In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Sandy Creek Landing was used mostly by the early settlers of Spencer County. Points East and West stood directly across the river from Blackford Creek, where the Kentucky settlement known as Fort Blackford was located near the Warrior Trail running from Owensboro to Hardinsburg. Prospective settlers camped in the Lewis-Blackford bottoms while waiting for the Delaware Indians and the United States government to sign a treaty, and after the treaty was signed in 1804 many crossed here to begin new lives. In 1805, hundreds of pioneers followed this trail to settle in Hammond, Huff, Ohio, Grass, Carter, Clay, and Jackson Townships, and it is estimated that 9 out of 10 pioneers who settled in Spencer County used this trail between 1800 and 1830. The nearest land office was in Vincennes, Indiana, requiring a three-day trip on horseback by way of the Sandy Creek Landing-Selvin-Vincennes Trail, and some settlers built cabins without ever requesting their claims, expecting to move on later. Records do not show a ferry license until 1866, when Samuel Near received one to operate a ferry between Sandy Creek and Blackford Creek, although Ruben Grigsby, Jr. is also recorded as operating a ferry in 1829 and the early custom was to run such a ferry by mutual agreement between landowners on each side of the river. Grandview was settled in 1807. Among the many families who crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky to Sandy Creek Landing in the early 19th century, the Lincolns became the most prominent. In December 1816, Thomas Lincoln, his wife Nancy, and their children Sarah and Abraham crossed into Indiana seeking a better life and settled about 17 miles north of Grandview near Little Pigeon Creek, where Thomas and Abraham worked together to carve a home from the wilderness by clearing land, planting crops, and building a house. Although Abraham was only eight, he helped clear fields, chop wood, and split rails for fences, later calling the axe “that most useful tool!” Thomas Lincoln's skills as a carpenter and cabinetmaker were in demand as the community grew, and William Wood said that Thomas built his home, ran up the stairs, and made all the furniture for it. Many examples of Thomas's furniture survive in the community. Thomas was also a highly successful farmer, and according to Dennis Hanks he often traveled the Ohio River in self-made flatboats to sell surplus livestock and crops from the fall harvest. Before the Lincoln family left Indiana for Illinois, their neighbor David Turnham bought 100 head of hogs and 500 bushels of corn from Thomas.