John Holder made his mark as one of the heroic defenders of Boonesborough. After Daniel Boone left Kentucky, Holder became commander of the fort.

Holder married Fanny Callaway, a daughter of Col. Richard Callaway, one of the founders of Boonesborough. Fanny, along with her sister Betsy, and Jemima Boone were captured by the Shawnee in 1776-one of the signature events on the Kentucky frontier.

The self-taught Holder established himself as a man of property, acquiring well over 100,000 acres of Kentucky land. He was a commercial-industrial innovator involved in farsighted business enterprises. Under Holder’s leadership, the settlement he established about a mile downstream from Boonesborough grew to include a store, tavern, boatyard, ferry, warehouse and mill. His landing on the Kentucky River became a major departure point for flatboats bound for New Orleans with Kentucky produce.

Holder’s enterprises led to other factories locating in the valley and resulted in Lower Howard’s Creek becoming one of the first industrial areas of Kentucky. Much of the area is now enclosed in the Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve, which will receive all the royalties from the sale of this book.