 The Clinch River Valley was explored in the 1760s by various long hunter expeditions, the most well-known of which was led by Elisha Walden in 1761.The first permanent Euro-American settlers arrived in the Anderson County and Campbell County areas in the 1790s.For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Norris area remained sparsely populated, although several coal company towns formed in the late 19th century at the base of Cross Mountain just a few miles to the west.