Lincoln's legacy in Kentucky ... search on for his log cabin footprint

KNOB CREEK, Ky. -- In a small valley bordered by forested hills and a low creek, Abraham Lincoln's first memories took root: of planting pumpkins, walking to school, nearly drowning in a swollen stream and seeing shackled slaves shuffle along a dusty turnpike.

This week, National Park Service archaeologists are using shovels, sifters and magnetometers to search for artifacts of Lincoln's Kentucky boyhood, and, if they're lucky, the farm's Holy Grail: The missing footprint of the tiny cabin where the nation's 16th president lived from ages 2 to 7....

The dig at the Knob Creek site, roughly seven miles east of Hodgenville on U.S. 31E, is a prelude to next month's Kentucky kickoff of a sprawling, two-year national Lincoln bicentennial -- celebrating the man many consider to be the greatest leader in American history. Kentucky will play a pivotal role in that celebration, officials say....

The inaugural event happens on Feb. 12 when President Bush has been invited to deliver the keynote address at a ceremony at Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville. A day earlier, Louisville will be host to a gala at the Kentucky Center, with music, displays and an appearance by TV actor Sam Waterston as Lincoln.