and migrated south with his family along this road. From an early age, Boone was one of the longhunters who hunted and trapped among the Native American nations along the western frontiers of Virginia, so-called because of the long time they spent away from home on hunts in the wilderness. Boone would sometimes be gone for months and even years before returning home from his hunting expeditions. Boone recommended three essentials for a pioneer: "A good gun, a good horse, and a good wife." He also would need a strong body, a sharp ax and good luck. Another essential was salt. Before 1776, it had to be shipped into the Thirteen Colonies from the West Indies at great expense. It was the only meat preservative available for men on the move and Kentucky had an extra lure with its large salt brine lakes near what is today the community of Boonesborough, Kentucky. The many "salt licks" of Kentucky are today reflected in the many place names in the state that use the words "lick" or "licking". Starting on March 10, 1775 Boone, along with 35 axmen, cut a trail from Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee through the forests and mountains to Kentucky. It was a rough mud trail, hardly more than a path. The Transylvania Company had obtained title to Kentucky from the Cherokee and Iroquois, and even the Shawnee chief Cornstalk, defeated in Dunmore's War, had promised at the Treaty of Camp Charlotte on October 19, 1774 that his tribe would no longer hunt or claim land south of the Ohio River in Kentucky. Notwithstanding this promise, the Shawnee viewed Boone and other settlers as invaders. On March 24, 1775 Boone and his party were only from their final destination of the Kentucky River when they camped for the night. Just before daybreak a group of Shawnee, slinging tomahawks, attacked the sleeping men. Some of Boone's party were killed and a few were wounded but most were able to escape into the woods. Boone regrouped his men and managed to drive off the hostile Shawnee. The party lost some of their horses. Here Boone built a temporary open barricade with 6 to high logs. By the next year, the Shawnee had been joined by the Chickamauga Cherokee in the Cherokee–American wars with the settlers, which lasted until 1794. Route The route of the Wilderness Road made a long loop