Dark and Bloody Ground,
a name frequently applied to the State of Kentucky. It is said to be a translation of the Indian words "Kain-tuk-ee," though some authorities claim that they signify "At the head of the river." The epithet was originally bestowed because the region was the scene of many sanguinary conflicts between the red men of the Northern and Southern tribes. Later the constant feuds between white settlers and the aborigines rendered the phrase peculiarly appropriate to this locality.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.