Kentucky

The American Settlement of Kentucky began in 1775 when Daniel Boone followed an old Indian trail, later known as the Wilderness Road , through the Cumberland Gap of the Appalachian Mountains. The Indian nations who lived in Kentucky did not welcome the newcomers and fighting was fierce. Nonetheless, by 1792, the white settlers were well established in the territory and Kentucky became the first state west of the Appalachians .

Many of the settlers who came to the state in the early 19 th century started horse farms, and Kentucky is still proud of its horse culture. Louisville 's Kentucky Derby is a weeklong party and the nation's most prestigious horse race. On Derby Day, the crowd at elegant Churchill Downs stands still for the “most exciting two minutes in sports.”

But Kentucky has given America more than a passion for great horse racing. The Corvette was invented in Bowling Green . Colonel Harlan Sanders perfected his Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Hillerich and Bradsby Co. still makes America 's most famous baseball bat, the Louisville Slugger. And it was in Louisville in 1893 that Mildred and Patty Hill wrote the song everybody knows, “Happy Birthday to You.”

It was an African American slave, Kentucky 's Steven Bishop, who first explored Mammoth Cave, one of the wonders of the natural world. The cavern's corridors run more than 325 miles under the earth, past underground rivers, lakes and waterfalls, and includes chambers high enough for a 12-story building.