Big Joe Logsdon

Big Joe Logsdon was a guide to George Washington on an excursion west of the Alleghenies and a Kentucky pioneer. During the 1790s a sharp clash occurred on this site, where Big Joe, acting as a spy and commanding other frontiersmen, helped repel an Indian raid. White settlers pursued the raiders for miles to the mouth of Flippins Run, and Logsdon’s shots encouraged their retreat across the Ohio. At home on the violent frontier, Logsdon was said to be able to “out run, out hop, out jump, throw down, drag out and whip any man in the country.” He served as a member of the Kentucky militia, defended early settlements from attack, and participated in raids across the Ohio River before moving to Illinois. His memory lived on in a 1933 trading card.

Brandenburg, Kentucky · United States