All the necessary arrangements of preparing for this distant expedition,
of making sales and purchases, had occupied nearly two years. The
expedition commenced its march on the 26th of September, 1773. They all
set forth with confident spirits for the western wilderness, and were
joined by forty persons in Powell's Valley, a settlement in advance of
that on the Yadkin, towards the western country. The whole made a
cavalcade of nearly eighty persons.
The three principal ranges of the Alleghany, over which they must pass,
were designated as Powell's, Walden's, and Cumberland. These mountains
forming the barrier between the old settlements and the new country,
stretch from the north-east to the south-west. They are of great length
and breadth, and not far distant from each other. There are
nature-formed passes over them, which render the ascent comparatively
easy. The aspect of these huge piles was so wild and rugged, as to make
it natural for those of the party who were unaccustomed to mountains, to
express fears of being able to reach the opposite side. The course
traced by the brothers on their return to Carolina, was found and
followed. The advantage of this forethought was strongly perceived by
all. Their progress was uninterrupted by any adverse circumstance, and
every one was in high spirits, until the west side of Walden's ridge,
the most elevated of the three, had been gained. They were now destined
to experience a most appalling reverse of fortune.
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