Editing Lee County, Virginia (section)

== History ==
The area of far western Virginia and eastern Kentucky supported large [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] populations. The first known Europeans to enter what is present-day Lee County were a party of Spanish explorers, Juan de Villalobos and Francisco de Silvera, sent by [[Hernando de Soto]] in 1540, in search of gold.<ref>{{cite web| last = Berrier Jr.| first = Ralph| title = The slaughter at Saltville| publisher = [[The Roanoke Times]] | date = September 20, 2009| url = http://www.roanoke.com/219462 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120911211004/http://www.roanoke.com/219462 | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 11, 2012 | access-date = October 9, 2011 }}</ref> The county was formed after the American Revolutionary War in 1792 from [[Russell County, Virginia|Russell County]]. It was named for [[Light Horse Harry Lee]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n183 184]}}</ref> the [[List of Governors of Virginia|Governor of Virginia]] from 1791 to 1794, who was famous for his exploits as a leader of light cavalry during the war. He was the father of [[Robert E. Lee]], later a West Point graduate and career U.S. Army officer who became the [[General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States]] during the [[American Civil War]].

Lee County was the final front on the Kentucky Trace, now known as the [[Wilderness Road]] and [[The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (novel)|The Trail of the Lonesome Pine]]. During the 1780s and 1790s, fortified buildings called "[[Station (frontier defensive structure)|stations]]" were built along the trail for shelter from Indian raids as the settlers followed [[Daniel Boone]]'s path into the Kentucky frontier. The stations in Lee County were [[Yoakum Station]] at present-day [[Dryden, Virginia|Dryden]], west to Powell River and Station Creek at today's [[Rocky Station, Virginia|Rocky Station]], then to [[Mump's Fort]] at [[Jonesville, Virginia|Jonesville]], followed by [[Prist Station]], Martin's Station at Rose Hill, [[Chadwell Station, Virginia|Chadwell Station]] at [[Chadwell Gap, Virginia|Chadwell Gap]], [[Owen Station]] at [[Ewing, Virginia|Ewing]], and finally [[Gibson Station, Virginia|Gibson Station]], which still bears its original name. One of the largest early landowners was Revolutionary War officer and explorer [[Joseph Martin (general)|Joseph Martin]], after whom [[Wilderness Road State Park|Martin's Station]] and Martin's Creek at [[Rose Hill, Lee County, Virginia|Rose Hill]] are named. Due to his rank of command, Martin had been awarded some {{convert|25000|acre|km2}} in a land grant after the war. He divided the land and sold it as a speculator. Rose Hill was established in 1832 as the first federally recognized post office in Lee County. In 1814, parts of Lee, Russell, and [[Washington County, Virginia|Washington]] counties were combined to form [[Scott County, Virginia|Scott County]]. In 1856, parts of Lee, Russell, and Scott counties were combined to form [[Wise County, Virginia|Wise County]], named after the last governor of Virginia before the Civil War.