The Loyal Land Company formed in Virginia in 1749 to survey 800,000 acres west of the Allegheny Mountains along Virginia’s southern border. In 1750, a party of Virginians led by Dr. Thomas Walker entered Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap while employed by the company. As they traveled, they saw trees marked with figures and crosses, showing that they were only the latest people in the area. The region was home to Indigenous Americans from the Shawnee, Mingo, Cherokee, and Tutelo groups, who traded with the surveyors until the Seven Years War began in 1754. Near what is now Barbourville, the party built a small cabin and planted corn, a common ritual for claiming a tract of land.