Why were cumberland and Tennessee River important

Cumberland is famous in American colonial history for its role as a key passageway through the lower central Appalachians. Long used by Native American nations, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 by Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer.

The Tennessee River is an important part of the Great Loop, the recreational circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water. The Tennessee River has historically been a major highway for riverboats through the south and today they are still found along the river in abundance.

Because cumberland wanted to combine the river and make it his own