According to oral tradition, my ancestor (Martin Turpin) moved from Gap Valley in present-day Monroe County into East Tennessee (sometime between 1790 and 1805). Tradition says that he entered East Tennessee on a raft on Clinch River. Does anyone know the route that he would have taken to travel from Gap Valley to connect with the Clinch River, and at what point on the river in those days did people begin their journey westward?

This Martin Turpin married Mary Elizabeth Russell in 1805 (?) in Knoxville, TN.