My Theory: During the year of 1541 about 500 Spanish soldiers, prospectors, and explorers wintered in Tenn.. They were under command of Hernando DeSoto. This great body of men spent four years traveling from Florida to the mountains of N.C. and Tenn , to Illinois and back down the Mississippi River to the coast.. Many of these explorers had little or no experience in finding their way through wild forests and mountains and one would expect that some of them might get lost from the main group..Afterall, they were searching for gold, silver and other precious minerals which means that small parties would be sent out to explore the mountains and streams for miles along the main route they traveled.. I theorize that some of the scouts or prospectors became lost or simply to desert from the army and settled in the mountains..They very likely would have intermarried with local Indians.. About 1749-50 when the first explorers and surveyors traveled to Kentucky they encountered these "dark skinned people" in the present Lee County, VA.. Think about it....G. Lee Hearl Abingdon, VA.