By Bruce A. Byers Just north of what is now Frankfort, Kentucky, the capital of the state, the Kentucky River, flowing north at that point, makes a right-angle bend to the west. Sandbars developed at that turn, creating a shallow ford where bison crossed the river on annual migrations from east to west and back. Daniel Boone passed here, following what was called the “buffalo trace,” in 1771. Euro-American settlers followed Boone and the bison migration route, expanding westward into the territory of indigenous Shawnee peoples in the early decades after the Revolutionary War. In 1812, the trail was...