Shawnee Springs
In 1763 the Treaty of Paris gave Canada and all French claims east of the Mississippi, with the exception of New Orleans, to the British. Possession of the West became a British concern, and Virginia was in the forefront of the race for westward expansion. However, in October 1763, England's George III issued a proclamation limiting Colonial habitation to the region east of the Appalachian Mountains. Everything beyond the Proclamation Line, including most of the lakes and river valleys of the Upper Country, was officially designated as Indian Territory. Any hope that the Proclamation Line would stop anyone soon proved illusory. Settlers streamed west as though the ban had been an invitation.
James and Samuel Harrod first came to the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky in search of furs in 1767. They explored the headwaters of the Salt River, in what is now Mercer County, locating their future landing place. They returned to Pennsylvania enthusiastic about the possibility of claiming land in the new territory which was part of Virginia. In 1772, James Harrod (1746-92) discussed plans for the exploration of Kentucky with Daniel Boone and others. Actualization of those plans came in 1773 when Harrod joined the Thomas Bullitt party bound for Kentucky. In May 1773 Thomas Bullitt (1730-78) led a company of more than thirty men to Kentucky to make surveys for military land warrants. Most of the activity in Kentucky during this time was centered on surveyors employed by various Land Companies eager to win vast land holdings. Most of the surveyors were inexperienced, and spent little time looking for indications of previous surveys when they found good land. Claims inevitably conflicted, and within a few years much of Kentucky was shingled with overlapping and disputed claims.

Harrod served as Bullitt's guide, but eventually left the party. The McAfee brothers (James, Robert, and George) joined the group at a later point. In the spring of 1774 Harrod lead thirty-one men up the Kentucky River to present-day Mercer County. They went overland a few miles, and then on June 16, 1774, they began laying out Harrodsburg (originally Harrodstown) on the site Harrod had previously selected. The men surveyed and marked claims, laid off town parcels, started constructing improvement cabins and clearing land for a late corn crop. Harrod established a claim at Boiling Springs, but when Indian raids became frequent along the Kentucky frontier, the group decided to flee for their lives.

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