[6] Early settlers in the area were Samuel Cornett who had a home and a watermill on Left Fork, followed by the families of Peyton M. Duke and Anderson Hays.

[2] Duke reëstablished it on 1874-02-17 as McPherson, to serve Cornett's mill, several families, and a general merchanise store owned by Lewis Hays.

[6] It was originally at the head of Trace Branch, but in 1913 moved 1 mile (1.6 km) downstream and proceeded to be located at several places in the vicinity.

[6] It was originally located at the mouth of Trace Fork;[6] moved 0.3 miles (0.48 km) east in 1912, placing it roughly midway between Hindman and Mallie;[20] and then in 1933 moved 0.75 miles (1.21 km) further east to the mouth of Calhoun Branch.

[17] G. C. Childress's mine was on a minor branch of Left Fork, 5 miles (8.0 km) upstream.

[5] It moved 0.4 miles (0.64 km) west some time before 1911, to the mouth of Possumtrot Branch, where it still exists today.

[5] It was, and still is, at the mouth of what used to be Alum Cave Branch, but whose downstream end is now Watts Creek.

[3] It's not known exactly when he arrived at The Forks of Troublesome; but when he did he built the aforementioned watermill and two-storey log house.

[3] Solomon Everidge, nicknamed "The Granddaddy of Troublesome", was a later settler, along with Peyton Duke from North Carolina.

[19] He settled on what was then known as Hays Creek, 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream from The Forks, building a watermill.

[19] By the time of the establishment of Knotts County, there were also a few farmers and businessmen, including Franklin Pierce "Chick" Allen and Robert Bates.

[19] He planned Hindman alongside attorneys T. Y. Fitzpatrick of Whitesburg and Fielding Johnson of Carrs Fork and was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives.

[19] On 1885-07-08 the Louisville Commercial characterized The Forks as "nothing [...] but two or three log houses not grouped together with any view of making a beginning for a town" with "vast forests exist[ing] in every direction".