John Rice Hughes was a Scottish fur trader who built his trading post near the trading road in the valley near Otter Creek. He was the first white man to live in this area and the first to make any real contact with the Monaan people near present day Lynchburg. It is thought he was not harmed by the Indians because of his wife's heritage. In 1742, an army of scouts explored a 45 mile radius area preceeding the developement of the Hat Creek Presbyterian Colony (presently, Campbell Co.). They found only one aged white man in the area, maybe Hughes, although he is believed to have died before 1700.