Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Ewing in Lee County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Settling an Old Dispute

— Cumberland Gap National Historical Park —

 
 
Settling an Old Dispute Marker image. Click for full size.
September 29, 2022
1. Settling an Old Dispute Marker
Inscription. Near here the famed explorer Meriwether Lewis made a discovery that might have mattered more to the people of Kentucky and Tennessee than Lewis and Clark's first sighting of the Pacific Ocean in 1805. Both Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came through Cumberland Gap on their way home, traveling separately. Lewis and Clark reported back to President Jefferson in Washington in the winter of 1806–07.

Colonel Arthur Campbell of Kentucky asked Meriwether Lewis to use his sextant to find the true latitude near Cumberland Gap. This was supposed to settle a bitter dispute. For 27 years no one agreed where the Tennessee-Kentucky state line actually was. Both states said that it should be latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north. But where exactly was that latitude here in these rugged mountains?

Lewis found that the old Walker survey had put the line in the wrong place—by almost 10 miles. Kentucky and Tennessee eventually worked out a compromise boundary—some 14 years later.

November 23d, 1806

This day...I undertook to settle the latitude of...Walker's Line, formerly dividing the States of Virginia and North Carolina. The position selected...was near the habitation of a Mr. Walling, 200 yards south of said line, and about two miles distant from Cumberland Gap...

If...the Charters of
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
the States of North Carolina and Virginia call for...36° 30’ North as a boundary between them, the line of Walker is nine miles and 1,077 yards North of its proper position.

– Captain Meriwether Lewis, letter to governor of Virginia

(caption) In 1779 the Virginia legislature asked Dr. Thomas Walker to lead a party to survey Virginia's southern boundary. At the same time, North Carolina appointed Colonel Richard Henderson to lead their team of surveyors to run the same 36° 30’ line west.
 
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Exploration. A significant historical date for this entry is November 23, 1806.
 
Location. 36° 36.2′ N, 83° 38.135′ W. Marker is near Ewing, Virginia, in Lee County. Marker is on National Park Road, 0.3 miles north of Wilderness Road (U.S. 58), on the right when traveling north. Marker is a wayside exhibit in the parking lot for the Colson Trail. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ewing VA 24248, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Cumberland Gap (approx. 0.4 miles away); Lee County / Tennessee (approx. 1.1 miles away); In Search of Food (approx. 1.4 miles away); Warriors and Traders
Settling an Old Dispute Marker image. Click for full size.
September 29, 2022
2. Settling an Old Dispute Marker
(approx. 1.4 miles away); Abundance of Wild Beasts (approx. 1.4 miles away); Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail (approx. 1.4 miles away); Fulfilling the Dream (approx. 1˝ miles away); Harrow School (approx. 1.6 miles away in Tennessee). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ewing.
 
Settling an Old Dispute Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tom Bosse, November 13, 2022
3. Settling an Old Dispute Marker
N.O.A.A. Plaque Commemorating the Lewis & Clark Expedition image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tom Bosse, November 13, 2022
4. N.O.A.A. Plaque Commemorating the Lewis & Clark Expedition
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 29, 2022. It was originally submitted on October 11, 2022. This page has been viewed 175 times since then and 13 times this year. Last updated on October 12, 2022. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on October 11, 2022.   3, 4. submitted on December 29, 2022, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=207715

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 29, 2024