In 1784, the Iroquois Confederacy gave up its claims in the Ohio Country, including Kentucky. However, other tribes did not recognize the treaty, and warfare between Native Americans and settlers continued throughout the 1780s. 

That same year George Washington, one of the largest landholders in the nation, bought 5,000 acres in present-day Grayson County from Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, a former governor of Virginia. The land was believed to be rich in iron ore.