"Frontiersman John Hunt settled by the Big Spring in 1805 after moving south from Tennessee. Cherokee and Chickasaw hunted and lived in the valley where an enormous spring poured down from a rock cliff. John Hunt sought to have his claim to the Big Spring area through squatter's rights, but failed to pay the registration fee. He also lost a similar claim for nearby Brahan Spring Park by failing to keep up with the payments. John Hunt has been described as six-feet tall and weighing 180 pounds--a large man for that time period. He fought in the Revolutionary War, but since he served as a private in a regiment outside the "Continental establishment, " he received no pension. Before moving to Huntsville, John Hunt was the first sheriff of Hawkins County, NC, and his house was used as the first courthouse of Powell River Valley of Claiborne County, TN." From AlabamaMosaic: Huntsville-Madison County Public Library