 Having exhausted most of his resources in Pennsylvania helping establish the new United States government , Captain Rowan decided to move the family to the western frontier , where he hoped to start fresh and rebuild his fortune . On October 10 , 1783 , the Rowans and five other families embarked on a flat bottomed boat near Redstone Creek and began their journey down the Monongahela River toward the Falls of the Ohio . The travelers expected the journey to last a few days at most , but ice along the river slowed the journey , and a lack of provisions exacerbated the delays . Three of the families disembarked near what is now Maysville , Kentucky ; the Rowans would later learn that most of these settlers were killed by Indians . The remaining settlers continued downriver , reaching Louisville , Kentucky on March 10 , 1783 . 
