The Long Island of the Holston, whose west end is seen here in the river, is four miles long and was Tennessee's first National Historic Landmark. It was the site of numerous Revolutionary War events and served as a sacred Cherokee Indian island until ceded to Whites in 1806, long after all the land around it had been ceded. As the end of the first wagon road to the Southwest, it became the point of origin for the state's earliest western expansion and the starting point for Boone's Wilderness Road into Kentucky. In 1777, the first July 4 celebration west of the mountains was held on the island near the trading post home of Col. Joseph Martin.