Thomas McCullough, the first known settler of European descent in Scott County, moved there in 1769 and lived on Big Moccasin Creek until about 1771. Houston’s Fort, built by William Houston and other settlers about 1774 near McCullough’s property on Big Moccasin Creek, served as a defensive fortification for settlers on the frontier. During the American Revolution (1775 1783), periodic conflicts between Native Americans and settlers occurred there, in part because of increased settlement. In 1776, while riding home to his family, Samuel Cowan was wounded nearby during a Cherokee Indian attack and died soon after at Fort Houston.