and CEO of Runnymede Farm, is as charmed by the playful foals as his visitors, even though it’s a springtime ritual he’s seen many times on this farm that’s been in his family for generations.
“At such a young age, less than a month old, the foals are all legs—figuring out their balance—but they will show these short bursts of speed, and it’s an incredible thing to witness,” Clay said. “I start dreaming of what they will become, and I invite guests to dream with me. They might be looking at the next Kentucky Derby or Oaks winner.”
It’s happened before.
Mage, the 2023 Kentucky Derby winner, was born and raised on the farm, one in a long line of Runnymede stars.
Another way to familiarize yourself with Kentucky’s long racing tradition is to bring a fat wad of cash to Keeneland, a National Historic Landmark, for the Spring Meet April 4-25. It’s thrilling to choose a favorite and cheer on 1,200 pounds of rippling muscle as it thunders around the track. Even if you’re not a bettor, you’ll feel like a winner rubbing elbows with racing royalty.
No worries if you can’t make it to Keeneland in April—the track provides a variety of tours year-round. The Backstretch Tour is a chance to see athletic Thoroughbreds train on the track and then visit the backside—the barn area—where these equine athletes are stabled and cared for.
Still pumped from the adrenaline rush of their morning workout, some horses stamp restlessly as they are bathed, while others relax and allow grooms to brush their coats to glistening perfection. It’s clear that, like humans, each horse has its own unique personality.
“Of Turf and Stone: Keeneland Through the Ages” is a photography exhibit at the Keeneland Library that chronicles the 90-year-old racetrack’s development from its founding in 1935 through the present. Sepia-toned images curated from the library’s collection depict crowds in the stands on opening day in 1936, the track’s first Thoroughbred tent sale in 1943, and a bugler playing the call to the post in 1950. The exhibit is free and open to the public through mid-August.