Traveler Explores Old Fort Harrod

Since we are out in what was once the Frontier of the United States, I wanted to explore one of the frontier forts that helped our Nation grow and expand...


So I headed to Old Fort Harrod in Kentucky. The fort was named after Frontiersman, James Harrod, who led a party of settlers to the area in 1774. Fort Harrod was the first permanent settlement west of the Alleghennies.


The fort looks so cool! This is a replica of the actual fort built from descriptions and drawn plans of the original.


First we stopped to visit the pioneer cemetary which is the oldest cemetary in Kentucky.


It's sad to read the signs. I learned that James Harrod disappeared while on a hunting trip in 1792...


Many of the graves in the cemetary are unmarked and unknown. Here lie frontiersmen and women, victims of Indian attacks, children, revolutionary soldiers and other Patriots.


Fort Harrod was on the very front of the Frontier and was in the midst of clashes between settlers and Native Americans. When a Sounding horn was blown, settlers and their families would rush into the safety of the fort walls. Many settlers who were caught outside, were killed within sight of the fort...


General George Rogers Clark had his headquarters here for a time and he planned his Western campaigns from his office in the fort. General Clark and his band of rough and tough soldiers and frontiersmen opened up the Northwestern frontier and subdued Indian attacks which allowed more people to settle in the area. General Clark's younger brother was William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. While William Clark may be better known now than his older brother, George Rogers Clark was a celebrated and beloved Hero who was incredibly instrumental in the expansion and settling of our country. He explored and conquered the Northwestern territory and led the Kentucky militia in the Revolutionary War, eventually earning the rank of Brigadier General.


Here is one of the cabins within the fort. Eventually, people moved out of the confinement of the fort and built what is now the town of Harrodsburg...


These are handmade ragdolls that are made by a fort re-enactor today. But I learned that frontier mothers would make these special dolls which would only be given to the children to hold at the time of an Indian attack. The special ragdolls would help the frightened mother keep her young children quiet while in hiding. After the attack was over, the dolls would be put away. In the meantime, in their daily life, children were given straw dolls to play with...

I wish I could go back in time for just a short while to see what fort life must have been like...


- Posted from the road on my iPhone!