Jemima, As Patton and Walker explored the grants they had obtained on Woods (New) River and the three branches of the Holston 1749-50 a few settlers also went along looking for land and some tracts were surveyed along New River for them.. The first settlement were made near present-day Blacksburg and Pulaski along New River.. The Dunkards appear to have been the first group to settle along that river about 1749.. By 1755 many families had settled there.. The Indians attacked all of the settlements from 1750 to 1760 and many of the settlers had to leave for their safety.. Some retreated back to the James River basin while others crossed the Blue Ridge and into Carolina, some never returned to to the lands on New River.. By 1769 the Indians were generally peaceful toward the whites and many moved to the three branches of the Holston river, further southwest.. By 1770 many were living in present-day Tennessee, it was NC in 1770.. Settlements had been established near present Kingsport, Tn., Johnson City and Elizabethton (Watauga Settlement). In Virginia, settlements were established at Wolf Hills (Abingdon), Sapling Grove (Bristol) and Castles' Woods (On the Clinch River).. In 1773-74 the Indians became a menace to the settlements in that area as well as the New River area and many settlers on the Clinch and Powell Rivers retreated. Many returned to North Carolina, including several from the group led by Daniel Boone in 1773.. James Harrod and a few others had established settlements in Kentucky in 1774 but there was little migration to that area until 1775 when the purchase by Henderson spurred settlement there.. Many people went there but found the situation to hostle and returned to the east of Cumberland Gap.. Lead and other minerals were discovered near Wytheville, Va. and mining employed many in that area between 1770 and 1800.. This accounts for many who lived in that area but owned little or no land because they were not engaged in farming and just needed enough land for a cow and a garden.. At least half the people who migrated into Ky and Tenn.. probably passed down the valley of Va. across New River and down the branches of the Holston... Hope this explains some things about early settlement of the west.. G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Virginia