Bullskin Lands Bullskin Run, also known as Bullskin Creek, is a tributary of the Shenandoah River, located in present-day Jefferson County West Virginia, formerly part of Frederick County in Virginia. The surrounding Bullskin Lands, taking their name from the creek, are comprised of fertile farmland characteristic of the Shenandoah Valley. George Washington began acquiring tracts of land along Bullskin Run while in the service of Lord Thomas Fairfax as a young surveyor in the 1750s. He continued to expand his holdings along Bullskin Run, eventually owning thousands of acres of property, tracts of which he leased to tenant farmers while operating his own personal plantation. Learn more
Hugh Henry Brackenridge Hugh Henry Brackenridge was a Scottish-born Pennsylvanian preacher, politician, writer, and jurist, who – though not strictly a Founding Father himself – was intimately familiar with several founders, James Madison in particular. Learn more
Northwest Ordinance After gaining independence from Great Britain, one of the many contentious issues facing the United States were competing claims to western lands. These lands were generally referred to as the Northwest Territory and included the current states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. Learn more
Proclamation Line of 1763 The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains at the Eastern Continental Divide. Learn more
