Appalachian Figures Silas Harlan’s short life sits at the crossroads of early Kentucky settlement, George Rogers Clark’s western campaigns, and the last major battle of the Revolution in the Ohio Valley. Harlan helped build a Salt River station, scouted for Clark, wrote home about a plan to fortify the “Iron Banks” on the Mississippi, and fell at Blue Licks in 1782. In 1819, the legislature created Harlan County and named it for him.

