The management and direction of the company was concentrated in Lewis and three other men: Thomas Walker, Joshua Fry, and Peter Jefferson.
The party led by Walker erected a cabin at what is now Barbourville, KY, to establish the Loyal Company's claim to the territory.
The lack of certainty over land title slowed the process of attracting settlers and on June 14 1753, the Loyal Company was granted a four-year extension to its deadline for surveying claims.
Thomas Walker was appointed agent for the expedition of Edward Braddock and commissary general for all Virginia troops and ceased to actively explore on behalf of the Loyal Company.
In the aftermath of Braddock's defeat, extensive Indian raids into the Shenandoah Valley resulted in the abandonment of farms and homesteads by a majority of settlers.
The petition was denied based on British policy first stated in 1761 and later codified in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that restricted settlement beyond the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.
Further gains were made by the land speculation companies at the Treaty of Lochaber, where Walker again represented Virginia's interests.
On October 27 1778, Walker, on behalf of the Loyal Company, asked the Virginia House of Delegates to confirm title to the land granted it.