Joseph Field was born in 1774 in Culpepper County, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. His older brother Reuben was born in 1772. They were raised in Kentucky and considered to be part of the "nine young men from Kentucky" in the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...

 which they joined on August 1, 1803. Both men were known as fine woodsmen and hunters. The brothers returned to Kentucky in 1806. Joseph is thought to have died sometime between June 27 and October 20, 1807.

Joseph Field briefly worked for the salt works at Bullitt's Lick

Bullitt's Lick

Bullitt's Lick is a historic salt lick three miles south of Shepherdsville in Bullitt County, Kentucky. It was the first commercial supplier of salt in Kentucky, and the first industry in Kentucky as well, supplying jobs for many residents, including slaves....

, from which such experience he was able to help the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...

.