The Big Sandy River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 29 mi long, in western
West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river forms part of the boundary
between the two states along its entire course. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi
River watershed.
It is formed between Louisa, Kentucky and Fort Gay, West Virginia by the confluence of the
Tug Fork and Levisa Fork. It flows generally northwardly in a highly meandering course,
between Lawrence and Boyd Counties in Kentucky and Wayne County in West Virginia. It joins
the Ohio between Catlettsburg, Kentucky and Kenova, West Virginia, 8 mi west of Huntington,
West Virginia, at the common boundary between West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
The river is navigable and carries commercial shipping, primarily coal mined in the immediate region.
“The founding of Harman's Station on the Louisa River Was directly caused by a tragedy as
dark and horrible as any ever perpetrated by the savages upon the exposed and dangerous
frontier of Virginia. The destruction of the home of Thomas Wiley in the valley of Walker's
Creek, the murder of his children, the captivity of his tvife by savages and her miraculous
escape were the first incidents in a series of events in the history of Kentucky which properly
belong to the annals of the Big Sandy Valley. Over them time has cast a tinge of romance, and
they have grown in historical importance for more than a century.
“Thirteen years after the establishment of the first permanent
white settlement of Kentucky at Harrodsburg a strong healthy settlement of hardy, bold,
self-reliant backwoodsmen was made in what is now Johnson County. Among the founders of this
settlement were a number of the most noted explorers, scouts, guides, riflemen, and Indian
fighters ever developed by the harsh and dangerous times of the frontier days of Virginia and
the Carolinas.
“Why some substantial account of the station founded by these men in that wilderness was
not made a matter of record by some historical writer of those times is one of the strange
things occasionally found in the annals of a State. In the company which made this
settlement were Matthias Harman, Henry Skaggs, James Skaggs, and Robert Halves,
all members of that famous party known in history as the Long Hunters.”
Big Sandy Valley - Counties
Kentucky
Greenup
Boyd
Lawrence
Martin
Pike
West Virginia
Wayne
Mingo
McDowell
Virginia
Tazewell
Buchanan