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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2390-0.txt b/2390-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2ffa94 --- /dev/null +++ b/2390-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8489 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Conquest of the Old Southwest, by Archibald Henderson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Conquest of the Old Southwest + The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers into Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 1740-1790 + +Author: Archibald Henderson + +Release Date: November, 2000 [eBook #2390] +[Most recently updated: March 31, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Dianne Bean, Robert Homa and Al Haines + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST: + +THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA, +THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND KENTUCKY 1740-1790 + + + +BY +ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. + +Some to endure and many to fail, +Some to conquer and many to quail +Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + + + +NEW YORK +THE CENTURY CO. +1920 + + + +TO THE HISTORIAN OF +OLD WEST AND NEW WEST +FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER +WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD + + + +The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the +pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add the +rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the world offer for +the loss of so glorious a prospect? + +--Richard Henderson. + +The established Authority of any government in America, and the policy +of Government at home, are both insufficient to restrain the +Americans.... They acquire no attachment to Place: But wandering about +Seems engrafted in their Nature; and it is a weakness incident to it, +that they Should for ever immagine the Lands further off, are Still +better than those upon which they are already settled. + +--Lord Dunmore, +to the Earl of Dartmouth. + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward migration +of successive waves of transplanted European peoples throughout the +entire course of the eighteenth century is the history of the growth and +evolution of American democracy. Upon the American continent was wrought +out, through almost superhuman daring, incredible hardship, and +surpassing endurance, the formation of a new society. The European +rudely confronted with the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon +discovered that his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned +upon his individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting +himself to his environment. The very history of the human race, from the +age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened civilization, is +traversed in the Old Southwest throughout the course of half a century. + +A series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing the +successive episodes in the history of a single family as it wended its +way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely repulsed the sudden +attack of the Indians, toiled painfully up the granite slopes of the +Appalachians, and pitched down into the transmontane wilderness upon the +western waters, would give to the spectator a vivid conception, in +miniature, of the westward movement. But certain basic elements in the +grand procession, revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would +perhaps escape his scrutiny. Back of the individual, back of the family, +even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, +expansion, and government. In the recognition of these social and +economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the group into +the community; the community into a new society. In this clear +perspective of historic development the spectacular hero at first sight +seems to diminish; but the mass, the movement, the social force which he +epitomizes and interprets, gain in impressiveness and dignity. [1] + +As the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever southward and +westward, seeking room for expansion and economic independence, a series +of frontiers was gradually thrust out toward the wilderness in +successive waves of irregular indentation. The true leader in this +westward advance, to whom less than his deserts has been accorded by the +historian, is the drab and mercenary trader with the Indians. The story +of his enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of +European civilization upon American soil. In the mind of the aborigines +he created the passion for the fruits, both good and evil, of the white +man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the Indian because he also +brought the means for repelling the further advance of that +civilization. The trader was of incalculable service to the pioneer in +first spying out the land and charting the trackless wilderness. The +trail rudely marked by the buffalo became in time the Indian path and +the trader's "trace"; and the pioneers upon the westward march, +following the line of least resistance, cut out their roads along these +very routes. It is not too much to say that had it not been for the +trader--brave, hardy, and adventurous however often crafty, +unscrupulous, and immoral--the expansionist movement upon the American +continent would have been greatly retarded. + +So scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of the +traders with the Indians that the frontier which they established was at +best both shifting and unstable. Following far in the wake of these +advance agents of the civilization which they so often disgraced, came +the cattle-herder or rancher, who took advantage of the extensive +pastures and ranges along the uplands and foot-hills to raise immense +herds of cattle. Thus was formed what might be called a rancher's +frontier, thrust out in advance of the ordinary farming settlements and +serving as the first serious barrier against the Indian invasion. The +westward movement of population is in this respect a direct advance from +the coast. Years before the influx into the Old Southwest of the tides +of settlement from the northeast, the more adventurous struck straight +westward in the wake of the fur-trader, and here and there erected the +cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier of the piedmont region. The +wild horses and cattle which roamed at will through the upland barrens +and pea-vine pastures were herded in and driven for sale to the city +markets of the East. + +The farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real +backbone of western settlement. The pioneering farmers, with the +adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged deeper and +ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the prospect of free and +still richer lands in the dim interior. Settlements quickly sprang up in +the neighborhood of military posts or rude forts established to serve as +safeguards against hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between +these settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the +trader and the more beaten paths of emigration. The bolder settlers who +ventured farthest to the westward were held in communication with the +East through their dependence upon salt and other necessities of life; +and the search for salt-springs in the virgin wilderness was an +inevitable consequence of the desire of the pioneer to shake off his +dependence upon the coast. + +The prime determinative principle of the progressive American +civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the +acquisition of land. The struggle for economic independence developed +the germ of American liberty and became the differentiating principle of +American character. Here was a vast unappropriated region in the +interior of the continent to be had for the seeking, which served as +lure and inspiration to the man daring enough to risk his all in its +acquisition. It was in accordance with human nature and the principles +of political economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited +transmontane land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, +should excite grandiose dreams in the minds of English and Colonials +alike. England was said to be "New Land mad and everybody there has his +eye fixed on this country." [2] Groups of wealthy or well-to-do +individuals organized themselves into land companies for the +colonization and exploitation of the West. The pioneer promoter was a +powerful creative force in westward expansion; and the activities of the +early land companies were decisive factors in the colonization of the +wilderness. Whether acting under the authority of a crown grant or +proceeding on their own authority, the land companies tended to give +stability and permanence to settlements otherwise hazardous and +insecure. + +The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was +wanderlust--the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, the +traveler, and the explorer. This restless class of nomadic wanderers was +responsible in part for the royal proclamation of 1763, a secondary +object of which, according to Edmund Burke, was the limitation of the +colonies on the West, as "the charters of many of our old colonies give +them, with few exceptions, no bounds to the westward but the South Sea." +The Long Hunters, taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth +to a fabled hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they +were driven by the irresistible desire of a Ponce de Leon or a De Soto +to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. + +But the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the chase and +of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the furs and skins of +wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in the centers of trade. He +was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and to assert "corn rights" as he +spied out the rich virgin land for future location and cultivation. Free +land and no taxes appealed to the backwoodsman, tired of paying +quit-rents to the agents of wealthy lords across the sea. Thus the +settler speedily followed in the hunter's wake. In his wake also went +many rude and lawless characters of the border, horse thieves and +criminals of different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in +the merciful liberality of the wilderness. For the most part, however, +it was the salutary instinct of the home-builder--the man with the ax, +who made a little clearing in the forest and built there a rude cabin +that he bravely defended at all risks against continued assaults--which, +in defiance of every restraint, irresistibly thrust westward the thin +and jagged line of the frontier. The ax and the surveyor's chain, along +with the rifle and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial bearings +of the pioneer. With individual as with corporation, with explorer as +with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the era. + +The various desires which stimulated and promoted westward expansion +were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. The trader sought +to exploit the Indian for his own advantage, selling him whisky, +trinkets, and firearms in return for rich furs and costly peltries; yet +he was often a hunter himself and collected great stores of peltries as +the result of his solitary and protracted hunting-expeditions. The +rancher and the herder sought to exploit the natural vegetation of marsh +and upland, the cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring +need for fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer +to the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward +advance. The small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new region, the +alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for the cultivation of +his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet in the intervals between +the tasks of farm life he scoured the wilderness in search of game and +spied out new lands for future settlement. + +This restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant Francis Baily, +"delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can enjoy +undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the blessings which +nature has bestowed upon them." [3] Independence of spirit, impatience +of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the nomadic temperament--these +are the strains in the American character of the eighteenth century +which ultimately blended to create a typical democracy. The rolling of +wave after wave of settlement westward across the American continent, +with a reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest +frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each +successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the eastern +coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the American people +during two centuries. [4] This era, constituting the first stage in our +national existence, and productive of a buoyant national character +shaped in democracy upon a free soil, closed only yesterday with the +exhaustion of cultivable free land, the disappearance of the last +frontier, and the recent death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid +inauguration of the period, in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, +Tennessee, and Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth +century, is the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old +Southwest. + + + + + CONTENTS + Introduction +I. The Migration of the Peoples 3 +II. The Cradle of Westward Expansion 19 +III. The Back Country and the Border 32 +IV. The Indian War 49 +V. In Defense of Civilization 64 +VI. Crushing the Cherokees 78 +VII. The Land Companies 96 +VIII. The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone 116 +IX. Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration 130 +X. Daniel Boone in Kentucky 144 +XI. The Regulators 160 +XII. Watauga--Haven of Liberty 175 +XIII. Opening the Gateway--Dunmore's War 196 +XIV. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company 216 +XV. Transylvania--A Wilderness Commonwealth 237 +XVI. The Repulse of the Red Men 252 +XVII. The Colonization of the Cumberland 269 +XVIII. King's Mountain 289 +XIX. The State of Franklin 306 +XX. The Lure of Spain--The Haven of Statehood 327 + List of Notes 351 + Bibliographical Notes 363 + Index 371 + + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST + +CHAPTER I. + +The Migration of the Peoples + +Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and other parts +of America, who are over-stocked with people and some directly from +Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the West, and have got +near the mountains. + +--Gabriel Johnston, Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the +Board of Trade, February 15, 1751. + +At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population had +swept inland to the "fall line," the westward boundary of the +established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by the +more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue Ridge. So +rapid was the settlement in North Carolina that in the interval 1717-32 +the population quadrupled in numbers. A map of the colonial settlements +in 1725 reveals a narrow strip of populated land along the Atlantic +coast, of irregular indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of +settlements further in the interior. The civilization thus established +continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with England +and the Continent. As long as the settlers, for economic reasons, clung +to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the transforming influences of +the frontier. Within a triangle of continental altitude with its apex in +New England, bounded on the east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the +Appalachian range, lay the settlements, divided into two +zones--tidewater and piedmont. As no break occurred in the great +mountain system south of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, the difficulties +of cutting a passage through the towering wall of living green long +proved an effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain +barrier. + +In the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from the +coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form around such +natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile soil, frontier posts, +mines, salt-springs, and stretches of upland favorable for grazing. +After a time a second advance of settlement was begun in New Jersey, +Pennsylvania, and Maryland, running in a southwesterly direction along +the broad terraces to the east of the Appalachian Range, which in North +Carolina lies as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The +Blue Ridge in Virginia and a belt of pine barrens in North Carolina were +hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. This second +streaming of the population thrust into the long, narrow wedge of the +piedmont zone a class of people differing in spirit and in tendency from +their more aristocratic and complacent neighbors to the east. + +These settlers of the Valley of Virginia and the North Carolina piedmont +region--English, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, and a few +French--were the first pioneers of the Old Southwest. From the joint +efforts of two strata of population, geographically, socially, and +economically distinct--tidewater and piedmont, Old South and New +South--originated and flowered the third and greatest movement of +westward expansion, opening with the surmounting of the mountain barrier +and ending in the occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of +the continent. + +Synchronous with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, significantly +enough, was the first planting of Ulster with the English and Scotch. +Emigrants from the Scotch Lowlands, sometimes as many as four thousand a +year (1625), continued throughout the century to pour into Ulster. +"Those of the North of Ireland...," as pungently described in 1679 by +the Secretary of State, Leoline Jenkins, to the Duke of Ormond, "are +most Scotch and Scotch breed and are the Northern Presbyterians and +phanatiques, lusty, able-bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see +three or four hundred at every meeting-house on Sunday, and all the +North of Ireland is inhabited by these, which is the popular place of +all Ireland by far. They are very numerous and greedy after land." +During the quarter of a century after the English Revolution of 1688 and +the Jacobite uprising in Ireland, which ended in 1691 with the complete +submission of Ireland to William and Mary, not less than fifty thousand +Scotch, according to Archbishop Synge, settled in Ulster. Until the +beginning of the eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration +to America; and it was first set up as a consequence of English +interference with trade and religion. Repressive measures passed by the +English parliament (1665-1699), prohibiting the exportation from Ireland +to England and Scotland of cattle, beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and +to any country whatever of manufactured wool, had aroused deep +resentment among the Scotch-Irish, who had built up a great commerce. +This discontent was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious +disabilities upon the Presbyterians, who, in addition to having to pay +tithes for the support of the established church, were excluded from all +civil and military office (1704), while their ministers were made liable +to penalties for celebrating marriages. + +This pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in an +exodus to the New World. The principal ports by which the Ulsterites +entered America were Lewes and Newcastle (Delaware), Philadelphia and +Boston. The streams of immigration steadily flowed up the Delaware +Valley; and by 1720 the Scotch-Irish began to arrive in Bucks County. So +rapid was the rate of increase in immigration that the number of +arrivals soon mounted from a few hundred to upward of six thousand, in a +single year (1729); and within a few years this number was doubled. +According to the meticulous Franklin, the proportion increased from a +very small element of the population of Pennsylvania in 1700 to one +fourth of the whole in 1749, and to one third of the whole (350,000) in +1774. Writing to the Penns in 1724, James Logan, Secretary of the +Province, caustically refers to the Ulster settlers on the disputed +Maryland line as "these bold and indigent strangers, saying as their +excuse when challenged for titles, that we had solicited for colonists +and they had come accordingly." The spirit of these defiant squatters is +succinctly expressed in their statement to Logan that it "was against +the laws of God and nature that so much land should be idle while so +many Christians wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." + +The rising scale of prices for Pennsylvania lands, changing from ten +pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in 1719 to fifteen +pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a quit-rent of a halfpenny +per acre in 1732, soon turned the eyes of the thrifty Scotch-Irish +settlers southward and southwestward. In Maryland in 1738 lands were +offered at five pounds sterling per hundred acres. Simultaneously, in +the Valley of Virginia free grants of a thousand acres per family were +being made. In the North Carolina piedmont region the proprietary, Lord +Granville, through his agents was disposing of the most desirable lands +to settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for six +hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was also making +large free grants on the condition of seating a certain proportion of +settlers. "Lord Carteret's land in Carolina," says North Carolina's +first American historian, "where the soil was cheap, presented a +tempting residence to people of every denomination. Emigrants from the +north of Ireland, by the way of Pennsylvania, flocked to that country; +and a considerable part of North Carolina ... is inhabited by those +people or their descendants." [5] From 1740 onward, attracted by the +rich lure of cheap and even free lands in Virginia and North Carolina, a +tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the +Shenandoah, the Yadkin, and the Catawba. The immensity of this mobile, +drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than 400 families with +horse waggons and cattle" into North Carolina in a single year (1752-3), +is attested by the fact that from 1732 to 1754, mainly as the result of +the Scotch-Irish inundation, the population of North Carolina more than +doubled. + +The second important racial stream of population in the settlement of +the same region was composed of Germans, attracted to this country from +the Palatinate. Lured on by the highly colored stories of the commercial +agents for promoting immigration--the "newlanders," who were thoroughly +unscrupulous in their methods and extravagant in their +representations--a migration from Germany began in the second decade of +the eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. +Although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great number +were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order to pay for +their transportation were compelled to pledge themselves to several +years of servitude. This economic condition caused the German immigrant, +wherever he went, to become a settler of the back country, necessity +compelling him to pass by the more expensive lands near the coast. + +For well-nigh sixty years the influx of German immigrants of various +sects was very great, averaging something like fifteen hundred a year +into Pennsylvania alone from 1727 to 1775. Indeed, Pennsylvania, one +third of whose population at the beginning of the Revolution was German, +early became the great distributing center for the Germans as well as +for the Scotch-Irish. Certainly by 1727 Adam Müller and his fellow +Germans had established the first permanent white settlement in the +Valley of Virginia. [6] By 1732 Jost Heydt, accompanied by sixteen +families, came from York, Pennsylvania, and settled on the Opeckon +River, in the neighborhood of the present Winchester. [7] There is no +longer any doubt that "the portion of the Shenandoah Valley sloping to +the north was almost entirely settled by Germans." + +It was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the Old +Southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty Pennsylvania Germans +(who came to be generally called "Pennsylvania Dutch" from the incorrect +translation of Pennsylvänische Deutsche), began to pour into the +piedmont region of North Carolina. In the autumn, after the harvest was +in, these ambitious Pennsylvania pioneers would pack up their belongings +in wagons and on beasts of burden and head for the southwest, trekking +down in the manner of the Boers of South Africa. This movement into the +fertile valley lands of the Yadkin and the Catawba continued unabated +throughout the entire third quarter of the century. Owing to their +unfamiliarity with the English language and the solidarity of their +instincts, the German settlers at first had little share in government. +But they devotedly played their part in the defense of the exposed +settlements and often bore the brunt of Indian attack. [8] + +The bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries sent +out by the Pennsylvania Synod under the direction of Count Zinzendorf +(1742-8), and by the Moravian Church (1748-53), are mirrored in the +numerous diaries, written in German, happily preserved to posterity in +religious archives of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. These simple, +earnest crusaders, animated by pure and unselfish motives, would visit +on a single tour of a thousand miles the principal German settlements in +Maryland and Virginia (including the present West Virginia). Sometimes +they would make an extended circuit through North Carolina, South +Carolina, and even Georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of +the gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the +Christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive frontiersmen +marooned along the outer fringe of white settlements. These arduous +journeys in the cause of piety place this type of pioneer of the Old +Southwest in alleviating contrast to the often relentless and +bloodthirsty figure of the rude borderer. + +Noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the Virginia journey of +Brothers Leonhard Schnell and John Brandmüller (October 12 to December +12, 1749). [9] At the last outpost of civilization, the scattered +settlements in Bath and Alleghany counties, these courageous +missionaries--feasting the while solely on bear meat, for there was no +bread--encountered conditions of almost primitive savagery, of which +they give this graphic picture: "Then we came to a house, where we had +to lie on bear skins around the fire like the rest.... The clothes of +the people consist of deer skins, their food of Johnny cakes, deer and +bear meat. A kind of white people are found here, who live like savages. +Hunting is their chief occupation." Into the valley of the Yadkin in +December, 1752, came Bishop Spangenberg and a party of Moravians, +accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the purpose of locating +the one hundred thousand acres of land which had been offered them on +easy terms the preceding year by Lord Granville. This journey was +remarkable as an illustration of sacrifices willingly made and extreme +hardships uncomplainingly endured for the sake of the Moravian +brotherhood. In the back country of North Carolina near the Mulberry +Fields they found the whole woods full of Cherokee Indians engaged in +hunting. A beautiful site for the projected settlement met their +delighted gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that +it had already been "taken up" by Daniel Boone's future father-in-law, +Morgan Bryan. + +On October 8, 1753, a party of twelve single men headed by the Rev. +Bernhard Adam Grube, set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to trek down +to the new-found haven in the Carolina hinterland--"a corner which the +Lord has reserved for the Brethren"--in Anson County. [10] Following for +the most part the great highway extending from Philadelphia to the +Yadkin, over which passed the great throng sweeping into the back +country of North Carolina--through the Valley of Virginia and past +Robert Luhny's mill on the James River--they encountered many hardships +along the way. Because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty +in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience Brother Grube, +with a touch of modest pride, observes: "People had told us that this +hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely be able to cross it, +for Morgan Bryan, the first to travel this way, had to take the wheels +off his wagon and carry it piecemeal to the top, and had been three +months on the journey from the Shanidore [Shenandoah] to the Etkin +[Yadkin]." + +These men were the highest type of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, +inspired with the instinct of home-makers in a land where, if idle rumor +were to be credited, "the people lived like wild men, never hearing of +God or His Word." In one hand they bore the implement of agriculture, in +the other the book of the gospel of Jesus Christ. True faith shines +forth in the simply eloquent words: "We thanked our Saviour that he had +so graciously led us hither, and had helped us through all the hard +places, for no matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how +we could win through, everything always went better than seemed +possible." The promise of a new day--the dawn of the heroic age--rings +out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their journey's end: + +We hold arrival Lovefeast here, + In Carolina land, +A company of Brethren true, + A little Pilgrim-Band, +Called by the Lord to be of those + Who through the whole world go, +To bear Him witness everywhere, + And nought but Jesus know. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +The Cradle of Westward Expansion + +In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, Orange and +Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred fighting men there +is now at least three thousand for the most part Irish Protestants and +Germans and dailey increasing. + +--Matthew Rowan, President of the North Carolina Council, to the Board +of Trade, June 28, 1753. + +The conquest of the West is usually attributed to the ready initiative, +the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinct of the expert +backwoodsmen. These bold, nomadic spirits were animated by an +unquenchable desire to plunge into the wilderness in search of an El +Dorado at the outer verge of civilization, free of taxation, quit-rents, +and the law's restraint. They longed to build homes for themselves and +their descendants in a limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper +and deeper into the trackless forests in search of adventure. Yet one +must not overlook the fact that behind Boone and pioneers of his stamp +were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive in +purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best gifts to +actual conquest and colonization. These men of large intellectual +mold--themselves surveyors, hunters, and pioneers--were inspired with +the larger vision of the expansionist. Whether colonizers, soldiers, or +speculators on the grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke +the vast trans-Alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. + +Two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from each +other in North Carolina and later in Virginia--the pioneer democracy of +the back country and the upland, and the planter aristocracy of the +lowland and the tide-water region. From the frontier came the pioneer +explorers whose individual enterprise and initiative were such potent +factors in the exploitation of the wilderness. From the border counties +still in contact with the East came a number of leaders. Thus in the +heart of the Old Southwest the two determinative principles already +referred to, the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a +fortunate conjunction. The exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed +in the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the great +westward migration. The warlike disposition of the hardy backwoodsman, +controlled by the exercise of military strategy, accomplished the +conquest of the trans-Alleghany country. + +Fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in England +and Europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, from religious +persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of society in the first +quarter of the eighteenth century sought a haven of refuge in the +"Quackerthal" of William Penn, with its trustworthy guarantees of free +tolerance in religious faith and the benefits of representative +self-government. From East Devonshire in England came George Boone, the +grandfather of the great pioneer, and from Wales came Edward Morgan, +whose daughter Sarah became the wife of Squire Boone, Daniel's father. +These were conspicuous representatives of the Society of Friends, drawn +thither by the roseate representations of the great Quaker, William +Penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and religious +toleration. [11] Hither, too, from Ireland, whither he had gone from +Denmark, came Morgan Bryan, settling in Chester County, prior to 1719; +and his children, William, Joseph, James, and Morgan, who more than half +a century later gave the name to Bryan's Station in Kentucky, were +destined to play important rôles in the drama of westward migration. +[12] In September, 1734, Michael Finley from County Armagh, Ireland, +presumably accompanied by his brother Archibald Finley, settled in Bucks +County, Pennsylvania. According to the best authorities, Archibald +Finley was the father of John Finley, or Findlay as he signed himself, +Boone's guide and companion in his exploration of Kentucky in 1769-71. +[13] To Pennsylvania also came Mordecai Lincoln, great-grandson of +Samuel Lincoln, who had emigrated from England to Hingham, +Massachusetts, as early as 1637. This Mordecai Lincoln, who in 1720 +settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the great-great-grandfather of +President Lincoln, was the father of Sarah Lincoln, who was wedded to +William Boone, and of Abraham Lincoln, who married Anne Boone, William's +first cousin. Early settlers in Pennsylvania were members of the Hanks +family, one of whom was the maternal grandfather of President Lincoln. +[14] + +No one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for +leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the West. Yet +one particular stock of people, the Ulster Scots, exhibited with most +completeness and picturesqueness a group of conspicuous qualities and +attitudes which we now recognize to be typical of the American character +as molded by the conditions of frontier life. Cautious, wary, and +reserved, these Scots concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a +relentlessness in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which +glowed and burned with almost fanatical ardor. Strict in religious +observance and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of the +main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of devotion. +It has been happily said of them that they kept the Sabbath and +everything else they could lay their hands on. In the polity of these +men religion and education went hand in hand; and they habitually +settled together in communities in order that they might have teachers +and preachers of their own choice and persuasion. + +In little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant ministers +may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful characterizations of +the frontier settlers in their habits of life and of the scenes amidst +which they labored. In a letter to Edmund Fanning, the cultured Robin +Jones, agent of Lord Granville and Attorney-General of North Carolina, +summons to view a piquant image of the western border and borderers: +"The inhabitants are hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, +are stout, of great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private +conversation, bold, impertinent, and vain. In the art of war (after the +Indian manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of +strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the ancient +Romans. The Shawnese acknowledge them their superiors even in their own +way of fighting.... [The land] may be truly called the land of the +mountains, for they are so numerous that when you have reached the +summit of one of them, you may see thousands of every shape that the +imagination can suggest, seeming to vie with each other which should +raise his lofty head to touch the clouds.... It seems to me that nature +has been wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." [15] + +An excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions in the +backwoods of North Carolina, by one of the early settlers in the middle +of the century, exhibits in all their barren cheerlessness the hardships +and limitations of life in the wilderness. The father of William Few, +the narrator, had trekked down from Maryland and settled in Orange +County, some miles east of the little hamlet of Hillsborough. "In that +country at that time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or +doctors or lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do I recollect +during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or +military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or three +itinerant preachers.... These people had few wants, and fewer +temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined society, though +ignorant. They were more virtuous and more happy.... A schoolmaster +appeared and offered his services to teach the children of the +neighborhood for twenty shillings each per year.... In that simple state +of society money was but little known; the schoolmaster was the welcome +guest of his pupil, fed at the bountiful table and clothed from the +domestic loom.... In that country at that time there was great scarcity +of books." [16] + +The journals of itinerant ministers through the Valley of Virginia and +the Carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes of the people, their +longing after the things of the spirit, and their pitiful isolation from +the regular preaching of the gospel. These missionaries were true +pioneers in this Old Southwest, ardent, dauntless, and heroic--carrying +the word into remote places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees +of the forest. In his journal (1755-6), the Rev. Hugh McAden, born in +Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish parentage, a graduate of Nassau Hall +(1753), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that wherever he +found Presbyterians he found people who "seemed highly pleased, and very +desirous to hear the word"; whilst elsewhere he found either dissension +and defection to Baptist principles, or "no appearance of the life of +religion." In the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlements in what is now +Mecklenburg County, the cradle of American liberty, he found "pretty +serious, judicious people" of the stamp of Moses, William, and James +Alexander. While traveling in the upper country of South Carolina, he +relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman who said to the +Governor of South Carolina, when he was in those parts, in treaty with +the Cherokee Indians that 'he had never seen a shirt, been in a fair, +heard a sermon, or seen a minister in all his life.' Upon which the +governor promised to send him up a minister, that he might hear one +sermon before he died." The minister came and preached; and this was all +the preaching that had been heard in the upper part of South Carolina +before Mr. McAden's visit. [17] + +Such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country of the +Old Southwest--the deliberate and self-controlled English, the +aggressive, land-mongering Scotch-Irish, the buoyant Welsh, the thrifty +Germans, the debonair French, the impetuous Irish, and the calculating +Scotch. The lives they led were marked by independence of spirit, +democratic instincts, and a forthright simplicity. In describing the +condition of the English settlers in the backwoods of Virginia, one of +their number, Doddridge, says: "Most of the articles were of domestic +manufacture. There might have been incidentally a few things brought to +the country for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for +general supply. The table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, +either turned or coopered. Iron forks, tin cups, etc., were articles of +rare and delicate luxury. The food was of the most wholesome and +primitive kind. The richest meat, the finest butter, and best meal that +ever delighted man's palate were here eaten with a relish which health +and labor only know. The hospitality of the people was profuse and +proverbial." + +The circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become +self-sustaining. Every immigrant was an adept at many trades. He built +his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own clothes. At a very +early date rifles were manufactured at the High Shoals of the Yadkin; +Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, was an expert gunsmith. The difficulty +of securing food for the settlements forced every man to become a hunter +and to scour the forest for wild game. Thus the pioneer, through force +of sheer necessity, became a dead shot--which stood him in good stead in +the days of Indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. Primitive in +their games, recreations, and amusements, which not infrequently +degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the pioneers always set +the highest premium upon personal bravery, physical prowess, and skill +in manly sports. At all public gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or +auctions, and even funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. +It is worthy of record that among the effects of the Rev. Alexander +Craighead, the famous teacher and organizer of Presbyterianism in +Mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the Revolution, were found +a punch bowl and glasses. + +The frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, bred in +these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the basis of the +American character. The single-handed and successful struggle with +nature in the tense solitude of the forest developed a spirit of +individualism, restive under control. On the other hand, the sense of +sharing with others the arduous tasks and dangers of conquering the +wilderness gave birth to a strong sense of solidarity and of human +sympathy. With the lure of free lands ever before them, the pioneers +developed a restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy +of spirit, which are fundamentally American. Yet this same untrammeled +freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance of established +government which have exhibited themselves throughout the entire course +of our history. Initiative, self-reliance, boldness in conception, +fertility in resource, readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, +inventive genius, appreciation of material advantages--these, shot +through with a certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high +romantic strain--are the traits of the American national type as it +emerged from the Old Southwest. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The Back Country and the Border + +Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most delightful +climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are everywhere surrounded +with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; lofty mountains, transparent +streams, falls of water, rich valleys, and majestic woods; the whole +interspersed with an infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute +the landscape surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are +generally robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want +and acquainted with but few vices. Their inexperience of the elegancies +of life precludes any regret that they possess not the means of enjoying +them, but they possess what many princes would give half their dominion +for, health, content, and tranquillity of mind. + +--Andrew Burnaby: Travels Through North America. + +The two streams of Ulstermen, the greater through Philadelphia, the +lesser through Charleston, which poured into the Carolinas toward the +middle of the century, quickly flooded the back country. The former +occupied the Yadkin Valley and the region to the westward, the latter +the Waxhaws and the Anson County region to the northwest. The first +settlers were known as the "Pennsylvania Irish," because they had first +settled in Pennsylvania after migrating from the north of Ireland; while +those who came by way of Charleston were known as the "Scotch-Irish." +The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long enough to be good +judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements along the rivers and +creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less experienced, settled on +thinner land toward the heads of creeks and water courses. [18] + +Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight +children, together with other families of Quakers from Pennsylvania, +settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest side of the Opeckon +River near Winchester. [19] A few years later they removed up the +Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present Roanoke County, intent +upon pushing westward to the very outskirts of civilization. In the +autumn of 1748, leaving behind his brother William, who had followed him +to Roanoke County, Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of +the Yadkin River. [20] The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who +emigrated to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over +Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln families +found homes in Virginia--Mordecai Lincoln's son, John, the +great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks to the +Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone, his wife Sarah +(Morgan), and their eleven children--a veritable caravan, traveling like +the patriarchs of old--started south; and tarried for a space, according +to reliable tradition, on Linville Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 +they removed to the Forks of the Yadkin, and the following year received +from Lord Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County. +[21] About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven or +eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly gathered a +settlement of people marked by strong individuality, sturdy +independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the Bryans +quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and immediately +began to take an active part in the local affairs of the county. Upon +the organization of the county court Squire Boone was chosen justice of +the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon appearing as foreman of juries and +director in road improvements. + +The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the +Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the Trading +Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above Sapona Town near +the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which, according to constant and +picturesque tradition, was the spot where the traders stopped to take a +solemn oath never to reveal any unlawful proceedings that might occur +during their sojourn among the Indians. [22] In his divertingly +satirical "History of the Dividing Line" William Byrd in 1728 thus +speaks of this locality: "The Soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the +Yadkin, abounding in rank Grass and prodigiously large Trees; and for +plenty of Fish, Fowl and Venison, is inferior to No Part of the Northern +Continent. There the Traders commonly lie Still for some days, to +recruit their Horses' Flesh as well as to recover their own spirits." In +this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement by Squire +Boone--who erected his cabin on the east side of the Yadkin about a mile +and a quarter from Alleman's, now Boone's, Ford--wild game abounded. +Buffaloes were encountered in eastern North Carolina by Byrd while +running the dividing line; and in the upper country of South Carolina +three or four men with their dogs could kill fourteen to twenty +buffaloes in a single day. [23] Deer and bears fell an easy prey to the +hunter; wild turkeys filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with +beaver, otter, and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious +fish. Panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the +veracious Brother Joseph, while near the present Wilkesboro, amusingly +records: "The wolves wh. are not like those in Germany, Poland and +Lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come near) give us such +music of six different cornets the like of wh. I have never heard in my +life." [24] So plentiful was the game that the wild deer mingled with +the cattle grazing over the wide stretches of luxuriant grass. + +In the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up Squire Boone's son, Daniel +Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker persuasion, and +Baptist proclivities. [25] Seen through a glorifying halo after the +lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises before us a romantic +figure, poised and resolute, simple, benign--as naïve and shy as some +wild thing of the primeval forest--five feet eight inches in height, +with broad chest and shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with +fair eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, +and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this restless, +nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would exchange the plow and +the grubbing-hoe for the long rifle and keen-edged hunting-knife. In a +single day during the autumn season he would kill four or five deer; or +as many bears as would make from two to three thousand pounds weight of +bear-bacon. Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as +pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he sold +his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles away, +sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George Hartman, on the +Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the Moravian town sixty-odd miles +distant. Skins were in such demand that they soon came to replace hard +money, which was incredibly scarce in the back country, as a medium of +exchange. Upon one occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three +thousand pounds, upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins +to Charleston. [26] So immense was this trade that the year after +Boone's arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were +exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think that the +young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother Joseph, while in +camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) wrote: "There are many +hunters about here, who live like Indians, they kill many deer selling +their hides, and thus live without much work." [27] + +In this very class of professional hunters, living like Indians, was +thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous leadership +in the great westward expansionist movement of the coming decade. An +English traveler gives the following minute picture of the dress and +accoutrement of the Carolina backwoodsman: + +Their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially different +from that of the Indians; being a hunting shirt, somewhat resembling a +waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great many fringes, tied round the +middle with a broad belt, much decorated also, in which is fastened a +tomahawk, an instrument that serves every purpose of defence and +convenience; being a hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the +other; the shot bag and powder-horn, carved with a variety of whimsical +figures and devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on +their heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the +intensely hot beams of the sun. + +Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of Indian dressed elk, or +deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. + +On their legs they have Indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse +woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied with +garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better than half-way +up the thigh. + +On their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, but +generally Indian moccossons, of their own construction also, which are +made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as for gloves or +breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the toe, and lacing from +thence round to the fore part of the middle of the ancle, without a seam +in them, yet fitting close to the feet, and are indeed perfectly easy +and pliant. + +Their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety of +colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear them quite +white. [28] + +No less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the dress of +the women of the region--in particular of Surry County, North Carolina, +as described by General William Lenoir: + +The women wore linsey [flax] petticoats and 'bed-gowns' [like a +dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. Some had +bonnets and bed-gowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; and some +of them wore men's hats. Their hair was commonly clubbed. Once, at a +large meeting, I noticed there but two women that had on long gowns. One +of these was laced genteelly, and the body of the other was open, and +the tail thereof drawn up and tucked in her apron or coat-string. [29] + +While Daniel Boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits of the +chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed was rapidly +approaching a crisis. For three quarters of a century this titanic +contest between France and England for the interior of the continent had +been waged with slowly accumulating force. The irrepressible conflict +had been formally inaugurated at Sault Ste. Marie in 1671, when Daumont +de Saint Lusson, swinging aloft his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of +France over "all countries, rivers, lakes, and streams ... both those +which have been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, +in all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of +the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea." Just +three months later, three hardy pioneers of Virginia, despatched upon +their arduous mission by Colonel Abraham Wood in behalf of the English +crown, had crossed the Appalachian divide; and upon the banks of a +stream whose waters slipped into the Ohio to join the Mississippi and +the Gulf of Mexico, had carved the royal insignia upon the blazed trunk +of a giant of the forest, the while crying: "Long live Charles the +Second, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland +and Virginia and of the territories thereunto belonging." + +La Salle's dream of a New France in the heart of America was blotted out +in his tragic death upon the banks of the River Trinity (1687). Yet his +mantle was to fall in turn upon the square shoulders of Le Moyne +d'Iberville and of his brother--the good, the constant Bienville, who +after countless and arduous struggles laid firm the foundations of New +Orleans. In the precious treasury of Margry we learn that on reaching +Rochelle after his first voyage in 1699 Iberville in these prophetic +words voices his faith: "If France does not immediately seize this part +of America which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony which is +strong enough to resist any which England may have, the English colonies +(already considerable in Carolina) will so thrive that in less than a +hundred years they will be strong enough to seize all America." [30] But +the world-weary Louis Quatorze, nearing his end, quickly tired of that +remote and unproductive colony upon the shores of the gulf, so +industriously described in Paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the +"paternal providence of Versailles" willingly yielded place to the +monumental speculation of the great financier Antoine Crozat. In this +Paris of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal +scheme of Law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the +Mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, +half-satiric panegyrics upon the new Utopia, this Mississippi Land of +Cockayne: + +It's to-day no contribution +To discuss the Constitution +And the Spanish war's forgot +For a new Utopian spot; +And the very latest phase +Is the Mississippi craze. [31] + +Interest in the new colony led to a great development of southwesterly +trade from New France. Already the French coureurs de bois were +following the water route from the Illinois to South Carolina. Jean +Couture, a deserter from the service in New France, journeyed over the +Ohio and Tennessee rivers to that colony, and was known as "the greatest +Trader and Traveller amongst the Indians for more than Twenty years." In +1714 young Charles Charleville accompanied an old trader from Crozat's +colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the Cumberland, where a +post for trading with the Shawanoes had already been established by the +French. [32] But the British were preparing to capture this trade as +early as 1694, when Tonti warned Villermont that Carolinians were +already established on a branch of the Ohio. Four years later, +Nicholson, Governor of Maryland, was urging trade with the Indians of +the interior in the effort to displace the French. At an early date the +coast colonies began to trade with the Indian tribes of the back +country: the Catawbas of the Yadkin Valley; the Cherokees, whose towns +were scattered through Tennessee; the Chickasaws, to the westward in +northern Mississippi; and the Choctaws farther to the southward. Even +before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the South Carolina +settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the coast, English +traders had established posts among the Indian tribes four hundred miles +to the west of Charleston. Following the sporadic trading of individuals +from Virginia with the inland Indians, the heavily laden caravans of +William Byrd were soon regularly passing along the Great Trading Path +from Virginia to the towns of the Catawbas and other interior tribes of +the Carolinas, delighting the easily captivated fancy and provoking the +cupidity of the red men with "Guns, Powder, Shot, Hatchets (which the +Indians call Tomahawks), Kettles, red and blue Planes, Duffields, +Stroudwater blankets, and some Cutlary Wares, Brass Rings and other +Trinkets." [33] In Pennsylvania, George Croghan, the guileful diplomat, +who was emissary from the Council to the Ohio Indians (1748), had +induced "all-most all the Ingans in the Woods" to declare against the +French; and was described by Christopher Gist as a "meer idol among his +countrymen, the Irish traders." + +Against these advances of British trade and civilization, the French for +four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours of exploration +into the vast medial valley of the continent and constructing a chain of +forts and trading-posts designed to establish their claims to the +country and to hold in check the threatened English thrust from the +east. Soon the wilderness ambassador of empire, Céloron de Bienville, +was despatched by the far-visioned Galissonière at Quebec to sow +broadcast with ceremonial pomp in the heart of America the seeds of +empire, grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile +symbol of the asserted sovereignty of France. Thus threatened in the +vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea charters, the +English threw off the lethargy with which they had failed to protect +their traders, and in grants to the Ohio and Loyal land companies began +resolutely to form plans looking to the occupation of the interior. But +the French seized the English trading-house at Venango which they +converted into a fort; and Virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and +judicious young man, a surveyor, George Washington, availed not to +prevent the French from seizing Captain Trent's hastily erected military +post at the forks of the Ohio and constructing there a formidable work, +named Fort Duquesne. Washington, with his expeditionary force sent to +garrison Captain Trent's fort, defeated Jumonville and his small force +near Great Meadows (May, 1754); but soon after he was forced to +surrender Fort Necessity to Coulon de Villiers. + +The titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of the Old +Southwest, was now on--a struggle in which the resolute pioneers of +these backwoods first seriously measured their strength with the French +and their copper-hued allies, and learned to surpass the latter in their +own mode of warfare. The portentous conflict, destined to assure the +eastern half of the continent to Great Britain, is a grim, prophetic +harbinger of the mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into +the twilight zone of the trans-Alleghany territory. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Indian War + +All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about +building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such barbarian +and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let loose upon them at +pleasure. + +--The Reverend Hugh McAden: Diary, July, 1755. + +Long before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces were +gradually converging to produce a clash between the aggressive colonials +and the crafty Indians. As the settlers pressed farther westward into +the domain of the red men, arrogantly grazing their stock over the +cherished hunting-grounds of the Cherokees, the savages, who were +already well disposed toward the French, began to manifest a deep +indignation against the British colonists because of this callous +encroachment upon their territory. During the sporadic forays by +scattered bands of Northern Indians upon the Catawbas and other tribes +friendly to the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of +the Carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. In the summer of +1753 a party of northern Indians warring in the French interest made +their appearance in Rowan County, which had just been organized, and +committed various depredations upon the scattered settlements. To repel +these attacks a band of the Catawbas sallied forth, encountered a +detached party of the enemy, and slew five of their number. Among the +spoils, significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, +looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of French +manufacture. [34] + +Intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes existed +between Virginia and South Carolina. In strong remonstrance against the +alleged attempt of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to alienate the +Cherokees, Catawbas, Muscogees, and Chickasaws from South Carolina and +to attach them to Virginia, Governor Glen of South Carolina made pungent +observations to Dinwiddie: "South Carolina is a weak frontier colony, +and in case of invasion by the French would be their first object of +attack. We have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection +of the Indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any +mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the French, we +are in a miserable situation. The Cherokees alone have several thousand +gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the province ... their country +is the key to Carolina." By a treaty concluded at Saluda (November 24, +1753), Glen promised to build the Cherokees a fort near the lower towns, +for the protection of themselves and their allies; and the Cherokees on +their part agreed to become the subjects of the King of Great Britain +and hold their lands under him. [35] This fort, erected this same year +on the headwaters of the Savannah, within gunshot distance of the +important Indian town of Keowee, was named Fort Prince George. "It is a +square," says the founder of the fort (Governor Glen to the Board of +Trade, August 26, 1754), "with regular Bastions and four Ravelins it is +near Two hundred foot from Salient Angle to Salient Angle and is made of +Earth taken out of the Ditch, secured with fachines and well rammed with +a banquet on the Inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, +the Ravelins are made of Posts of Lightwood which is very durable, they +are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half in the +ground." [36] The dire need for such a fort in the back country was +tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the "House of John +Gutry & James Anshers" in York County by a party of sixty French Indians +(December 16, 1754), who brutally murdered sixteen of the twenty-one +persons present, and carried off as captives the remaining five. [37] + +At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 North Carolina +voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops and several +thousand pounds additional for the construction of forts--a sum +considerably larger than that voted by Virginia. A regiment of two +hundred and fifty men was placed under the command of Colonel James +Innes of the Cape Fear section; and the ablest officer under him was the +young Irishman from the same section, Lieutenant Hugh Waddell. On June +3, 1754, Dinwiddie appointed Innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief +of all the forces against the French; and immediately after the disaster +at Great Meadows (July, 1754), Innes took command. Within two months the +supplies for the North Carolina troops were exhausted; and as Virginia +then failed to furnish additional supplies, Colonel Innes had no +recourse but to disband his troops and permit them to return home. +Appointed governor of Fort Cumberland by General Braddock, he was in +command there while Braddock advanced on his disastrous march. + +The lesson of Braddock's defeat (July 9, 1755) was memorable in the +history of the Old Southwest. Well might Braddock exclaim with his last +breath: "Who would have thought it? ... We shall know better how to deal +with them another time." Led on by the reckless and fiery Beaujeu, +wearing an Indian gorget about his neck, the savages from the protection +of trees and rough defenses, a prepared ambuscade, poured a galling fire +into the compact divisions of the English, whose scarlet coats furnished +ideal targets. The obstinacy of the British commanders in refusing to +permit their troops to fight Indian fashion was suicidal; for as Herman +Alrichs wrote Governor Morris of Pennsylvania (July 22, 1755): "... the +French and Indians had cast an Intrenchment across the road before our +Army which they Discovered not Untill the [y] came Close up to it, from +thence and both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on +them, our Army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would +not be admitted by the Genl or Sir John St. Clair, to break thro' their +Ranks and Take behind trees." [38] Daniel Boone, who went from North +Carolina as a wagoner in the company commanded by Edward Brice Dobbs, +was on the battle-field; but Dobbs's company at the time was scouting in +the woods. When the fierce attack fell upon the baggage train, Boone +succeeded in effecting his escape only by cutting the traces of his team +and fleeing on one of the horses. To his dying day Boone continued to +censure Braddock's conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect +to employ strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of Provincial +scouts thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and +strategies of savage warfare. + +For a number of months following Braddock's defeat there was a great +rush of the frightened people southward. In a letter to Dinwiddie, +Washington expresses the apprehension that Augusta, Frederick, and +Hampshire County will soon be depopulated, as the whole back country is +in motion toward the southern colonies. During this same summer Governor +Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina made a tour of exploration through the +western part of the colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the +frontier. [39] The frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison +the projected fort was placed under the command of Hugh Waddell, now +promoted to the rank of captain, though only twenty-one years old. In +addition to Waddell's company, armed patrols were required for the +protection of the Rowan County frontier; and during the summer Indian +alarms were frequent at the Moravian village of Bethabara, whose +inhabitants had heard with distress on March 31st of the slaughter of +eleven Moravians on the Mahoni and of the ruin of Gnadenhütten. Many of +the settlers in the outlying districts of Rowan fled for safety to the +refuge of the little village; and frequently every available house, +every place of temporary abode was filled with panic-stricken refugees. +So persistent were the depredations of the Indians and so alarmed were +the scattered Rowan settlers by the news of the murders and the +destruction of Vaux's Fort in Virginia (June 25, 1756) that at a +conference on July 5th the Moravians "decided to protect our houses with +palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should invade our tract +or attack us, for if the people were all going to retreat we would be +the last left on the frontier and the first point of attack." By July +23d, they had constructed a strong defense for their settlement, +afterward called the "Dutch Fort" by the Indians. The principal +structure was a stockade, triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on +a side, enclosing the principal buildings of the settlement; and the +gateway was guarded by an observation tower. The other defense was a +stockade embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around +which a small settlement had sprung up. [40] + +During the same year the fort planned by Dobbs was erected upon the site +he had chosen--between Third and Fourth creeks; and the commissioners +Richard Caswell and Francis Brown, sent out to inspect the fort, made +the following picturesque report to the Assembly (December 21, 1756): + +That they had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs, and found it to +be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions following (that is +to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by forty, the opposite Angles +Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In Height Twenty four and a half feet as +by the Plan annexed Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made +of Oak Logs regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains +three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one and the +same time about one hundred Musketts the same is beautifully scituated +in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the Yadkin River. And that they +also found under Command of Capt Hugh Waddel Forty six Effective men +Officers and Soldiers ... the said Officers and Soldiers Appearing well +and in good Spirits. [41] + +As to the erection of a fort on the Tennessee, promised the Cherokees by +South Carolina, difficulties between the governor of that province and +of Virginia in regard to matters of policy and the proportionate share +of expenses made effective coöperation between the two colonies +well-nigh impossible. Glen, as we have seen, had resented Dinwiddie's +efforts to win the South Carolina Indians over to Virginia's interest. +And Dinwiddie had been very indignant when the force promised him by the +Indians to aid General Braddock did not arrive, attributing this +defection in part to Glen's negotiations for a meeting with the +chieftains and in part to the influence of the South Carolina traders, +who kept the Indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs +and skins. But there was no such contention between Virginia and North +Carolina. Dinwiddie and Dobbs arranged (November 6, 1755) to send a +commission from these colonies to treat with the Cherokees and the +Catawbas. Virginia sent two commissioners, Colonel William Byrd, third +of that name, and Colonel Peter Randolph; while North Carolina sent one, +Captain Hugh Waddell. Salisbury, North Carolina, was the place of +rendezvous. The treaty with the Catawbas was made at the Catawba Town, +presumably the village opposite the mouth of Sugaw Creek, in York +County, South Carolina, on February 20-21, 1756; that with the Cherokees +on Broad River, North Carolina, March 13-17. As a result of the +negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the Catawbas +agreed to send forty warriors to aid Virginia within forty days; and the +Cherokees, in return for presents and Virginia's promise to contribute +her proportion toward the erection of a strong fort, undertook to send +four hundred warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall +be built." Virginia and North Carolina thus wisely coöperated to +"straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white and the +red men, in important treaties which have largely escaped the attention +of historians. [42] + +On May 25, 1756, a conference was held at Salisbury between King Heygler +and warriors of the Catawba nation on the one side and Chief Justice +Henley, doubtless attended by Captain Waddell and his frontier company, +on the other. King Heygler, following the lead set by the Cherokees, +petitioned the Governor of North Carolina to send the Catawbas some +ammunition and to "build us a fort for securing our old men, women and +children when we turn out to fight the Enemy on their coming." The chief +justice assured the King that the Catawbas would receive a necessary +supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of gunpowder and four hundred +pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge with the +governor their request to have a fort built as soon as possible. Pathos +not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent appeal of good old King +Heygler, ever the loyal friend of the whites, at this conference: + +I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by the White +people to my people especially near the Indian nation. If the White +people make strong drink, let them sell it to one another, or drink it +in their own families. This will avoid a great deal of mischief which +otherwise will happen from my people getting drunk and quarrelling with +the White people. I have no strong prisons like you to confine them for +it. Our only way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing +proudly to his Warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall +deserve it. [43] + +In response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was +appropriated by the North Carolina Assembly for the erection of "a Fort +on our western frontier to protect and secure the Catawbas" and for the +support of two companies of fifty men each to garrison this and another +fort building on the sea coast. The commissioners appointed for the +purpose recommended (December 21, 1756) a site for the fort "near the +Catawba nation"; and on January 20, 1757, Governor Dobbs reported: "We +are now building a Fort in the midst of their towns at their own +Request." The fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the +South Fork of the Catawba River, as Dobbs says it was in the "midst" of +their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of 38°" and +might properly be included within a circle of thirty miles radius. [44] + +During the succeeding months many depredations were committed by the +Indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. Had it not been for +the protection afforded by all these forts, by the militia companies +under Alexander Osborne of Rowan and Nathaniel Alexander of Anson, and +by a special company of patrollers under Green and Moore, the back +settlers who had been so outrageously "pilfered" by the Indians would +have "retired from the Frontier into the inner settlements." [45] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +In Defense of Civilization + +We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us by our +Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our neighbors, driven +hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, came to us for shelter, yet +the accustomed order of our congregation life was not disturbed, no, not +even by the more than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, +stopping for a day at a time and being fed by us. + +--Wachovia Community Diary, 1757 + +With commendable energy and expedition Dinwiddie and Dobbs, acting in +concert, initiated steps for keeping the engagements conjointly made by +the two colonies with the Cherokees and the Catawbas in the spring and +summer of 1756. Enlisting sixty men, "most of them Artificers, with +Tools and Provisions," Major Andrew Lewis proceeded in the late spring +to Echota in the Cherokee country. Here during the hot summer months +they erected the Virginia Fort on the path from Virginia, upon the +northern bank of the Little Tennessee, nearly opposite the Indian town +of Echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville. [46] While +the fort was in process of construction, the Cherokees were incessantly +tampered with by emissaries from the Nuntewees and the Savannahs in the +French interest, and from the French themselves at the Alibamu Fort. So +effective were these machinations, supported by extravagant promises and +doubtless rich bribes, that the Cherokees soon were outspokenly +expressing their desire for a French fort at Great Tellico. + +Dinwiddie welcomed the departure from America of Governor Glen of South +Carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to the king's +interest. From the new governor, William Henry Lyttelton, who arrived in +Charleston on June 1, 1756, he hoped to secure effective coöperation in +dealing with the Cherokees and the Catawbas. This hope was based upon +Lyttelton's recognition, as stated in Dinwiddie's words, of the +"Necessity of strict Union between the whole Colonies, with't any of +them considering their particular Interest separate from the general +Good of the whole." After constructing the fort "with't the least +assistance from South Carolina," Major Lewis happened by accident upon a +grand council being held in Echota in September. At that time he +discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the French had +already produced the greatest imaginable change in the sentiment of the +Cherokees. Captain Raymond Demere of the Provincials, with two hundred +English troops, had arrived to garrison the fort; but the head men of +all the Upper Towns were secretly influenced to agree to write a letter +to Captain Demere, ordering him to return immediately to Charleston with +all the troops under his command. At the grand council, +Atta-kulla-kulla, the great Cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to +the head men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of +Captain Demere that was there, he would take their Guns, and give them +to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they would soon be +worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of the same colour as +theirs, and that they should live among them as slaves." With impressive +dignity Major Lewis rose and earnestly pleaded for the observance of the +terms of the treaty solemnly negotiated the preceding March. In +response, the crafty and treacherous chieftains desired Lewis to tell +the Governor of Virginia that "they had taken up the Hatchet against all +Nations that were Enemies to the English"; but Lewis, an astute student +of Indian Psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib professions +of friendship and assistance were "only to put a gloss on their +knavery." [47] So it proved; for instead of the four hundred warriors +promised under the treaty for service in Virginia, the Cherokees sent +only seven warriors, accompanied by three women. Although the Cherokees +petitioned Virginia for a number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, +Dinwiddie postponed sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia +Assembly until he could reassure himself in regard to the "Behaviour and +Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a prudent +decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia fort was +destroyed by the Indians. + +Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the Cherokees +over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a recognition of +the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected by Virginia with +troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina immediately proceeded to +build another stronghold on the southern bank of the Tennessee at the +mouth of Tellico River, some seven miles from the site of the Virginia +fort; and here were posted twelve great guns, brought thither at immense +labor through the wilderness. [48] To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in +honor of Lord Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces +in America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and +during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up there. + +The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of hostile +Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755. In July, the +Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in Virginia on a day set apart +for fasting and prayer "on account of the wars and many murders, +committed by the savage Indians on the back inhabitants." On July 30th a +large party of Shawano Indians fell upon the New River settlement and +wiped it out of existence. William Ingles was absent at the time of the +raid; and Mrs. Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. +[49] The following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters +of the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was captured by +about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the fort, killed John +Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and John Ingles, wounded four +men, and captured twenty-two men, women, and children. Among the +captured was the famous Mrs. Mary Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, +was killed; but after being "carried away into Captivity, amongst whom +she was barbarously treated," according to her own statement, she +finally escaped and returned to Virginia. [50] The frontier continued to +be infested by marauding bands of French and Indians; and Dinwiddie +gloomily confessed to Dobbs (July 22d): "I apprehend that we shall +always be harrass'd with fly'g Parties of these Banditti unless we form +an Expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r Towns." [51] Such an +expedition, known as the Sandy River Expedition, had been sent out in +February to avenge the massacre of the New River settlers; but the +enterprise engaged in by about four hundred Virginians and Cherokees +under Major Andrew Lewis and Captain Richard Pearis, proved a disastrous +failure. Not a single Indian was seen; and the party suffered +extraordinary hardships and narrowly escaped starvation. [52] + +In conformity with his treaty obligations with the Catawbas, Governor +Dobbs commissioned Captain Hugh Waddell to erect the fort promised the +Catawbas at the spot chosen by the commissioners near the mouth of the +South Fork of the Catawba River. This fort, for which four thousand +pounds had been appropriated, was for the most part completed by +midsummer, 1757. But owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the +French and to the intermeddling of the South Carolina traders, who +desired to retain the trade of the Catawbas for that province, Oroloswa, +the Catawba King Heygler, sent a "talk" to Governor Lyttelton, +requesting that North Carolina desist from the work of construction and +that no fort be built except by South Carolina. Accordingly, Governor +Dobbs ordered Captain Waddell to discharge the workmen (August 11, +1757); [53] and every effort was made for many months thereafter to +conciliate the Catawbas, erstwhile friends of North Carolina. The +Catawba fort erected by North Carolina was never fully completed; and +several years later South Carolina, having succeeded in alienating the +Catawbas from North Carolina, which colony had given them the best +possible treatment, built for them a fort [54] at the mouth of Line +Creek on the east bank of the Catawba River. + +In the spring and summer of 1757 the long-expected Indian allies arrived +in Virginia, as many as four hundred by May--Cherokees, Catawbas, +Tuscaroras, and Nottaways. But Dinwiddie was wholly unable to use them +effectively; and in order to provide amusement for them, he directed +that they should go "a scalping" with the whites--"a barbarous method of +war," frankly acknowledged the governor, "introduced by the French, +which we are oblidged to follow in our own defense." Most of the Indian +allies discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the +remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the campaign +against Fort Duquesne. Three North Carolina companies, composed of +trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through this campaign +under the command of Major Hugh Waddell, the "Washington of North +Carolina." Long of limb and broad of chest, powerful, lithe, and active, +Waddell was an ideal leader for this arduous service, being fertile in +expedient and skilful in the employment of Indian tactics. With true +provincial pride Governor Dobbs records that Waddell "had great honor +done him, being employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and +acted as an Indian; and his sergeant, Rogers, took the only Indian +prisoner, who gave Mr. Forbes certain intelligence of the forces in Fort +Duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." This apparently trivial +incident is remarkable, in that it proved to be the decisive factor in a +campaign that was about to be abandoned. The information in regard to +the state of the garrison at Fort Duquesne, secured from the Indian, for +the capture of whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two +hundred and fifty pounds, emboldened Forbes to advance rather than to +retire. Upon reaching the fort (November 25th), he found it abandoned by +the enemy. Sergeant Rogers never received the reward promised by General +Forbes and the other English officer; but some time afterward he was +compensated by a modest sum from the colony of North Carolina. [55] + +A series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly the fault of the whites, +soon resulted in the precipitation of a terrible Indian outbreak. A +party of Cherokees, returning home in May, 1758, seized some stray +horses on the frontier of Virginia--never dreaming of any wrong, says an +old historian, as they saw it frequently done by the whites. The owners +of the horses, hastily forming a party, went in pursuit of the Indians +and killed twelve or fourteen of the number. The relatives of the slain +Indians, greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. [56] Nor was +the tactless conduct of Forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; for +when Atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in disgust at +the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by Forbes's orders, +apprehended and disarmed. [57] This rude treatment, coupled with the +brutal and wanton murder of some Cherokee hunters a little earlier, by +an irresponsible band of Virginians under Captain Robert Wade, still +further aggravated the Indians. [58] + +Incited by the French, who had fled to the southward after the fall of +Fort Duquesne, parties of bloodthirsty young Indians rushed down upon +the settlements and left in their path death and desolation along the +frontiers of the Carolinas. [59] On the upper branch of the Yadkin and +below the South Yadkin near Fort Dobbs twenty-two whites fell in swift +succession before the secret onslaughts of the savages from the lower +Cherokee towns. [60] Many of the settlers along the Yadkin fled to the +Carolina Fort at Bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff +of Rowan County suffered siege by the Cherokees, in his home, until +rescued by a detachment under Brother Loesch from Bethabara. While many +families took refuge in Fort Dobbs, frontiersmen under Captain Morgan +Bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of Salisbury and guarded +the settlements from the hostile incursions of the savages. So gravely +alarmed were the Rowan settlers, compelled by the Indians to desert +their planting and crops, that Colonel Harris was despatched post-haste +for aid to Cape Fear, arriving there on July 1st. With strenuous energy +Captain Waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies of +thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six swivel guns +and ammunition on before him; and these reinforcements brought relief at +last to the harassed Rowan frontiers. [61] During the remainder of the +year, the borders were kept clear by bold and tireless rangers--under +the leadership of expert Indian fighters of the stamp of Griffith +Rutherford and Morgan Bryan. + +When the Cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the North +Carolina border in April arrived at their town of Settiquo, they proudly +displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain Rowan settlers. Upon the +demand for these scalps by Captain Demere at Fort Loudon and under +direction of Atta-kulla-kulla, the Settiquo warriors surrendered eleven +of the scalps to Captain Demere who, according to custom in time of +peace, buried them. New murders on Pacolet and along the Virginia Path, +which occurred shortly afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it was +plain, says a contemporary gazette, that "the lower Cherokees were not +satisfied with the murder of the Rowan settlers, but intended further +mischief." [62] On October 1st and again on October 31st, Governor Dobbs +received urgent requests from Governor Lyttelton, asking that the North +Carolina provincials and militia coöperate to bring him assistance. +Although there was no law requiring the troops to march out of the +province and the exposed frontiers of North Carolina sorely needed +protection, Waddell, now commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five +small companies and marched to the aid of Governor Lyttelton. But early +in January, 1760, while on the march, Waddell received a letter from +Lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and that a +treaty of peace had been negotiated with the Cherokees. [63] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Crushing the Cherokees + +Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling strokes +given to the expiring power of France in North America. + +--Hewatt: An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies +of South Carolina and Georgia. 1779. + +Governor Lyttelton's treaty of "peace," negotiated with the Cherokees at +the close of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a crass and hideous +blunder. His domineering attitude and tyrannical treatment of these +Indians had aroused the bitterest animosity. Yet he did not realize that +it was no longer safe to trust their word. No sooner did the governor +withdraw his army from the borders than the cunning Cherokees, whose +passions had been inflamed by what may fairly be called the treacherous +conduct of Lyttelton, rushed down with merciless ferocity upon the +innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. On February 1, 1760, +while a large party (including the family of Patrick Calhoun), numbering +in all about one hundred and fifty persons, were removing from the Long +Cane settlement to Augusta, they were suddenly attacked by a hundred +mounted Cherokees, who slaughtered about fifty of them. After the +massacre, many of the children were found helplessly wandering in the +woods. One man alone carried to Augusta no less than nine of the pitiful +innocents, some horribly mutilated with the tomahawk, others scalped, +and all yet alive. + +Atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and many +people were slain. The Cherokees, under the leadership of Si-lou-ee, or +the Young Warrior of Estatoe, the Round O, Tiftoe, and others, were +baffled in their persistent efforts to capture Fort Prince George. On +February 16th the crafty Oconostota appeared before the fort and under +the pretext of desiring some white man to accompany him on a visit to +the governor on urgent business, lured the commander, Lieutenant +Coytomore, and two attendants to a conference outside the gates. At a +preconceived signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were +wounded, and Lieutenant Coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell dead. +Enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death the Indian +hostages within. During the abortive attack upon the fort, Oconostota, +unaware of the murder of the hostages, was heard shouting above the din +of battle: "Fight strong, and you shall be relieved." [64] + +Now began the dark days along the Rowan border, which were so sorely to +test human endurance. Many refugees fortified themselves in the +different stockades; and Colonel Hugh Waddell with his redoubtable +frontier company of Indian-fighters awaited the onslaught of the +savages, who were reported to have passed through the mountain defiles +and to be approaching along the foot-hills. The story of the investment +of Fort Dobbs and the splendidly daring sortie of Waddell and Bailey is +best told in Waddell's report to Governor Dobbs (February 29, 1760): + +For several Days I observed a small party of Indians were constantly +about the fort, I sent out several parties after them to no purpose, the +Evening before last between 8 & 9 o'clock I found by the Dogs making an +uncommon Noise there must be a party nigh a Spring which we sometimes +use. As my Garrison is but small, and I was apprehensive it might be a +scheme to draw out the Garrison, I took our Capt. Bailie who with myself +and party made up ten: We had not marched 300 yds. from the fort when we +were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party Orders +not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually observed: We +recd the Indians' fire: When I perceived they had almost all fired, I +ordered my party to fire which We did not further than 12 steps each +loaded with a Bullet and 7 Buck Shot, they had nothing to cover them as +they were advancing either to tomahawk us or make us Prisoners: They +found the fire very hot from so small a Number which a good deal +confused them: I then ordered my party to retreat, as I found the +Instant our skirmish began another party had attacked the fort, upon our +reinforcing the garrison the Indians were soon repulsed with I am sure a +considerable Loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can confide +in they cou'd not have less than 10 or 12 killed and wounded; The next +Morning we found a great deal of Blood and one dead whom I suppose they +cou'd not find in the night. On my side I had 2 Men wounded one of whom +I am afraid will die as he is scalped, the other is in way of Recovery, +and one boy killed near the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I +expected they would have paid me another visit last night, as they +attack all Fortifications by Night, but find they did not like their +Reception. [65] + +Alarmed by Waddell's "offensive-defensive," the Indians abandoned the +siege. Robert Campbell, Waddell's ranger, who was scalped in this +engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was recompensed +by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. [66] + +In addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies were now +placed under Waddell's command. Companies of volunteers scoured the +woods in search of the lurking Indian foe. These rangers, who were clad +in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, and who employed Indian tactics +in fighting, were captained by such hardy leaders as the veteran Morgan +Bryan, the intrepid Griffith Rutherford, the German partisan, Martin +Phifer (Pfeiffer), and Anthony Hampton, the father of General Wade +Hampton. They visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" erected +by the settlers--extending all the way from Fort Dobbs and the Moravian +fortifications in the Wachau to Samuel Stalnaker's stockade on the +Middle Fork of the Holston in Virginia. About the middle of March, +thirty volunteer Rowan County rangers encountered a band of forty +Cherokees, who fortified themselves in a deserted house near the Catawba +River. The famous scout and hunter, John Perkins, assisted by one of his +bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted torches upon +the roof. One of the Indians, as the smoke became suffocating and the +flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "Better for one to die bravely than for +all to perish miserably in the flames," and darting forth, dashed +rapidly hither and thither, in order to draw as many shots as possible. +This act of superb self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles +of the whites, who riddled the brave Indian with balls, were empty, the +other savages made a wild dash for liberty. Seven fell thus under the +deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. Ten of the Indians, all told, +lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were subsequently +paid one hundred pounds by the colony of North Carolina. [67] + +Beaten back from Fort Dobbs, sorely defeated along the Catawba, hotly +pursued by the rangers, the Cherokees continued to lurk in the shadows +of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to fall suddenly upon +wayfaring settlers and isolated cabins remote from any stronghold. On +March 8th William Fish, his son, and Thompson, a companion, were riding +along the "trace," in search of provisions for a group of families +fortified on the Yadkin, when a flight of arrows hurtled from the +cane-brake, and Fish and his son fell dead. Although pierced with two +arrows, one in the hip and one clean through his body, Thompson escaped +upon his fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally +reached the Carolina Fort at Bethabara. The good Dr. Bonn, by skilfully +extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved Thompson's life. The +pious Moravians rejoiced over the recovery of the brave messenger, whose +sensational arrival gave them timely warning of the close proximity of +the Indians. While feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush +by the lurking foe; and on March 11th, a family barricaded within a +burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, were +rescued in the nick of time by the militia. No episode from Fenimore +Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales surpasses in melancholy interest Harry +Hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on Bean Island Creek. +Surrounded by the Indians, Hicks and his family took refuge within the +small outer palisade around his humble home. Fighting desperately +against terrific odds, he was finally driven from his yard into his log +cabin, which he continued to defend with dauntless courage. With every +shot he tried to send a redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was +only after his powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, +beneath the deadly tomahawk. So impressed were the Indians by his +bravery that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and +these were afterward rescued by Waddell when he marched to the Cherokee +towns in 1761. [68] + +The kindly Moravians had always entertained with generous hospitality +the roving bands of Cherokees, who accordingly held them in much esteem +and spoke of Bethabara as "the Dutch Fort, where there are good people +and much bread." But now, in these dread days, the truth of their daily +text was brought forcibly home to the Moravians: "Neither Nehemiah nor +his brethren put off their clothes, but prayed as they watched." With +Bible in one hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of Wachovia +sternly marched to religious worship. No Puritan of bleak New England +ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the hard-won +outpost of civilization than did the pious Moravian of the Wachau. At +the new settlement of Bethania on Easter Day, more than four hundred +souls, including sixty rangers, listened devoutly to the eloquent sermon +of Bishop Spangenberg concerning the way of salvation--the while their +arms, stacked without the Gemein Haus, were guarded by the watchful +sentinel. On March 14th the watchmen at Bethania with well-aimed shots +repelled the Indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down +the wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves." Religion was no +protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to the +present site of Salem were set upon by the red men--one escaping, +another suffering capture, and the third, a Baptist, losing his life. A +little later word came to Fort Dobbs that John Long and Robert Gillespie +of Salisbury had been shot from ambush and scalped--Long having been +pierced with eight bullets and Gillespie with seven. [69] + +There is one beautiful incident recorded by the Moravians, which has a +truly symbolic significance. While the war was at its height, a strong +party of Cherokees, who had lost their chief, planned in retaliation to +attack Bethabara. "When they went home," sets forth the Moravian Diary, +"they said they had been to a great town, where there were a great many +people, where the bells rang often, and during the night, time after +time, a horn was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had +taken no prisoners." The trumpet of the watchman, announcing the passing +of the hour, had convinced the Indians that their plans for attack were +discovered; and the regular evening bell, summoning the pious to prayer, +rang in the stricken ears of the red men like the clamant call to arms. + +Following the retirement from office of Governor Lyttelton, +Lieutenant-Governor Bull proceeded to prosecute the war with vigor. On +April 1, 1760, twelve hundred men under Colonel Archibald Montgomerie +arrived at Charleston, with instructions to strike an immediate blow and +to relieve Fort Loudon, then invested by the Cherokees. With his own +force, two hundred and ninety-five South Carolina Rangers, forty picked +men of the new "levies," and "a good number of guides," Montgomerie +moved from Fort Ninety-Six on May 28th. On the first of June, crossing +Twelve-Mile River, Montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, +devastating and burning every Indian village in the Valley of Keowee, +killing and capturing more than a hundred of the Cherokees, and +destroying immense stores of corn. Receiving no reply to his summons to +the Cherokees of the Middle and Upper Towns to make peace or suffer like +treatment, Montgomerie took up his march from Fort Prince George on June +24th, resolved to carry out his threat. On the morning of the 27th, he +was drawn into an ambuscade within six miles of Et-chow-ee, eight miles +south of the present Franklin, North Carolina, a mile and a half below +Smith's Bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by some six +hundred and thirty warriors led by Si-lou-ee. Fighting with Indian +tactics, the Provincial Rangers under Patrick Calhoun particularly +distinguished themselves; and the blood-curdling yells of the painted +savages were responded to by the wild huzzas of the kilted Highlanders +who, waving their Scotch bonnets, impetuously charged the redskins and +drove them again and again from their lurking-places. Nevertheless +Montgomerie lost from eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while +the loss of the Indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the +whites. Unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing +his baggage, Montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. In so doing, he +acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon his original +intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of Fort Loudon. + +Captain Demere and his devoted little band, who had been resolutely +holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. After the bread was +exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the necessity of eating dogs and +horses; and the loyal aid of the Indian wives of some of the garrison, +who secretly brought them supplies of food daily, enabled them to hold +out still longer. Realizing at last the futility of prolonging the +hopeless contest, Captain Demere surrendered the fort on August 8, 1760. +At daylight the next morning, while on the march to Fort Prince George, +the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous Cherokees, who at the +first onset killed Captain Demere and twenty-nine others. A humane +chieftain, Outassitus, says one of the gazettes of the day, "went around +the field calling upon the Indians to desist, and making such +representations to them as stopped the further progress and effects of +their barbarous and brutal rage," which expressed itself in scalping and +hacking off the arms and legs of the defenseless whites. +Atta-kulla-kulla, who was friendly to the whites, claimed Captain +Stuart, the second officer, as his captive, and bore him away by +stealth. After nine days' journey through the wilderness they +encountered an advance party under Major Andrew Lewis, sent out by +Colonel Byrd, head of a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the +garrison who might effect their escape. Thus Stuart was restored to his +friends. This abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory lay +conclusively with the Indians, ended when Byrd disbanded his new levies +and Montgomerie sailed from Charleston for the north (August, 1760). + +During the remainder of the year, the province of North Carolina +remained free of further alarms from the Indians. But the view was +generally entertained that one more joint effort of North Carolina, +South Carolina, and Virginia would have to be made in order to humble +the Cherokees. At the sessions of the North Carolina Assembly in +November and again in December, matters in dispute between Governor +Dobbs and the representatives of the people made impossible the passage +of a proposed aid bill, providing for five hundred men to coöperate with +Virginia and South Carolina. Nevertheless volunteers in large numbers +patriotically marched from North Carolina to Charleston and the Congaree +(December, 1760, to April, 1761), to enlist in the famous regiment being +organized by Colonel Thomas Middleton. [70] On March 31, 1761, Governor +Dobbs called together the Assembly to act upon a letter received from +General Amherst, outlining a more vigorous plan of campaign appropriate +to the succession of a young and vigorous sovereign, George III. An aid +bill was passed, providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; +and one regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the +command of Colonel Hugh Waddell, was mustered into service for seven +months' duty, beginning May 1, 1761. [71] + +On July 7, 1761, Colonel James Grant, detached from the main army in +command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his march from +Fort Prince George. Attacked on June 10th two miles south of the spot +where Montgomerie was engaged the preceding year, Grant's army, after a +vigorous engagement lasting several hours, drove off the Indians. The +army then proceeded at leisure to lay waste the fifteen towns of the +Middle Settlements; and, after this work of systematic devastation was +over, returned to Fort Prince George. Peace was concluded in September +as the result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was +pushed seventy miles farther to the west. + +Meantime, Colonel Waddell with his force of five hundred North +Carolinians had acted in concert with Colonel William Byrd, commanding +the Virginia detachment. The combined forces went into camp at Captain +Samuel Stalnaker's old place on the Middle Fork of Holston. Because of +his deliberately dilatory policy, Byrd was superseded in the command by +Colonel Adam Stephen. Marching their forces to the Long Island of +Holston, Stephen and Waddell erected there Fort Robinson, in compliance +with the instructions of Governor Fauquier, of Virginia. The Cherokees, +heartily tired of the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, +independent of the treaty at Charleston, on November 19, 1761. + +The successful termination of this campaign had an effect of signal +importance in the development of the expansionist spirit. The rich and +beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the North Carolina and +Virginia pioneers under Waddell, Byrd, and Stephen, lured them +irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune and bolder explorations into +the unknown, beckoning West. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Land Companies + +It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as possible, +and that the granting them to men of the first consequence who were +likeliest and best able to procure large bodies of people to settle on +them was the most probable means of effecting the end proposed. + +--Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. + +Although for several decades the Virginia traders had been passing over +the Great Trading Path to the towns of the Cherokees and the Catawbas, +it was not until the early years of the eighteenth century that +Virginians of imaginative vision directed their eyes to the westward, +intent upon crossing the mountains and locating settlements as a firm +barrier against the imperialistic designs of France. Acting upon his +oft-expressed conviction that once the English settlers had established +themselves at the source of the James River "it would not be in the +power of the French to dislodge them," Governor Alexander Spotswood in +1716, animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led an expedition of +fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the mountains, arduously +ascended to the summit of the Blue Ridge, and claimed the country by +right of discovery in behalf of his sovereign. In the journal of John +Fontaine this vivacious account is given of the historic episode: "I +graved my name on a tree by the river side; and the Governor buried a +bottle with a paper enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of +this place in the name and for King George the First of England. We had +a good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all their +arms and we drank the King's health in Burgundy and fired a volley, and +all the rest of the Royal Family in claret and a volley. We drank the +Governor's health and fired another volley." + +By this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated by +presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him a golden +horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, Sic juvat transcendere montes, +Alexander Spotswood anticipated by a third of a century the more +ambitious expedition on behalf of France by Cèloron de Bienville (see +Chapter III), and gave a memorable object-lesson in the true spirit of +westward expansion. During the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the +minds of men of the stamp of William Byrd and Joshua Gee that there was +imperative need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the +trans-Alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing wave of +French influence and occupation. By the fifth decade of the century, as +we have seen, the Virginia settlers, with their squatter's claims and +tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the mountains; and great pressure was +brought to bear upon the council to issue grants for vast tracts of land +in the uncharted wilderness of the interior. + +At this period the English ministry adopted the aggressive policy +already mentioned in connection with the French and Indian war, +indicative of a determination to contest with France the right to occupy +the interior of the continent. This policy had been inaugurated by +Virginia with the express purpose of stimulating the adoption of a +similar policy by North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Two land companies, +organized almost simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries +necessary to settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to +discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best land in +the trans-Alleghany. + +In June, 1749, a great corporation, the Loyal Land Company of Virginia, +received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above the North +Carolina line and west of the mountains. Dr. Thomas Walker, an expert +surveyor, who in company with several other gentlemen had made a tour of +exploration through eastern Tennessee and the Holston region in 1748, +was chosen as the agent of this company. Starting from his home in +Albemarle County, Virginia, March 6, 1750, accompanied by five stalwart +pioneers, Walker made a tour of exploration to the westward, being +absent four months and one week. On this journey, which carried the +party as far west as the Rockcastle River (May 11th) and as far north as +the present Paintsville, Kentucky, they named many natural objects, such +as mountains and rivers, after members of the party. Their two principal +achievements were the erection of the first house built by white men +between the Cumberland Mountains and the Ohio River--a feat, however, +which led to no important developments; and the discovery of the +wonderful gap in the Alleghanies to which Walker gave the name +Cumberland, in honor of the ruthless conqueror at Culloden, the "bloody +duke." + +In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized by Colonel Thomas Lee, president +of the Virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of Virginia and +Maryland. In their petition for five hundred thousand acres, one of the +declared objects of the company was "to anticipate the French by taking +possession of that country southward of the Lakes to which the French +had no right...." By the royal order of May 19, 1749, the company was +awarded two hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and +the promise was made of an additional award of the remainder petitioned +for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon the original grant +and the building and maintaining of a fort. Christopher Gist, summoned +from his remote home on the Yadkin in North Carolina, was instructed "to +search out and discover the Lands upon the river Ohio & other adjoining +branches of the Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof." In +this journey, which began at Colonel Thomas Cresap's, in Maryland, in +October, 1750, and ended at Gist's home on May 18, 1751, Gist visited +the Lower Shawnee Town and the Lower Blue Licks, ascended Pilot Knob +almost two decades before Findlay and Boone, from the same eminence, +"saw with pleasure the beautiful level of Kentucky," intersected +Walker's route at two points, and crossed Cumberland Mountain at Pound +Gap on the return journey. This was a far more extended journey than +Walker's, enabling Gist to explore the fertile valleys of the Muskingum, +Scioto, and Miami rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of +Kentucky. [72] + +It is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was +inaugurating an era of land-hunger unparalleled in American history, +that the first authentic records of the trans-Alleghany were made by +surveyors who visited the country as the agents of great land companies. +The outbreak of the French and Indian War so soon afterward delayed for +a decade and more any important colonization of the West. Indeed, the +explorations and findings of Walker and Gist were almost unknown, even +to the companies they represented. But the conclusion of peace in 1763, +which gave all the region between the mountains and the Mississippi to +the British, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist +movement in the Old Southwest, and inaugurated the constructive +leadership of North Carolina in the occupation and colonization of the +imperial domain of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. + +In the middle years of the century many families of Virginia gentry +removed to the back country of North Carolina in the fertile region +ranging from Williamsborough on the east to Hillsborough on the west. +[73] There soon arose in this section of the colony a society marked by +intellectual distinction, social graces, and the leisured dignity of the +landlord and the large planter. So conspicuous for means, intellect, +culture, and refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance +of wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that Governor Josiah Martin, in +passing through this region some years later, significantly observes: +"They have great pre-eminence, as well with respect to soil and +cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the inhabitants, in +which last respect the difference is so great that one would be led to +think them people of another region." [74] This new wealthy class which +was now turning its gaze toward the unoccupied lands along the frontier +was "dominated by the democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the +aristocratic tendencies of slave-holding planters." [75] From the +cross-fertilization of the ideas of two social groups--this back-country +gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic instincts, +economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and the primitive +pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, responsive to +leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in execution--there evolved the +militant American expansion in the Old Southwest. + +A conspicuous figure in this society of Virginia emigrants was a young +man named Richard Henderson, whose father had removed with his family +from Hanover County, Virginia, to Bute, afterward Granville County, +North Carolina, in 1742. [76] Educated at home by a private tutor, he +began his career as assistant of his father, Samuel Henderson, the High +Sheriff of Granville County; and after receiving a law-license, quickly +acquired an extensive practice. "Even in the superior courts where +oratory and eloquence are as brilliant and powerful as in +Westminster-hall," records an English acquaintance, "he soon became +distinguished and eminent, and his superior genius shone forth with +great splendour, and universal applause." This young attorney, wedded to +the daughter of an Irish lord, often visited Salisbury on his legal +circuit; and here he became well acquainted with Squire Boone, one of +the "Worshipfull Justices," and often appeared in suits before him. By +his son, the nomadic Daniel Boone, conspicuous already for his solitary +wanderings across the dark green mountains to the sun-lit valleys and +boundless hunting-grounds beyond, Henderson was from time to time +regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales of western exploration; and +Boone, in his dark hour of poverty and distress, when he was heavily +involved financially, turned for aid to this friend and his partner, who +composed the law-firm of Williams and Henderson. [77] + +Boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the West stimulated +Henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the rich +possibilities of unoccupied lands there. While the Board of Trade in +drafting the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, forbade the granting +of lands in the vast interior, which was specifically reserved to the +Indians, it was clearly not their intention to set permanent western +limits to the colonies. [78] The prevailing opinion among the shrewdest +men of the period was well expressed by George Washington, who wrote his +agent for preëmpting western lands: "I can never look upon that +proclamation in any other light (but I say this between ourselves) than +as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the Indians." And again +in 1767: "It [the proclamation of 1763] must fall, of course, in a few +years, especially when those Indians consent to our occupying the lands. +Any person, therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting +out good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing them +for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, will never +regain it." Washington had added greatly to his holdings of bounty lands +in the West by purchasing at trivial prices the claims of many of the +officers and soldiers. Three years later we find him surveying extensive +tracts along the Ohio and the Great Kanawha, and, with the vision of the +expansionist, making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be +seated upon his own lands. Henderson, too, recognized the importance of +the great country west of the Appalachians. He agreed with the opinion +of Benjamin Franklin, who in 1756 called it "one of the finest in North +America for the extreme richness and fertility of the land, the healthy +temperature of the air and the mildness of the climate, the plenty of +hunting, fishing and fowling, the facility of trade with the Indians and +the vast convenience of inland navigation or water carriage." [79] +Henderson therefore proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose +of acquiring and colonizing a large domain in the West. This +partnership, which was entitled Richard Henderson and Company, was +composed of a few associates, including Richard Henderson, his uncle and +law-partner, John Williams, and, in all probability, their close friends +Thomas and Nathaniel Hart of Orange County, North Carolina, immigrants +from Hanover County, Virginia. + +Seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of peace, +the company engaged Daniel Boone as scout and surveyor. He was +instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to examine, +with respect to their location and fertility, the lands which he +visited, and to report his findings upon his return. The secret +expedition must have been transacted with commendable circumspection; +for although in after years it became common knowledge among his friends +that he had acted as the company's agent, Boone himself consistently +refrained from betraying the confidence of his employers. [80] Upon a +similar mission, Gist had carefully concealed from the suspicious +Indians the fact that he carried a compass, which they wittily termed +"land stealer"; and Washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land +agent Crawford, insisting that the operation be carried on under the +guise of hunting game. [81] The discreet Boone, taciturn and given to +keeping his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous +to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well known to +him, in order to secure the results of their information in regard to +the best lands they had encountered in the course of their hunting +expedition. Boone came among the hunters, known as the "Blevens +connection," at one of their Tennessee station camps on their return +from a long hunt in Kentucky, in order, as expressed in the quaint +phraseology of the period, to be "informed of the geography and +locography of these woods, saying that he was employed to explore them +by Henderson & Company." [82] The acquaintance which Boone on this +occasion formed with a member of the party, Henry Scaggs, the skilled +hunter and explorer, was soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward +Scaggs was employed as prospector by the same land company. In 1764 +Scaggs had passed through Cumberland Gap and hunted for the season on +the Cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of +Richard Henderson and Company, he was despatched on an extended +exploration to the lower Cumberland, fixing his station at the salt lick +afterward known as Mansker's Lick. [83] + +Richard Henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the Harts and others in an +enterprise which his own genius planned," says Peck, the personal +acquaintance and biographer of Boone, "and then encouraged several +hunters to explore the country and learn where the best lands lay." Just +why Henderson and his associates did not act sooner upon the reports +brought back by the hunters--Boone and Scaggs and Callaway, who +accompanied Boone in 1764 in the interest of the land company--is not +known; [84] but in all probability the fragmentary nature of these +reports, however glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause for the +delay of five years before the land company, through the agency of Boone +and Findlay, succeeded in having a thorough exploration made of the +Kentucky region. Delay was also caused by rival claims to the territory. +In the Virginia Gazette of December 1, 1768, Henderson must have read +with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that "the Six Nations and all +their tributaries have granted a vast extent of country to his majesty, +and the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous +boundary line between their hunting country and this, and the other +colonies to the Southward as far as the Cherokee River, for which they +received the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever +given at any conference since the settlement of America." The news was +now bruited about through the colony of North Carolina that the +Cherokees were hot in their resentment because the Northern Indians, the +inveterate foes of the Cherokees and the perpetual disputants for the +vast Middle Ground of Kentucky, had received at the Treaty of Fort +Stanwix, November 5, 1768, an immense compensation from the crown for +the territory which they, the Cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. +[85] Only three weeks before, John Stuart, Superintendent for Indian +Affairs in the Southern Department, had negotiated with the Cherokees +the Treaty of Hard Labor, South Carolina (October 14th), by which +Governor Tryon's line of 1767, from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, was +continued direct to Colonel Chiswell's mine, the present Wytheville, +Virginia, and thence in a straight line to the mouth of the Great +Kanawha. [86] Thus at the close of the year 1768 the crown through both +royal governor and superintendent of Indian affairs acknowledged in fair +and open treaty the right of the Cherokees, whose Tennessee villages +guarded the gateway, to the valley lands east of the mountain barrier as +well as to the dim mid-region of Kentucky. In the very act of +negotiating the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, Sir William Johnson privately +acknowledged that possession of the trans-Alleghany could be legally +obtained only by extinguishing the title of the Cherokees. [87] + +These conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the Indians and +the company's settlers. In the spring of 1769 occurred one of those +incidents in the westward advance which, though slight in itself, was to +have a definite bearing upon the course of events in later years. In +pursuance of his policy, as agent of the Loyal Land Company, of +promoting settlement upon the company's lands, Dr. Thomas Walker, who +had visited Powell's Valley the preceding year and come into possession +of a very large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party +of men including the Kirtleys, Captain Rucker, and others, and to +another party led by Joseph Martin, trader of Orange County, Virginia, +afterward a striking figure in the Old Southwest. The fevered race by +these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for possession of an early +"Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter band, who at once took possession +and began to clear; so that when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly +handed them "a letter from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got +to the valley first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were +not to interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with +the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat and +destroyed 23 deer--15 bears--2 buffaloes and a great quantity of +turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland who +desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The company +reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees, who, fortified by +the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this country within the +Indian reservation, were determined to drive Martin and his company out. +While hunting on the Cumberland River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, +Martin and his company were surrounded and disarmed by a party of +Cherokees who said they had orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob +all white men hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived +at their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and their +goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse but to return +to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until six years later that +Martin, under the stable influence of the Transylvania Company, was +enabled to return to this spot and erect there the station which was to +play an integral part in the progress of westward expansion. [88] + +Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under the +auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn back for a +moment and give some account of other hunters and explorers who visited +that territory between the time of its discovery by Walker and Gist and +the advent of Boone. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone + +The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of Virginia +& North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when they intended to +make a long Hunt (as they calld it) they Collected near the head of +Holston near whare Abingdon now stands.... + +--General William Hall. + +Before the coming of Walker and Gist in 1750 and 1751 respectively, the +region now called Kentucky had, as far as we know, been twice visited by +the French, once in 1729 when Chaussegros de Léry and his party visited +the Big Bone Lick, and again in the summer of 1749 when the Baron de +Longueuil with four hundred and fifty-two Frenchmen and Indians, going +to join Bienville in an expedition against "the Cherickees and other +Indians lying at the back of Carolina and Georgia," doubtless encamped +on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio. Kentucky was also traversed by John +Peter Salling with his three adventurous companions in their journey +through the Middle West in 1742. But all these early visits, including +the memorable expeditions of Walker and Gist, were so little known to +the general public that when John Filson wrote the history of Kentucky +in 1784 he attributed its discovery to James McBride in 1754. More +influential upon the course of westward expansion was an adventure which +occurred in 1752, the very year in which the Boones settled down in +their Yadkin home. + +In the autumn of 1752, a Pennsylvania trader, John Findlay, with three +or four companions, descended the Ohio River in a canoe as far as the +falls at the present Louisville, Kentucky, and accompanied a party of +Shawanoes to their town of Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of +what is now Winchester. This was the site of the "Indian Old Corn +Field," the Iroquois name for which ("the place of many fields," or +"prairie") was Ken-ta-ke, whence came the name of the state. Five miles +east of this spot, where still may be seen a mound and an ellipse +showing the outline of the stockade, is the famous Pilot Knob, from the +summit of which the fields surrounding the town lie visible in their +smooth expanse. During Findlay's stay at the Indian town other traders +from Pennsylvania and Virginia, who reported that they were "on their +return from trading with the Cuttawas (Catawbas), a nation who live in +the Territories of Carolina," assembled in the vicinity in January, +1753. Here, as the result of disputes arising from their barter, they +were set upon and captured by a large party of straggling Indians +(Coghnawagas from Montreal) on January 26th; but Findlay and another +trader named James Lowry were so fortunate as to escape and return +through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania settlements. [89] The +incident is of important historic significance; for it was from these +traders, who must have followed the Great Warriors' Path to the country +of the Catawbas, that Findlay learned of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Gap +traversed by the Indian path. His reminiscences--of this gateway to +Kentucky, of the site of the old Indian town on Lulbegrud Creek, a +tributary of the Red River, and of the Pilot Knob--were sixteen years +later to fire Boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the +Transylvania Company. + +During the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of the +savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east ranged +through the trans-Alleghany. But in 1761, a party of hunters led by a +rough frontiersman, Elisha Walden, penetrated into Powell's Valley, +followed the Indian trail through Cumberland Gap, explored the +Cumberland River, and finally reached the Laurel Mountain where, +encountering a party of Indians, they deemed it expedient to return. +With Walden went Henry Scaggs, afterward explorer for the Henderson Land +Company, William Blevens and Charles Cox, the famous Virginia hunters, +one Newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. Their itinerary may +be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of members of +the party--Walden's Mountain and Walden's Creek, Scaggs' Ridge and +Newman's Ridge. Following the peace of 1763, which made travel in this +region moderately safe once more, the English proceeded to occupy the +territory which they had won. In 1765 George Croghan with a small party, +on the way to prepare the inhabitants of the Illinois country for +transfer to English sovereignty, visited the Great Bone Licks of +Kentucky (May 30th, 31st); and a year later Captain Harry Gordon, chief +engineer in the Western Department in North America, visited and +minutely described the same licks and the falls. But these, and numerous +other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were kept, +though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing upon the +larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. + +The decade opening with the year 1765 is the epoch of bold and ever +bolder exploration--the more adventurous frontiersmen of the border +pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured on by the +excitements of the chase and the profit to be derived from the sale of +peltries. In midsummer, 1766, Captain James Smith, Joshua Horton, Uriah +Stone, William Baker, and a young mulatto slave passed through +Cumberland Gap, hunted through the country south of the Cherokee and +along the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and as Smith reports "found +no vestige of any white man." During the same year a party of five +hunters from South Carolina, led by Isaac Lindsey, penetrated the +Kentucky wilderness to the tributary of the Cumberland, named Stone's +River by the former party, for one of their number. Here they +encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western +pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic association +with the early settlement of Kentucky--James Harrod and Michael Stoner, +a German, both of whom had descended the Ohio from Fort Pitt. With the +year 1769 began those longer and more extended excursions into the +interior which were to result in conveying at last to the outside world +graphic and detailed information concerning "the wonderful new country +of Cantucky." In the late spring of this year Hancock and Richard Taylor +(the latter the father of President Zachary Taylor), Abraham +Hempinstall, and one Barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left their +homes in Orange County, Virginia, and hunted extensively in Kentucky and +Arkansas. Two of the party traveled through Georgia and East and West +Florida; while the other two hunted on the Washita during the winter of +1770-1. Explorations of this type became increasingly hazardous as the +animosity of the Indians increased; and from this time onward for a +number of years almost all the parties of roving hunters suffered +capture or attack by the crafty red men. In this same year Major John +McCulloch, living on the south branch of the Potomac, set out +accompanied by a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western +country. While passing down the Ohio from Pittsburgh McCulloch was +captured by the Indians near the mouth of the Wabash and carried to the +present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. Set free after four or five +months, he journeyed in company with some French voyageurs first to +Natchez and then to New Orleans, whence he made the sea voyage to +Philadelphia. Somewhat later, Benjamin Cleveland (afterward famous in +the Revolution), attended by four companions, set out from his home on +the upper Yadkin to explore the Kentucky wilderness. After passing +through Cumberland Gap, they encountered a band of Cherokees who +plundered them of everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and +ordered them to leave the Indian hunting-grounds. On their return +journey they almost starved, and Cleveland, who was reluctantly forced +to kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in after +years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. + +Fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by Uriah Stone, +a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto ventured +westward--including Uriah Stone as pilot, Gasper Mansker, John Rains, +the Bledsoes, and a dozen others--assembled in June, 1769, in the New +River region. "Each Man carried two horses," says an early pioneer in +describing one of these parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and +led, and a small hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the +purpose of fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." +Passing through Cumberland Gap, they continued their long journey until +they reached Price's Meadow, in the present Wayne County, Kentucky, +where they established their encampment. In the course of their +explorations, during which they gave various names to prominent natural +features, they established their "station camp" on a creek in Sumner +County, Tennessee, whence originated the name of Station Camp Creek. +Isaac Bledsoe and Gasper Mansker, agreeing to travel from here in +opposite directions along a buffalo trace passing near the camp, each +succeeded in discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his +name--namely Bledsoe's Lick and Mansker's Lick. The flat surrounding the +lick, about one hundred acres in extent, discovered by Bledsoe, +according to his own statement "was principally Covered with buffelows +in every direction--not hundreds but thousands." As he sat on his horse, +he shot down two deer in the lick; but the buffaloes blindly trod them +in the mud. They did not mind him and his horse except when the wind +blew the scent in their nostrils, when they would break and run in +droves. Indians often lurked in the neighbourhood of these +hunters--plundering their camp, robbing them, and even shooting down one +of their number, Robert Crockett, from ambush. After many trials and +vicissitudes, which included a journey to the Spanish Natchez and the +loss of a great mass of peltries when they were plundered by Piomingo +and a war party of Chickasaws, they finally reached home in the late +spring of 1770. [90] + +The most notable expedition of this period, projected under the auspices +of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in woodcraft, Joseph Drake +and Henry Scaggs, was organized in the early autumn of 1770. This +imposing band of stalwart hunters from the New River and Holston +country, some forty in number, garbed in hunting shirts, leggings, and +moccasins, with three pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, +traps, dogs, blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through Cumberland Gap +into the heart of what was later justly named the "Dark and Bloody +Ground" (see Chapter XIV)--"not doubting," says an old border +chronicler, "that they were to be encountered by Indians, and to subsist +on game." From the duration of their absence from home, they received +the name of the Long Hunters--the romantic appellation by which they are +known in the pioneer history of the Old Southwest. Many natural objects +were named by this party--in particular Dick's River, after the noted +Cherokee hunter, Captain Dick, who, pleased to be recognized by Charles +Scaggs, told the Long Hunters that on his river, pointing it out, they +would find meat plenty--adding with laconic significance: "Kill it and +go home." From the Knob Lick, in Lincoln County, as reported by a member +of the party, "they beheld largely over a thousand animals, including +buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild turkies scattered among +them; all quite restless, some playing, and others busily employed in +licking the earth.... The buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away +the soil, that they could, in places, go entirely underground." Upon the +return of a detachment to Virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to +remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon a long +exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling party of Indians +under Will Emery, a half-breed Cherokee. Two of the hunters were carried +into captivity and never heard of again; a third managed to escape. In +embittered commemoration of the plunder of the camp and the destruction +of the peltries, they inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, +this emphatic record, followed by their names: + +2300 Deer Skins lost Ruination by God [91] + +Undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued their +hunt in the direction of the lick which Bledsoe had discovered the +preceding year. Shortly after this discovery, a French voyageur from the +Illinois who had hunted and traded in this region for a decade, Timothé +de Monbreun, subsequently famous in the history of Tennessee, had +visited the lick and killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their +tallow and tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat +and descended the Cumberland. An early pioneer, William Hall, learned +from Isaac Bledsoe that when "the long hunters Crossed the ridge and +came down on Bledsoe's Creek in four or five miles of the Lick the Cane +had grown up so thick in the woods that they thought they had mistaken +the place until they Came to the Lick and saw what had been done.... One +could walk for several hundred yards a round the Lick and in the lick on +buffellows Skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the Lick was bleached +with buffellows bones, and they found out the Cause of the Canes growing +up so suddenly a few miles around the Lick which was in Consequence of +so many buffellows being killed." + +This expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of the +frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing many to settle +subsequently in the West--some in Tennessee, some in Kentucky. The +elaborate and detailed information brought back by Henry Scaggs exerted +an appreciable influence, no doubt, in accelerating the plans of Richard +Henderson and Company for the acquisition and colonization of the +trans-Alleghany. But while the "Long Hunters" were in Tennessee and +Kentucky the same region was being more extensively and systematically +explored by Daniel Boone. To his life, character, and attainments, as +the typical "long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now +turn our particular attention. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration + +Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; where +the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the distressed, +sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and adorations of our +Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the miserable abodes of savages, +we behold the foundations of cities laid, that, in all probability, will +equal the glory of the greatest upon earth. + +--Daniel Boone, 1784. + +The wandering life of a border Nimrod in a surpassingly beautiful +country teeming with game was the ideal of the frontiersman of the +eighteenth century. As early as 1728, while running the dividing line +between North Carolina and Virginia, William Byrd encountered along the +North Carolina frontier the typical figure of the professional hunter: +"a famous Woodsman, call'd Epaphroditus Bainton. This Forester Spends +all his time in ranging the Woods, and is said to make great Havock +among the Deer, and other Inhabitants of the Forest, not much wilder +than himself." By the middle of the century, as he was threading his way +through the Carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of the Yadkin +and Catawba country, Bishop Spangenberg found ranging there many +hunters, living like Indians, who killed thousands of deer each year and +sold the skins in the local markets or to the fur-traders from Virginia +whose heavy pack-trains with their tinkling bells constantly traversed +the course of the Great Trading Path. + +The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both as woodsman and +marksman, was proverbial along the border. The name of Daniel Boone +became synonymous with expert huntsmanship and almost uncanny wisdom in +forest lore. The bottoms of the creek near the Boone home, three miles +west of present Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which +dropped large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by +bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because Daniel and +his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine bears in a single +hunting-season. After living for a time with his young wife, Rebecca +Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, Daniel built a home of his own +upon a tract of land, purchased from his father on October 12, 1759, and +lying on Sugar Tree, a tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for +the next five years, with the exception of the period of his temporary +removal to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of +his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in +wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the +mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of 1760 +he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain region and +encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine hunting-grounds, in what +is now Washington County in east Tennessee. Of the scores of +inscriptions commemorative of his hunting-feats, which Boone with +pardonable pride was accustomed throughout his life-time to engrave with +his hunting-knife upon trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon +a leaning beech tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek +which since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and +enduring record in the history of American exploration: + + D. Boon + CillED A. BAR On + Tree + in The + yEAR + 1760 + +Late in the summer of the following year Boone marched under the command +of the noted Indian-fighter of the border, Colonel Hugh Waddell, in his +campaign against the Cherokees. From the lips of Waddell, who was +outspoken in his condemnation of Byrd's futile delays in road-cutting +and fort-building, Boone learned the true secret of success in Indian +warfare, which was lost upon Braddock, Forbes, and later St. Clair: that +the art of defeating red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected +blow, before they had time either to learn the strength of the force +employed against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful +ambuscade. + +In the late autumn of 1761, Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Gist, the son of +Washington's famous guide, who were both serving under Waddell, +temporarily detached themselves from his command and led a small party +on a "long hunt" in the Valley of the Holston. While encamping near the +site of Black's Fort, subsequently built, they were violently assailed +by a pack of fierce wolves which they had considerable difficulty in +beating off; and from this incident the locality became known as Wolf +Hills (now Abingdon, Virginia). [92] + +From this time forward Boone's roving instincts had full sway. For many +months each year he threaded his way through that marvelously beautiful +country of western North Carolina felicitously described as the +Switzerland of America. Boone's love of solitude and the murmuring +forest was surely inspired by the phenomenal beauties of the country +through which he roamed at will. Blowing Rock on one arm of a great +horseshoe of mountains and Tryon Mountain upon the other arm, overlooked +an enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad +eminences. There was the Pilot Mountain, the towering and isolated pile +which from time immemorial had served the aborigines as a guide in their +forest wanderings; there was the dizzy height of the Roan on the border; +there was Mt. Mitchell, portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on +the continent east of the Rockies; and there was the Grandfather, the +oldest mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been +written: + +Oldest of all terrestrial things--still holding + Thy wrinkled forehead high; +Whose every seam, earth's history enfolding, + Grim science doth defy! + +Thou caught'st the far faint ray from Sirius rising, + When through space first was hurled +The primal gloom of ancient voids surprising, + This atom, called the World! + +What more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the luxuriant +vegetation and lavish profusion of the gorgeous flowers upon the +mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and laurel, and the +azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of the water--the +cataract of Linville, taking its shimmering leap into the gorge, and +that romantic river poetically celebrated in the lines: + +Swannanoa, nymph of beauty, +I would woo thee in my rhyme, +Wildest, brightest, loveliest river +Of our sunny Southern clime. + • • • +Gone forever from the borders +But immortal in thy name, +Are the Red Men of the forest +Be thou keeper of their fame! +Paler races dwell beside thee, +Celt and Saxon till thy lands +Wedding use unto thy beauty-- +Linking over thee their hands. + +The long rambling excursions which Boone made through western North +Carolina and eastern Tennessee enabled him to explore every nook and +corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. Among the companions +and contemporaries with whom he hunted and explored the country were his +little son James and his brother Jesse; the Linville who gave the name +to the beautiful falls; Julius Cæsar Dugger, whose rock house stood near +the head of Elk Creek; and Nathaniel Gist, who described for him the +lofty gateway to Kentucky, through which Christopher Gist had passed in +1751. Boone had already heard of this gateway, from Findlay, and it was +one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to scale the +mountain wall of the Appalachians and to reach that high portal of the +Cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious new Eden beyond. Although +hunting was an endless delight to Boone he was haunted in the midst of +this pleasure, as was Kipling's Explorer, by the lure of the +undiscovered: + +Till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes +On one everlasting whisper day and night repeated--so: +'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges-- +'Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go.' + +Of Boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as +Richard Henderson and Company, an account has already been given; and +the delay in following them up has been touched on and in part +explained. Meanwhile Boone transferred his efforts for a time to another +field. Toward the close of the summer of 1765 a party consisting of +Major John Field, William Hill, one Slaughter, and two others, all from +Culpeper County, Virginia, visited Boone and induced him to accompany +them on the "long Journey" to Florida, whither they were attracted by +the liberal offer of Colonel James Grant, governor of the eastern +section, the Florida of to-day. On this long and arduous expedition they +suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little game, +and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. They explored Florida +from St. Augustine to Pensacola; and Boone, who relished fresh scenes +and a new environment, purchased a house and lot in Pensacola in +anticipation of removal thither. But upon his return home, finding his +wife unwilling to go, Boone once more turned his eager eye toward the +West, that mysterious and alluring region beyond the great range, the +fabled paradise of Kentucky. + +The following year four young men from the Yadkin, Benjamin Cutbird, +John Stewart (Boone's brother-in-law who afterwards accompanied him to +Kentucky), John Baker, and James Ward made a remarkable journey to the +westward, crossing the Appalachian mountain chain over some unknown +route, and finally reaching the Mississippi. The significance of the +journey, in its bearing upon westward expansion, inheres in the fact +that while for more than half a century the English traders from South +Carolina had been winning their way to the Mississippi along the lower +routes and Indian trails, this was the first party from either of the +Carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the Mississippi by +crossing the great mountain barrier. When Cutbird, a superb woodsman and +veritable Leatherstocking, narrated to Boone the story of his +adventures, it only confirmed Boone in his determination to find the +passage through the mountain chain leading to the Mesopotamia of +Kentucky. + +Such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. During 1766 and +1767 the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the ancestral +domain which the Indians reserved for their imperial hunting-preserve +aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the red men. Bloody reprisal +was often the sequel to such encroachment. The vast region of Tennessee +and the trans-Alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages +roamed at will. From time to time war parties of northern Indians, the +inveterate foes of the Cherokees, scouted through this no-man's land and +even penetrated into the western region of North Carolina, committing +murders and depredations upon the Cherokees and the whites +indiscriminately. During the summer of 1766, while Boone's friend and +close connection, Captain William Linville, his son John, and another +young man, named John Williams, were in camp some ten miles below +Linville Falls, they were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of +Northern Indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second +volley killed both the Linvilles and severely wounded Williams, who +after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements. [93] In +May, 1767, four traders and a half-breed child of one of them were +killed in the Cherokee country. In the summer of this year Governor +William Tryon of North Carolina laid out the boundary line of the +Cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation forbidding any +purchase of land from the Indians and any issuance of grants for land +within one mile of the boundary line. Despite this wise precaution, +seven North Carolina hunters who during the following September had +lawlessly ventured into the mountain region some sixty miles beyond the +boundary were fired upon, and several of them killed, by the resentful +Cherokees. [94] + +Undismayed by these signs of impending danger, undeterred even by the +tragic fate of the Linvilles, Daniel Boone, with the determination of +the indomitable pioneer, never dreamed of relinquishing his +long-cherished design. Discouraged by the steady disappearance of game +under the ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, Boone continued to +direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring the fair region of +Kentucky. The adventurous William Hill, to whom Boone communicated his +purpose, readily consented to go with him; and in the autumn of 1767 +Boone and Hill, accompanied, it is believed, by Squire Boone, Daniel's +brother, set forth upon their almost inconceivably hazardous expedition. +They crossed the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies, the Holston and Clinch +rivers near their sources, and finally reached the head waters of the +West Fork of the Big Sandy. Surmising from its course that this stream +must flow into the Ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the westward +and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a salt-spring in what +is now Floyd County, in the extreme eastern section of Kentucky. Here +Boone beheld great droves of buffalo that visited the salt-spring to +drink the water or lick the brackish soil. After spending the winter in +hunting and trapping, the Boones and Hill, discouraged by the forbidding +aspect of the hilly country which with its dense growth of laurel was +exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding +Kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the Yadkin. + +The account of Boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose must be +postponed to the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Daniel Boone in Kentucky + +He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San +Salvador; as Cortes, looking down from the crest of Ahualco, on the +Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nuñez, standing alone on the peak of Darien, +and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered waters of the +Pacific. + +--William Gilmore Simms: Views and Reviews. + +A chance acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, during the French and +Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, John Findlay, [95] was +the origin of Boone's cherished longing to reach the El Dorado of the +West. In this slight incident we may discern the initial inspiration for +the epochal movement of westward expansion. Findlay was a trader and +horse peddler, who had early migrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had +been licensed a trader with the Indians in 1747. During the same year he +was married to Elizabeth Harris, daughter of John Harris, the +Indian-trader at Harris's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, after whom +Harrisburg was named. During the next eight years Findlay carried on his +business of trading in the interior. Upon the opening of the French and +Indian War he was probably among "the young men about Paxtang who +enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in Braddock's +expedition. Over the camp-fires, during the ensuing campaign in 1765, +young Boone was an eager listener to Findlay's stirring narrative of his +adventures in the Ohio Valley and on the wonderfully beautiful levels of +Kentucky in 1752. The fancies aroused in his brooding mind by Findlay's +moving recital and his description of an ancient passage through the +Ouasioto or Cumberland Gap and along the course of the Warrior's Path, +inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring +promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's +paradise. + +Thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, thread, +and Irish linens in the Yadkin country, Findlay learned from the +Pennsylvania settlers at Salisbury or at the Forks of the Yadkin of +Boone's removal to the waters of the upper Yadkin. At Boone's rustic +home, in the winter of 1768-9, Findlay visited his old comrade-in-arms +of Braddock's campaign. On learning of Boone's failure during the +preceding year to reach the Kentucky levels by way of the inhospitable +Sandy region, Findlay again described to him the route through the +Ouasioto Gap traversed sixteen years before by Pennsylvania traders in +their traffic with the Catawbas. Boone, as we have seen, knew that +Christopher Gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper Yadkin, +had found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had +never been able to discover the passage. Findlay's renewed descriptions +of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in Kentucky, the great +salt-licks where they congregated, the abundance of bears, deer, and elk +with which the country teemed, the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, +geese, and ducks, aroused in Boone the hunter's passion for the chase; +while the beauty of the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the +Irishman, inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country +which had, as John Filson records, "greatly engaged Mr. Findlay's +attention." + +In the comprehensive designs of Henderson, now a judge, for securing a +graphic report of the trans-Alleghany region in behalf of his land +company, Boone divined the means of securing the financial backing for +an expedition of considerable size and ample equipment. [96] In numerous +suits for debt, aggregating hundreds of dollars, which had been +instituted against Boone by some of the leading citizens of Rowan, +Williams and Henderson had acted as Boone's attorneys. In order to +collect their legal fees, they likewise brought suit against Boone; but +not wishing to press the action against the kindly scout who had +hitherto acted as their agent in western exploration, they continued the +litigation from court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions +performed" on behalf of Boone, during his unbroken absence, by his +attorney in this suit, Alexander Martin. [97] Summoned to appear in 1769 +at the March term of court at Salisbury, Boone seized upon the occasion +to lay before Judge Henderson the designs for a renewed and extended +exploration of Kentucky suggested by the golden opportunity of securing +the services of Findlay as guide. Shortly after March 6th, when Judge +Henderson reached Salisbury, the conference, doubtless attended by John +Stewart, Boone's brother-in-law, John Findlay, and Boone, who were all +present at this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of +devising ways and means for the expedition. Peck, the only reliable +contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many facts from +Boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws the conclusion +(1847): "Daniel Boone was engaged as the master spirit of this +exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity entire confidence +could be reposed.... He was known to Henderson and encouraged by him to +make the exploration, and to examine particularly the whole country +south of the Kentucky--or as then called the Louisa River." [98] As +confidential agent of the land company, Boone carried with him letters +and instructions for his guidance upon this extended tour of +exploration. [99] + +On May 1, 1769, with Findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of his +neighbors, John Stewart, a skilled woodsman, Joseph Holden, James +Mooney, and William Cooley, Boone left his "peaceable habitation" on the +upper Yadkin and began his historic journey "in quest of the country of +Kentucky." Already heavily burdened with debts, Boone must have incurred +considerable further financial obligations to Judge Henderson and +Colonel Williams, acting for the land company, in order to obtain the +large amount of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. Each +of the adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and +behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, and +cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the wilderness. +In Powell's Valley they doubtless encountered the party led thither by +Joseph Martin (see Chapter VII), and there fell into the "Hunter's +Trail" commented on in a letter written by Martin only a fortnight +before the passing of Boone's cavalcade. Crossing the mountain at the +Ouasioto Gap, they made their first "station camp" in Kentucky on the +creek, still named after that circumstance, on the Red Lick Fork. After +a preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, Findlay led +the party to his old trading-camp at Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, where then +(June 7, 1769) remained but charred embers of the Indian huts, with some +of the stockading and the gate-posts still standing. In Boone's own +words, he and Findlay at once "proceeded to take a more thorough survey +of the country"; and during the autumn and early winter, encountering on +every hand apparently inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the +ever-changing beauties of the country, the various members of the party +made many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as +base. On December 22, 1769, while engaged in a hunt, Boone and Stewart +were surprised and captured by a large party of Shawanoes, led by +Captain Will, who were returning from the autumn hunt on Green River to +their villages north of the Ohio. Boone and Stewart were forced to pilot +the Indians to their main camp, where the savages, after robbing them of +all their peltries and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and +little ammunition, set off to the northward. They left, on parting, this +menacing admonition to the white intruders: "Now, brothers, go home and +stay there. Don't come here any more, for this is the Indians' +hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are ours. If you +are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be sure the wasps and +yellow jackets will sting you severely." + +Chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, Boone and Stewart for +two days pursued the Indians in hot haste. Finally approaching the +Indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, they secured two of the +horses, upon which they fled at top speed. In turn they were immediately +pursued by a detachment of the Indians, mounted upon their fleetest +horses; and suffered the humiliation of recapture two days later. +Indulging in wild hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, +the Indians took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about +Boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished tomahawks to +caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the while with the +derisive query, uttered in broken English: "Steal horse, eh?" With as +good grace as they could summon--wry smiles at best--Boone and Stewart +patiently endured these humiliations, following the Indians as captives. +Some days later (about January 4, 1770), while the vigilance of the +Indians was momentarily relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a +dense cane-brake and in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting +their escape. Finding their camp deserted upon their return, Boone and +Stewart hastened on and finally overtook their companions. Here Boone +was both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother Squire, loaded +down with supplies. Having heard nothing from Boone, the partners of the +land company had surmised that he and his party must have run short of +ammunition, flour, salt, and other things sorely needed in the +wilderness; and because of their desire that the party should remain, in +order to make an exhaustive exploration of the country, Squire Boone had +been sent to him with supplies. [100] Findlay, Holden, Mooney, and +Cooley returned to the settlements; but Stewart, Squire Boone, and +Alexander Neely, who had accompanied Squire, threw in their lot with the +intrepid Daniel, and fared forth once more to the stirring and bracing +adventures of the Kentucky wilderness. In Daniel Boone's own words, he +expected "from the furs and peltries they had an opportunity of taking +... to recruit his shattered circumstances; discharge the debts he had +contracted by the adventure; and shortly return under better auspices, +to settle the newly discovered country." [101] + +Boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of the Red +River, and soon provided themselves, against the hardships of the long +winter, with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, dried buffalo tongues, +fresh meat, and marrow-bones as food, and buffalo robes and bearskins as +shelter from the inclement weather. Neely had brought with him, to while +away dull hours, a copy of "Gulliver's Travels"; and in describing +Neely's successful hunt for buffalo one day, Boone in after years +amusingly deposed: "In the year 1770 I encamped on Red River with five +other men, and we had with us for our amusement the History of Samuel +Gulliver's Travels, wherein he gave an account of his young master, +Glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to a town called +Lulbegrud. A young man of our company called Alexander Neely came to +camp and told us he had been that day to Lulbegrud, and had killed two +Brobdignags in their capital." [102] Far from unlettered were pioneers +who indulged together in such literary chat and gave to the near-by +creek the name (after Dean Swift's Lorbrulgrud) of Lulbegrud which name, +first seen on Filson's map of Kentucky (1784), it bears to this day. +From one of his long, solitary hunts Stewart never returned; and it was +not until five years later, while cutting out the Transylvania Trail, +that Boone and his companions discovered, near the old crossing at +Rockcastle, Stewart's remains in a standing hollow sycamore. The +wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. + +The close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the +Boones, after Neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, +hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport Daniel +particularly excelled. Owing to the drain upon their ammunition, Squire +was at length compelled to return to the settlements for supplies; and +Daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to complete his +explorations for the land company, must often have shared the feelings +of Balboa as, from lofty knob or towering ridge, he gazed over the waste +of forest which spread from the dim outlines of the Alleghanies to the +distant waters of the Mississippi. He now proceeded to make those +remarkable solitary explorations of Kentucky which have given him +immortality--through the valley of the Kentucky and the Licking, and +along the "Belle Rivière" (Ohio) as low as the falls. He visited the Big +Bone Lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the mammoth found +there. Along the great buffalo roads, worn several feet below the +surface of the ground, which led to the Blue Licks, he saw with +amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy buffalo gamboling, +bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath the trampling of their +hooves. One day, while upon a cliff near the junction of the Kentucky +and Dick's Rivers, he suddenly found himself hemmed in by a party of +Indians. Seizing his only chance of escape, he leaped into the top of a +maple tree growing beneath the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty +feet below, made his escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of +guttural "Ughs" from the dumbfounded savages. + +Finally making his way back to the old camp, Daniel was rejoined there +by Squire on July 27, 1770. During the succeeding months, much of their +time was spent in hunting and prospecting in Jessamine County, where two +caves are still known as Boone's caves. Eventually, when ammunition and +supplies had once more run low, Squire was compelled a second time to +return to the settlements. Perturbed after a time by Squire's failure to +rejoin him at the appointed time, Daniel started toward the settlements, +in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him along +the trail. Overjoyed at this meeting (December, 1770) the indomitable +Boones once more plunged into the wilderness, determined to conclude +their explorations by examining the regions watered by the Green and +Cumberland rivers and their tributaries. In after years, Gasper Mansker, +the old German scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the +consternation created among the Long Hunters, while hunting one day on +Green River, by a singular noise which they could not explain. +Stealthily slipping from tree to tree, Mansker finally beheld with +mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bare-headed, stretched flat +upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, singing merrily at the +top of his voice! It was Daniel Boone, joyously whiling away the +solitary hours in singing one of his favorite songs of the border. In +March, 1771, after spending some time in company with the Long Hunters, +the Boones, their horses laden with furs, set their faces homeward. On +their return journey, near Cumberland Gap, they had the misfortune to be +surrounded by a party of Indians who robbed them of their guns and all +their peltries. With this humiliating conclusion to his memorable tour +of exploration, Daniel Boone, as he himself says, "once more reached +home after experiencing hardships which would defy credulity in the +recital." [103] + +Despite the hardships and the losses, Boone had achieved the ambition of +years: he had seen Kentucky, which he "esteemed a second paradise." The +reports of his extended explorations, which he made to Judge Henderson, +were soon communicated to the other partners of the land company; and +their letters of this period, to one another, bristle with glowing and +minute descriptions of the country, as detailed by their agent. Boone +was immediately engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the +Cherokees confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or +sell the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-Alleghany. [104] The +high hopes of Henderson and his associates at last gave promise of +brilliant realization. Daniel Boone's glowing descriptions of Kentucky +excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, the "spirit of +an enterprise which in point of magnitude and peril, as well as +constancy and heroism displayed in its execution, has never been +paralleled in the history of America." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +The Regulators + +It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but if he +has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one cow to give a +little milk for his children, they must all go to raise money which is +not to be had. And lastly if his personal estate (sold at one tenth of +its value) will not do, then his lands (which perhaps has cost him many +years of toil and labour) must go the same way to satisfy these cursed +hungry caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our +Commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a very +short time. + +--George Sims: A Serious Address to the Inhabitants of Granville County, +containing an Account of our deplorable Situation we suffer ... and some +necessary Hints with Respect to a Reformation. June 6, 1765. + +It is highly probable that even at the time of his earlier explorations +in behalf of Richard Henderson and Company, Daniel Boone anticipated +speedy removal to the West. Indeed, in the very year of his first tour +in their interest, Daniel and his wife Rebeckah sold all their property +in North Carolina, consisting of their home and six hundred and forty +acres of land, and after several removals established themselves upon +the upper Yadkin. This removal and the later western explorations just +outlined were due not merely to the spirit of adventure and discovery. +Three other causes also were at work. In the first place there was the +scarcity of game. For fifteen years the shipments of deerskins from +Bethabara to Charleston steadily increased; and the number of skins +bought by Gammern, the Moravian storekeeper, ran so high that in spite +of the large purchases made at the store by the hunters he would +sometimes run entirely out of money. Tireless in the chase, the +far-roaming Boone was among "the hunters, who brought in their skins +from as far away as the Indian lands"; and the beautiful upland pastures +and mountain forests, still teeming with deer and bear, doubtless lured +him to the upper Yadkin, where for a time in the immediate neighborhood +of his home abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. Certainly +the deer and other game, which were being killed in enormous numbers to +satisfy the insatiable demand of the traders at Salisbury, the Forks, +and Bethabara, became scarcer and scarcer; and the wild game that was +left gradually fled to the westward. Terrible indeed was the havoc +wrought among the elk; and it was reported that the last elk was killed +in western North Carolina as early as 1781. + +Another grave evil of the time with which Boone had to cope in the back +country of North Carolina was the growth of undisguised outlawry, +similar to that found on the western plains of a later era. This +ruthless brigandage arose as the result of the unsettled state of the +country and the exposed condition of the settlements due to the Indian +alarms. When rude borderers, demoralized by the enforced idleness +attendant upon fort life during the dark days of Indian invasion, +sallied forth upon forays against the Indians, they found much valuable +property--horses, cattle, and stock--left by their owners when hurriedly +fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. The temptations +thus afforded were too great to resist; and the wilder spirits of the +backwoods, with hazy notions of private rights, seized the property +which they found, slaughtered the cattle, sold the horses, and +appropriated to their own use the temporarily abandoned household goods +and plantation tools. The stealing of horses, which were needed for the +cultivation of the soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves +beyond the reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and +was carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and +acting in collusive concert. + +Toward the end of July, 1755, when the Indian outrages upon the New +River settlements in Virginia had frightened away all the families at +the Town Fork in the Yadkin country, William Owen, a man of Welsh stock, +who had settled in the spring of 1752 in the upper Yadkin near the +Mulberry Fields, was suspected of having robbed the storekeeper on the +Meho. Not long afterward a band of outlaws who plundered the exposed +cabins in their owners' absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain +region in the rear of the Yadkin settlements, where they stored their +ill-gotten plunder and made themselves secure from attack. Other members +of the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their robber +friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious projects of +theft and rapine. + +The entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations of the +outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the Yadkin country organized +under the name of Regulators to break up the outlaw band. When it was +discovered that Owen, who was well known at Bethabara, had allied +himself with the highwaymen, one of the justices summoned one hundred +men; and seventy, who answered the call, set forth on December 26, 1755, +to seek out the outlaws and to destroy their fortress. Emboldened by +their success, the latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl +of the settlements. Daniel Boone placed himself at the head of one of +the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her +rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release of the +frightened maiden. One of the robbers was apprehended and brought to +Salisbury, where he was thrown into prison for his crimes. Meanwhile a +large amount of plunder had been discovered at the house of one +Cornelius Howard; and the evidences of his guilt so multiplied against +him that he finally confessed his connection with the outlaw band and +agreed to point out their fort in the mountains. + +Daniel Boone and George Boone joined the party of seventy men, sent out +by the colonial authorities, under the guidance of Howard, to attack the +stronghold of the bandits. Boone afterward related that the robbers' +fort was situated in the most fitly chosen place for such a purpose that +he could imagine--beneath an overhanging cliff of rock, with a large +natural chimney, and a considerable area in front well stockaded. The +frontiersmen surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven +children, and then burned the fort to the ground. Owen and his wife, +Cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; but +Harman and the remainder of the band escaped by flight. Owen and his +fellow captives were then borne to Salisbury, incarcerated in the prison +there, and finally (May, 1756) condemned to the gallows. Owen sent word +to the Moravians, petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to +apprentice one to a tailor, the other to a carpenter. But so infuriated +was Owen's wife by Howard's treachery that she branded him as a second +Judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "Judas" Howard--a +sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year later he was +ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of a stream. He thus +paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw band. For a number of +years, the Regulators continued to wage war against the remaining +outlaws, who from time to time committed murders as well as thefts. As +late as January, 1768, the Regulators caught a horse thief in the +Hollows of Surry County and brought him to Bethabara, whence Richter and +Spach took him to the jail at Salisbury. After this year, the outlaws +were heard of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. + +Colonel Edmund Fanning--of whom more anon--declared that the Regulation +began in Anson County which bordered upon South Carolina. [105] Certain +it is that the upper country of that province was kept in an uproar by +civil disturbances during this early period. Owing to the absence of +courts in this section, so remote from Charleston, the inhabitants found +it necessary, for the protection of property and the punishment of +outlaws, to form an association called, like the North Carolina society, +the Regulation. Against this association the horse thieves and other +criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from certain +more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of the +Regulators." The Regulation which had been thus organized in upper South +Carolina as early as 1764 led to tumultuous risings of the settlers; and +finally in the effort to suppress these disorders, the governor, Lord +Charles Montagu, appointed one Scovil, an utterly unworthy +representative, to carry out his commands. After various disorders, +which became ever more unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a +crisis (1769) as the result of the high-handed proceedings of Scovil, +who promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the Regulators he +could lay hands on. In the month of March the back country rose in +revolt against Scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on the point +of attacking the force under his command when an eleventh-hour letter +arrived from Montagu, dismissing Scovil from office. Thus was happily +averted, by the narrowest of margins, a threatened precursor of the +fight at Alamance in 1771 (see Chapter XII). As the result of the +petition of the Calhouns and others, courts were established in 1760, +though not opened until four years later. Many horse thieves were +apprehended, tried, and punished. Justice once more held full sway. + +Another important cause for Boone's removal from the neighborhood of +Salisbury into the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive administration +of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and tax-gatherers, and the +dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters with the owners of the soil. +At the close of the year 1764 reports reached the town of Wilmington, +after the adjournment of the assembly in November, of serious +disturbances in Orange County, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant +exactions of the clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. [106] As +a result of this disturbing news, Governor Dobbs issued a proclamation +forbidding any officer to take illegal fees. Troubles had been brewing +in the adjacent county of Granville ever since the outbreak of the +citizens against Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent (January 24, +1759), and the issuance of the petition of Reuben Searcy and others +(March 23d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees taken and +injustices practised by Robert (Robin) Jones, the famous lawyer. These +disturbances were cumulative in their effect; and the people at last +(1765) found in George Sims, of Granville, a fit spokesman of their +cause and a doughty champion of popular rights. In his "Serious Address +to the Inhabitants of Granville County, containing an Account of our +deplorable Situation we suffer ... and some necessary Hints with Respect +to a Reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a crushing +indictment of the clerk of the county court, Samuel Benton, the +grandfather of Thomas Hart Benton. After describing in detail the system +of semi-peonage created by the merciless exactions of lawyers and petty +court officials, and the insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry +caterpillars," Sims with rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull +them down from their nests for the salvation of the Commonwealth. [107] + +Other abuses were also recorded. So exorbitant was the charge for a +marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler records: "The +consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the head-waters of the +Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other for better or for worse; +and considered themselves as married without further ceremony." The +extraordinary scarcity of currency throughout the colony, especially in +the back country, was another great hardship and a perpetual source of +vexation. All these conditions gradually became intolerable to the +uncultured but free-spirited men of the back country. Events were slowly +converging toward a crisis in government and society. Independent in +spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not only against +excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and extortionate fees, but also +against the rapacious practices of the agents of Lord Granville. These +agents industriously picked flaws in the titles to the lands in +Granville's proprietary upon which the poorer settlers were seated; and +compelled them to pay for the land if they had not already done so, or +else to pay the fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only +remedy of the alleged defect in their titles. In Mecklenburg County the +spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the proprietary +agents. Acting under instructions to survey and close bargains for the +lands or else to eject those who held them, Henry Eustace McCulloh, in +February, 1765, went into the county to call a reckoning. The settlers, +many of whom had located without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering +to buy only at their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out +the holdings when this smaller price was declined. They not only +terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to pay +the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared that they +would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment proceedings. On May 7th +an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by Thomas Polk, set upon John +Frohock, Abraham Alexander, and others, as they were about to survey a +parcel of land, and gave them a severe thrashing, even threatening the +young McCulloh with death. [108] + +The choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with Francis +Bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. Especial objects of +their animosity were the brothers Frohock, John and Thomas, the latter +clerk of the court at Salisbury, and Edmund Fanning, a cultured +gentleman-adventurer, associate justice of the superior court. So +rapacious and extortionate were these vultures of the courts who preyed +upon the vitals of the common people, that they were savagely lampooned +by Rednap Howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the Regulation. The +temper of the back country is well caught in Howell's lines anent this +early American "grafter," the favorite of the royal governor: + +When Fanning first to Orange came, + He looked both pale and wan; +An old patched coat was on his back, + An old mare he rode on. + +Both man and mare wan't worth five pounds, + As I've been often told; +But by his civil robberies, + He's laced his coat with gold. [109] + +The germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade were thus +working among the people of the back country. If the tense nervous +energy of the American people is the transmitted characteristic of the +border settlers, who often slept with loaded rifle in hand in grim +expectation of being awakened by the hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, +and the lurid firebrand of the savage, the very buoyancy of the national +character is in equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded +on a freehold inheritance of land." The desire for free land was the +fundamental factor in the development of the American democracy. No +colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did North Carolina in +the turbulent days of the Regulation. The North Carolina frontiersmen +resented the obligation to pay quit-rents and firmly believed that the +first occupant of the soil had an indefeasible right to the land which +he had won with his rifle and rendered productive by the implements of +toil. Preferring the dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of +tribute to absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial +government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle rather than +in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his obligations to the +owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Watauga--Haven of Liberty + +The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore quitted +the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle of Alamance and +to my knowledge a great many more are only waiting to dispose of their +plantations in order to follow them. + +--Reverend Morgan Edwards, 1772. + +The five years (1766-1771) which saw the rise, development, and ultimate +defeat of the popular movement known as the Regulation, constitute a +period not only of extraordinary significance in North Carolina but also +of fruitful consequences in the larger movements of westward expansion. +With the resolute intention of having their rulers "give account of +their stewardship," to employ their own words, the Sandy Creek +Association of Baptists (organized in 1758), in a series of papers known +as Regulators' Advertisements (1766-8) proceeded to mature, through +popular gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. At +length, discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to +bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this +association ceased actively to function. It was the precursor of a +movement of much more drastic character and formidable proportions, +chiefly directed against Colonel Edmund Fanning and his associates. This +movement doubtless took its name, "the Regulation," from the bands of +men already described who were organized first in North Carolina and +later in South Carolina, to put down highwaymen and to correct many +abuses in the back country, such as the tyrannies of Scovil and his +henchmen. Failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal +channels, the Regulators finally made such a powerful demonstration in +support of their refusal to pay taxes that Governor William Tryon of +North Carolina, in 1768, called out the provincial militia, and by +marching with great show of force through the disaffected regions, +succeeded temporarily in overawing the people and thus inducing them to +pay their assessments. [110] + +The suits which had been brought by the Regulators against Edmund +Fanning, register, and Francis Nash, clerk, of Orange County, resulted +in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." [111] Fanning +immediately resigned his commission as register; while Nash, who in +conjunction with Fanning had fairly offered in 1766 to refund to any one +aggrieved any fee charged by him which the Superior Court might hold +excessive, gave bond for his appearance at the next court. Similar suits +for extortion against the three Frohocks in Rowan County in 1769 met +with failure, however; and this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of +the Regulators, as recorded by Herman Husband in his "Impartial +Relation." During this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the +people, who felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their +inability to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices +from the bench and threatening court officials with violence. + +An Impartial +RELATION +of the +First Rise and Cause +of the +Recent DIFFERENCES, +in +Publick AFFAIRS, + +In the Province of North-Carolina; and of the past Tumults and Riots +that lately happened in that Province. + +Containing most of the true and genuine Copies of Letters, Messages and +Remonstrances, between the Parties contending:------By which any +impartial Man may easily gather and see the true Ground and Reasons of +the dissatisfaction that universally reigns all over said Province in +more or less Degree. + +Printed for the Compiler, 1770. + +At the session of the Superior Court at Hillsborough, September 22, +1770, an elaborate petition prepared by the Regulators, demanding +unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes by the sheriffs, +was handed to the presiding justice by James Hunter, a leading +Regulator. This justice was our acquaintance, Judge Richard Henderson, +of Granville County, the sole high officer in the provincial government +from the entire western section of the colony. In this petition occur +these trenchant words: "As we are serious and in good earnest and the +cause respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to +enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a few men +who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has a feeling and +knows when he has justice done him as well as the most learned." [112] +On the following Monday (September 24th), upon convening of court, some +one hundred and fifty Regulators, led by James Hunter, Herman Husband, +Rednap Howell, and others, armed with clubs, whips, and cudgels, surged +into the court-room and through their spokesman, Jeremiah Fields, +presented a statement of their grievances. "I found myself," says Judge +Henderson, "under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the +fury of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such +could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve the +little remaining dignity of the court." [113] + +During an interim, in which the Regulators retired for consultation, +they fell without warning upon Fanning and gave him such rough treatment +that he narrowly escaped with his life. The mob, now past control, +horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers and citizens gathered there at +court, and treated others, notably the courtly Mr. Hooper of Boston, +"with every mark of contempt and insult." Judge Henderson was assured by +Fields that no harm should come to him provided he would conduct the +court in accordance with the behest of the Regulators: namely, that no +lawyer, save the King's Attorney, should be admitted to the court, and +that the Regulators' cases should be tried with new jurors chosen by the +Regulators. With the entire little village terrorized by this campaign +of "frightfulness," and the court wholly unprotected, Judge Henderson +reluctantly acknowledged to himself that "the power of the judiciary was +exhausted." Nevertheless, he says, "I made every effort in my power +consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to claim +to preserve peace and good order." [114] Agreeing under duress to resume +the session the following day, the judge ordered an adjournment. But +being unwilling, on mature reflection, to permit a mockery of the court +and a travesty of justice to be staged under threat and intimidation, he +returned that night to his home in Granville and left the court +adjourned in course. Enraged by the judge's escape, the Regulators took +possession of the court-room the following morning, called over the +cases, and in futile protest against the conditions they were powerless +to remedy, made profane entries which may still be seen on the record: +"Damned rogues," "Fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "Negroes not +worth a damn, Cost exceeds the whole," "Hogan pays and be damned," and, +in a case of slander, "Nonsense, let them argue for Ferrell has gone +hellward." [115] + +The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly educated +people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to secure justice +and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest lawyers of the county +courts, now gave place to open anarchy and secret incendiarism. [116] In +the dead of night, November 12th and 14th, Judge Henderson's barn, +stables, and dwelling house were fired by the Regulators and went up in +flames. Glowing with a sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by +fanatical agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only +upon their oppressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring +them--men of the stamp of William Hooper, afterward signer of the +Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, afterward governor and +United States Senator, and Richard Henderson, popular representative of +the back country and a firm champion of due process of law. It is +perhaps not surprising in view of these events that Governor Tryon and +the ruling class, lacking a sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to +the oppressed people, seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that +a widespread insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and +property, but also civil government itself. The governor called out the +militia of the province and led an army of well-nigh one thousand men +and officers against the Regulators, who had assembled at Alamance to +the number of two thousand. Tryon stood firm upon the demands that the +people should submit to government and disperse at a designated hour. +The Regulators, on their side, hoped to secure the reforms they desired +by intimidating the governor with a great display of force. The battle +was a tragic fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without +adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this desultory +action, a fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), the power of the +Regulators was completely broken. [117] + +Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element--an element whose +influence upon the course of American history has been but imperfectly +understood--which now looms into prominence as the vanguard of the army +of westward expansion. There were some of the Regulators who, though +law-abiding and conservative, were deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, +personal independence, and the freedom of the soil. Through the +influence of Benjamin Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the +group, Herman Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic +ideas then rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the +inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, +referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each neighborhood +to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of investigating the +question "whether the free men of this country labor under any abuses of +power or not." The close connection between the Sandy Creek men and the +Sons of Liberty is amply demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of +Liberty in connection with the "stamp law" are praised for "redeeming us +from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament in +behalf of true liberty." [118] Upon the records of the Dutchman's Creek +Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, to which +Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this memorable entry, +recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a year before the declaration +of independence at Philadelphia: "At the monthly meeting it was agreed +upon concerning the American Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to +join it they have the liberty to do it without being called to an +account by the church. But whether they join or do not join they should +be used with brotherly love." [119] + +The fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward hegira are +found in the remarkable petition of the Regulators of Anson County +(October 9, 1769), who request that "Benjamin Franklin or some other +known patriot" be appointed agent of the province in London to seek +redress at the source. They exposed the basic evil in the situation by +pointing out that, in violation of the law restricting the amount of +land that might be granted to each person to six hundred and forty +acres, much of the most fertile territory in the province had been +distributed in large tracts to wealthy landlords. In consequence "great +numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the cultivation of +the bad Lands whereon they hardly can subsist." [120] It was these poor +people, "thereby deprived of His Majesties liberality and Bounty," who +soon turned their gaze to the westward and crossed the mountains in +search of the rich, free lands of the trans-Alleghany region. + +This feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the economic +pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually entering North +Carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across the mountains in +1769. Long before Alamance, many of the true Americans, distraught by +apparently irremediable injustices, plunged fearlessly into the +wilderness, seeking beyond the mountains a new birth of liberty, lands +of their own selection free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of +their own choosing and control. [121] The glad news of the rich valleys +beyond the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as Andrew +Greer and Julius Cæsar Dugger to the Watauga country. The glowing +stories, told by Boone, and disseminated in the back country by +Henderson, Williams, and the Harts, seemed to give promise to men of +this stamp that the West afforded relief from oppressions suffered in +North Carolina. During the winter of 1768-9 there was also a great rush +of settlers from Virginia into the valley of the Holston. A party from +Augusta County, led by men who had been delighted with the country +viewed seven years before when they were serving under Colonel William +Byrd against the Cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on +their outward passage in 1768, was dotted with cabins on every spot +where the grazing was good, upon their return the following year. +Writing to Hillsborough on October 18, 1770, concerning the "many +hundred families" in the region from Green River to the branches of the +Holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation of 1763, +Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia reports that "very little if any Quit +Rents have been received for His Majesty's use from that Quarter for +some time past"--the people claiming that "His Majesty hath been pleased +to withdraw his protection from them since 1763." [122] + +In the spring of 1770, with the express intention of discovering +suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, who +wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, James Robertson of +Orange County, North Carolina, made an arduous journey to the pleasing +valley of the Watauga. Robertson, who was born in Brunswick County, +Virginia, June 28, 1742, of excellent Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a +noteworthy figure of a certain type--quiet, reflective, conservative, +wise, a firm believer in the basic principles of civil liberty and the +right of local self-government. Robertson spent some time with a man +named Honeycut in the Watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose +for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. Lost upon +his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by him on the +outward journey, Robertson probably escaped death from starvation only +through the chance passing of two hunters who succored him and set him +upon the right path. On arriving in Orange he found political and social +conditions there much worse than before, many of the colonists declining +to take the obligatory oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the +Battle of Alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new homes +along the western waters. Some sixteen families of this stamp, indignant +at the injustices and oppressions of British rule, and stirred by +Robertson's description of the richness and beauty of the western +country, accompanied him to Watauga shortly after the battle. + +This vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent Americans in +spirit with a negligible sprinkling of Loyalists, now swept in a great +tide into the northeastern section of Tennessee. The men of Sandy Creek, +actuated by independent principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic +side of the Regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "After the +defeat of the Regulators," says the historian of the Sandy Creek +Association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of redress for +their grievances, moved into and settled east Tennessee. A large +proportion of these were of the Baptist population. Sandy Creek Church +which some time previous to 1771, numbered 606, was afterward reduced to +fourteen members!" [123] This movement exerted powerful influence in +stimulating westward expansion. Indeed, it was from men of Regulating +principles--Boone, Robertson, and the Searcys--who vehemently condemned +the anarchy and incendiarism of 1770, that Judge Henderson received +powerful coöperation in the opening up of Kentucky and Tennessee. [124] + +The several treaties concerning the western boundary of white +settlement, concluded in close succession by North Carolina, Virginia, +and the Crown with the Southern and Northern Indians, had an important +bearing upon the settlement of Watauga. The Cherokee boundary line, as +fixed by Governor Tryon (1767) and by John Stuart (1768), ran from Reedy +River to Tryon Mountain, thence straight to Chiswell's Mine, and thence +direct to the mouth of the Great Kanawha River. By the treaty at Fort +Stanwix (November 5, 1768), in the negotiation of which Virginia was +represented by Dr. Thomas Walker and Major Andrew Lewis, the Six Nations +sold to the Crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of western +country, including in particular all the land between the Ohio and the +Tennessee Rivers. The news of the cession resulted in a strong +southwestward thrust of population, from the neighborhood of Abingdon, +in the direction of the Holston Valley. [125] Recognizing that hundreds +of these settlers were beyond the line negotiated by Stuart, but on +lands not yet surveyed, Governor Botetourt instructed the Virginia +commissioners to press for further negotiations, through Stuart, with +the Cherokees. Accordingly, on October 18, 1770, a new treaty was made +at Lochaber, South Carolina, by which a new line back of Virginia was +established, beginning at the intersection of the +North Carolina-Cherokee line (a point some seventy-odd miles east of +Long Island), running thence in a west course to a point six miles east +of Long Island, and thence in a direct course to the confluence of the +Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. At the time of the treaty, it was agreed +that the Holston River, from its intersection with the +North Carolina-Virginia line, and down the course of the same, should be +a temporary southern boundary of Virginia until the line should be +ascertained by actual survey. [126] A strong influx of population into +the immense new triangle thus released for settlement brought powerful +pressure to bear upon northern Tennessee, the point of least resistance +along the western barrier. Singularly enough, this advance was not +opposed by the Cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme +southeast corner of Tennessee. + +When Colonel John Donelson ran the line in the latter part of 1771, The +Little Carpenter, who with other Indian chiefs accompanied the surveying +party, urged that the line agreed upon at Lochaber should break off at +the head of the Louisa River, and should run thence to the mouth +thereof, and thence up the Ohio to the mouth of the Great Kanawha. For +this increase in the territory of Virginia they of course expected +additional payment. As a representative of Virginia, Donelson agreed to +the proposed alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised +to send the Cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to +have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the +additional area. This informal agreement, it is believed, was never +ratified by Virginia; nor was the promised compensation ever paid the +Cherokees. [127] + +Under the belief that the land belonged to Virginia, Jacob Brown with +one or two families from North Carolina settled in 1771 upon a tract of +land on the northern bank of the Nonachunheh (corruption, Nolichucky) +River. During the same year, an experimental line run westward from +Steep Rock and Beaver Creek by Anthony Bledsoe showed that upon the +extension of the boundary line, these settlers would fall within the +bounds of North Carolina. Although thus informally warned of the +situation, the settlers made no move to vacate the lands. But in the +following year, after the running of Donelson's line, Alexander Cameron, +Stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements beyond +the said line to relinquish them." Thus officially warned, Brown and his +companions removed to Watauga. [128] Cameron's order did not apply, +however, to the settlement north of the Holston River, south and east of +Long Island; and the settlement in Carter's Valley, north of the Holston +and west of the Long Island, although lying without the Virginia +boundary, strangely enough remained unmolested. The order was directed +at the Watauga settlers, who were seated south of the Holston River in +the Watauga Valley. + +The plight in which the Watauga settlers now found themselves was truly +desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this apparently +insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and characteristic +events in the pre-Revolutionary history of the Old Southwest. It +exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource of the American +character at the margin of desperation. The momentous influence of the +Watauga settlers, inadequately reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon +to make itself powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward +expansion. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Opening the Gateway--Dunmore's War + +Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the +greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their Charter. +They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the memorable +Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet continued +inaccessable. + +--The Harrodsburg Petition. +June 7-15, 1776. + +It was fortunate for the Watauga settlers that the Indians and the +whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the time the +Watauga Valley was shown, by the running of the boundary line, to lie +within the Indian reservation. With true American self-reliance, the +settlers met together for deliberation and counsel, and deputed James +Robertson and John Been, as stated by Tennessee's first historian, "to +treat with their landlords, and agree upon articles of accomodation and +friendship. The attempt succeeded. For though the Indians refused to +give up the land gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount +of merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease all +the country on the waters of the Watauga." [129] In addition to the land +thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were purchased from the +Indians by Jacob Brown, who reoccupied his former location on the +Nolichucky. + +In taking this daring step, the Watauga settlers moved into the +spotlight of national history. For the inevitable consequence of leasing +the territory was the organization of a form of government for the +infant settlement. Through his familiarity with the North Carolina type +of "association," in which the settlers had organized for the purpose of +"regulating" abuses, and his acquaintance with the contents of the +"Impartial Relation," in which Husband fully expounded the principles +and practices of this association, Robertson was peculiarly fitted for +leadership in organizing this new government. The convention at which +Articles of Association, unfortunately lost, were drawn up, is +noteworthy as the first governmental assemblage of free-born American +citizens ever held west of the Alleghanies. The government then +established was the first free and independent government, democratic in +spirit, representative in form, ever organized upon the American +continent. In describing this mimic republic, the royal Governor of +Virginia says: "They appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their +present occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves +into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate State." [130] The most +daring spirit in this little state was the young John Sevier, of French +Huguenot family (originally spelled Xavier), born in Augusta County, +Virginia, on September 23, 1745. It was from Millerstown in Shenandoah +County where he was living the uneventful life of a small farmer, that +he emigrated (December, 1773) to the Watauga region. With his arrival +there begins one of the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded +in the varied and stirring annals of the Old Southwest. In this daring +and impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, magnetic, +debonair--of powerful build, splendid proportions, and athletic +skill--we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly heroic life of the +border. The story of his life, thrilling in the extreme, is rich in all +the multi-colored elements which impart romance to the arduous struggle +of American civilization in the opening years of the republic. + +The creative impulses in the Watauga commonwealth are hinted at by +Dunmore, who observes, in the letter above quoted, that Watauga "sets a +dangerous example to the people America, of forming governments distinct +from and independent of his Majesty's authority." It is true that the +experiment was somewhat limited. The organization of the Watauga +association, which constituted a temporary expedient to meet a crisis in +the affairs of a frontier community cut off by forest wilderness and +mountain barriers from the reach of the arm of royal or provincial +government, is not to be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at +Boonesborough, May 23, 1775, or with the extraordinary demands for +independence in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, during the same +month. Nevertheless the Watauga settlers defied both North Carolina and +the Crown, by adopting the laws of Virginia and by ignoring Governor +Josiah Martin's proclamation (March 26, 1774) "requiring the said +settlers immediately to retire from the Indian Territories." [131] +Moreover, Watauga really was the parent of a series of mimic republics +in the Old Southwest, gradually tending toward higher forms of +organization, with a larger measure of individual liberty. Watauga, +Transylvania, Cumberland, Franklin represent the evolving political +genius of a free people under the creative leadership of three +constructive minds--James Robertson, John Sevier, and Richard Henderson. +Indeed, Watauga furnished to Judge Henderson precisely the "dangerous +example" of which Dunmore prophetically speaks. [132] + +Immediately upon his return in 1771 from the extended exploration of +Kentucky, Daniel Boone as already noted was engaged as secret agent, to +treat with the Cherokees for the lease or purchase of the +trans-Alleghany region, on behalf of Judge Henderson and his associates. +Embroiled in the exciting issues of the Regulation and absorbed by his +confining duties as colonial judge, Henderson was unable to put his bold +design into execution until after the expiration of the court itself +which ceased to exist in 1773. Disregarding the royal proclamation of +1763 and Locke's Fundamental Constitutions for the Carolinas, which +forbade private parties to purchase lands from the Indians, Judge +Henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in England to know +if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of lands from the +Indian tribes. Lord Mansfield gave Judge Henderson the "sanction of his +great authority in favor of the purchase." [133] Lord Chancellor Camden +and Mr. Yorke had officially advised the King in 1757, in regard to the +petition of the East Indian Company, "that in respect to such +territories as have been, or shall be acquired by treaty or grant from +the Great Mogul, or any of the Indian princes or governments, your +Majesty's letters patent are not necessary; the property of the soil +vesting in the company by the Indian grant subject only to your +Majesties right of sovereignty over the settlements, as English +settlements, and over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry +with them your Majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive +your Majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." [134] This +opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the Indian +tribes of North America by the same two authorities, certainly as early +as 1769; [135] and a true copy, made in London, April 1, 1772, was +transmitted to Judge Henderson. [136] Armed with the legal opinions +received from England, Judge Henderson was fully persuaded that there +was no legal bar whatsoever to his seeking to acquire by purchase from +the Cherokees the vast domain of the trans-Alleghany. [137] A golden +dream of empire, with its promise of an independent republic in the form +of a proprietary colony, casts him under the spell of its alluring +glamour. + +In the meantime, the restless Boone, impatient over the delay in the +consummation of Judge Henderson's plans, resolved to establish himself +in Kentucky upon his own responsibility. Heedless of the question of +title and the certain hazards incident to invading the territory of +hostile savages, Boone designated a rendezvous in Powell's Valley where +he and his party of five families were to be met by a band under the +leadership of his connections, the Bryans, and another company led by +Captain William Russell, a daring pioneer of the Clinch Valley. A small +detachment of Boone's party was fiercely attacked by Shawanoes in +Powell's Valley on October 10, 1773, and almost all were killed, +including sons of Boone and Russell, and young John and Richard +Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. As the result of this +bloody repulse, Boone's attempt to settle in Kentucky at this time was +definitely abandoned. His failure to effect a settlement in Kentucky was +due to that characteristic disregard of the territorial rights of the +Indians which was all too common among the borderers of that period. + +This failure was portentous of the coming storm. The reign of the Long +Hunters was over. Dawning upon the horizon was the day of stern +adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to invade the +trans-Alleghany country and to battle savagely with the red man for its +possession. More successful than Boone was the McAfee party, five in +number, from Botetourt County, Virginia, who between May 10th and +September 1, 1773, safely accomplished a journey through Kentucky and +carefully marked well-chosen sites for future location. [138] An ominous +incident of the time was the veiled warning which Cornstalk, the great +Shawanoe chieftain, gave to Captain Thomas Bullitt, head of a party of +royal surveyors, sent out by Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia. +Cornstalk at Chillicothe, June 7, 1773, warned Bullitt concerning the +encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive us," he said, "of the +hunting of the country, as usual ... the hunting we stand in need of to +buy our clothing." During the preceding summer, George Rogers Clark, an +aggressive young Virginian, with a small party, had descended the Ohio +as low as Fish Creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for +many months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in locating +and surveying lands covered by military grants. Most significant of the +ruthless determination of the pioneers to occupy by force the Kentucky +area was the action of the large party from Monongahela, some forty in +number, led by Captain James Harrod, who penetrated to the present +Miller County, where in June, 1774, they made improvements and actually +laid out a town. + +A significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians have +taken but little account, was now in progress under the manipulation of +Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. John Connolly proposed +the establishment of an extensive colony south of the Ohio; and the +design of securing such territory from the Indians found lodgment in the +mind of Lord Dunmore. But this design was for the moment thwarted when +on October 28, 1773, an order was issued from the Privy Council chamber +in Whitehall granting an immense territory, including all of the present +West Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's agreement +with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including Thomas Walpole, Samuel +Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. This new colony, to be named +"Vandalia," seemed assured. A clash between Dunmore and the royal +authorities was imminent; for Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter +claimed the vast middle region of the continent, extending without known +limit to west and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great +land speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating +Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of +surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands covered +by military grants, he with the collusion of certain members of the +"Honourable Board," his council, as charged by Washington, was more than +"lukewarm," secretly restricting as rigorously as he dared the extent +and number of the soldiers' allotments. According to the famous Virginia +Remonstrance, he was in league with "men of great influence in some of +the neighboring states" to secure, under cover of purchases from the +Indians, large tracts of country between the Ohio and the Mississippi. +[139] In shaping his plans Dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of +Patrick Henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private +purchase from the Cherokees. It was Henry's legal opinion that the +Indiana purchase from the Six Nations by the Pennsylvania traders at +Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was valid; and that purchase by private +individuals from the Indians gave full and ample title. [140] In +consequence of these facts, William Murray, in behalf of himself and his +associates of the Illinois Land Company, and on the strength of the +Camden-Yorke decision, purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and +Ohio respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in +order to win the support of Dunmore, who was ambitious to make a fortune +in land speculation, organized a second company, the Wabash (Ouabache) +Land Company, with the governor as the chief share-holder. In response +to Murray's petition on behalf of the Illinois Land Company, Dunmore +(May, 1774) recommended it to Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the +Colonies, and urged that it be granted; and in a later letter he +disingenuously disclaimed any personal interest in the Illinois +speculation. + +The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel William +Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading eastern men, in +1774 located lands covered by military grants on the Ohio and in the +Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, including Washington, Patrick +Henry, William Byrd, William Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, +and Andrew Lewis, among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. +Certain of these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply +(September 10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly +censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white +settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, the +war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door of Dunmore +himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore personally fomented +the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's charter rights, but +actually in order to further his own speculative designs. [141] +Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a party posing as Virginia +militia, fired without provocation upon a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs +assembled at Fort Pitt (January, 1774). Taking advantage of the alarming +situation created by the conflict of the claims of Virginia and +Pennsylvania, Connolly, inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued +an incendiary circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to +exist. Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick +Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: + +that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D. when Dr. Conolly first came +there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed Ld. Dunmore +of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on both sides of the +Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had been sent him relative to +the land on the hither side (or Vandalia) had caused him to turn his +thoughts to the opposite shore, and that as his Lordship was determined +to settle his family in America he was really pursueing this war, in +order to obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of +territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced from every +authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the natives was as +full and ample a title as could be obtained, that they had Lord Camden +and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which opinion with some others that +Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with the knowledge Conolly had given him +of the quality of the country and his determined resolution to settle +his family on this continent, were the real motives or springs of the +present expedition. [142] + +At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William Byrd 3d +and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of lands from the +Cherokees; and when Wharton, after answering Henry's inquiry as to where +he might buy Indian goods, remarked: "It's not possible you mean to +enter the Indian trade at this period," Henry laughingly replied: "The +wish-world is my hobby horse." "From whence I conclude," adds Wharton, +"he has some prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where I +know not." + +The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret instigation +and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came on apace. After the +inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the Indian chieftain, by one +Greathouse and his drunken companions (April 30th), Logan, who contrary +to romantic views was a black-hearted and vengeful savage, harried the +Tennessee and Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to +arouse the Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan +as late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: "The Indians are +not angry, only myself," and not until then did Dunmore begin to give +full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of the border, +Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, having been despatched +on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to warn the surveyors of the +trans-Alleghany, made a remarkable journey on foot of eight hundred +miles in sixty-one days. Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of +surveyors at Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the +surveyors at Mann's Lick, thus warned, hurried in to the settlements and +were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia forces, +invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal proclamation of +1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of Quebec, a fact of +which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous campaign, and fortified +Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillicothe. Andrew Lewis, however, in charge +of the other division of Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear +the real brunt and burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from +the very flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most +representative body of borderers of this region that up to this time had +assembled to measure strength with the red men. It was an army of the +true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed leggings and hunting-capes, +rifles and powder-horns, hunting-knives and tomahawks. + +The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant, was fought on +October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, and the +Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. It was a +desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in very brushy +country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. Throughout the long day, the +Indians fought with rare craft and stubborn bravery--loudly cursing the +white men, cleverly picking off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, +in regard to the absence of the fifes: "Where are your whistles now?" +Slowly retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and +at a favorable moment to "drive the Long Knives like bullocks into the +river." No marked success was achieved on either side until near sunset, +when a flank movement directed by young Isaac Shelby alarmed the +Indians, who mistook this party for the expected reinforcement under +Christian, and retired across the Ohio. In the morning the whites were +amazed to discover that the Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly +heeded the echoing call of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!", had quit +the battle-field and left the victory with the whites. [143] + +The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had +accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and +vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic satisfaction of +the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to him and avowing their +allegiance to George III, at the close of the campaign, the borderers +proclaimed their resolution to exert all their powers "for the defense +of American liberty, and for the support of her just rights and +privileges, not in any precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but +when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." +Dunmore's War is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of +peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge +Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and, through his +establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the ultimate +acquisition by the American Confederation of the imperial domain of the +trans-Alleghany. [144] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company + +I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of conversation +with one of the most singular and extraordinary persons and excentric +geniuses in America, and perhaps in the world. His name is Richard +Henderson. + +--J. F. D. Smyth: A Tour in the United States of America. + +Early in 1774, chastened by his own disastrous failure the preceding +autumn, Boone advised Judge Henderson that the time was auspicious for +opening negotiations with the Cherokees for purchasing the +trans-Alleghany region. [145] In organizing a company for this purpose, +Henderson chose men of action and resource, leaders in the colony, ready +for any hazard of life and fortune in this gigantic scheme of +colonization and promotion. The new men included, in addition to the +partners in the organization known as Richard Henderson and Company, +were Colonel John Luttrell, destined to win laurels in the Revolution, +and William Johnston, a native of Scotland, the leading merchant of +Hillsborough. [146] + +Meeting in Hillsborough on August 27, 1774, these men organized the new +company under the name of the Louisa Company. In the articles then drawn +up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract of land from the Indian +owners of the soil for the express purpose of "settling the country." +Each partner obligated himself to "furnish his Quota of Expenses +necessary towards procuring the grant." In full anticipation of the +grave dangers to be encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as +"equal sharers in the property," to "support each other with our lives +and fortunes." [147] Negotiations with the Indians were begun at once. +Accompanied by Colonel Nathaniel Hart and guided by the experienced +Indian-trader, Thomas Price, Judge Henderson visited the Cherokee +chieftains at the Otari towns. After elaborate consultations, the latter +deputed the old chieftain, Atta-kulla-kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, +"to attend the said Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there +examine the Goods and Merchandize which had been by them offered as the +Consideration of the purchase." The goods purchased at Cross Creek (now +Fayetteville, North Carolina), in which the Louisa Company "had embarked +a large amount," met the entire approval of the Indians--the squaw in +particular shrewdly examining the goods in the interest of the women of +the tribe. [148] + +On January 6, 1775, the company was again enlarged, and given the name +of the Transylvania Company--the three new partners being David Hart, +brother to Thomas and Nathaniel, Leonard Henley Bullock, a prominent +citizen of Granville, and James Hogg, of Hillsborough, a native +Scotchman and one of the most influential men in the colony. In the +elaborate agreement drawn up reference is explicitly made to the +contingency of "settling and voting as a proprietor and giving Rules and +Regulations for the Inhabitants etc." [149] Hillsborough was the actual +starting-point for the westward movement, the first emigrants traveling +thence to the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga. In speaking of the +departure of the settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent +westward migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "At this place +[Hillsborough] I saw the first party of emigrant families that moved to +Kentucky under the auspices of Judge Henderson. They marched out of the +town with considerable solemnity, and to many their destination seemed +as remote as if it had been to the South Sea Islands." [150] + +Meanwhile, the "Proposals for the encouragement of settling the lands +etc.," issued on Christmas Day, 1774, were quickly spread broadcast +through the colony and along the border. [151] It was the greatest +sensation North Carolina had known since Alamance; and Archibald +Neilson, deputy-auditor and naval officer of the colony, inquired with +quizzical anxiety: "Pray, is Dick Henderson out of his head?" The most +liberal terms, proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were +embodied in these proposals. Land at twenty shillings per hundred acres +was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and raising a +crop of corn before September 1, 1775, the emigrant being permitted to +take up as much as five hundred acres for himself and two hundred and +fifty acres for each tithable person under him. In these "Proposals" +there was no indication that the low terms at which the lands were +offered would be maintained after September 1, 1775. [152] In a letter +to Governor Dunmore (January, 1775), Colonel William Preston, county +surveyor of Fincastle County, Virginia, says: "The low price he +[Henderson] proposes to sell at, together with some further +encouragement he offers, will I am apprehensive induce a great many +families to remove from this County (Fincastle) & Carolina and settle +there." [153] Joseph Martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-Taker +and agent for the Powell Valley portion" of the Transylvania Purchase on +January 20, 1775; and "he (Joseph Martin) and others went on in the +early part of the year 1775 and made their stand at the very spot where +he had made corn several years before." [154] In speaking of the +startling design, unmasked by Henderson, of establishing an independent +government, Colonel Preston writes to George Washington of the +contemplated "large Purchase by one Col.o Henderson of North Carolina +from the Cherokees.... I hear that Henderson talks with great Freedom & +Indecency of the Governor of Virginia, sets the Government at Defiance & +says if he once had five hundred good Fellows settled in that Country he +would not Value Virginia." [155] + +Early in 1775 runners were sent off to the Cherokee towns to summon the +Indians to the treaty ground at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga; and +Boone, after his return from a hunt in Kentucky in January, was summoned +by Judge Henderson to aid in the negotiations preliminary to the actual +treaty. The dominating figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty +ground, consisting of twelve hundred Indians and several hundred whites, +was Richard Henderson, "comely in person, of a benign and social +disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous +action--"noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, firm-set jaw, +with kindness and openness of expression." Gathered about him, +picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of the +buckskin-clad leaders of the border--James Robertson, John Sevier, Isaac +Shelby, William Bailey Smith, and their compeers--as well as his +Carolina friends John Williams, Thomas and Nathaniel Hart, Nathaniel +Henderson, Jesse Benton, [156] and Valentine Searcy. + +Little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (March 14th); but +on the next day, the Cherokees offered to sell the section bargained for +by Donelson acting as agent for Virginia in 1771. Although the Indians +pointed out that Virginia had never paid the promised compensation of +five hundred pounds and had therefore forfeited her rights, Henderson +flatly refused to entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which +Virginia had the prior claim. Angered by Henderson's refusal, The +Dragging Canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, made an +impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination peculiar to the +American Indian. With pathetic eloquence he dwelt upon the insatiable +land-greed of the white men, and predicted the extinction of his race if +they committed the insensate folly of selling their beloved +hunting-grounds. Roused to a high pitch of oratorical fervor, the savage +with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted his people to resist further +encroachments at all hazards--and left the treaty ground. This incident +brought the conference to a startling and abrupt conclusion. On the +following day, however, the savages proved more tractable, agreeing to +sell the land as far south as the Cumberland River. In order to secure +the additional territory watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, +Henderson agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. Upon +this day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of Kentucky +when The Dragging Canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, declared +that a Dark Cloud hung over that land, which was known as the Bloody +Ground. + +On the last day, March 17th, the negotiations were opened with the +signing of the "Great Grant." The area purchased, some twenty millions +of acres, included almost all the present state of Kentucky, and an +immense tract in Tennessee, comprising all the territory watered by the +Cumberland River and all its tributaries. For "two thousand weight of +leather in goods" Henderson purchased "the lands lying down Holston and +between the Watauga lease, Colonel Donelson's line and Powell's +Mountain" as a pathway to Kentucky--the deed for which was known as the +"Path Deed." By special arrangement, Carter's Valley in this tract went +to Carter and Lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, Charles +Robertson on behalf of the Watauga Association purchased a large tract +in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and New Rivers; and eight days +later Jacob Brown purchased two large areas, including the Nolichucky +Valley. This historic treaty, which heralds the opening of the West, was +conducted with absolute justice and fairness by Judge Henderson and his +associates. No liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and Thomas +Price, the ablest of the Cherokee traders, deposed that "he at that time +understood the Cherokee language, so as to comprehend everything which +was said and to know that what was observed on either side was fairly +and truly translated; that the Cherokees perfectly understood, what +Lands were the subject of the Treaty...." The amount paid by the +Transylvania Company for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds +sterling, in money and in goods. [157] + +Although Daniel Boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior to the +negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the voluminous +records of the conference. Indeed, he was not then present; for a +fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he was commissioned by +Judge Henderson to form a party of competent woodmen to blaze a passage +through the wilderness. On March 10th this party of thirty ax-men, under +the leadership of Boone, started from the rendezvous, the Long Island of +Holston, to engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the Transylvania +Trail. [158] + +Henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and resolution the +hazardous task of occupying the purchased territory and establishing an +independent government. No mere financial promoter of a vast speculative +enterprise, he was one of the heroic figures of the Old Southwest; and +it was his dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in +the face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a +successful conclusion. At Martin's Station, where Henderson and his +party tarried to build a house in which to store their wagons, as the +road could be cleared no further, they were joined by another party, of +five adventurers from Prince William County, Virginia. [159] In +Henderson's party were some forty men and boys, with forty pack-horses +and a small amount of powder, lead, salt, and garden-seeds. The warning +freely given by Joseph Martin of the perils of the path was soon +confirmed, as appears from the following entry in Henderson's diary: + +Friday the 7th. [April] About Brake of Day began to snow. About 11 +oClock received a letter from Mr. Luttrells camp that were five persons +killd. on the road to the Cantuckie by Indians. Capt. [Nathaniel] Hart, +uppon the receipt of this News Retreated back with his Company, & +determined to Settle in the Valley to make Corn for the Cantucky people. +The same Day Received a Letter from Dan. Boone, that his Company was +fired uppon by Indians, Kill'd Two of his men--tho he kept the ground & +saved the Baggage &c. [160] + +The following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged resolution +of Boone and his reliance upon Henderson and his company in this black +hour of disaster, addressed "Colonel Richard Henderson--these with +care," is eloquent in its simplicity: + +Dear Colonel: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you of our +misfortunes. On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on my Company +about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty and his negro, and +wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he will recover. + +On March the 28 as we were hunting for provisions, we found Samuel +Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired on their camp +on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and found two men killed and +sculped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah McFeters. I have sent a man down +to all the lower companies in order to gather them all at the mouth of +Otter Creek. + +My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. Your +company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, but are +willing to stay and venture their lives with you. and now is the time to +flusterate their [the Indians'] intentions, and keep the country, whilst +we are in it. If we give way to them now, it will ever be the case. This +day we start from the battle ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where +we shall immediately erect a Fort, which will be done before you can +come or send, then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for +them. + +I am, Sir, your most obedient + Omble Sarvent + Daniel Boone. + +N.B. We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, and lost +nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck [Kentucky River] at +Otter Creek. [161] + +This dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail and +induced some to turn back, but Henderson, the jurist-pioneer, was made +of sterner stuff. At once (April 8th) he despatched an urgent letter in +hot haste to the proprietors of Transylvania, enclosing Boone's letter, +informing them of Boone's plight and urging them to send him immediately +a large quantity of powder and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon +his supply of saltpeter at Martin's Station. "We are all in high +spirits," he assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to Boone's +assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a country." +Laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: "Saturday the +8th. Started abt. 10 oClock Crossed Cumberland Gap about 4 miles met +about 40 persons Returning from the Cantucky, on Acct. of the Late +Murders by the Indians could prevail on one only to return. Memo Several +Virginians who were with us return'd." + +There is no more crucial moment in early Western history than this, in +which we see the towering form of Henderson, clad in the picturesque +garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely pointing forward +to the "dark and bloody ground," and in impassioned but futile eloquence +pleading with the pale and panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to +join his company, and to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer +conquest. Significant indeed are the lines: + +Some to endure, and many to fail, +Some to conquer, and many to quail, +Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + +The spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires Henderson's words: "In +this situation, some few, of genuine courage and undaunted resolution, +served to inspire the rest; by the help of whose example, assisted by a +little pride and some ostentation, we made a shift to march on with all +the appearance of gallantry, and, cavalier like, treated every +insinuation of danger with the utmost contempt." + +Fearing that Boone, who did not even know that Henderson's cavalcade was +on the road, would be unable to hold out, Henderson realized the +imperative necessity for sending him a message of encouragement. The +bold young Virginian, William Cocke, volunteered to brave alone the +dangers of the murder-haunted trail--to undertake a ride more truly +memorable and hazardous than that of Revere. "This offer, extraordinary +as it was, we could by no means refuse," remarks Henderson, who shed +tears of gratitude as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the +brave messenger's hand. Equipped with "a good Queen Anne's musket, +plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [French, +couteau], a Dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," Cocke +on April 10th rode off "to the Cantuckey to Inform Capt Boone that we +were on the road." The fearful apprehensions felt for Cocke's safety +were later relieved, when along the road were discovered his letters +informing Henderson of his arrival and of his having been joined on the +way by Page Portwood of Rowan. On his arrival at Otter Creek, Cocke +found Boone and his men, and on relating his adventures, "came in for +his share of applause." Boone at once despatched the master woodman, +Michael Stoner, with pack-horses to assist Henderson's party, which he +met on April 18th at their encampment "in the Eye of the Rich Land." +Along with "Excellent Beef in plenty," Stoner brought the story of +Boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude little +fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist attack. With +laconic significance Henderson pays the following tribute to Boone which +deserves to be perpetuated in national annals: "It was owing to Boone's +confidence in us, and the people's in him, that a stand was ever +attempted in order to wait for our coming." + +In the course of their journey over the mountains and through the +wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the face of +the surpassing beauties of the country. The Cumberlands were covered +with rich undergrowth of the red and white rhododendron, the delicate +laurel, the mountain ivy, the flame-azalea, the spicewood, and the cane; +while the white stars of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the +red-bud, strewn across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in +the eager air of spring. "To enter uppon a detail of the Beuty & +Goodness of our Country," writes Nathaniel Henderson, "would be a task +too arduous.... Let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any country I +ever saw or herd off. I am conscious its out of the power of any man to +make you clearly sensible of the great Beuty and Richness of Kentucky." +Young Felix Walker, endowed with more vivid powers of description, says +with a touch of native eloquence: + +Perhaps no Adventureor Since the days of donquicksotte or before ever +felt So Cheerful & Ilated in prospect, every heart abounded with Joy & +excitement ... & exclusive of the Novelties of the Journey the +advantages & accumalations arising on the Settlement of a new Country +was a dazzling object with many of our Company.... As the Cain ceased, +we began to discover the pleasing & Rapturous appearance of the plains +of Kentucky, a New Sky & Strange Earth to be presented to our view.... +So Rich a Soil we had never Saw before, Covered with Clover in full +Bloom. the Woods alive abounding in wild Game, turkeys so numerous that +it might be said there appeared but one flock Universally Scattered in +the woods ... it appeared that Nature in the profusion of her Bounties, +had Spread a feast for all that lives, both for the Animal & Rational +World, a Sight so delightful to our View and grateful to our feelings +almost Induced us, in Immitation of Columbus in Transport to Kiss the +Soil of Kentucky, as he haild & Saluted the sand on his first setting +his foot on the Shores of America. [162] + +On the journey Henderson was joined in Powell's Valley by Benjamin +Logan, afterward so famous in Kentucky annals, and a companion, William +Galaspy. At the Crab Orchard they left Henderson's party; and turning +their course westward finally pitched camp in the present Lincoln +County, where Logan subsequently built a fort. On Sunday, April 16th, on +Scaggs's Creek, Henderson records: "About 12 oClock Met James McAfee +with 18 other persons Returning from Cantucky." They advised Henderson +of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the Indians, says Robert McAfee +junior: "but Henderson assured them that he had purchased the whole +country from the Indians, that it belonged to him, and he had named it +Transylvania.... Robt, Samuel, and William McAfee and 3 others were +inclined to return, but James opposed it, alleging that Henderson had no +right to the land, and that Virginia had previously bought it. The +former (6) returned with Henderson to Boonesborough." Among those who +had joined Henderson's party was Abraham Hanks from Virginia, the +maternal grandfather of Abraham Lincoln; but alarmed by the stories +brought by Stewart and his party of fugitives, Hanks and Drake, as +recorded by William Calk on that day (April 13th), turned back. [163] + +At last the founder of Kentucky with his little band reached the +destined goal of their arduous journeyings. Henderson's record on his +birthday runs: "Thursday the 20th [April] Arrived at Fort Boone on the +Mouth of Oter Creek Cantuckey River where we were Saluted by a running +fire of about 25 Guns; all that was then at Fort.... The men appeared in +high spirits & much rejoiced in our arrival." It is a coincidence of +historic interest that just one day after the embattled farmers at +Lexington and Concord "fired the shots heard round the world," the +echoing shots of Boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce +the arrival of the proprietor of Transylvania and the birth of the +American West. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Transylvania--A Wilderness Commonwealth + +You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being of this +country in general, in which the interest and security of each and every +individual are inseparably connected.... Our peculiar circumstances in +this remote country, surrounded on all sides with difficulties, and +equally subject to one common danger, which threatens our common +overthrow, must, I think, in their effects, secure to us an union of +interests, and, consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to +the forming good, wise and wholesome laws. + +--Judge Richard Henderson: Address to the Legislature of Transylvania, +May 23, 1775. + +The independent spirit displayed by the Transylvania Company, and +Henderson's procedure in open defiance of the royal governors of both +North Carolina and Virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm throughout +these colonies and South Carolina. "This in my Opinion," says Preston in +a letter to George Washington (January 31, 1775), "will soon become a +serious Affair, & highly deserves the Attention of the Government. For +it is certain that a vast Number of People are preparing to go out and +settle on this Purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be +next to impossible to remove them or reduce them to Obedience; as they +are so far from the Seat of Government. Indeed it may be the Cherokees +will support them." [164] Governor Martin of North Carolina, already +deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming revolutionary cataclysm, +thundered in what was generally regarded as a forcible-feeble +proclamation (February 19, 1775) against "Richard Henderson and his +Confederates" in their "daring, unjust and unwarrantable proceedings." +[165] In a letter to Dartmouth he denounces "Henderson the famous +invader" and dubs the Transylvania Company "an infamous Company of land +Pyrates." + +Officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed +Henderson's plans. Lord Dunmore, who in 1774, as we have seen, was +heavily interested in the Wabash Land Company engineered by William +Murray, took the ground that the Wabash purchase was valid under the +Camden-Yorke decision. This is so stated in the records of the Illinois +Company, likewise under Murray's control. But although the "Ouabache +Company," of which Dunmore was a leading member, was initiated as early +as May 16, 1774, the purchase of the territory was not formally effected +until October 18, 1775--too late to benefit Dunmore, then deeply +embroiled in the preliminaries to the Revolution. Under the cover of his +agent's name, it is believed, Dunmore, with his "passion for land and +fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating thousands of acres of land +surveyed by the royal surveyors in the summer of 1774 for Dr. John +Connolly. [166] Early in this same year, Patrick Henry, who, as already +pointed out, had entered large tracts in Kentucky in violation of +Virginia's treaty obligations with the Cherokees, united with William +Byrd 3d, John Page, Ralph Wormley, Samuel Overton, and William +Christian, in the effort to purchase from the Cherokees a tract of land +west of Donelson's line, being firmly persuaded of the validity of the +Camden-Yorke opinion. Their agent, William Kenedy, considerably later in +the year, went on a mission to the Cherokee towns, and upon his return +reported that the Indians might be induced to sell. When it became known +that Judge Henderson had organized the Transylvania Company and +anticipated Patrick Henry and his associates, Colonel Arthur Campbell, +as he himself states, applied to several of the partners of the +Transylvania Company on behalf of Patrick Henry, requesting that Henry +be taken in as a partner. [167] It was afterward stated, as commonly +understood among the Transylvania proprietors, that both Patrick Henry +and Thomas Jefferson desired to become members of the company; but that +Colonel Richard Henderson was instrumental in preventing their admission +"lest they should supplant the Colonel [Henderson] as the guiding spirit +of the company." [168] + +Fully informed by Preston's elaborate communication on the gravity of +the situation, Dunmore acted energetically, though tardily, to prevent +the execution of Henderson's designs. On March 21st Dunmore sent flying +through the back country a proclamation, demanding the immediate +relinquishment of the territory by "one Richard Henderson and other +disorderly persons, his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of +violently detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately +fined and imprisoned." [169] This proclamation, says a peppery old +chronicler, may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and +rebels, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, from the mercy of the British +monarch. In view of Dunmore's confidence in the validity of the +Camden-Yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of the royal +proclamation of 1763 occurs in his broadside; and that he bases his +objection to the Transylvania purchase upon the king's instructions that +all vacant lands "within this colony" be laid off in tracts, from one +hundred to one thousand acres in extent, and sold at public auction. +This proclamation which was enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of +official instructions to Preston warning him not to survey any lands +"beyond the line run by Colonel Donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. +At the same time, Dunmore despatched a pointed letter to Oconostota, +Atta-kulla-kulla, Judge's Friend, and other Cherokee chieftains, +notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the +Kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's displeasure if +they did not repudiate the sale. [170] + +News of the plans which Henderson had already matured for establishing +an independent colony in the trans-Alleghany wilderness, now ran like +wild-fire through Virginia. In a letter to George Washington (April 9, +1775), Preston ruefully says: "Henderson I hear has made the Purchase & +got a Conveyance of the great and Valluable Country below the Kentucky +from the Cherokees. He and about 300 adventurers are gone out to take +Possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent Government & +form a Code of Laws for themselves. How this may be I cant say, but I am +affraid the steps taken by the Government have been too late. Before the +Purchase was made had the Governor interfered it is believed the Indians +would not have sold." [171] + +Meanwhile Judge Henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to erect a +large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. Captain James Harrod +with forty-two men was stationed at the settlement he had made the +preceding year, having arrived there before the McAfees started back to +Virginia; and there were small groups of settlers at Boiling Spring, six +miles southeast of Harrod's settlement, and at St. Asaph's, a mile west +of the present Stanford. A representative government for Transylvania +was then planned. When the frank and gallant Floyd arrived at the +Transylvania Fort on May 3d, he "expressed great satisfaction," says +Judge Henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed for +Legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & every other +measure we should adopt for the well Governg or good of the Community in +Genl." In reference to a conversation with Captain James Harrod and +Colonel Thomas Slaughter of Virginia, Henderson notes in his diary (May +8th): "Our plan of Legislation, the evils pointed out--the remedies to +be applyed &c &c &c were Acceeded to without Hesitation. The plann was +plain & Simple--'twas nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago +it was in use, and found by every year's experience since to be +unexceptionable. We were in four distinct settlemts. Members or +delegates from every place by free choice of Individuals they first +having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to obey and +carry into Execution Such Laws as representatives should from time to +time make, Concurred with, by A Majority of the Proprietors present in +the Country." + +In reply to inquiries of the settlers, Judge Henderson gave as his +reason for this assembling of a Transylvania Legislature that "all power +was derived from the people." Six days before the prophetic arrival of +the news of the Battle of Lexington and eight days before the +revolutionary committee of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, +promulgated their memorable Resolves establishing laws for an +independent government, the pioneers assembled on the green beneath the +mighty plane-tree at the Transylvania Fort. In his wise and +statesmanlike address to this picturesque convention of free Americans +(May 23, 1775), an address which Felix Walker described as being +"considered equal to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate +body in that day and time," Judge Henderson used these memorable words: + +You, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first corner +stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose superstructure +... can only become great in proportion to the excellence of its +foundation.... If any doubt remain amongst you with respect to the force +or efficiency of whatever laws you now, or hereafter make, be pleased to +consider that all power is originally in the people; make it their +interest, therefore, by impartial and beneficent laws, and you may be +sure of their inclination to see them enforced. + +An early writer, in speaking of the full-blooded democracy of these +"advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "If Jeremy Bentham had been in +existence of manhood, he would have sent his compliments to the +President of Transylvania." This, the first representative body of +American freemen which ever convened west of the Alleghanies, is surely +the most unique colonial government ever set up on this continent. The +proceedings of this backwoods legislature--the democratic leadership of +the principal proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for +protecting game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the +granting of full religious liberty--all display the acumen and practical +wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. As the result of Henderson's +tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly democratized +in tone, was complacently accepted by the backwoodsmen. From one who, +though still under royal rule, vehemently asserted that the source of +all political power was the people, and that "laws derive force and +efficiency from our mutual consent," Western democracy thus born in the +wilderness was "taking its first political lesson." In their answer to +Henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the pioneers +unhesitatingly declared: "That we have an absolute right, as a political +body, without giving umbrage to Great Britain, or any of the colonies, +to form rules for the government of our little society, cannot be +doubted by any sensible mind and being without the jurisdiction of, and +not answerable to any of his Majesty's courts, the constituting +tribunals of justice shall be a matter of our first contemplation...." +In the establishment of a constitution for the new colony, Henderson +with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal code based +on the laws of England. Out of a sense of self-protection he reserved +for the proprietors only one prerogative not granted them by the people, +the right of veto. He clearly realized that if this power were given up, +the delegates to any convention that might be held after the first would +be able to assume the claims and rights of the proprietors. + +A land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store was +established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, salt, +osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer existence. +Writing to his brother Jonathan from Leestown, the bold young George +Rogers Clark, soon to plot the downfall of Transylvania, +enthusiastically says (July 6, 1775): "A richer and more Beautifull +Cuntry than this I believe has never been seen in America yet. Col. +Henderson is hear and Claims all ye Country below Kentucke. If his Claim +Should be good, land may be got Reasonable Enough and as good as any in +ye World." [172] Those who settled on the south side of Kentucky River +acknowledged the validity of the Transylvania purchase; and Clark in his +Memoir says: "the Proprietors at first took great pains to Ingratiate +themselves in the favr. of the people." + +In regard to the designs of Lord Dunmore, who, as noted above, had +illegally entered the Connolly grant on the Ohio and sought to outlaw +Henderson, and of Colonel William Byrd 3d, who, after being balked in +Patrick Henry's plan to anticipate the Transylvania Company in effecting +a purchase from the Cherokees, was supposed to have tried to persuade +the Cherokees to repudiate the "Great Treaty," Henderson defiantly says: +"Whether Lord Dunmore and Colonel Byrd have interfered with the Indians +or not, Richard Henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. The +utmost result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the +futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few faint-hearted +persons, naturally prone to reverence great names and fancy everything +must shrink at the magic of a splendid title." [173] + +Prompted by Henderson's desire to petition the Continental Congress then +in session for recognition as the fourteenth colony, the Transylvania +legislature met again on the first Thursday in September and elected +Richard Henderson and John Williams, among others, as delegates to the +gathering at Philadelphia. [174] Shortly afterward the Proprietors of +Transylvania held a meeting at Oxford, North Carolina (September 25, +1775), elected Williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to +proceed to Boonesborough there to reside until April, 1776. James Hogg, +of Hillsborough, chosen as Delegate to represent the Colony in the +Continental Congress, was despatched to Philadelphia, bearing with him +an elaborate memorial prepared by the President, Judge Henderson, +petitioning the Congress "to take the infant Colony of Transylvania into +their protection." [175] + +Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia, James Hogg was +presented to "the famous Samuel and John Adams." The latter warned Hogg, +in view of the efforts then making toward reconciliation between the +colonies and the king, that "the taking under our protection a body of +people who have acted in defiance of the King's proclamation, will be +looked on as a confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are +daily reproached." Jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all +the use the Virginians should make of their charter would be "to prevent +any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established within the +boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a free government +established at the back of theirs [Virginia's] properly united with +them." He would not consent, however, that Congress should acknowledge +the colony of Transylvania, until it had the approbation of the Virginia +Convention. The quit-rents imposed by the company were denounced in +Congress as a mark of vassalage; and many advised a law against the +employment of negroes in the colony. "They even threatened us with their +opposition," says Hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act upon +liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to render +ourselves immortal." [176] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The Repulse of the Red Men + +To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind feelings and +fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the Cherokees ever +afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the Indians so great a +fear of the whites, that never afterwards were they disposed to engage +in any cruelty, or destroy any of the property of our frontier men. + +--David L. Swain: The Indian War of 1776. + +During the summer of 1775 the proprietors of Transylvania were +confronted with two stupendous tasks--that of winning the favor and +support of the frontiersmen and that of rallying the rapidly dwindling +forces in Kentucky in defense of the settlements. Recognizing the +difficulty of including Martin's Station, because of its remoteness, +with the government provided for Transylvania, Judge Henderson prepared +a plan of government for the group of settlers located in Powell's +Valley. In a letter to Martin (July 30th), in regard to the recent +energetic defense of the settlers at that point against the Indians, +Henderson says: "Your spirited conduct gives me much pleasure.... Keep +your men in heart if possible, now is our time, the Indians must not +drive us." The gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete +desertion of the stations at Harrodsburg, the Boiling Spring, and the +Transylvania Fort or Boonesborough was dispelled with the return of +Boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on September 8th, and of +Richard Callaway with a considerable party on September 26th. The crisis +was now passed; and the colony began for the first time really to +flourish. The people on the south side of the Kentucky River universally +accepted proprietary rule for the time being. But the seeds of +dissension were soon to be sown among those who settled north of the +river, as well as among men of the stamp of James Harrod, who, having +preceded Henderson in the establishment of a settlement in Kentucky, +naturally resented holding lands under the Transylvania Company. + +The great liberality of this organization toward incoming settlers had +resulted in immense quantities of land being taken up through their +land-office. [177] The ranging, hunting, and road-building were paid for +by the company; and the entire settlement was furnished with powder, +lead, and supplies, wholly on credit, for this and the succeeding year. +"Five hundred and sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," reports +Floyd on December 1st, "and most of the people waiting to have it run +out." [178] After Dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, +escaped to the protection of a British vessel, the Fowey, Colonel +Preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants within the +Transylvania territory; and his original hostility to Judge Henderson +gave place to friendship and support. + +On December 1st, Colonel John Williams, resident agent of the +Transylvania Company, announced at Boonesborough the long-contemplated +and widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to +fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four dollars +for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. [179] At a meeting +of the Transylvania legislature, convened on December 21st, John Floyd +was chosen surveyor general of the colony, Nathaniel Henderson was +placed in charge of the Entering Office, and Richard Harrison given the +post of secretary. At this meeting of the legislature, the first open +expression of discontent was voiced in the "Harrodsburg Remonstrance," +questioning the validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting +against any increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by +the proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the Falls +of the Ohio. Every effort was made to accommodate the remonstrants, who +were led by Abraham Hite. Office fees were abolished, and the payment of +quit-rents was deferred until January 1, 1780. Despite these efforts at +accommodation, grave doubts were implanted by this Harrodsburg +Remonstrance in the minds of the people; and much discussion and +discontent ensued. + +By midsummer, 1775, George Rogers Clark, a remarkably enterprising and +independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all the land he could" in +Kentucky. Upon his return to Virginia, as he relates, he "found there +was various oppinions Respecting Henderson claim. many thought it +go[o]d, others douted whether or not Virginia coud with propriety have +any pretentions to the cuntrey." [180] Jefferson displayed a liberal +attitude toward the claims of the Transylvania proprietors; and Patrick +Henry openly stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand +good." But many others, of the stamp of George Mason and George +Washington, vigorously asserted Virginia's charter rights over the +Western territory. [181] This sharp difference of opinion excited in +Clark's mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the +country and making terms with Virginia under threat of secession. + +With the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the +title of the Transylvania proprietors, Judge Henderson and Colonel +Williams set off from Boonesborough about May 1st, intending first to +appeal to the Virginia Convention and ultimately to lay their claims +before the Continental Congress. "Since they have gone," reports Floyd +to Preston, "I am told most of the men about Harrodsburg have re-assumed +their former resolution of not complying with any of the office rules +whatever. Jack Jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & +flourishes away prodigiously." [182] John Gabriel Jones was the mere +figurehead in the revolt. The real leader, the brains of the conspiracy, +was the unscrupulous George Rogers Clark. At Clark's instance, an +eight-day election was held at Harrodsburg (June 7-15), at which time a +petition to the Virginia Convention was drawn up; [183] and Clark and +Jones were elected delegates. Clark's plan, the scheme of a bold +revolutionist, was to treat with Virginia for terms; and if they were +not satisfactory, to revolt and, as he says, "Establish an Independent +Government" ... "giving away great part of the Lands and disposing of +the Remainder." In a second petition, prepared by the self-styled +"Committee of West Fincastle" (June 20th), it was alleged that "if these +pretended Proprietors have leave to continue to act in their arbitrary +manner out the controul of this colony [Virginia] the end must be +evident to every well wisher to American Liberty." [184] + +The contest which now ensued between Richard Henderson and George Rogers +Clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind the scenes, +resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a moment in American +history marked by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. +Virginia, under the leadership of her new governor, Patrick Henry, put +an end to the proprietary rule of the Transylvania Company. On December +7th such part of Transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of +Virginia was erected by the legislature of that colony into the County +of Kentucky. The proprietary form of government with its "marks of +vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, was +unendurable to the independent and lawless pioneers, already intoxicated +with the spirit of freedom swept in on the first fresh breezes of the +Revolution. Yet it is not to be doubted that the Transylvania Company, +through the courage and moral influence of its leaders, made a permanent +contribution to the colonization of the West, which, in providential +timeliness and effective execution, is without parallel in our early +annals. [185] + +While events were thus shaping themselves in Kentucky--events which made +possible Clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in the Northwest and +ultimately resulted in the establishment of the Mississippi instead of +the Alleghanies as the western boundary of the Confederation--the +pioneers of Watauga were sagaciously laying strong the foundations of +permanent occupation. In September, 1775, North Carolina, through her +Provincial Congress, provided for the appointment in each district of a +Committee of Safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. +Following the lead thus set, the Watauga settlers assumed for their +country the name of "Washington District"; and proceeded by unanimous +vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, which included +James Robertson and John Sevier. This district was organized "shortly +after October, 1775," according to Felix Walker; and the first step +taken after the election of the committee was the organization of a +court, consisting of five members. Felix Walker was elected clerk of the +court thus organized, and held the position for about four years. James +Robertson and John Sevier, it is believed, were also members of this +court. To James Robertson who, with the assistance of his colleagues, +devised this primitive type of frontier rule--a true commission form of +government, on the "Watauga Plan"--is justly due distinctive recognition +for this notable inauguration of the independent democracy of the Old +Southwest. The Watauga settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest +loyalty to the American cause. In a memorable petition these hardy +settlers requested the Provincial Council of North Carolina not to +regard them as a "lawless mob," but to "annex" them to North Carolina +without delay. "This committee (willing to become a party in the present +unhappy contest)", states the petition, which must have been drafted +about July 15, 1776, "resolved (which is now on our records), to adhere +strictly to the rules and orders of the Continental Congress, and in +open committee acknowledged themselves indebted to the united colonies +their full proportion of the Continental expense." [186] + +While these disputes as to the government of the new communities were in +progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. For a whole year +the British had been plying the various Indian tribes from the lakes to +the gulf with presents, supplies, and ammunition. In the Northwest +bounties had actually been offered for American scalps. During the +spring of 1776 plans were concerted, chiefly through Stuart and Cameron, +British agents among the Southern Indians, for uniting the Loyalists and +the Indians in a crushing attack upon the Tennessee settlements and the +back country of North Carolina. Already the frontier of South Carolina +had passed through the horrors of Indian uprising; and warning of the +approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the Holston settlers by +Atta-kulla-kulla's niece, Nancy Ward, the "Pocahontas of the +West"--doubtless through the influence of her daughter, who loved Joseph +Martin. The settlers, flocking for refuge into their small stockaded +forts, waited in readiness for the dreaded Indian attacks, which were +made by two forces totaling some seven hundred warriors. + +On July 20th, warned in advance of the approach of the Indians, the +borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two columns from +the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at Eaton's Station, to meet the +Indians, double their own number, led by The Dragging Canoe. The scouts +surprised one party of Indians, hastily poured in a deadly fire, and +rushed upon them with such impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. +Withdrawing now toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering +there a larger force, the backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves +attacked in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. +Extending their own line under the direction of Captain James Shelby, +the frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the Indians, who, +mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to retreat, +incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, giving the +war-whoop and shouting: "The Unakas are running!" In the ensuing hot +conflict at close quarters, in some places hand to hand, the Indians +were utterly routed--The Dragging Canoe being shot down, many warriors +wounded, and thirteen left dead upon the field. + +On the day after Thompson, Cocke, Shelby, Campbell, Madison, and their +men were thus winning the battle of the Long Island "flats," Robertson, +Sevier, and their little band of forty-two men were engaged in repelling +an attack, begun at sunrise, upon the Watauga fort near the Sycamore +Shoals. This attack, which was led by Old Abraham, proved abortive; but +as the result of the loose investment of the log fortress, maintained by +the Indians for several weeks, a few rash venturers from the fort were +killed or captured, notably a young boy who was carried to one of the +Indian towns and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer +settler, William Been, who was rescued from a like fate by the +intercession of the humane and noble Nancy Ward. It was during this +siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier lass, active and +graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very stockade by the +fleet-footed savages. Seeing her plight, an athletic young officer +mounted the stockade at a single leap, shot down the foremost of the +pursuers, and leaning over, seized the maiden by the hands and lifted +her over the stockade. The maiden who sank breathless into the arms of +the young officer, John Sevier, was "Bonnie Kate Sherrill"--who, after +the fashion of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant +rescuer. + +While the Tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of siege and +attack, the settlers on the frontiers of Rowan were falling beneath the +tomahawk of the merciless savage. In the first and second weeks of July +large forces of Indians penetrated to the outlying settlements; and in +two days thirty-seven persons were killed along the Catawba River. On +July 13th, the bluff old soldier of Rowan, General Griffith Rutherford, +reported to the council of North Carolina that "three of our Captains +are killed and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with +what men he could muster to relieve Colonel McDowell, ten men, and one +hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some kind +of a fort." Aroused to extraordinary exertions by these daring and +deadly blows, the governments of North Carolina, South Carolina, +Virginia, and Georgia instituted a joint campaign against the Cherokees. +It was believed that, by delivering a series of crushing blows to the +Indians and so conclusively demonstrating the overwhelming superiority +of the whites, the state governments in the Old Southwest would convince +the savages of the futility of any attempt ever again to oppose them +seriously. + +Within less than a week after sending his despatches to the council +Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred men to protect +the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm the foe. Leading the +South Carolina army of more than eighteen hundred men, Colonel Andrew +Williamson directed his attack against the lower Cherokee towns; while +Colonel Samuel Jack led two hundred Georgians against the Indian towns +at the heads of the Chattahoochee and Tugaloo Rivers. Assembling a force +of some sixteen hundred Virginians, Colonel William Christian +rendezvoused in August at the Long Island of Holston, where his force +was strengthened by between three and four hundred North Carolinians +under Colonels Joseph Williams and Love, and Major Winston. The various +expeditions met with little effective opposition on the whole, +succeeding everywhere in their design of utterly laying waste the towns +of the Cherokees. One serious engagement occurred when the Indians +resolutely challenged Rutherford's advance at the gap of the Nantahala +Mountains. Indian women--heroic Amazons disguised in war-paint and armed +with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair--fought side by +side with the Indian braves in the effort to arrest Rutherford's +progress and compass his defeat. More than forty frontiersmen fell +beneath the deadly shots of this truly Spartan band before the final +repulse of the savages. + +The most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful campaign +were the bluff old Indian-fighter, Griffith Rutherford, wearing "a tow +hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white fringe" as a uniform; +Captain Benjamin Cleveland, a rude paladin of gigantic size, strength, +and courage; Lieutenant William Lenoir (Le Noir), the gallant and +recklessly brave French Huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the +Revolution; and that militant man of God, the Reverend James Hall, +graduate of Nassau Hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his +shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the savages, +preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty backwoodsmen. +Such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign--when the whites, +maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by the recent ghastly +murders, gladly availed themselves of the South Carolina bounty offered +for fresh Indian scalps. At times they exultantly displayed the reeking +patches of hair above the gates of their stockades; at others, with many +a bloody oath, they compelled their commanders either to sell the Indian +captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. Twenty years +afterward Benjamin Hawkins relates that among Indian refugees in extreme +western Georgia the children had been so terrorized by their parents' +recitals of the atrocities of the enraged borderers in the campaign of +1776, that they ran screaming from the face of a white man. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The Colonization of the Cumberland + +March 31, 1780. Set out this day, and after running some distance, met +with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the line between Virginia +and North Carolina. At this meeting we were much rejoiced. He gave us +every information we wished, and further informed us that he had +purchased a quantity of corn in Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of +Ohio, for the use of the Cumberland settlement. We are now without +bread, and are compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life. + +--John Donelson: Journal of a Voyage, intended by God's permission, in +the good boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry, on Holston River, to +the French Salt Springs on Cumberland River. + +To the settlements in Tennessee and Kentucky, which they had seized and +occupied, the pioneers held on with a tenacious grip which never +relaxed. From these strongholds, won through sullen and desperate +strokes, they pushed deeper into the wilderness, once again to meet with +undimmed courage the bitter onslaughts of their resentful foes. The +crushing of the Cherokees in 1776 relieved the pressure upon the +Tennessee settlers, enabling them to strengthen their hold and prepare +effectively for future eventualities; the possession of the gateway to +Kentucky kept free the passage for Western settlement; Watauga and its +defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to British invasion of +the East from Kentucky and the Northwest during the Revolution; while +these Tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon to set forth again to +invade a new wilderness and at frightful cost to colonize the +Cumberland. + +The little chain of stockades along the far-flung frontier of Kentucky +was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly resolved that +this chain must not break. The Revolution precipitated against this +chain wave after wave of formidable Indian foes from the Northwest under +British leadership. At the very time when Griffith Rutherford set out +for the relief of McDowell's Fort, a marauding Indian band captured by +stealth near the Transylvania Fort, known as Boone's Fort +(Boonesborough), Elizabeth and Frances Callaway, and Jemima Boone, the +daughters of Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, and rapidly marched them +away toward the Shawanoe towns on the Ohio. A relief party, in two +divisions, headed respectively by the young girls' fathers, and composed +among others of the lovers of the three girls, Samuel Henderson, John +Holder, and Flanders Callaway, pursued them with almost incredible +swiftness. Guided by broken twigs and bits of cloth surreptitiously +dropped by Elizabeth Callaway, they finally overtook the unsuspecting +savages, killed two of them, and rescued the three maidens unharmed. +This romantic episode--which gave Fenimore Cooper the theme for the most +memorable scene in one of his Leatherstocking Tales--had an even more +romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three pairs of lovers. + +This bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously foiled, +was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the coming years. Soon +the red men were lurking in the neighborhood of the stations; and relief +was felt when the Transylvania Fort, the great stockade planned by Judge +Henderson, was completed by the pioneers (July, 1776). Glad tidings +arrived only a few days later when the Declaration of Independence, read +aloud from the Virginia Gazette, was greeted with wild huzzas by the +patriotic backwoodsmen. During the ensuing months occasional invasions +were made by savage bands; but it was not until April 24, 1777, that +Henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, being invested by a +company of some seventy-five savages. The twenty-two riflemen in the +fort drove off the painted warriors, but not before Michael Stoner, +Daniel Boone, and several others were severely wounded. As he lay +helpless upon the ground, his ankle shattered by a bullet, Boone was +lifted by Simon Kenton and borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of +the stockade amid a veritable shower of balls. The stoical and taciturn +Boone clasped Kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness +in the brief but heartfelt utterance; "You are a fine fellow." On July +4th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when two +hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. But owing to +the vigilance and superb markmanship of the defenders, as well as to the +lack of cannon by the besieging force, the Indians reluctantly abandoned +the siege, after leaving a number dead upon the field. Soon afterward +the arrival of two strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily +summoned from the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia, once again +made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the West. + +Kentucky's terrible year, 1778, opened with a severe disaster to the +white settlers--when Boone with thirty men, while engaged in making salt +at the "Lower Salt Spring," was captured in February by more than a +hundred Indians, sent by Governor Hamilton of Detroit to drive the white +settlers from "Kentucke." Boone remained in captivity until early +summer, when, learning that his Indian captors were planning an attack +in force upon the Transylvania Fort, he succeeded in effecting his +escape. After a break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, +during which he ate but one meal, Boone finally arrived at the big fort +on June 20th. The settlers were thus given ample time for preparation, +as the long siege did not begin until September 7th. The fort was +invested by a powerful force flying the English flag--four hundred and +forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion and ochre of their war-paint, +and eleven Frenchmen, the whole being commanded by the French-Canadian, +Captain Dagniaux de Quindre, and the great Indian Chief, Black-fish, who +had adopted Boone as a son. [187] In the effort to gain his end de +Quindre resorted to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to +outwit the settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "They +formed a scheme to deceive us," says Boone, "declaring it was their +orders, from Governor Hamilton, to take us captives, and not to destroy +us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, they would +immediately withdraw their forces from our walls, and return home +peacably." Transparent as the stratagem was, Boone incautiously agreed +to a conference with the enemy; Callaway alone took the precaution to +guard against Indian duplicity. After a long talk, the Indians proposed +to Boone, Callaway, and the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them +that they shake hands in token of peace and friendship. As picturesquely +described by Daniel Trabue: + +The Indians sayed two Indians must shake hands with one white man to +make a Double or sure peace at this time the Indians had hold of the +white men's hands and held them. Col. Calloway objected to this but the +other Indians laid hold or tryed to lay hold of the other hand but +Colonel Calloway was the first that jerked away from them but the +Indians seized the men two Indians holt of one man or it was mostly the +case and did their best to hold them but while the man and Indians was a +scuffling the men from the Fort agreeable to Col. Calloway's order fired +on them they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe +and the fire continued on both sides. [188] + +During the siege Callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a wooden +cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a group of +Indians "made them scamper perdidiously." The secret effort of the +Indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, being discovered by +the defenders, was frustrated by a countermine. Unable to outwit, +outfight, or outmaneuver the resourceful Callaway, de Quindre finally +withdrew on September 16th, closing the longest and severest attack that +any of the fortified stations of Kentucky had ever been called upon to +withstand. + +The successful defense of the Transylvania Fort, made by these +indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the Continental +Congress and left to fight alone their battles in the forests, was of +national significance in its results. Had the Transylvania Fort fallen, +the northern Indians in overwhelming numbers, directed by Hamilton and +led by British officers, might well have swept Kentucky free of +defenders and fallen with devastating force upon the exposed settlements +along the western frontiers of North Carolina, Virginia, and +Pennsylvania. This defense of Boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of +commemoration in the annals of the Revolution, along with Lexington and +Bunker's Hill. Coupled with Clark's meteoric campaign in the Northwest +and the subsequent struggles in the defense of Kentucky, it may be +regarded as an event basically responsible for the retention of the +trans-Alleghany region by the United States. The bitter struggles, +desperate sieges, and bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a +close with the expeditions of Clark and Logan in November, 1782, which +appropriately concluded the Revolution in the West by putting a definite +end to all prospect of formidable invasion of Kentucky. + +In November, 1777, "Washington District," the delegates of which had +been received in the preceding year by the Provincial Congress of North +Carolina, was formed by the North Carolina General Assembly into +Washington County; and to it were assigned the boundaries of the whole +of the present state of Tennessee. While this immense territory was thus +being definitely included within the bounds of North Carolina, Judge +Henderson on behalf of the Transylvania Company was making a vigorous +effort to secure the reëstablishment of its rights from the Virginia +Assembly. By order of the Virginia legislature, an exhaustive +investigation of the claims of the Transylvania Company was therefore +made, hearings being held at various points in the back country. On July +18, 1777, Judge Henderson presented to the peace commissioners for North +Carolina and Virginia at the Long Island treaty ground an elaborate +memorial in behalf of the Transylvania Company, which the commissioners +unanimously refused to consider, as not coming under their jurisdiction. +[189] Finally, after a full and impartial discussion before the Virginia +House of Delegates, that body declared the Transylvania purchase void. +[190] But in consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the +company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said lands, by +which the commonwealth is likely to receive great advantage, by +increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a barrier against the +Indians," the House of Delegates granted Richard Henderson and Company +two hundred thousand acres of land situated between the Ohio and Green +rivers, where the town of Henderson, Kentucky, now stands. [191] With +this bursting of the Transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden +dreams of Henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth +American colony in the heart of the trans-Alleghany, a first romantic +chapter in the history of Westward expansion comes to a close. + +But another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. +Undiscouraged by Virginia's confiscation of Transylvania, and +disregarding North Carolina's action in extending her boundaries over +the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered limits, Henderson, +in whom the genius of the colonizer and the ambition of the speculative +capitalist were found in striking conjunction, was now inspired to +repeat, along broader and more solidly practical lines, the +revolutionary experiment of Transylvania. It was not his purpose, +however, to found an independent colony; for he believed that millions +of acres in the Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North +Carolina, and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the +sale of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland +supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the +prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was necessary to +prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to determine whether +or not the Great French Lick, the ideal location for settlement, lay +within the chartered limits of North Carolina. [192] + +Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an extensive +colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to take form in +vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project Henderson had +chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North Carolina pioneers, to spy +out the land and select sites for future location, so now he chose as +leader of the new colonizing party the ablest of the Tennessee pioneers, +James Robertson. Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga +settlement and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North +Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to leave +his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in this +desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight white men +and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth from the Holston +settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a preliminary exploration and to +plant corn "that bread might be prepared for the main body of emigrants +in the fall." After erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of +defense, Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long +journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult with +George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the Virginia Land +Office several thousand acres of land at the French Lick. After +perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing "cabin rights" should +the land prove to lie in Virginia, Robertson returned to Watauga to take +command of the migration. + +Toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the other +by water, for the wonderful new country on the Cumberland of which Boone +and Scaggs and Mansker had brought back such glowing descriptions. +During the autumn Judge Henderson and other commissioners from North +Carolina, in conjunction with commissioners from Virginia, had been +running out the boundary line between the two states. On the very +day--Christmas, 1779--that Judge Henderson reached the site of the +Transylvania Fort, now called Boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from +the parent hive at Watauga, under Robertson's leadership, reached the +French Lick; and on New Year's Day, 1780, crossed the river on the ice +to the present site of Nashville. + +The journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, reads +like a chapter from one of Captain Mayne Reid's fascinating novels of +adventure, was written by Colonel John Donelson, the father-in-law of +Andrew Jackson. Setting out from Fort Patrick Henry on Holston River, +December 22, 1779, with a flotilla consisting of about thirty flatboats, +dugouts, and canoes, they encountered few difficulties until they began +to run the gauntlet of the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee. Here they +were furiously attacked by the Indians, terrible in their red and black +war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with smallpox on +board, was driven to shore by the Indians. The occupants were massacred; +but the Indians at once contracted the disease and died by the hundreds. +This luckless sacrifice of "poor Stuart, his family and friends," while +a ghastly price to pay, undoubtedly procured for the Cumberland +settlements comparative immunity from Indian forays until the new-comers +had firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. +Eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the typical +American pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for reunion of +families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a log cabin, is the +last entry in Donelson's diary (April 24, 1780): + +This day we arrived at our journey's end at the Big Salt Lick, where we +have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his company. It is a +source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to restore to him and others +their families and friends, who were intrusted to our care, and who, +some time since, perhaps, despaired of ever meeting again. Though our +prospects at present are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which +have been built on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and +his company. [193] + +In the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the "hard +winter," Judge Henderson was sorely concerned for the fate of the new +colony which he had projected, and immediately proceeded to purchase at +huge cost a large stock of corn. On March 5, 1780, this corn, which had +been raised by Captain Nathaniel Hart, was "sent from Boonesborough in +perogues [pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of William Bailey +Smith.... This corn was taken down the Kentucky River, and over the +Falls of Ohio, to the mouth of the Cumberland, and thence up that river +to the fort at the French Lick. It is believed have been the only bread +which the settlers had until it was raised there in 1781." [194] There +is genuine impressiveness in this heroic triumphing over the obstacles +of obdurate nature and this paternalistic provision for the exposed +Cumberland settlement--the purchase by Judge Henderson, the shipment by +Captain Hart, and the transportation by Colonel Smith, in an awful +winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this indispensable +quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand dollars in depreciated +currency. + +Upon his arrival at the French Lick, shortly after the middle of April, +Judge Henderson at once proceeded to organize a government for the +little community. On May 1st articles of association were drawn up; and +important additions thereto were made on May 13th, when the settlers +signed the complete series. The original document, still preserved, was +drafted by Judge Henderson, being written throughout in his own +handwriting; and his name heads the list of two hundred and fifty and +more signatures. [195] The "Cumberland Compact," as this paper is +called, is fundamentally a mutual contract between the copartners of the +Transylvania Company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the +company. It represents the collective will of the community; and on +account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each party +to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. The organization of +this pure democracy was sound and admirable--another notable early +example of the commission form of government. The most remarkable +feature of this backwoods constitution marks Judge Henderson as a +pioneer in the use of the political device so prominent to-day, one +hundred and forty years later--the "recall of judges." In the following +striking clause this innovation in government was recognized thus early +in American history as the most effective means of securing and +safeguarding justice in a democracy: + +As often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the doings of +the Judges or Triers so to be chosen, they may call a new election in +any of the said stations, and elect others in their stead, having due +respect to the number now agreed to be elected at each station, which +persons so to be chosen shall have the same power with those in whose +room or place they shall or may be chosen to act. + +A land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by Judge +Henderson, in accordance with the compact; and the lands, for costs of +entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of ten dollars per +thousand acres. But as the Transylvania Company was never able to secure +a "satisfactory and indisputable title," the clause resulted in +perpetual nonpayment. In 1783, following the lead of Virginia in the +case of Transylvania, North Carolina declared the Transylvania Company's +purchase void, but granted the company in compensation a tract of one +hundred and ninety thousand acres in Powell's Valley. [196] As +compensation, the grants of North Carolina and Virginia were quite +inadequate, considering the value of the service in behalf of permanent +western colonization rendered by the Transylvania company. [197] + +James Robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of twelve +commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of the military +forces of the eight little associated settlements on the Cumberland. +Here for the next two years the self-reliant settlers under Robertson's +wise and able leadership successfully repelled the Indians in their +guerrilla warfare, firmly entrenched themselves in their forest-girt +stronghold, and vindicated their claim to the territory by right of +occupation and conquest. Here sprang up in later times a great and +populous city--named, strangely enough, neither for Henderson, the +founder, nor for Robertson and Donelson, the leaders of the two +colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its history +or origins, the gallant North Carolinian, General Francis Nash, who was +killed at the Battle of Germantown. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +King's Mountain + +With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden and +favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago destruction hung +over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 British and Tories waited +at Charlotte for the reinforcement of 1000 from Broad River, which +reinforcement has been entirely cut off, 130 killed and the remainder +captured. Cornwallis immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward +Charleston, with part of our army in his rear.... + +--Elizabeth Maxwell Steel: +Salisbury, October 25, 1780. + +So thoroughly had the Cherokees been subdued by the devastations of the +campaign of 1776 that for several years thereafter they were unable to +organize for a new campaign against the backwoodsmen along the frontiers +of North Carolina and Tennessee. During these years the Holston settlers +principally busied themselves in making their position secure, as well +as in setting their house in order by severely punishing the lawless +Tory element among them. In 1779 the Chickamaugas, with whom The +Dragging Canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the Cherokees had +joined hands after the campaign of 1776, grew so bold in their bloody +forays upon small exposed settlements that North Carolina and Virginia +in conjunction despatched a strong expedition against them. Embarking on +April 10th at the mouth of Big Creek near the present Rogersville, +Tennessee, three hundred and fifty men led by Colonel Evan Shelby +descended the Tennessee to the fastnesses of the Chickamaugas. Meeting +with no resistance from the astonished Indians, who fled to the shelter +of the densely wooded hills, they laid waste the Indian towns and +destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the British agents +for distribution among the red men. The Chickamaugas were completely +quelled; and during the period of great stress through which the +Tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the Cherokees were restrained +through the wise diplomacy of Joseph Martin, Superintendent of Indian +affairs for Virginia. + +The great British offensive against the Southern colonies, which were +regarded as the vulnerable point in the American Confederacy, was fully +launched upon the fall of Charleston in May, 1780. Cornwallis +established his headquarters at Camden; and one of his lieutenants, the +persuasive and brilliant Ferguson, soon rallied thousands of Loyalists +in South Carolina to the British standard. When Cornwallis inaugurated +his campaign for cutting Washington wholly off from the Southern +colonies by invading North Carolina, the men upon the western waters +realized that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and +in protection of their homes. Two hundred Tennessee riflemen from +Sullivan County, under Colonel Isaac Shelby, were engaged in minor +operations in South Carolina conducted by Colonel Charles McDowell; and +conspicuous among these engagements was the affair at Musgrove's Mill on +August 18th when three hundred horsemen led by Colonel James Williams, a +native of Granville County, North Carolina, Colonel Isaac Shelby, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of Georgia repulsed with heavy loss a British +force of between four and five hundred. + +These minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous defeat +of Gates by Cornwallis at Camden on August 16th and the humiliating blow +to Sumter at Rocky Mount on the following day. Ferguson hotly pursued +the frontiersmen, who then retreated over the mountains; and from his +camp at Gilbert Town he despatched a threatening message to the Western +leaders, declaring that if they did not desist from their opposition to +the British arms and take protection under his standard, he would march +his army over the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and +sword. Stung to action, Shelby hastily rode off to consult with Sevier +at his log castle near Jonesboro; and together they matured a plan to +arouse the mountain men and attack Ferguson by surprise. In the event of +failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to leave the country and +find a home with the Spaniards in Louisiana. [198] + +At the original place of rendezvous, the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga, +the over-mountain men gathered on September 25th. There an eloquent +sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of God, the Reverend +Samuel Doak, who concluded his discourse with a stirring invocation to +the sword of the Lord and of Gideon--a sentiment greeted with the loud +applause of the militant frontiersmen. Here and at various places along +the march they were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to +join the expedition--Colonel William Campbell, who with some reluctance +had abandoned his own plans in response to Shelby's urgent and repeated +message, in command of four hundred hardy frontiersmen from Washington +County, Virginia; Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, with the wild fighters of +Wilkes known as "Cleveland's Bulldogs"; Colonel Andrew Hampton, with the +stalwart riflemen of Rutherford; Major Joseph Winston, the cousin of +Patrick Henry, with the flower of the citizenry of Surry; the McDowells, +Charles and Joseph, with the bold borderers of Burke; Colonels Lacy and +Hill, with well-trained soldiers of South Carolina; and +Brigadier-General James Williams, leading the intrepid Rowan volunteers. + +Before breaking camp at Quaker Meadows, the leading officers in +conference chose Colonel William Campbell as temporary officer of the +day, until they could secure a general officer from headquarters as +commander-in-chief. The object of the mountaineers and big-game hunters +was, in their own terms, to pursue Ferguson, to run him down, and to +capture him. In pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the +ford of Green River chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best +mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on October 6th this force of +picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" eager to +join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the Cowpens. Here a second +selection took place; and Colonel Campbell, was again elected commander +of the detachment, now numbering some nine hundred and ten horsemen and +eighty odd footmen, which dashed rapidly on in pursuit of Ferguson. + +The British commander had been apprised of the coming of the +over-mountain men. Scorning to make a forced march and attempt to effect +a junction with Cornwallis at Charlotte, Ferguson chose to make a stand +and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom he denounced as +mongrels and the dregs of mankind. After despatching to Cornwallis a +message asking for aid, Ferguson took up his camp on King's Mountain, +just south of the North Carolina border line, in the present York +County, South Carolina. Here, after his pickets had been captured in +silence, he was surprised by his opponents. At three o'clock in the +afternoon of October 7th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the +heights. + +The battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the +character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and tactics. +[199] Each party ran true to form--Ferguson repeating Braddock's +suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the deadly fusillade of +riflemen, who in Indian fashion were carefully posted behind trees and +every shelter afforded by the natural inequalities of the ground. In the +army of the Carolina and Virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent +detachments recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own +individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its own +leader. Campbell--like Cleveland, Winston, Williams, Lacey, Shelby, +McDowell, Sevier, and Hambright--personally led his own division; but +the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of the terrain made it +impossible for him, though the chosen commander of the expedition, +actually to play that rôle in the battle. The plan agreed upon in +advance by the frontier leaders was simple enough--to surround and +capture Ferguson's camp on the high plateau. The more experienced Indian +fighters, Sevier and Shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme +which in any case would doubtless have been employed by the +frontiersmen; it was to give the British "Indian play"--namely to take +cover everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. Cleveland, a Hercules +in strength and courage who had fought the Indians and recognized the +wisdom of Indian tactics, ordered his men, as did some of the other +leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, but to return to the +attack after the charge had spent its force. + +"My brave fellows," said Cleveland, "every man must consider himself an +officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as quick as you can, and +stand your ground as long as you can. When you can do no better, get +behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not to run quite off. If we are +repulsed, let us make a point of returning and renewing the fight; +perhaps we may have better luck in the second attempt than in the +first." + +The plateau upon which Ferguson was encamped was the top of an eminence +some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and fifty yards from +one base across to the other; and its shape was that of an Indian +paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty yards at the blade to sixty +yards at the handle in width. Outcropping boulders upon the outer edge +of the plateau afforded some slight shelter for Ferguson's force; but, +unsuspicious of attack, Ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp +from the assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection +of the timber surrounding it on all sides. As to the disposition of the +attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied by Cleveland +with his "Bulldogs," Hambright with his South Fork Boys from the Catawba +(now Lincoln County, North Carolina), and Winston with his Surry +riflemen; to the south were the divisions of Joseph McDowell, Sevier, +and Campbell; while Lacey's South Carolinians, the Rowan levies under +Williams, and the Watauga borderers under Shelby were stationed upon the +north side. Ferguson's forces consisted of Provincial Rangers, one +hundred and fifty strong, and other well-drilled Loyalists, between +eight and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously +weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and two +hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. Shelby's +men, before getting into position, received a hot fire, the opening +shots of the engagement. This inspired Campbell, who now threw off his +coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men posted on the side of the +mountain opposite to Shelby's force. When Campbell's Virginians uttered +a series of piercing shouts, the British officer, De Peyster, second in +command, remarked to his chief: "These things are ominous--these are the +damned yelling boys." + +The battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged with +terrific ferocity. The Loyalist militia, whenever possible, fired from +the shelter of the rocks; while the Provincial Corps, with fixed +bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired at close range +and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the mountain. After each +bayonet charge the Provincials coolly withdrew to the summit, under the +accumulating fire of the returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in +their rear. Owing to their elevated location, the British, although +using the rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by Ferguson himself, +found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, thus suffering +from nature's handicap, refraction. [200] The militia, using sharpened +butcher-knives which Ferguson had taught them to utilize as bayonets, +charged against the mountaineers; but their fire, in answer to the +deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel-shooters, was belated, owing to +the fact that they could not fire while the crudely improvised bayonets +remained inserted in their pieces. The Americans, continually firing +upward, found ready marks for their aim in the clearly delineated +outlines of their adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which +animates the hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game +at bay. + +The leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore themselves +with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the lines of fire and +with native eloquence, interspersed with profanity, rallying their +individual commands again and again to the attack. The valiant Campbell +scaled the rugged heights, loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. +Cleveland, resolutely facing the foe, urged on his Bulldogs with the +inspiriting words: "Come, boys; let's try 'em again. We'll have better +luck next time." No sooner did Shelby's men reach the bottom of the +hill, in retreating before a charge, than their commander, fiery and +strenuous, ardently shouted: "Now boys, quickly reload your rifles, and +let's advance upon them, and give them another hell of a fire." The most +deadly charge, led by De Peyster himself, fell upon Hambright's South +Fork boys; and one of their gallant officers, Major Chronicle, waving +his military hat, was mortally wounded, the command, "Face to the +hill!", dying on his lips. These veteran soldiers, unlike the +mountaineers, firmly met the shock of the charge, and a number of their +men were shot down or transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their +fire until the charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a +deadly volley before retiring. The gallant William Lenoir, whose +reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, received +several wounds and emerged from the battle with his hair and clothes +torn by balls. The ranking American officer, Brigadier-General James +Williams, was mortally wounded while "on the very top of the mountain, +in the thickest of the fight"; and as he momentarily revived, his first +words were: "For God's sake, boys, don't give up the hill." [201] +Hambright, sorely wounded, his boot overflowing with blood and his hat +riddled with three bullet holes, declined to dismount, but pressed +gallantly forward, exclaiming in his "Pennsylvania Dutch": "Huzza, my +prave poys, fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" +On the British side, Ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing +from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all danger. +Wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, there the +fighting was hottest and the British resistance the most stubborn. His +officers fought with the characteristic steadiness of the British +soldier; and again and again his men charged headlong against the +wavering and fiery circle of the frontiersmen. [202] + +Ferguson's boast that "he was on King's Mountain, that he was king of +the Mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from it" was +doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the impregnability of his +position, than by a desperate desire to inspire confidence in his men. +His location was admirably chosen for defense against attack by troops +employing regulation tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of +sudden investment, Ferguson had erected no fortifications for his +encampment. His frenzied efforts on the battle-field seem like a mad +rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the peculiar +tactics of the frontiersmen. While the mountain flamed like a volcano +and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a steady stricture was in +progress. The lines were drawn tighter and tighter around the trapped +and frantically struggling army; and at last the fall of their +commander, riddled with bullets, proved the tragic futility of further +resistance. The game was caught and bagged to a man. When Winston, with +his fox-hunters of Surry, dashed recklessly through the woods, says a +chronicler of the battle, and the last to come into position, + + Flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, + +then + + From all the circle of the hills + death sleeted in upon the doomed. + +The battle was decisive in its effect--shattering the plans of +Cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. The victory put +a full stop to the invasion of North Carolina, which was then well under +way. Cornwallis abandoned his carefully prepared campaign and +immediately left the state. After ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an +action which had an effectively deterrent effect upon future Tory +murders and depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. The +brilliant initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous +energy of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise--all +reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the given +situation--were the controlling factors in this overwhelming victory of +the Revolution. The pioneers of the Old Southwest--the independent and +aggressive yeomanry of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina--had +risen in their might. Without the aid or authority of blundering state +governments, they had created an army of frontiersmen, Indian-fighters, +and big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the +continent since the Battle of the Great Kanawha. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +The State of Franklin + +Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare in the +western revolt.... I have thought proper to issue this manifesto, hereby +warning all persons concerned in the said revolt ... that the honour of +this State has been particularly wounded, by seizing that by violence +which, in time, no doubt, would have been obtained by consent, when the +terms of separation would have been explained or stipulated, to the +mutual satisfaction of the mother and new State.... Let your proposals +be consistent with the honour of the State to accede to, which, by your +allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate and I make no doubt but +her generosity, in time, will meet your wishes. + +--Governor Alexander Martin: Manifesto against the State of Franklin, +April 25, 1785. + +To the shrewd diplomacy of Joseph Martin, who held the Cherokees in +check during the period of the King's Mountain campaign, the settlers in +the valleys of the Watauga and the Holston owed their temporary immunity +from Indian attack. But no sooner did Sevier and his over-mountain men +return from the battle-field of King's Mountain than they were called +upon to join in an expedition against the Cherokees, who had again gone +on the war-path at the instigation of the British. After Sevier with his +command had defeated a small party of Indians at Boyd's Creek in +December, the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command +of Colonel Arthur Campbell, with Major Joseph Martin as subordinate, +penetrated to the heart of the Indian country, burned Echota, Chilhowee, +Settiquo, Hiawassee, and seven other principal villages, and destroyed +an immense amount of property and supplies. In March, suspecting that +the arch-conspirators against the white settlers were the Cherokees at +the head waters of the Little Tennessee, Sevier led one hundred and +fifty horsemen through the devious mountain defiles and struck the +Indians a swift and unexpected blow at Tuckasegee, near the present +Webster, North Carolina. In this extraordinarily daring raid, one of his +most brilliant feats of arms, Sevier lost only one man killed and one +wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the loss of thirty killed, +took many more prisoners, burned six Indian towns, and captured many +horses and supplies. Once his deadly work was done, Sevier with his bold +cavaliers silently plunged again into the forest whence he had so +suddenly emerged, and returned in triumph to the settlements. + +Disheartened though the Indians were to see the smoke of their burning +towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they did not keep the +treaty made at Long Island in July, 1781. The Indians suffered from very +real grievances at the hands of the lawless white settlers who persisted +in encroaching upon the Indian lands. When the Indian ravages were +resumed, Sevier and Anderson, the latter from Sullivan County, led a +punitive expedition of two hundred riflemen against the Creeks and the +Chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste the +Indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to the +copper-colored marauders. + +During this same period the settlers on the Cumberland were displaying a +grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of Indian attack +forever memorable in the history of the Old Southwest. On the night of +January 15, 1781, the settlers at Freeland's Station, after a desperate +resistance, succeeded in beating off the savages who attacked in force. +At Nashborough on April 2d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the +stockade by the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after +serious loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of +the fort. Indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the +settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and attacked +the astounded Indians with such ferocity that the diversion thus created +enabled the settlers to escape from the deadly trap. During the next two +years the history of the Cumberland settlements is but the gruesome +recital of murder after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the +lurking Indian foe. Robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the +abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. The arrival of the +North Carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off bounty lands +and settlers' preemptions, and the treaty of peace concluded at the +French Lick on November 5 and 6, 1783, gave permanence and stability to +the Cumberland settlements. The lasting friendship of the Chickasaws was +won; but the Creeks for some time continued to harass the Tennessee +pioneers. The frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the Cherokees, +stoically, heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, +syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal battle. +The treaty at Hopewell on November 28, 1785, marks the end of an +era--the Spartan yet hopeless resistance of the intrepid red men to the +relentless and frequently unwarranted expropriation by the whites of the +ancient and immemorial domain of the savage. + +The skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the +mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the +organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on June 2, +1784, when the legislature of North Carolina ceded to the Congress of +the United States the title which that state possessed to the land west +of the Alleghanies. Among the terms of the Cession Act were these +conditions: that the ceded territory should be formed into a separate +state or states; and that if Congress should not accept the lands thus +ceded and give due notice within two years, the act should be of no +force and the lands should revert to North Carolina. [203] No sooner did +this news reach the Western settlers than they began to mature plans for +the organization of a government during the intervening twelve months. +Their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed by the Indians, +and North Carolina's delay in sending goods promised the Indians by a +former treaty, both promoted Indian hostility; and these facts, combined +with their remote location beyond the mountains, rendering them almost +inaccessible to communication with North Carolina--all rendered the +decision of the settlers almost inevitable. Moreover, the allurements of +high office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional motives +sufficiently human in themselves to give driving power to the movement +toward independence. + +At a convention assembled at Jonesborough on August 23, 1784, delegates +from the counties of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene characteristically +decided to organize an "Association." They solemnly declared by +resolution: "We have a just and undeniable right to petition to Congress +to accept the session made by North Carolina, and for that body to +countenance us for forming ourselves into a separate government, and to +frame either a permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a +resolve of Congress...." Meanwhile, Governor Martin, largely as the +result of the prudent advice of North Carolina's representative in +Congress, Dr. Hugh Williamson, was brought to the conclusion that North +Carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted precipitately. +This important step had been taken without the full consideration of the +people of the state. Among the various arguments advanced by Williamson +was the impressive contention that, in accordance with the procedure in +the case of other states, the whole expense of the huge Indian +expeditions in 1776 and the heavy militia aids to South Carolina and +Georgia should be credited to North Carolina as partial fulfilment of +her continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably +made to the Federal government. Williamson's arguments proved +convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of +far-reaching national importance that the assembly of North Carolina +(October 22 to November 25, 1784) repealed the cession act made the +preceding spring. [204] + +Before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the western +waters, a second convention met at Jonesborough on December 17th. +Sentiment at this time was much divided, for a number of the people, +expecting the repeal of the cession act, genuinely desired a continued +allegiance to North Carolina. Of these may well have been John Sevier, +who afterward declared to Joseph Martin that he had been "Draged into +the Franklin measures by a large number of the people of this country." +[205] The principal act of this convention was the adoption of a +temporary constitution for six months and the provision for a convention +to be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this +constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent constitution +of the new state. [206] The scholars on the western waters, desiring to +commemorate their aspirations for freedom, chose as the name of the +projected new state: "Frankland"--the Land of the Free. The name finally +chosen, however, perhaps for reasons of policy, was "Franklin," in honor +of Benjamin Franklin. Meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for +a stable government along the Tennessee frontier, the North Carolina +assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four +western counties the District of Washington, with John Haywood as +presiding judge and David Campbell as associate, and conferred upon John +Sevier the rank of brigadier-general of the new district. The first week +in December Governor Martin sent to Sevier his military commission; and +replying to Joseph Martin's query (December 31, 1784, prompted by +Governor Martin) as to whether, in view of the repeal of the cession +act, he intended to persist in revolt or await developments, Sevier gave +it out broadcast that "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new +State." + +Owing to the remoteness of the Tennessee settlements and the difficulty +of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere of sentiment in +Franklin, Governor Martin realized the necessity of sending a personal +representative to discover the true state of affairs in the disaffected +region beyond the mountains. For the post of ambassador to the new +government, Governor Martin selected a man distinguished for mentality +and diplomatic skill, a pioneer of Tennessee and Kentucky, Judge Richard +Henderson's brother, Colonel Samuel Henderson. Despite Sevier's +disavowal of any further intention to establish a new state, the +governor gave Colonel Henderson elaborate written instructions, the +purport of which was to learn all that he could about the political +complexion of the Tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the people, and +the agitation for a separate commonwealth. Moreover, in the hope of +placating the leading chieftains of the Cherokees, who had bitterly +protested against the continued aggressions and encroachments upon their +lands by the lawless borderers, he instructed Colonel Henderson also to +learn the temper and dispositions of the Indians, and to investigate the +case of Colonel James Hubbardt who was charged with the murder of +Untoola of Settiquo, a chief of the Cherokees. + +When Colonel Henderson arrived at Jonesborough, he found the third +Franklin legislature in session, and to this body he presented Governor +Martin's letter of February 27, 1785. In response to the governor's +request for an "account of the late proceedings of the people in the +western country," an extended reply was drafted by the new legislature; +and this letter, conveyed to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson, in +setting forth in detail the reasons for the secession, made the +following significant statement: "We humbly thank North Carolina for +every sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, that +as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent from the +tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause ceases which is +the basis of that affection, we shall lose your esteem." At the same +time (March 22nd), Sevier, who had just been chosen Governor of the +State of Franklin, transmitted to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson a +long letter, not hitherto published in any history of the period, in +which he outspokenly says: + +It gives me great pain to think there should arise any Disputes between +us and North Carolina, & I flatter myself when North Carolina states the +matter in a fair light she will be fully convinced that necessity and +self-preservation have Compelled Us to the measures we Have taken, and +could the people have discovered that No. Carolina would Have protected +and Govern'd them, They would have remained where they were; but they +perceived a neglect and Coolness, and the Language of Many of your most +leading members Convinced them they were Altogether Disregarded. [207] + +Following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by Martin (April 25th) and +Sevier (May 15th), [208] the burden of the problem fell upon Richard +Caswell, who in June succeeded Martin as Governor of North Carolina. + +Meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the name of +Franklin to the new state, although for some time it continued to be +called by many Frankland, and its adherents Franks. The legislature had +also established an academy named after Governor Martin, and had +appointed (March 12th) William Cocke as a delegate to the Continental +Congress, urging its acceptance of the cession. In the Memorial from the +Franklin legislature to the Continental Congress, dealing in some detail +with North Carolina's failure to send the Cherokees some goods promised +them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: + +She [North Carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had promised to +give the Indians for the said land which so exasperated them that they +begun to commit hostalities on our frontiers in this situation we were +induced to a declaration of Independence not doubting we should be +excused by Congress ... as North Carolina seemed quite regardless of our +interest and the Indians daily murdering our friends and relations +without distinction of age or sex. [209] + +Sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as well as +desiring the cession, Congress urged North Carolina to amend the +repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western territory to the +Union. + +A +DECLARATION of RIGHTS +ALSO, THE +CONSTITUTION +OR +FORM of GOVERNMENT + +Agreed to, and resolved upon, by the Representatives of the Freemen of +the + +STATE of FRANKLAND, + +Elected and chosen for that particular purpose, in Convention assembled +at Greeneville, the 14th of November, 1785. + +PHILADELPHIA: + +Printed by Francis Bailey, at Yorick's Head. +M.DCC.LXXXVI. + + +Among the noteworthy features of the Franklin movement was the +constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the Reverend Samuel +Houston of Washington County, and presented at the meeting of the +Franklin legislature, Greeneville, November 14, 1785. This eccentric +constitution was based in considerable part upon the North Carolina +model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the constitution of North +Carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. Under this Houston +constitution, the name "Frankland" was chosen for the new state. The +legislature was to consist of but a single house. In a section excluding +from the legislature "ministers of the gospel, attorneys at law, and +doctors of physics," those were declared ineligible for office who were +of immoral character or guilty of "such flagrant enormities as +drunkenness, gaming, profane swearing, lewdness, Sabbath-breaking and +such like," or who should deny the existence of God, of heaven, and of +hell, the inspiration of the Scriptures, or the existence of the +Trinity. Full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were +assured--but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to office. +No one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar to do the +business." This remarkable document, which provided for many other +curious innovations in government, was the work of pioneer +doctrinaires--Houston, Campbell, Cocke, and Tipton--and deserves study +as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius of the western +frontiersmen. [210] + +The liberal policy of Martin, followed by the no less conciliatory +attitude of his successor, Caswell, for the time proved wholly abortive. +However, Martin's appointment of Evan Shelby in Sevier's place as +brigadier, and of Jonathan Tipton as colonel of his county, produced +disaffection among the Franks; and the influence of Joseph Martin +against the new government was a powerful obstacle to its success. At +first the two sets of military, civil, and judicial officers were able +to work amicably together; and a working-basis drawn up by Shelby and +Sevier, although afterward repudiated by the Franklin legislature, +smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. The +persistent and quiet assertion of authority by North Carolina, without +any overt act of violence against the officers of Franklin state, +revealed great diplomatic skill in Governors Martin and Caswell. It was +doubtless the considerate policy of the latter, coupled with the +defection from Sevier's cause of men of the stamp of Houston and Tipton, +after the blundering and cavalier rejection of their singular +constitution, which undermined the foundations of Franklin. Sevier +himself later wrote with considerable bitterness: "I have been +faithfull, and my own breast acquits myself that I have acted no part +but what has been Consistent with honor and justice, tempered with +Clemency and mercy. How far our pretended patriots have supported me as +their pretended chiefe magistrate, I leave the world at large to Judge." +Arthur Campbell's plans for the formation of a greater Franklin, through +the union of the people on the western waters of Virginia with those of +North Carolina, came to nought when Virginia in the autumn of 1785 with +stern decisiveness passed an act making it high treason to erect an +independent government within her limits unless authorized by the +assembly. Sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to +establish a free state, writing to Governor Caswell: "We shall continue +to act independent and would rather suffer death, in all its various and +frightful shapes, than conform to anything that is disgraceful." North +Carolina, now proceeding with vigor (November, 1786), fully reassumed +its sovereignty and jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed +an act of pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and +conciliatory measures. + +Driven to extremities, Cocke and Sevier in turn appealed for aid and +advice to Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor the new state had been +named. In response to Cocke, Franklin wrote (August 12, 1786): "I think +you are perfectly right in resolving to submit them [the Points in +Dispute] to the Decision of Congress and to abide by their +Determination." [211] Franklin's views change in the interim; for when, +almost a year later, Sevier asks him for counsel, Franklin has come to +the conclusion that the wisest move for Sevier was not to appeal to +Congress, but to endeavor to effect some satisfactory compromise with +North Carolina (June 30, 1787): + +There are only two Things that Humanity induces me to wish you may +succeed in: The Accomodating your Misunderstanding with the Government +of North Carolina, by amicable Means; and the Avoiding an Indian war, by +preventing Encroaching on their Lands.... The Inconvenience to your +People attending so remote a Seat of Government, and the difficulty to +that Government in ruling well so remote a People, would I think be +powerful Inducements with it, to accede to any fair & reasonable +Proposition it may receive from you towards an Accommodation. [212] + +Despite Sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence--his treaty +with the Indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the Cherokees into +the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt against others in +face of the reality of revolt against himself, his struggle, equivocal +and half-hearted, with the North Carolina authorities under +Tipton--despite all these heroic efforts, the star of Franklin swiftly +declined. The vigorous measures pursued by General Joseph Martin, and +his effective influence focussed upon a movement already honey-combed +with disaffection, finally turned the scale. To the Franklin leaders he +sent the urgent message: "Nothing will do but a submission to the laws +of North Carolina." Early in April, 1788, Martin wrote to Governor +Randolph of Virginia: "I returned last evening from Green Co. Washington +destrict, North Carolina, after a tower through that Co'ntry, and am +happy to inform your Excellency that the late unhappy dispute between +the State of North Carolina, and the pretended State of Franklin is +subsided." Ever brave, constant, and loyal to the interest of the +pioneers, Sevier had originally been drawn into the movement against his +best judgment. Caught in the unique trap, created by the passage of the +cession act and the sudden volte-face of its repeal, he struggled +desperately to extricate himself. Alone of all the leaders, the governor +of ill-starred Franklin remained recalcitrant. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The Lure of Spain[213]--The Haven of Statehood + +The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what part of +the world and upon which nation their future happiness and security +depend, and they immediately infer that their interest and prosperity +depend entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government. + +--John Sevier to Don Diego de Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. + +From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent to the +late & more recent settlements on the Kentucky in the West the same +difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress you, but by a +series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited exertions and +unconquerable perseverance, they have been altogether or in great +measure subdued. + +--Governor Samuel Johnston to James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe, +January 29, 1788. + +A strange sham-battle, staged like some scene from opéra bouffe, in the +bleak snow-storm of February, 1788, is really the prelude to a +remarkable drama of revolt in which Sevier, Robertson, Bledsoe, and the +Cumberland stalwarts play the leading rôles. On February 27th, incensed +beyond measure by the action of Colonel John Tipton in harboring some of +his slaves seized by the sheriff under an execution issued by one of the +North Carolina courts, Sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents +besieged Tipton with a few of his friends in his home on Sinking Creek. +The siege was raised at daybreak on February 29th by the arrival of +reinforcements under Colonel Maxwell from Sullivan County; and Sevier, +who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his forces after +some desultory firing, in which two men were killed and several wounded. +Soon afterward Sevier sent word to Tipton that on condition his life be +spared he would submit to North Carolina. On this note of tragi-comedy +the State of Franklin appeared quietly to expire. The usually sanguine +Sevier, now thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant +settlements--deeply despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans +and the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and +supporters. The revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies which he +still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret conspiracy to give +over the State of Franklin into the protection of a foreign power. + +The fame of Sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for +independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so famous an +advocate of liberty as Patrick Henry and winning the sympathy of the +Continental Congress. One of the most interested observers of the +progress of affairs in the State of Franklin was Don Diego de Gardoqui, +who had come to America in the spring of 1785, bearing a commission to +the American Congress as Spanish chargé d'affaires (Encargados de +Negocios) to the United States. In the course of his negotiations with +Jay concerning the right of navigation of the Mississippi River, which +Spain denied to the Americans, Gardoqui was not long in discovering the +violent resentment of the Western frontiersmen, provoked by Jay's crass +blunder in proposing that the American republic, in return for +reciprocal foreign advantages offered by Spain, should waive for +twenty-five years her right to navigate the Mississippi. The Cumberland +traders had already felt the heavy hand of Spain in the confiscation of +their goods at Natchez; but thus far the leaders of the Tennessee +frontiersmen had prudently restrained the more turbulent agitators +against the Spanish policy, fearing lest the spirit of retaliation, once +aroused, might know no bounds. Throughout the entire region of the +trans-Alleghany, a feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed--quite as +much the result of dissatisfaction with the central government which +permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment against the +domination of Spain. + +No sooner had the shrewd and watchful Gardoqui, who was eager to utilize +the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in the interest of +his country, learned of Sevier's armed insurrection against the +authority of North Carolina than he despatched an emissary to sound the +leading men of Franklin and the Cumberland settlements in regard to an +alliance. This secret emissary was Dr. James White, who had been +appointed by the United States Government as Superintendent of Indian +Affairs for the Southern Department on November 29, 1786. Reporting as +instructed to Don Estevan Miró, governor of Louisiana, White, the +corrupt tool of Spain, stated concerning his confidential mission that +the leaders of "Frankland" and "Cumberland district" had "eagerly +accepted the conditions" laid down by Gardoqui: to take the oath of +allegiance to Spain, and to renounce all submission or allegiance +whatever to any other sovereign or power. Satisfied by the secret +advices received, the Spanish minister reported to the home authorities +his confident belief that the Tennessee backwoodsmen, if diplomatically +handled, would readily throw in their lot with Spain. [214] + +After the fiasco of his siege of Tipton's home, Sevier had seized upon +the renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees as a means of regaining his +popularity. This he counted upon doing by rallying his old +comrades-in-arms under his standard and making one of his meteoric, +whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient Indian foe. The victory of this +erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "Nolichucky Jack of the Border," +over the Indians at a town on the Hiwassee "so raised him in the esteem +of the people on the frontier," reports Colonel Maxwell, "that the +people began [once more] to flock to his standard." Inspirited by this +good turn in his fortunes, Sevier readily responded to Dr. White's +overtures. + +Alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and murders +by the Indians in several Tennessee counties and on the Kentucky road, +Sevier, Robertson, and Anthony Bledsoe had persuaded Governor Samuel +Johnston of North Carolina to address Gardoqui and request him to exert +his influence to prevent further acts of savage barbarity. In letters to +Governor Johnston, to Robertson, and to Sevier, all of date April 18th, +Gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely surprised to +know that there is a suspicion that the good government of Spain is +encouraging these acts of barbarity." The letters to Robertson and +Sevier, read between the lines as suggestive reinforcements of Spain's +secret proposals, possess real significance. The letter to Sevier +contains this dexterously expressed sentiment: "His Majesty is very +favorably inclined to give the inhabitants of that region all the +protection that they ask for and, on my part, I shall take very great +pleasure in contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." + +This letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of Dr. White, +furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the Spaniards; +and in July Sevier wrote to Gardoqui indicating his readiness to accede +to their proposals. After secret conferences with men who had supported +him throughout the vicissitudes of his ill-starred state, Sevier +carefully matured his plans. The remarkable letter of great length which +he wrote to Gardoqui on September 12, 1788, reveals the conspiracy in +all its details and presents in vivid colors the strong separatist +sentiment of the day. Sevier urgently petitions Gardoqui for the loan of +a few thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and +necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan within +a short time "by sending the products of this region to the lower +ports." Upon the vital matter of "delivering" the State of Franklin to +Spain, he forthrightly says: + +Since my last of the 18th of July, upon consulting with the principal +men of this country, I have been particularly happy to find that they +are equally disposed and ready as I am to accept your propositions and +guarantees. You may be sure that the pleasing hopes and ideas which the +people of this country hold with regard to the probability of an +alliance with, and commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and +that we are unanimously determined on that score. The people of this +region have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon +which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they +immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend entirely +upon the protection and liberality of your government.... Being the +first from this side of the Appalachian Mountains to resort in this way +to your protection and liberality, we feel encouraged to entertain the +greatest hope that we shall be granted all reasonable aid by him who is +so amply able to do it, and to give the protection and help that is +asked of him in this petition. You know our delicate situation and the +difficulties in which we are in respect to our mother State which is +making use of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity +of this country.... Before I conclude, it may be necessary to remind you +that there will be no more favorable occasion than the present one to +put this plan into execution. North Carolina has rejected the +Constitution and moreover it seems to me that a considerable time will +elapse before she becomes a member of the Union, if that event ever +happens. + +Through Miró, Gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar +correspondence with General James Wilkinson. The object of the Spanish +conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, was to seduce +Kentucky from her allegiance to the United States. Despite the +superficial similarity between the situation of Franklin and Kentucky, +it would be doing Sevier and his adherents a capital injustice to place +them in the category of the corrupt Wilkinson and the malodorous +Sebastian. Moreover, the secessionists of Franklin, as indicated in the +above letter, had the excuse of being left virtually without a country. +On the preceding August 1st, North Carolina had rejected the +Constitution of the United States; and the leaders of Franklin, who were +sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her indifference and neglect, +now felt themselves more than ever out of the Union and wholly +repudiated by the mother state. Again, Sevier had the embittered feeling +resultant from outlawry. Because of his course in opposing the laws and +government of North Carolina and in the killing of several good +citizens, including the sheriff of Washington County, by his forces at +Sinking Creek, Sevier, through the action of Governor Johnston of North +Carolina, had been attainted of high treason. Under the heavy burden of +this grave charge, he felt his hold upon Franklin relax. Further, an +atrocity committed in the recent campaign under Sevier's +leadership--Kirk's brutal murder of Corn Tassel, a noble old Indian, and +other chieftains, while under the protection of a flag of truce--had +placed a bar sinister across the fair fame of this stalwart of the +border. Utter desperation thus prompted Sevier's acceptance of +Gardoqui's offer of the protection of Spain. + +John Sevier's son, James, bore the letter of September 12th to Gardoqui. +By a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day (October 10, 1788) +that Gardoqui wrote to Miró, recommending to the attention of Spain Dr. +White and James Sevier, the emissaries of Franklin, with their plans and +proposals, John Sevier was arrested by Colonel Tipton at the Widow +Brown's in Washington County, on the charge of high treason. He was +handcuffed and borne off, first to Jonesborough and later to Morganton. +But his old friends and former comrades-in-arms, Charles and Joseph +McDowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and Morrison, the +sheriff, who also had fought at King's Mountain, knocked the irons from +his wrists and released him on parole. Soon afterward a number of +Sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, rode across the +mountains to Morganton and silently bore him away, never to be arrested +again. In November an act of pardon and oblivion with respect to +Franklin was passed by the North Carolina Assembly. Although Sevier was +forbidden to hold office under the state, the passage of this act +automatically operated to clear him of the alleged offense of high +treason. With affairs in Franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder +that Gardoqui and Miró paid no further heed to Sevier's proposal to +accept the protection of Spain. Sevier's continued agitation in behalf +of the independence of Franklin inspired Governor Johnston with the fear +that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last extremity." But +Sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was pardoned, given a seat in +the North Carolina assembly, and with extraordinary consideration +honored with his former rank of brigadier-general. + +When Dr. White reported to Miró that the leaders of "Frankland" had +eagerly accepted Gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with Spain, he +categorically added: "With regard to Cumberland district, what I have +said of Frankland applies to it with equal force and truth." James +Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe had but recently availed themselves of the +good offices of Governor Johnston of North Carolina in the effort to +influence Gardoqui to quiet the Creek Indians. The sagacious and +unscrupulous half breed Alexander McGillivray had placed the Creeks +under the protection of Spain in 1784; and shortly afterward they began +to be regularly supplied with ammunition by the Spanish authorities. At +first Spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these Indians to +resist the encroachments of the Americans, while she remained on +outwardly friendly terms with the United States. During the period of +the Spanish conspiracy, however, there is reason to believe that Miró +endeavored to keep the Indians at peace with the borderers, as a +friendly service, intended to pave the way for the establishment of +intimate relations between Spain and the dwellers in the +trans-Alleghany. Yet his efforts cannot have been very effective; for +the Cumberland settlements continued to suffer from the ravages and +depredations of the Creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, +notwithstanding they have had no cause of offence"; and Robertson and +Bledsoe reported to Governor Caswell (June 12, 1787): "It is certain, +the Chickasaws inform us, that Spanish traders offer a reward for scalps +of the Americans." The Indian atrocities became so frequent that +Robertson later in the summer headed a party on the famous Coldwater +Expedition, in which he severely chastised the marauding Indians. +Aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and warriors at the hands of +Robertson's men, and instigated, as was generally believed, by the +Spaniards, the Creeks then prosecuted their attacks with renewed +violence against the Cumberland settlements. + +Unprotected either by the mother state or by the national government, +unable to secure free passage to the Gulf for their products, and sorely +pressed to defend their homes, now seriously endangered by the incessant +attacks of the Creeks, the Cumberland leaders decided to make secret +overtures to McGillivray, as well as to communicate to Miró, through Dr. +White, their favorable inclination toward the proposals of the one +country which promised them protection. In a letter which McGillivray +wrote to Miró (transmitted to Madrid, June 15, 1788) in regard to the +visit of Messrs. Hackett and Ewing, two trusty messengers sent by +Robertson and Bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the +district of Cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of peace +but "had added that they would throw themselves into the arms of His +Majesty as subjects, and that Kentucky and Cumberland are determined to +free themselves from their dependence on Congress, because that body can +not protect either their property, or favor their commerce, and they +therefore believe that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is +incapable of protecting them." Commenting upon McGillivray's +communication, Miró said in his report to Madrid (June 15, 1788): "I +consider as extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to +McGillivray by the deputies on the fermentation existing in Kentucky, +with regard to a separation from the Union. Concerning the proposition +made to McGillivray by the inhabitants of Cumberland to become the +vassals of His Majesty, I have refrained from returning any precise +answer." + +In his long letter of reply to Robertson and Bledsoe, McGillivray agreed +to make peace between his nation, the Creeks, and the Cumberland +settlers. This letter was most favorably received and given wide +circulation throughout the West. In a most ingratiating reply, offering +McGillivray a fine gun and a lot in Nashville, Robertson throws out the +following broad suggestion, which he obviously wishes McGillivray to +convey to Miró: "In all probability we cannot long remain in our present +state, and if the British or any commercial nation who may be in +possession of the mouth of the Mississippi would furnish us with trade, +and receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the +west side of the Appalachian mountains will open their eyes to their +real interest." Robertson actually had the district erected out of the +counties of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee given the name of "Miró" by +the Assembly of North Carolina in November, 1788--a significant symbol +of the desires of the Cumberland leaders. In a letter (April 23, 1789), +Miró, who had just received letters from Robertson (January 29th) and +Daniel Smith (March 4th) postmarked "District of Miró," observes: "The +bearer, Fagot, a confidential agent of Gen. Smith, informed me that the +inhabitants of Cumberland, or Miró, would ask North Carolina for an act +of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this should be +obtained other delegates would be sent from Cumberland to New Orleans, +with the object of placing that territory under the domination of His +Majesty. I replied to both in general terms." [215] + +Robertson, Bledsoe, and Smith were successful in keeping secret their +correspondence with McGillivray and Miró; and few were in the secret of +Sevier's effort to deliver the State of Franklin to Spain. Joseph Martin +was less successful in his negotiations; and a great sensation was +created throughout the Southern colonies when a private letter from +Joseph Martin to McGillivray (November 8, 1788) was intercepted. In this +letter Martin said: "I must beg that you write me by the first +opportunity in answer to what I am now going to say to you.... I hope to +do honor to any part of the world I settle in, and am determined to +leave the United States, for reasons that I can assign to you when we +meet, but durst not trust it to paper." The general assembly of Georgia +referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor of North +Carolina (January 24, 1789); and the result was a legislative +investigation into Martin's conduct. Eleven months later, the North +Carolina assembly exonerated him. From the correspondence of Joseph +Martin and Patrick Henry, it would appear that Martin, on Henry's +advice, had acted as a spy upon the Spaniards, in order to discover the +views of McGillivray, to protect the exposed white settlements from the +Indians, and to fathom the designs of the Spaniards against the United +States. [216] + +The sensational disclosures of Martin's intercepted letter had no +deterrent effect upon James Robertson in the attempted execution of his +plan for detaching the Cumberland settlements from North Carolina. +History has taken no account of the fact that Robertson and the +inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act of separation +from North Carolina. In the event of success, the next move planned by +the Cumberland leaders, as we have already seen, was to send delegates +to New Orleans for the purpose of placing the Cumberland region under +the domination of Spain. + +A hitherto unknown letter, from Robertson to (Miró), dated Nashville, +September 2, 1789, proves that a convention of the people was actually +held--the first overt step looking to an alliance with Spain. In this +letter Robertson says: + +I must beg your Excellency's permission to take this early opportunity +of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing by Mr. White. + +I still hope that your Government, and these Settlements, are destined +to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are impressed with +the necessity of it. + +We have just held a Convention; which has agreed that our members shall +insist on being Seperated from North Carolina. + +Unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new Congress of the United +States; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting Connection. + +The United States afford us no protection. The district of Miró is daily +plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the Creeks, and Cherokees, +unprovoked. + +For my own part, I conceive highly of the advantages of your Government. +[217] + +A serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of Robertson and the +other leaders of the Cumberland settlements was the prompt action of +North Carolina. In actual conformity with the wishes of the Western +people, as set forth in the petition of Robertson and Hayes, their +representatives, made two years earlier, [218] the legislature of North +Carolina in December passed the second act of cession, by which the +Western territory of North Carolina was ceded to the United States. +Instead of securing an act of separation from North Carolina as the +preparatory step to forming what Robertson calls "a more interesting +connection" with Spain, Robertson and his associates now found +themselves and the transmontane region which they represented flung +bodily into the arms of the United States. Despite the unequivocal offer +of the calculating and desperate Sevier to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, +and the ingenious efforts of Robertson and his associates to place the +Cumberland region under the domination of Spain, the Spanish court by +its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision definitely relinquished +the ready opportunities thereby afforded, of utilizing the powerful +separatist tendencies of Tennessee for the purpose of adding the empire +upon the Western waters to the Spanish domain in America. + +The year 1790 marks the end of an era--the heroic age of the pioneers of +the Old Southwest. Following the acceptance of North Carolina's deed of +cession of her Western lands to the Union (April 2, 1790) the Southwest +Territory was erected on May 26th; and William Blount, a North Carolina +gentleman of eminence and distinction, was appointed on June 8th to the +post of governor of the territory. Two years later (June 1, 1792) +Kentucky was admitted into the Union. + +It is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of the +martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane people, +that the two men to whom the Western country in great measure owed its +preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits of the King's Mountain +campaign, were the unopposed first choice of the people as leaders in +the trying experiment of Statehood--John Sevier of Tennessee and Isaac +Shelby of Kentucky. Had Franklin possessed the patient will of Kentucky, +she might well have preceded that region into the Union. It was not, +however, until June 1, 1796, that Tennessee, after a romantic and +arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals into the +domain of national statehood. + + + + +LIST OF NOTES + +1 Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, a stirring recital with chief +stress thrown upon the militant characteristics of the frontiersmen, is +open to grave criticism because of failure to give adequate account of +social and economic tendencies, the development of democracy, and the +evolution of government under the pressure of frontier conditions. + +2 Johnson MSS., xii, No. 127. + +3 Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 and +1797, 217. + +4 Turner: "Significance of the Frontier in American History," American +Historical Association Report, 1893. + +5 Hugh Williamson: History of North Carolina (1812), ii, 71-2. + +6 Virginia Historical Magazine, xiii, 133; William and Mary Quarterly, +ix, 132. + +7 Virginia Historical Magazine, op. cit. Cf. also West Virginia +Historical Magazine, April, 1903. + +8 Bernheim: The German Element and the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas. + +9 For this and other Moravian diaries, see Virginia Historical Magazine, +vols xi and xii. + +10 Original diary in German in Archives of the Moravian Church, +Winston-Salem, N. C. Cf. Mereness, Travels in the American Colonies +1690-1783, 327-356. + +11 Cf. original minutes of Abington and Gwynedd Monthly Meetings, Pa. + +12 MS. History of Bryan family, compiled by Col. W. L. Bryan, Boone, +N. C. + +13 Ely: The Finleys of Bucks (Publications, Bucks County Historical +Society); also "Historic Associations of Neshaminy Valley," Daily +Intelligencer (Reading, Pa.), July 29, 1913. See also Wisconsin State +Historical Society, Draper MSS., 2 B 161. + +14 "The Creative Forces in Westward Expansion," American Historical +Review, xx, 1. + +15 North Carolina Colonial Records, vii, 100-101. + +16 Magazine of American History, November, 1881. + +17 Foote: Sketches of North Carolina, xiii. + +18 Howe: History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. + +19 Virginia Historical Magazine, xiii, 127-8-9. + +20 Draper: MS. Life of Boone; Draper Collection, Wisconsin State +Historical Society. + +21 Rowan County Records, Salisbury, N. C. + +22 Rumple: History of Rowan County. + +23 Logan: History of Upper South Carolina. + +24 "Diary of Bishop Spangenberg" (1752), North Carolina Colonial +Records, v. + +25 Sheets: History of Liberty Baptist Association. + +26 Moravian Community Diary, preserved at Winston-Salem, N. C. + +27 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 6. + +28 J. F. D. Smyth: A Tour in the United States of America (London: +1784), vol. 1. Chapter xxiii. + +29 Unpublished MS.: "In the Olden Time." + +30 Margry: Navigation of the Mississippi, iv, 322. + +31 Raunié: Chansonnier historique du xviiie siècle, iii, 132-3. This +translation is by Barbara Henderson. + +32 J. Haywood: Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (1823), 223. + +33 Byrd: History of the Dividing Line. + +34 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 25. + +35 D. D. Wallace: The Life of Henry Laurens, Appendix iv. + +36 See also Hewit in Carroll's Collections, i, 435. Fort Prince George +was located in the fork of the Six Mile Creek and Keowee River, in the +southwestern part of Pickens County, and was completed probably by the +end of 1753 (South Carolina Gazette, December 17, 1753). + +37 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 140. + +38 Cited in Channing, History of the United States, ii, 5-73 n. + +39 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 333, 357. + +40 Moravian Community Diary. + +41 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 849. + +42 Virginia Historical Magazine, xiii, 225-264. North Carolina Colonial +Records, v, 560, 617. + +43 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 579. + +44 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 641, 742, 849. Cf. also Hunter: +Sketches of Western North Carolina, 325. + +45 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 604, 639. + +46 Virginia Historical Magazine, xiii, 263; North Carolina Colonial +Records, v, 606, 609, 613. + +47 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 585, 612-4, 635, 637. + +48 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 610; Cf. Timberlake's "A Draught +of the Cherokee Country" in Avery's History of the United States, iv, +facing p. 347; Ramsey, History of Tennessee, 57. + +49 Summers: Southwest Virginia, 57-60. + +50 Virginia Historical Magazine, xv, 254-7; Waddell, Augusta County +(second edition), 115-6, 150-1. + +51 North Carolina Colonial Records, v, 606-8. + +52 Summers: Southwest Virginia, 60-1. + +53 Williamson: History of North Carolina, ii, 37, footnote. + +54 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 563; xi, map facing p. 80, and +p. 227. + +55 North Carolina Colonial Records, v. Introduction, pp. xxx-xxxi. + +56 Carroll's Collections, i, 433; ii, 519-20; Draper's MS. Life of +Boone, iii, 65-6. + +57 Sparks: Washington, ii, 322. + +58 Journal: "Concerning a March that Capt. Robt. Wade took to the New +River," in Summers, Southwest Virginia. 62-66. + +59 Carroll's Collections, i, 443-4. + +60 South Carolina Gazette, May 12, 1759. + +61 South Carolina Gazette, July 14, 1759. + +62 South Carolina Gazette, Aug. 4, Sept. 22, 1759. + +63 North Carolina Colonial Records, vi, 221. + +64 Draper: MS. Life of Boone, iii, 75. + +65 North Carolina Colonial Records, vi, 229-230. + +66 For a full account of the part which Fort Dobbs played in this Indian +warfare see the monograph, Fort Dobbs, by Mrs. M. H. Eliason. + +67 Maryland Gazette, May 8, 1760; Haywood: Natural and Aboriginal +History of Tennessee, 239-40; North Carolina Colonial Records, xxii, +822. + +68 "Notes on the Indians and the Early Settlers of Western North +Carolina," Collections of the North Carolina Historical Commission. +Printed in Papers of A. D. Murphy, ii, 380 et seq. + +69 Maryland Gazette, May 8, 1760. + +70 South Carolina Gazette, Dec. 23, 1760; Feb. 28, April 11, 1761. + +71 North Carolina Colonial Records, vi, 622. + +72 J. S. Johnston: The First Explorations of Kentucky. Filson Club +Publications, No. 13. + +73 William and Mary College Quarterly, xii, 129-134; Young: Genealogical +Narrative of the Hart Family (1882); Nash: "History of Orange County," +North Carolina Booklet; Henderson: "A Federalist of the Old School," +North Carolina Booklet. + +74 North Carolina Colonial Records, ix, 349. + +75 Turner: "The Old West," Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, +1908. + +76 Cf. "Memoir of Pleasant Henderson," Draper MSS. 2CC21-23; W. H. +Battle: "A Memoir of Leonard Henderson," North Carolina University +Magazine, Nov., 1859; T. B. Kingsbury: "Chief Justice Leonard +Henderson," Wake Forest Student, November, 1898. + +77 "The Life and Times of Richard Henderson," in the Charlotte Observer, +March 9 to June 1, 1913; Draper's MS. Life of Boone; Morehead's Address +at Boonesborough, 105 n. + +78 C. W. Alvord: "The Genesis of the Proclamation of 1763," Michigan +Pioneer and Historical Collections, xxxvi. + +79 Sparks: Works of Franklin (1844), iii, 69-77. + +80 J. M. Peck to L. C. Draper, May 15, 1854. + +81 Washington to Crawford, September 21, 1767, in Sparks: Life and +Writings of Washington, ii, 346-50. + +82 Haywood: Civil and Political History of Tennessee (1823), 35. + +83 Ramsey: Annals of Tennessee (1853), 69-70. + +84 Ramsey: Annals of Tennessee, 69. + +85 Cf. C. W. Alvord: "The British Ministry and the Treaty of Fort +Stanwix," Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, 1908. + +86 North Carolina Colonial Records, vii, 851-855. For Tryon's line, +ibid., 245, 460, 470, 508. + +87 Johnson to Gage, December 16, 1768. + +88 Jefferson MSS. Department of state. Cf. also Weeks: General Joseph +Martin. + +89 Hanna: The Wilderness Trail, ii, 216, 230, 255; Darlington: Journals +of Gist, 131. + +90 "Narrative of General William Hall," Draper MSS., Wisconsin State +Historical Society. + +91 Draper: MS. Life of Boone, viii, 238. + +92 Summers: Southwest Virginia, 76. + +93 Papers of A. D. Murphy, ii, 386. + +94 Pennsylvania Journal, October 29, 1769. + +95 Compare "John Finley; and Kentucky before Boone," being chapter seven +in volume two of C. A. Hanna's The Wilderness Trail (1911). + +96 J. W. Monette: History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley +of the Mississippi (1846), ii, 53. + +97 Court Records of Rowan County. + +98 Cf. "The Pioneers of the West" in Missouri Republican (1847). Cf. +also Putnam: Middle Tennessee, 20. + +99 J. M. Peck to L. C. Draper, May 15, 1854. + +100 Missouri Republican (1847). + +101 A Memorial to the Legislature of Kentucky (1812). + +102 Deposition Book No. 1, p. 156, Clark County Court, Kentucky. + +103 Cf. "Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Trail," Bristol +(Tennessee-Virginia) Herald Courier, Boone Trail Edition, April, 1917. + +104 Hall: The Romance of Western History (1857), 150-1, 158-9. + +105 North Carolina Colonial Records, vii, 713. + +106 Martin: History of North Carolina, ii, 191. + +107 "The Origin of the Regulation in North Carolina," American +Historical Review, xxi, No. 2. + +108 North Carolina Colonial Records, vii, 14-31, 32-4, 37. + +109 Raleigh (N. C.) Register, June 2, 1825. + +110 Cf. Tryon's Journal, North Carolina Colonial Records, vii, 819-838. + +111 Tryon to Hillsborough, December 24, 1768. + +112 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 231-4. + +113 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 241-244. + +114 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 241-244. + +115 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 236-240. + +116 Cf. J. S. Bassett: "The Regulators of North Carolina (1765-1771)", +American Historical Association Report for 1894. + +117 North Carolina Colonial Records, x, 1019-1022; Caruthers: Life of +Caldwell, 145-158. + +118 North Carolina Colonial Records, vi, 250. + +119 Alderman: "The Baptists at the Forks of the Yadkin," in Baptist +Historical Papers. + +120 North Carolina Colonial Records, viii, 70-80. + +121 The discovery of an immense quantity of contemporary documents, +since Roosevelt's The Winning of the West was written, betrays the +numerous inaccuracies of that fascinating work, as well as the imperfect +perspective in the picture of the westward expansionist movement. Mr. +Roosevelt's virile apotheosis of the strenuous pioneer seems today +almost as old-fashioned in its method and outlook as is Draper's work on +King's Mountain. + +122 Bancroft Transcripts, Library of Congress. + +123 Purefoy: History of Sandy Creek Baptist Association (1859). + +124 Cf. "Pioneer Contributions of North Carolina to Kentucky," Charlotte +(N. C.) Observer, November 10, 1913. + +125 Summers: Southwest Virginia, 616-8. + +126 North Carolina Colonial Records, xiv, 314. Cf. Farrand: "The Indian +Boundary Line," American Historical Review, x. + +127 Dunmore to Hillsborough, March, 1772. Cf. also Draper, MS. Life of +Boone, Draper MSS., 3 B 87, 88. + +128 North Carolina Colonial Records, x, 885-6. + +129 Moses Fisk: "A Summary Notice of the First Settlements made by White +People within the Limits which Bound the State of Tennessee," in +Massachusetts Historical Collections, 1st series (1816). + +130 Dunmore to Dartmouth, May 16, 1774. + +131 North Carolina Colonial Records, ix, 825-6, 982. MS. Copy in Minutes +of Council, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, 5:355. + +132 Haywood: Civil and Political History of Tennessee (1823), 40. + +133 Butler: History of Kentucky (1836), p. lxvii, note. Also Draper +MSS., 2 CC 34. + +134 Wharton: Plain Facts (1781), 9. + +135 Alvord: The Illinois-Wabash Land Company Manuscript. + +136 A copy of the opinion, bearing this date, is in the Henderson +papers, Draper collection, Wisconsin Historical Society. + +137 Extended investigation establishes beyond question that Judge +Henderson was proceeding in strict accordance with law in seeking to +acquire title by purchase from the Cherokees instead of applying to the +royal government for a grant. When Virginia's sea-to-sea charter was +abrogated in 1624, Virginia became a royal province and the settlement +of boundaries a royal prerogative. Of the three presumed Indian +claimants to the trans-Alleghany region, viz., the Iroquois, Shawanoes, +and Cherokees, the Iroquois by defeating the Shawanoes and their +confederates in the Ohio Valley at the battle of Sandy Island in 1672 +acquired title, as understood by the Indians, to this region. By the +treaties of Lancaster (1744), Loggstown (1752), and Fort Stanwix (1768), +the claims of the Shawanoes and the Iroquois to the trans-Alleghany +territory were ceded to the crown. While the Shawanoes and the Cherokees +acquiesced in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the crown fully acknowledged +the claim of the Cherokees to the trans-Alleghany region; and by the +treaties of Hard Labor (1768) and Lochaber (1770) confirmed them in +possession of this region to the west of the boundary line (See Chapter +XII). The sovereignty of England extended over this territory, the right +of eminent domain being vested in the crown. Henderson was legally +justified in disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 which was +largely in the nature of a temporary expedient, and in purchasing the +title to the trans-Alleghany region from the Cherokees in 1775. The +right of eminent domain over the trans-Alleghany region still vested in +the crown after the treaty of Sycamore Shoals. + +138 MS. Journals of James and Robert McAfee. Durrett Collection, +University of Chicago. These journals are printed in Woods-McAfee +Memorial. + +139 Hening: Virginia Statutes at Large, x, 558. + +140 Wharton: Plain Facts, 96 et seq. See also text ff. + +141 Alvord: The Mississippi Valley in British Politics, ii, ch. 7; +Cotterill: History of Pioneer Kentucky, 65-66. + +142 T. Wharton to Walpole, September 23, 1774, in "Letter Book of Thomas +Wharton," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, xxxiii +(October, 1909). + +143 For ample materials, cf. Thwaites and Kellogg: Documentary History +of Dunmore's War--1774. + +144 Cf. "The Inauguration of Westward Expansion," News and Observer +(Raleigh, N. C.) July 5, 1914. + +145 Letter of Major Pleasant Henderson, in The Harbinger (Chapel Hill, +N. C), 1834. + +146 Cf. "The Beginnings of Westward Expansion," North Carolina Review, +September and October, 1910. + +147 Draper MSS. 1 CC 2-9, Wisconsin State Historical Society. + +148 Jefferson MSS. 5th Series, v. 8. In MSS. Division, Library of +Congress. + +149 Draper MSS. 1 CC 2-9. + +150 Diary of Morgan Brown in Tennessee Historical Magazine. + +151 Enclosure 6 in Dunmore to Dartmouth, No. 25, March 14, 1775, Public +Record Office, Colonial Office, 5:1353. + +152 North Carolina Colonial Records, ix, 1117, 1129-1131. + +153 Draper MSS. 4 QQ 1. + +154 Virginia Historical Magazine, viii, 355. Cf. also Draper MSS. 2 CC +5. + +155 Letters to Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. + +156 I am indebted to Miss Lucretia Hart Clay for the privilege of +examining the extensive collection of Hart and Benton MSS. in her +possession. + +157 The voluminous records of the treaty are found in the Jefferson +MSS., vol. 5. MSS. Division, Library of Congress. + +158 "Narrative of Felix Walker," Original MS. owned by C. L. Walker. + +159 Hulbert: Boone's Road. + +160 Original of Henderson's Journal is in Draper MSS., 1 CC 21-130 A. D. + +161 Hall: Sketches of the West, i, 254-5. + +162 This quotation is taken from the original manuscript. The version in +De Bow's Review, 1854, is imperfect. For better printed versions of +Walker's two accounts, see Memoirs of Felix Walker, New Orleans (1877), +and Journal of American History, i, No. 1 (1907). + +163 Original journal of William Calk, owned by Mrs. Price Calk. + +164 Letters to Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. + +165 North Carolina Gazette. + +166 Draper MSS., 1 CC 160-194, deposition of Arthur Campbell. + +167 Draper MSS., 1 CC 160-194, deposition of Arthur Campbell. + +168 Draper Collection, Kentucky MSS., ii. For a contrary view, cf. P. +Henry's deposition, Kentucky MSS., i. + +169 Published in Virginia Gazette, March 23, 1775. Cf. "Forerunners of +the Republic", Neale's Monthly, January-June, 1913. + +170 Draper MSS., 4 QQ 17. + +171 Letters to George Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. + +172 Draper MSS., 1 L 20. + +173 Henderson and Luttrell to the Proprietors, July 18, 1775; printed in +Louisville News-Letter, May 9, 1840. + +174 Nathaniel Henderson to John Williams, October 5, 1775. Copy supplied +by heirs of B. J. Lossing. + +175 "The Struggle for the Fourteenth American Colony," News and Observer +(Raleigh, N. C.), May 19, 1918. + +176 In connection with Transylvania, consult G. W. Ranck: Boonesborough: +Filson Club Publications, No. 16; F. J. Turner: "State Making in the +Revolutionary Era", American Historical Review, i; G. H. Alden: "New +Governments West of the Alleghanies before 1780." + +177 In a "Proposal for the Sale of its Lands" (Virginia Gazette, Sept. +30, 1775), the Transylvania Company offered to any settlers before June +1, 1776, land, limited in amount, at the rate of fifty shillings +sterling per hundred acres, subject to an annual quit-rent of two +shillings. Cf. facsimile. + +178 Draper MSS., 2 CC 25. + +179 These increased rates were voted at a meeting of the Proprietors of +Transylvania at Oxford, N. C., September 25, 1775. American Archives, +iv. + +180 Draper MSS., 47 J 1. This memoir has often been printed. + +181 Cf. for example, Mason to Washington, March 9, 1775, in Letters to +Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. + +182 Letter of date May 19, 1776. Draper MSS., 33 S 292-295. + +183 Original in Virginia State Archives. + +184 Original in Virginia State Archives. This and the aforementioned +petition are printed in the Virginia Historical Magazine, xvi, 157-163. +See also J. R. Robertson: Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of +Kentucky, Filson Club Publications, No. 27. + +185 Cf. "Richard Henderson and the Occupation of Kentucky, 1775," +Mississippi Valley Historical Review, December, 1914. Also A. B. +Hulbert: Pilots of the Republic. + +186 Original in North Carolina State Archives. Printed in Ramsey: Annals +of Tennessee (1853), 134-138. + +187 Haldimand MSS. + +188 Original in Draper MSS. Collections. It has recently been printed in +Colonial Men and Times (1915), by Lillie Du P. Van C. Harper. + +189 Haywood: Civil and Political History of Tennessee, (1823), Appendix, +500-503. + +190 Journal Virginia House of Delegates, Nov. 4-17, 1778. + +191 Hening: Statutes at Large, ix, 571. Cf. also Starling: History of +Henderson County, Kentucky. + +192 Cf. Sioussat: "The Journal of Daniel Smith," Tennessee Historical +Magazine, March, 1915. + +193 The original journal is in the archives of the Tennessee State +Historical Society. + +194 N. Hart, Jr., to Wilkins Tannehill, April 27, 1839, in Louisville +News-Letter, May 23, 1840. + +195 The original document is preserved in the archives of the Tennessee +Historical Society. It is printed, with a number of minor inaccuracies, +in Putnam: Middle Tennessee, 94-102. + +196 Acts of North Carolina, 1783, ch. xxxviii, North Carolina State +Records, xxiv, 530-531. + +197 For a more extended treatment of the subjects dealt with in the +present chapter, see "Richard Henderson, the Authorship of the +Cumberland Compact, and the Founding of Nashville," Tennessee Historical +Magazine, September, 1916. + +198 "Isaac Shelby, Revolutionary Patriot and Border Hero," in North +Carolina Booklet, xvi, No. 3, 109-144. + +199 While Draper's King's Mountain and its Heroes is most valuable as a +source book, it is very faulty in style and arrangement. The account of +the battle, in particular, is deficient in perspective; and in general +no clear line is drawn between traditionary and authentic testimony. + +200 F. B. McDowell: The Battle of King's Mountain (Raleigh, 1907). This +account was prepared chiefly from unpublished letters from Isaac Shelby +to Franklin Brevard. + +201 A Sketch of the Life and Career of Colonel James D. Williams, by +Rev. J. D. Bailey (Cowpens, S. C., 1898). + +202 A valuable source is the King's Mountain Expedition, by David Vance +and Robert Henry, edited by D. L. Schenck (Greensboro, 1891). + +203 Cf. Acts of North Carolina, 1784, April Session, Chapters XI and +XII. + +204 Sioussat: "The North Carolina Cession of 1784 in its Federal +Aspects," Mississippi Valley Historical Association Proceedings, ii. + +205 Quoted in Alden: "The State of Franklin," American Historical +Review, viii. + +206 See Charlotte (N. C.) Observer, September 25, 1904. Also consult +North Carolina State Records, xxii, 664 ff. + +207 State Archives of North Carolina. + +208 Pennsylvania Packet, August 9, 1785. + +209 State Department MSS., Library of Congress. + +210 A single complete draft, in pamphlet form, printed in 1786, is +preserved in the archives of the Tennessee Historical Society. Cf. "The +Provisional Constitution of Frankland," American Historical Magazine, i. + +211 Franklin Papers, vii, folio 1651. MSS. Division, Library of +Congress. + +212 Franklin Papers, viii, folio 1803. MSS. Division, Library of +Congress. + +213 For a more extended treatment of matters dealt with in this chapter, +compare "The Spanish Conspiracy in Tennessee," Tennessee Historical +Magazine, December, 1917. + +214 Gardoqui to Floridablanca, April 18, 1788. + +215 On April 30th Miró wrote to Valdez, in Spain, informing him of the +proposals received through McGillivray and stating that he had returned +conciliatory replies but had refrained from committing the Spanish +Government until the pleasure of the king should be known. + +216 W. W. Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches of Patrick Henry, +iii, 409, 412-5. + +217 Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain. + +218 Ramsey: Annals of Tennessee (1853), 502-3. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +For the entire period (1740-1790) covered by this volume, an +exceptionally rich store of materials is to be found in the Colonial +Records of North Carolina, 1662-1775 (published 1886-1890), and its +continuation, the State Records of North Carolina, 1776-1790 (published +1895-1905), thirty volumes in all, including the four volumes of index. +The introductions and supplementary matter in these volumes constitute a +survey of the period. Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West +(1889-1896; various editions), a vigorous and stirring narrative, +over-accentuates the strenuous life, largely underemphasises economic +and governmental phases, and is by no means free from error. + +For the Scotch-Irish migrations one should read C. A. Hanna, The +Scotch-Irish (2 vols., 1902), a large collection of original materials, +imperfectly coördinated; and the excellent historical sketch by H. J. +Ford, The Scotch-Irish in America (1905). For the German migrations, +adequate and readable accounts are A. B. Faust, The German Element in +the United States (2 vols., 1909); J. H. Clewell, History of Wachovia in +North Carolina (1902); J. W. Wayland, The German Element of the +Shenandoah Valley of Virginia (1907); and G. D. Bernheim, History of the +German Settlements and of the Lutheran Church in North and South +Carolina (1872). + +The best original sources for the life of the people in this period are: +the State Archives of North Carolina at Raleigh, scientifically ordered +and accessible to collectors; the Lyman C. Draper Collection at Madison, +Wisconsin; the Reuben T. Durrett Collection at the University of +Chicago; the State Archives of South Carolina, especially rich in +collections of contemporary newspapers; the collections of the North +Carolina Historical Society at Chapel Hill; and the Archives of the +Moravian Church, in Pennsylvania and at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. +The State Archives of Virginia, an unexplored mine of great riches, are +as yet inaccessible, properly speaking, to investigators. The state of +Tennessee has not yet made any provision for the conservation of +historical materials; but the Tennessee Historical Society has preserved +much valuable documentary material. + +Books shedding light, from various quarters, upon the life of the people +in this period are: W. H. Foote, Sketches of North Carolina, Historical +and Biographical (1846; reprinted 1913), dealing almost exclusively with +the Presbyterian Church and the Scotch-Irish; J. F. D. Smyth, A Tour in +the United States of America (2 vols., 1784), untrustworthy as to +historical events and partisan as to politics, but graphic in +description of the people and the country; William Bartram, Travels +through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida (1791), +delightful in its simplicity and genial tone; William Byrd, History of +the Dividing Line and other writings (J. S. Bassett's edition, 1901), of +sprightly style and instinct with literary charm, pungently satirical, +untrustworthy as to North Carolina; Joseph Doddridge, Notes on the +Settlement and Indian Wars &c. (1824; reprinted 1912), photographic in +its realistic delineation of backwoods conditions; J. H. Logan, History +of Upper South Carolina (1859); J. Rumple, Rowan County (1881; reprinted +1916); Biographical History of North Carolina (8 volumes printed, +1905-); S. Dunbar, A History of Travel in America(4 vols., 1915), first +volume; Travels in the American Colonies, 1690-1783 (Edited by N. D. +Mereness, 1916); and O. Taylor, Historic Sullivan (1909). + +Many valuable articles, of both local and national interest, are found +in the excellent periodical publications: James Sprunt Historical +Monographs and Publications (16 vols., 1900-), published by the +University of North Carolina; North Carolina Booklet (18 vols., 1901-), +published by the N. C. Society, D. A. R.; Virginia Magazine of History +and Biography (27 vols., 1893-); American Historical Magazine (8 vols., +1896-1903); Tennessee Historical Magazine (4 vols., 1915-); Register of +the Kentucky State Historical Society (17 vols., 1902-); Mississippi +Valley Historical Review (6 vols., 1914-). A notable study is F. J. +Turner, The Old West (Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, 1908). + +There is no adequate account in print of the French and Indian War, in +the Old Southwest. Useful sources are E. McCrady, South Carolina under +the Royal Government, 1719-1776 (1899); S. A. Ashe, History of North +Carolina, 1584-1783 (1 vol., 1908); L. P. Summers, History of South-West +Virginia, 1746-1786 (1903); J. P. Hale, Trans-Alleghany Pioneers (1886); +J. A. Waddell, Annals of Augusta County, Virginia (1886); S. Kercheval, +A History of the Valley of Virginia (third edition, 1902); A. S. +Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare (R. G. Thwaites' edition, 1908); +B. R. Carroll, Historical Collections of South Carolina (2 vols., 1886); +E. M. Avery, History of the United States (7 vols., 1908), fourth +volume; J. G. M. Ramsey, Annals of Tennessee (1853); Calendar Virginia +State Papers (11 vols., 1875-1893). An interesting biography is A. M. +Waddell, A Colonial Officer and his Times (1890). + +The early explorations of the West, and the career of Boone, are treated +with reasonable fullness in the admirable publications of the Filson +Club of Kentucky (27 vols., 1884-); C. A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail (2 +vols., 1911); John Haywood, Civil and Political History of Tennessee +(1823; reprinted 1891), written in delightfully quaint style; L. and +R. H. Collins, History of Kentucky (2 vols., 1882), a mine of +conglomerate material; N. M. Woods, The Woods-McAfee Memorial (1905); +A. B. Hulbert, Pilots of the Republic (1905) and Boone's Wilderness Road +(1903), attractively written; R. G. Thwaites, Daniel Boone (1911), a +lifeless condensation of Draper's sprawling projected (MS.) biography; +and John Filson, Kentucke (1784). + +Of the voluminous mass of literature dealing with the Regulation in +North Carolina, one should read: J. S. Bassett, The Regulators of North +Carolina, 1765-1771 (American Historical Association Report, 1894); M. +DeL. Haywood, Governor Tryon of North Carolina (1903); H. Husband, An +Impartial Relation of the First Rise and Cause of the Present +Differences in Publick Affairs, in the Province of North Carolina +(1770); and Archibald Henderson, The Origin of the Regulation in North +Carolina (American Historical Review, 1916). + +In addition to titles already mentioned, the following books and +monographs give the best accounts of the Watauga and Cumberland +settlements and of the State of Franklin: A. W. Putnam, History of +Middle Tennessee (1859), a remarkably interesting book by a real +"character"; J. W. Caldwell, Constitutional History of Tennessee (second +edition, 1907); F. M. Turner, Life of General John Sevier (1910), in +pedestrian style, reasonably accurate for the romantic period only; +G. H. Alden, The State of Franklin (American Historical Review, 1903); +S. B. Weeks, Joseph Martin (American Historical Association Report, +1894); Archibald Henderson, Isaac Shelby (North Carolina Booklet, +1917-1918). The source book for the Indian war of 1774 is Documentary +History of Dunmore's War (Edited by R. G. Thwaites and L. P. Kellogg, +1905). For exhaustive data concerning the King's Mountain campaign and +its preliminaries, read L. C. Draper, King's Mountain and its Heroes +(1881), though the book is lacking in discrimination and deficient in +perspective. For a briefer treatment, read D. L. Schenck, North +Carolina, 1780-1781 (1889). + +Other books and monographs dealing with the period, the westward +movement, the settlement of the trans-Alleghany, and the little +governments, to be consulted are: James Hall, Sketches of the West (2 +vols., 1835) and The Romance of Western History (1857); Journals of the +House of Burgesses of Virginia for 1766-1769 and 1770-1772 (published +1906); G. H. Alden, New Governments West of the Alleghanies before 1780 +(published 1897); C. W. Alvord, The Mississippi Valley in British +Politics (2 vols., 1917), a notable work, ably written and embodying an +immense amount of information; J. T. Morehead, Address at Boonesborough, +May 25, 1840 (published 1840); F. J. Turner, The Significance of the +Frontier in American History (Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, +1894) and Western State-Making in the Revolutionary Era (American +Historical Review, 1895-1896), papers characterised by both brilliance +and depth; and Archibald Henderson, The Creative Forces in Westward +Expansion (American Historical Review, 1914), The Occupation of Kentucky +in 1775 (Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 1914), The Founding of +Nashville (Tennessee Historical Magazine, 1916), and The Spanish +Conspiracy in Tennessee (Tennessee Historical Magazine, 1917). + +On the subject of Indian tribes and Indian treaties, the Annual Reports +of the Bureau of Ethnology, in especial numbers 5, 18, and 19, although +compiled from secondary historical sources and occasionally erroneous in +important matters, are useful--as is also Bulletin 22: J. Mooney, Siouan +Tribes of the East (1895). Rare and interesting works dealing with the +Eastern Indian tribes are H. Timberlake, Memoirs (1765); J. Haywood, +Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (1823); and J. Adair, +American Indians (1775). + +For both wider and more intensive reading in the history of this period, +consult: F. J. Turner, List of References on the History of the West +(Edition of 1915); A Critical Bibliography of Kentucky History, in R. M. +McElroy, Kentucky in the Nation's History (1909); S. B. Weeks, A +Bibliography of the Historical Literature of North Carolina (1895); +E. G. Swem, A Bibliography of Virginia (Part I, 1916); and the +bibliographies in J. Phelan, History of Tennessee (1888); E. McCrady, +South Carolina under the Royal Government, 1719-1776 (published 1899) +and South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 (published 1901); and +E. M. Avery, A History of the United States (1908), volumes 4, 5, and 6. + +Note. For the use of a complete set of transcripts of the Richard +Henderson Papers in the Draper Collection, I am indebted to the North +Carolina Historical Commission through the courtesy of the Secretary, +Mr. R. D. W. Connor. + + +INDEX +A +Abingdon: 134, 191. +Adams, John: 250. +Adams, Samuel: 241, 250. +Ahualco: 144. +Alamance: see Battles. +Alexander, Abraham: 172. +Alexander, James: 27. +Alexander, Moses: 27. +Alexander, Capt. Nathaniel: 62. +Alexander, William: 27. +Alibamu Fort: 65. +Alleghany Mountains: 100, 142, 155, 246, 259, 311. +Alleman's Ford: 36. +Alrichs, Herman: describes ambuscade of Braddock's army, 54. +Amazons: 267. +America: 111, 134, 159, 234, 248, 329; continent of, 198; history of, +286; emigration to, 7; people of, 173, 186, 198, 199; democracy in, ch. +XIV-ch. XV, 174; colonies of, necessity for union, 65-66. +American: cause, 185; congress, 329, 341; confederation, 215, 259, 291; +republic, 329. +American Revolution: 12, 123, 239, 259, 267, 270, 277, 305. +American Union: 319, 335, 336, 342, 348, 349; see Union. +Americans: 190, 300, 329, 339, 340; pioneers, 283; civilization of, ch. +X, 199; character of, ch. X, 30-31, 195. +Amherst, Gen. Jeffrey: 93. +Anderson, Colonel: 308. +Anshers, James: 52. +Appalachian Mountains: 4, 5, 42, 107, 137, 139, 334, 343. +Arkansas: 122. +Atlantic Ocean: 4. +Atta-kulla-kulla, Cherokee chief: 66, 74, 76, 217, 242, 262. +Augusta: 79. + + +B +Bacon, Francis: 172. +Bailey, Capt. Andrew: leads sortie from Fort Dobbs, 80-82. +Baily, Francis: on frontiersmen, ch. XIV. +Baker, John: 139. +Baker, William: 121. +Bainton, Epaphroditus: 130. +Balboa: 155. +Baptists: 175, 185, 190. +Barbour, explorer: 122. +Battles: Alamance, 168, 175, 182-183, 186, 189, 219; Great Kanawha, of +the, 203-204, 209, 305; King's Mountain, at, ch. XVIII, 289, 327; +Lexington, 244, 277; Long Island Flats, of, 262-263; Musgrove's Mill, +at, 291. +Beaujeu, Captain: 53. +Been, John: 196. +Been, Mrs. William: 264. +"Belle Riviere": 156; see Ohio River. +Bentham, Jeremy: 246. +Benton, Jesse: 222. +Benton, Samuel: 170. +Benton, Thomas Hart: 170. +Bethabara: 38, 56, 75, 85, 161, 162, 166; invested by Indians, 88. +Bethania: 87. +Bienville (Blainville) Céloron de: 46-47, 98, 116. +Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de: 42. +Big Bone Lick: 116, 156; see Great Bone Lick. +Big Lick: 33. +Big Salt Lick: 284; see French Lick, French Salt Springs, Great French +Lick, Great Salt Springs. +Black Fish, Shawanoe chief: adopts Daniel Boone, 274. +Bledsoe, Anthony: 194, 327, 332, 339, 340, 341, 342, 344. +Bledsoe family: 123. +Bledsoe, Isaac: 126; discovers lick, 124. +Bledsoe's Lick: discovery of, described, 124-125. +Blevens: hunters named, 109. +Blevens, William: 119. +Blount, William: 348. +Blowing Rock: 134. +Blue Licks: 156. +Blue Ridge: 3, 5, 97, 142. +Board of Trade: Johnston to, 3; Glen to, 51; draft royal proclamation, +106. +Boiling Spring: 243, 253. +Bonn, Dr. Jacob: 85. +Boone, Anne: 23. +Boone, Daniel: 16, 20, 22, 29, 38, 41, 101, 108, 110, 115, 119, 129, +130, ch. IX, 131, 132, 133, 134, 142, 144, 148, 153, 155, 156, 158, 159, +160, 164, 165, 166, 185, 190, 200, 212, 221, 225, 226, 227, 231, 232, +235, 236, 280, 282; personal appearance, 37; at Braddock's Defeat, +54-55; meets Richard Henderson, 105; explores Tennessee for Henderson & +Company, 109; serves under Waddell, 133; explores Kentucky for Richard +Henderson, ch. X; clears Transylvania Trail, 226; asks aid of Judge +Henderson, 227-228; returns to Boonesborough, 253; rescues daughter, +271; rescued by Kenton, 272; captured, 272; adopted by Black Fish, 274; +deceived by Indians, 274. +Boone family: settles in North Carolina, 34, 36, 117. +Boone, George: 21, 165. +Boone, James: 137. +Boone, Jemima: captured by Indians, 271. +Boone, Jesse: 137. +Boone, Squire: 21, 34, 35, 36, 37, 105. +Boone, Squire, Jr.: 29, 142, 156-157; sent by Transylvania Company to +aid Daniel Boone, 153. +Boone, William: 23. +Boonesborough: 199, 215, 254, 277; Henderson arrives at, 235; +Transylvania convention at, 244-248; Boone returns to, 253; capture of +girls at, 270-271; besieged by Indians, 272, 273, 274-276; Henderson +returns to, 282; corn sent to, from French Lick, 284, 285. +Boone's Caves: 157. +Boone's Ford: 36. +Boston: 8, 180. +Botetourt; Governor, of Virginia: 192. +Boyd's Creek: 307. +Braddock, Gen. Edward: 53, 58, 135, 295; defeat of, described, 53-55. +Brandmüller, John: pilgrimage of, 14-15. +British: 49, 102, 189, 261, 270, 276, 289, 290, 292, 294, 296, 299, 302, +342; Crown, 191, 200. +Brobdignags: 154. +Brown, Francis: 57. +Brown, Jacob: 194, 224. +Brown, the widow: 337. +Bryan family: 203. +Bryan, James: 22. +Bryan, Joseph: 22. +Bryan, Martha: 33. +Bryan, Morgan: 22, settled in Pennsylvania, 22; in Virginia, 23; in +North Carolina, 16, 34; leads frontier rangers, 75-76, 83; in Rowan, 35. +Bryan, Morgan, Jr.: 22. +Bryan, Rebeckah: 132, 160. +Bryan, William: 22, 33. +Bryan's Station: 22. +"Buffalo Bill" (W. F. Cody): ch. XV. +Bull, Lieut. Gov. William: 88. +Bullitt, Capt. Thomas: 204. +Bullock, Leonard Henley: Member Transylvania Company, 218. +Bunker's Hill: battle of, 277. +Burke, Edmund: on charters, ch. XI. +Burnaby, Andrew: describes life in backwoods, 32. +Byrd, Col. William, 3rd.: 59, 91, 92, 94, 133, 187, 208, 210, 249. +Byrd, William: 36, 45, 98, 130; describes Yadkin region, 35. + + +C +Calhoun, Patrick: family attacked, 79; commands Provincial Rangers, 89; +relatives of, 168. +Calk, William: 235; with exploring party from Virginia, 226. +Callaway, Elizabeth: captured by Indians, 271; rescued, 271. +Callaway, Flanders: 271. +Callaway, Frances: capture by Indians, 271; rescued, 271. +Callaway, Col. Richard: 253; commands in defence of Transylvania Fort, +275-276. +Callaway, Samuel: 110. +Camden: 292. +Camden, Lord Chancellor: 201. +Camden-Yorke opinion: 207, 239, 240, 241. +Cameron, Alexander: 194, 261. +Camp Charlotte: 212. +Campbell, Col. Arthur: interested in Kentucky lands, 208; seeks +partnership in Transylvania Company for Patrick Henry, 240; leads force +against Cherokees, 307; plans Greater Franklin, 323. +Campbell, Colonel William: leads Virginians, 293; elected commander +King's Mountain expedition, 294; at King's Mountain, 296, 299, 300. +Campbell, David: 314, 321. +Campbell, John: 263. +Campbell, Robert: scalped, 82. +Cape Fear: 53, 75. +Captain Will: 151. +Carlisle: 144. +Carolina: 116, 118. +Carolinas, the two: 75, 139, 201. +Carter, John: 224. +Carter's Valley: 195, 224. +Carteret, Lord: lands of, 9. +Caswell, Gov. Richard: 57, 318, 322, 340. +Catawba Town: 59. +Catawba Valley: 10, 13. +Catawbas: 35, 45, 59-62, 64, 65, 70, 71, 72, 96, 118, 146; towns of, 96; +country, 131. +Cession Act: 310-311, 326. +Charles the Second: 42. +Charleston: 32, 33, 38, 66, 68, 88, 94, 161, 167, 289. +Charleville, Charles: at French Lick, 44. +Charlotte: 289, 294. +Cherokees: 15, 28, 49, 59-60, 65, 67, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 78, 86, 88, +89, 91, 96, 111, 112, 114, 116, 123, 127, 133, 140, 141, 159, 187, 192, +193, 202, 206, 216, 221, 222, 225, 239, 242, 249, 252, 265, 266, 270, +290, 307, 310, 316, 331, 346; fort promised to, by South Carolina, 58; +treaty with, 59; hunters, 74; attack on Long Cane settlement, 79; +warriors, 76; defeated, 83, 265; boundary line, 191; chiefs, 217, 242, +316; country of, 64. +Chickamaugas: 308; town of, 283; bloody forage of, 289-290; quelled, +290. +Chickasaws: 125, 310, 340. +Chilhowee: 307. +Chillicothe: 204. +Chiswell's Mine: 112, 191. +Choctaws: 45. +Christian, Col. William: member of company to purchase Cherokee lands, +239; leads Virginia forces against Cherokees, 266. +Chronicle, Major William: killed at King's Mountain, 301. +Clark, George Rogers: 255, 259, 277; prospecting in Kentucky, 205; +opinion of Transylvania title, 248; Memoir of, cited as to Henderson +Claim, 255-256; threatens Virginia with revolt in Kentucky, 257; visited +by James Robertson, 281. +Clark, Jonathan: 248. +Cleveland, Col. Benjamin: 296; explores West, 123; leads pioneers +against Indians, 267; leads Wilkes volunteers at King's Mountain, 293; +addresses troops at King's Mountain, 297, 301. +"Cleveland's Bulldogs": 293, 301. +Clinch Valley: 203. +Cocke, William: 231, 263, 321; delegate from Franklin to Continental +Congress, 318; appeals to Benjamin Franklin, 324. +Coldwater Expedition: 340. +Columbus, Christopher: 144, 234. +Committee of Safety: 259. +Concord: 236. +Coghnawagas: 118. +Connolly, Dr. John: 205, 208, 209, 210, 239. +Constitution: rejected by North Carolina, 335, 336. +Continent, European: 4. +Continental Congress: 249, 250, 257, 261, 276, 318, 319, 324, 329. +Cooley, William: explores Kentucky, 149, 153. +Cooper, James Fenimore: 85, 271. +Corbin, Francis: 169. +Cornstalk, Shawanoe chief: 204; leads Indians at the Great Kanawha, +213-214. +Corn Tassel, Indian Chief: 337. +Cornwallis, Lord Charles: 289, 291, 292, 294, 295, 304. +Cortez, Hernando: 144. +Counties: Albemarle, 99; Anson, 16, 19, 32, 162, 167, 185; Armagh, 22; +Augusta, 55, 198; Berks, 34; Botetourt, 204; Brunswick, 188; Bucks, 8, +22, 34; Burke, 293; Chester, 22-23; Culpeper, 138; Davidson, 343; +Fincastle, 220; Floyd, 142; Frederick, 55; Granville, 160, 169, 170, +179, 181, 218, 291; Greene, 312, 326; Guilford, 203; Hampshire, 55; +Hanover, 108; Jessamine, 157; Kentucky, 258; Lincoln, 126, 234, 298; +Mecklenburg, 27, 30, 171, 200, 245; Miller, 205; Orange, North Carolina, +19, 25-30, 169, 177, 189; Orange, Virginia, 113, 122; Philadelphia, 34; +Prince William, 226; Roanoke, 33; Rowan, 19, 34, 56, 147, 177, 232, 294, +298; Rutherford, 293; Shenandoah, 198; Sullivan, 291, 308, 312, 328; +Sumner, 124, 343; Surry, 40, 166, 293, 298, 303; Tennessee, 343; +Washington, 132, 277, 293, 312, 319, 336, 337; Wayne, 124; Wilkes, 293; +York, Pennsylvania, 52, 59; York, South Carolina, 295. +Couture, Jean: 44. +Cowpens: 294. +Cox, Charles: 119. +Coytomore, Lieut.: murdered by Indians, 80. +Craighead, Rev. Alexander: 30. +Crawford, William: Washington to, on Western lands, 106, 108. +Creeks: 308, 310, 339, 340, 341, 342, 346. +Creeks: Bean Island, 85; Bear, 131; Beaver, 194; Bledsoe's, 128; +Crooked, 213; Cross, 218; Dutchman's, 132; Elk, 137; Fish, 205; Fourth, +57, 58; Line, 71; Linville, 34; Lulbegrud, 119, 154; Otter, 228, 229, +236; Sinking, 328, 336; Sugar Tree, 132; Sugaw, 59; Swearing, 135; +Station Camp, 124, 150; Third, 57; Walden's, 120. +Cresap, Col. Thomas: 101. +Crockett, Robert: 125. +Croghan, George: 46, 120. +Cross Creek (Fayetteville): 218. +Crozat, Antoine: 43, 44. +Culloden: 100. +Cumberland: Colony, 200, 341, 342, 343; leaders, 341; desire alliance +with Spain, 343, 345; traders, 330, settlements, 283, 288, 309, 310, +330, 340, 345, 346; settlers, 328, 342; desire separation from North +Carolina, 343; valley, 280; region, ch. XVII, 280, 345, 347. +Cumberland: outlaw, 165. +"Cumberland Compact": drafted by Richard Henderson, 285-286. +Cumberland District: 331, 339, 341. +Cumberland, Duke of: 100. +Cumberland Gap: names, 100, 115; traversed by traders, 118, 119, 121, +123, 124, 126, 145, 158, 229; see Ouasioto Gap. +Cumberland Mountains: 100, 113, 138, 233. +Cutbird, Benjamin: 139. + + +D +Darien: 144. +Dark and Bloody Ground: 126; origin of name, 223-224. +Dartmouth, Earl of: 208, 209, 238. +Dean Swift: 154. +Declaration of Independence: 258; read at Boonesborough, 272. +Delaware: 8; valley, 8. +Demere, Capt. Raymond: 76; takes command of Virginia Fort, 66; +surrenders Fort Loudon, 90-91. +De Peyster: 298, 299, 301. +De Soto, Fernando: ch. XII. +Detroit: 273. +Devonshire, East: 21. +Dick, Captain: Cherokee hunter, 126. +Dinwiddie, Gov. Robert: 50, 53, 55, 58, 65; 67, 70, 72. +Dividing Line: running of the North Carolina-Virginia, 269; William +Byrd's History of the, 35. +Doak, Rev. Samuel: 293. +Dobbs, Gov. Arthur: 55, 73, 77, 92, 93, 169; sends commissioner to treat +with Indians, 59; begins erection of Catawba Fort, 62, 70; orders +building discontinued, 71. +Dobbs, Edwards Brice: 54. +Doddridge, Joseph: on conditions of pioneer life, 125. +Donelson, Col, John: 194, 206, 222, 288; runs boundary line, 193; meets +Richard Henderson, 269; leads party by water route to French Lick, 282; +diary of, quoted, 269, 283-284. +Donelson's line: 194, 224, 239, 242. +Dragging Canoe, the Cherokee chief: 223, 290; leads Indians in battle, +262-263. +Drake, Enoch: 235. +Drake, Joseph: 125. +Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of: 196, 198, 199, 200, 204, 206, 210, 211, +220, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 248, 249, 254. +Dunmore's War: ch. XIII, 196, 214. +Dugger, Julius Cæsar: Tennessee pioneer, 137, 187. +Dutch, Pennsylvania: 12, 302. +Dutchman's Creek Church: 185. + + +E +East India Company: 201. +Eaton's Station: defence of, 262. +Echota: 64, 66, 307. +Edwards, Rev. Morgan: on exodus of Regulators for North Carolina, 175. +Emery, Will: 127. +England: land-mad, ch. XI, 4, 21, 43, 201, 247. +English: 67, 120, 274; settlers, 5, 96; Revolution, 6; parliament, 7; +colonies, 13; troops, 66; settlements, 46. +Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki: 117, 150. +Et-chow-ee: 89. + + +F +Fagot: 343. +Falls of the Ohio River (Louisville): 255, 284. +Fanning, Col. Edmund: 22, 172, 173, 176, 177, 180, 182. +Fauquier, Gov, Francis: 94. +Fayetteville: 218. +Ferguson, Col. Patrick: 291, 292, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300; conduct +at King's Mountain, 302; killed, 303. +Few, William: describes life in backwoods, 25. +Fields, Jeremiah: 180, 181. +Filson, John: 117, 147. +Fincastle, Committee of West: drafts protest against Transylvania +Company, 257, 258. +Findlay, Findley, Finley: Archibald, 22; Michael, 22. +Findlay, John: visits Kentucky, 117-118; meets Boone, 144; visits Boone +on the Yadkin, 22, 101, 138, 148, 149, 150, 153. +Fish, William: murdered by Indians, 84. +Fleming, Col. William: 208. +Florida: 138; East, 122, 138; West, 122. +Floyd, John: 212, 243, 254; appointed Surveyor General of Transylvania, +255. +Fontaine, John: journal of, 97. +Fontainebleau: 212. +Forbes, Gen. John: 73, 74, 133. +Forks of Ohio River: 47. +Forts: Bethabara, at, 75; Boone's, 236, 270; chain of, 83; Carolina, 75, +84-85; Catawba, 62, 70, 71; Cumberland, 53; Dobbs, 55, 57-58, 75, 80-82, +84, 87; Duquesne, 47, 72-73, 74; Dutch, 57, 83, 86;--at mouth of Line +Creek, 71; Loudoun, 68, 76, 88-90; McDowell's, 265, 270; Necessity, 48; +Ninety-Six, 89; Patrick Henry, 269, 282-283; Pitt, 121, 209; Prince +George, 51-52, 79-80, 91, 93, 94; Robinson, 94; Stalnaker's, 83, 94; +Stanwix, treaty of, 111, 112, 191, 207;--on Tellico River, 68; +Transylvania, 215, 243, 244, 245, 253, 270, 272, 274, 276, 282; Vaux's, +56, 69; Virginia, 64, 67, 68, 69; Watauga, 263. +Fowey: 254. +France: 43, 78, 96, 99. +Frankland: 318, 331, 339; origin of name, 314, 321. +Franklin: 89. +Franklin, Benjamin: 8, 107, 184, 185; new state named for, 314, 324; to +Cocke, 324; to Sevier, 324-325. +Franklin, State of: 200, ch. XIX, 315, 317, 318, 323, 325, 326, 328, +339, 334, 335, 336, 317, 338, 344, 347, 348;--leaders of, 326, 330; +--legislature of, 312, 313-314, 316, 318;--Greater, 323; origin of name, +314, 324. +Freeland's Station: 309. +French: 45, 47, 48, 49, 65, 66, 70, 97, 116, 274; coureurs de bois, 44; +Huguenot, 198; voyageurs, 123, 128;--Canadian, 274; immigration of, 5; +settlers, 28; traders, 44; explorations, 46. +French Lick: 281; treaty of peace at, 269, See French Salt Springs, +Great French Lick, Great Salt Springs. +French and Indian War: 52, 102, 144, 145. +Frohock, John: 172, 177. +Frohock, Thomas: 172, 177. +Frontier: ch. VII. + + +G +Galaspy, William: 234. +Galissonière, Roland Michel Barrin, Marquis de la: 47. +Gammern: storekeeper on Yadkin, 161. +Gardoqui, Diego de: 327, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 338, 339. +Gee, Joshua: 98. +George I: 97. +George III: 93, 214. +Georgia: 116, 122, 265, 268, 291, 313;--Assembly of, 344; tours into, +14. +German: pioneers, 11-18, 28;--Palatinate, 11; immigration, 5, 11-12, 19. +Gilbert Town: 292. +Gillespie, Robert: slain from ambush by Indians, 87. +Gist, Christopher: 46, 108, 114, 116, 117, 137, 146; makes exploration +for Ohio Company, 101-102. +Gist, Nathaniel: 134, 137. +Glen, Governor James: 58-59, 65; describes South Carolina's condition, +50-51; promises Cherokees a fort, 51; concludes treaty at Saluda, 51. +Glumdelick: 154. +Gnadenhütten: 56. +Gordon, Capt. Harry: 120. +Grandfather Mountain: 135. +Grant, Col. James: 138; leads expedition against Indians, 93. +Granville, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Lord: 15; lands of, 9-10, 34, 171. +Great Bone Licks: 120. +Great Britain: 48, 247. +Great French Lick: 280; See Great Salt Springs, French Lick, French Salt +Springs. +Great Grant: 224. +Greathouse, Daniel: 211. +Great Meadows: 48, 53. +Great Mogul: 201. +Great Tellico: 65. +Great Trading Path: 35, 45, 96, 131. +Great Treaty: 249. +Great Salt Springs, 44, 269, See French Lick, French Salt Springs, Great +French Lick. +Great Warrior's Path: 118, 119. +Green: 62. +Greeneville: 319. +Greer, Andrew: 187. +Grube, Rev. Bernhard Adam: heads settlers into North Carolina, 16. +Gulf of Mexico: 43, 44, 341. +"Gulliver's Travels": 154. +Gutry, John: 52. + + +H +Hackett: 341. +Hall, Gen. William: 116, 128. +Hall, Rev. James: 267. +Hambright, Lt. Col. Frederick: at King's Mountain, 296, 302. +Hamilton, Gov. Henry: 273, 274, 276. +Hampton, Anthony: leads Rowan rangers, 83. +Hampton, Col. Andrew: leads Rutherford riflemen, 293. +Hampton, Gen. Wade: 83. +Hancock, John: 241. +Hanks: family, 23, 34;--Abraham, 23, 235. +Hard Labor: treaty at, 112, 114. +Harman, outlaw: 165. +Harris, Col.: 75. +Harris: Elizabeth, 144; John, 145. +Harris's Ferry: 145. +Harrisburg: 145. +Harrison, Richard: 255. +Harrod, James: 121, 205, 212, 243, 244, 253. +Harrodsburg: 253; election held at, 257. +Harrodsburg Remonstrance: 255. +Hart: David, 187, 218;--Nathaniel, 108, 187, 217, 218, 222, 227, 284; +--Thomas, 108, 187, 218, 222. +Hartman, George: 38. +Hawkins, Benjamin: 268. +Hayes: 347. +Haywood, John: 314. +Hempinstall, Abraham: 122. +Henderson, Kentucky: 279. +Henderson, Col. Samuel: chosen special envoy to Franklin, 315-316; +negotiates with John Sevier, 316-318. +Henderson, Nathaniel: 222, 233, 255. +Henderson, Richard: born in Virginia, 104; removes to North Carolina, +104; acquainted with Boones, 105; promotes Western exploration, 110; in +law suits involving Boone, 147; promotes Western exploration under +Boone's leadership, 148-149; sends supplies to Boone, 153; court broken +up by Regulators, 179-181; burned out by Regulators, 182; secures from +English authorities sanction for purchase of Indian lands, 201-202; +reorganizes Richard Henderson & Co. into Louisa Company, 217; visits +Otari towns, 217-218; organizes Transylvania Company, 218-219; +negotiates Great Treaty with Cherokees, 221-225; despatches Boone to +clean Transylvania Trail, 225-226; receives urgent appeal from Boone, +227-229; hastens to Boone's rescue, 229-232; reaches Fort Boone, 236; +draws up plan of government for Transylvania, 243-244; addresses +Legislature of Transylvania, 237, 245; elected delegate from +Transylvania to Continental Congress, 249; prepares plan of government +for Powell's Valley settlement, 252; attends Virginia Convention, +256-257; purchases corn for Cumberland settlement, 269; runs North +Carolina-Virginia dividing line, 269, 282; presents memorial on +Transylvania purchase, 278; plans colonization of Cumberland region, +279-280; despatches Robertson on prospecting tour, 280-281; sends corn +to French Lick, 284-285; organizes government on Cumberland, 285; author +of "Cumberland Compact," 286-287; introduces recall of judges, 286-287; +founder of Nashville, personal appearance, 221-222; diary of, quoted, +227, 229; mentioned, 158, 159, 183, 187, 190, 200, 203, 215, ch. XIV +passim, 216, 220, 234, 235, 238, 240, 241, 242, 246, 247, 248, 253, 258, +272, 282, 315. +Henderson, Richard & Company: organized, 107; despatch Boone on Western +exploration, 109, 160, 216-217; granted 200,000 acres by Virginia; see +Land Companies. +Henderson, Samuel: 104. +Henderson & Company; 109; see Richard Henderson & Company. +Henley, Chief Justice Peter: 60. +Henry, Patrick: 209, 211, 249, 293, 329; pronounces Camden-Yorke +decision valid, 210; endeavors to purchase lands from Cherokees, +239-240; desires to become partner in Transylvania Company, 240; +considers Transylvania title good, 256; confiscates Transylvania, 258; +correspondence of, with Joseph Martin, 344-345. +Hewatt, Rev. Alexander: 78. +Heydt, Jost: settles in Virginia, 12. +Heygler, King, Catawba chief: petitions for fort, 60; prevents +completion of fort, 71; see Oroloswa. +Hiawassee: 307. +Hicks, Harry: heroic defence of home against Indian attack, 85-86. +High Shoals: 29. +Highlanders: 90. +Hill, William: 138, 142, 143. +Hillsborough: 26, 103, 179, 188, 217, 218, 219. +Hillsborough, Earl of: 96. +Hingham: 22. +Hogg, James: 251; partner in Transylvania Company, 218; appointed +delegate from Transylvania to Continental Congress, 250. +Holder, John: rescues sweetheart, 271. +Holden, Joseph: 149, 153. +Hollows, the: 166. +Holston: region, 99, 126; settlement, 281;--settlers, 262; valley of, +134, 187, 191-192, 306. +Honeycut: 189. +Hooper, William: 180, 182. +Hopewell: 310. +Horton, Joshua: 121. +Houston, Rev. Samuel: 321, 323; drafts constitution for Frankland, 319; +features of constitution drafted by, 321-322. +Howard, Cornelius: 165, 166. +Howell, Rednap: poet-laureate of the Regulation, 173, 179. +Hubbardt, Col. James: 316. +Hudson Valley: 4. +Hunter, James: 179. +Hunter's Trail: 150. +Husband, Herman: author of "Impartial Relation," 177, 178, 197; leader +in insurrection at Hillsborough, 179; in correspondence with Benjamin +Franklin, 184. + + +I +Iberville, Le Moyne d': 42, 43. +Illinois Company: see Land Companies. Illinois country: 120, 128, 281. +"Impartial Relation": 177, 197. +Indian: agent, 281;--Allies, 72; chiefs, 211, 217, 274, 337; +--depredations, 56, 163, 308, 340;--expeditions, 313; governments, 201; +Grant, 202; hostages, 80;--lands, 161, 308;--outbreak, 74, 262; +--princes, 201;--territories, 200;--towns, 76, 89, 93, 117, 290, 307, +308;--trade, 44-46, 145;--traders, 144, 145, 217, 225;--trails, 119, +139;--tribes, 45, 201, 261;--war, 325;--warfare, 133, 295-296, 297; +--affairs, superintendent of, 111. +Indians: 44, 46, 49, 57, 58-63, 68, 69, 74, 75, 85, 86, 87, 88, 112, +119, 122, 125, 127, 140, 151, 152, 156, 162, 196, 197, 200, 204, 205, +207, 209, 211, 213, 214, 215, 217, 218, 221, 222, 223, 227, 228, 229, +240, 242, 249, 252, 253, 261, 262, 263, 265, 267, 268, 270, 273, 275, +276, 283, 288, 290, 297, 306, 307, 308, 311, 332, 339, 340, 345; +--Northern, 49, 111, 141, 191;--Southern, 35, 191, 261. +Indiana: 123. +Ingles: John, 69;--Mrs. Mary, 69;--William, 69;--Mrs. William, 69. +Innes, Col. James: 53. +Ireland, 7, 22, 33; character of inhabitants of North of, 6-7. +Irish: immigration of, 5;--Pennsylvania, 33; settlers, 28. +Iroquois: 117. + + +J +Jack, Col. Samuel: 265. +Jackson, Andrew: 282. +Jacobite uprising: 7. +Jamestown: 6. +Jay, John: 329-330. +Jefferson, Thomas: desires to join Transylvania Company, 240; favors +free government back of Virginia, 250-251; attitude of, toward +Transylvania claim, 256. +Jenkins, Leoline: on character of Scotch-Irish, 6. +Johnson, Sir William: 112. +Johnston, Gov. Gabriel: on immigration into North Carolina, 3. +Johnston, Gov. Samuel: 332, 336, 338, 339; to Robertson and Bledsoe, +327. +Johnston, William: 217. +Jones, John Gabriel: 257. +Jones, Robert (Robin): 169; characterization of Scotch-Irish by, 24-25. +Jonesborough: 292, 312, 313, 316, 337. +Joseph, Miller: describes conditions of North Carolina backwoods, 36, +38. +Judge's Friend, Cherokee chief: 242. + + +K +Kenedy, William: agent for Virginia gentlemen to purchase Cherokee +lands, 240. +Kenton, Simon: rescues Daniel Boone, 272. +Kentucky (Cantucky, Cantuckey, Cantuckie, Cantuck): ch. XV, 22, 100, +101, 102, 107, 111, 112, 116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 129, 137, +139, 140, 142, 143, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150, 153, 155, 156, 191, 196, +200, 203, 204, 205, 221, 223, 224, 227, 229, 231, 233, 234, 235, 256, +259, 269, 270, 273, 276, 277, 279, 315, 327, 335, 341, 342, 348, 349; +origin of name, 117;--road, 332. +Keowee: 51;--valley of, 89. +King's Mountain: 295, 303. +King's Mountain campaign: 306, 348. +Kipling, Rudyard: 137. +Kirk: 337. +Kirtleys, the: pioneers, 113. +Knob Lick: 126. + + +L +Lacey, Col. William: 293, 296. +Land: policy of selling large tracts of, 113. +Land Companies: Illinois, 207-208, 239; Louisa, 217, 218; Loyal, 47, +99-100, 113; Ohio, 47; organized, 100; sends out exploring expedition, +101-102; Richard Henderson & Company, organized, 107; Transylvania +Company, 114, 218; Wabash (Ouabache), 209, 238-239. +Land of Cockayne: 44. +La Salle, Robert Cavelier de: 42. +Laurel Mountain: 119. +"Leatherstocking Tales": 85, 271. +Leestown: 248. +Lewes: 8. +Lenoir (Le Noir), Gen. William: describes costume of pioneer women, +40-41; marches against Indians; at King's Mountain, 301-302. +Léry, Chaussegros de: 116. +Lewis, Major Andrew: 66-67, 81, 191, 208; erects Virginia Fort, 64-65; +leads Sandy River expedition, 70; commands at Battle of Great Kanawha, +212, 214-215. +Lexington: 236. +Lincoln: family, 34;--Abraham, 23, 34, 235; John, 34;--Mordecai, 22-23, +34; Samuel, 22;--Sarah, 23. +Lindsay, Isaac, 121. +Linville: John, 140, 142; Capt. William, 137, 140, 142. +Linville Falls: 136, 141. +Lochaber: 192, 193. +Locke, John: "Fundamental Constitutions" of, 203. +Loesch, Brother: 75. +Logan, Cayuga Mingo chief: 211. +Logan, Col. Benjamin: 234, 277. +Logan, James: on character of squatters, 8-9. +London: 202. +Loudoun, Lord: 68. +Long Cane Settlement: 79. +Long Hunters: ch. XII, ch. VIII, 126, 128, 129, 157, 158, 204. +Long Island of Holston River: 94, 194, 195, 226, 266, 278, 308. +Long, John: slain by Indians, 87. +Long Knives: 213. +Longueuil, Charles de Moyne, Baron de: 116. +Lorbrulgrud: 154. +Louis Quatorze: 43. +Louisa Company: see Land Companies. +Louisiana: 292, 331. +Love, Col.: 266. +Lower Blue Licks: 101. +Lower Salt Spring: 273. +Lower Shawnee Town: 101. +Lowry, James: 118. +Loyal Company: see Land Companies. +Loyalists: 190, 261, 291, 298, 299. +Lucas, Robert: 224. +Luhny, Robert, mill of, on James River, 16. +Lulbegrud: 154. +Luttrell, Col. John: 227; joins Transylvania Company, 217. +Lyttelton, Gov. William Henry: 65-66, 71, 77, 78, 88. + + +M +Madison, Thomas: 263. +Madrid: 341, 342. +Mansfield, Low: 201. +Mansker, Gasper, pioneer: 123, 282; discovers lick, 124; encounters +Boone, 157-158. +Mansker's Lick: 110, 124. +Margry, Pierre: 43. +Martin, Gov. Alexander: 182, 312, 315, 316, 322; attorney for Daniel +Boone, 148; appoints Samuel Henderson ambassador to Franklin, 315; +issues manifesto against State of Franklin, 306, 318; Sevier to, on +Franklin, 317-318; academy named for, 318. +Martin, Col Joseph: 150, 227, 262, 290, 306, 307, 313, 322, 325; settles +in Powell's Valley, 113; driven out, 114; appointed agent for +Transylvania Company, 202; Richard Henderson to, 252-253; letter of, to +Governor Randolph, 326; exonerated of treason by North Carolina +Assembly, 344; acts as spy on Spaniards, 344-345. +Martin, Gov. Josiah: 103, 200; issues proclamation against Transylvania +Company, 238. +Martin's Station: 226, 229; founded, 220-221; Henderson draws up plan of +government for, 252; brave defence of, against Indians, 253. +Maryland: 5, 14, 24, 101, 114; price of lands in, 9. +Mason, George: opposed to Transylvania claim, 256. +Maxwell, Col. George: 328, 332. +McAden, Rev. Hugh: diary of, 27-28, 49, 69. +McAfees: 243; exploring party, 204; return home, 235;--James, 235; +--Robert, 235; Robert, Jr., 235; Samuel, 235; William, 235. +McBride, James: 117. +McCulloch, Major John: 122. +McCulloh, Henry Eustace: 172. +McDowell, Col.: 265. +McDowell, Col. Charles: 291, 293, 337. +McDowell, Col. Joseph: 293, 296, 298, 337. +McDowell, Thomas: 228. +McFeters, Jeremiah: 228. +McGillivray, Alexander: 339, 342, 344, 345; receives overtures from +Cumberland leaders, 341. +Mendenhall: John, 203;--Richard, 203. +Middle Ground: 111. +Middle Settlements: 93. +Middleton, Col. Thomas: 93. +Middle Towns: 89. +Middle West: 117. +Millerstown: 198. +Miró, District of: 343, 346. +Miró, Gov. Estevan: 331, 335, 338, 339, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345; reports +on separatist movement in West, 342. +Mississippi Bubble: 43. +Mohawk Valley: 4. +Monbreun, Timothé de: hunts on Cumberland, 128. +Monongahela: 205. +Montagu, Lord Charles: 168-169. +Montgomerie, Col. Archibald: abortive campaign of, against Indians, +88-89; sails, 92. +Montreal: 118. +Mooney, James: explores Kentucky, 149, 153. +Moore: 62. +Moravian: church, 1, 3, 88-89, 166;--community diary, 88;--brotherhood, +15-16;--town, 56; Gemein Haus, 87;--store-keeper, 161. +Moravians: 166; eleven killed, 56; warned against Indians, 85; +hospitable to Indians, 86. +Morgan family: 34;--Edward, 21; Sarah, 21, 34;--Richard, 34. +Morganton: 337, 338. +Morris, Gov. Samuel: 54. +Morrison: 337. +Mount Mitchell: 135. +Mulberry Fields: 15, 163. +Müller, Adam: settles in Virginia, 12. +Murray, William: 207, 208, 238, 239. + + +N +Nantahala Mountains: 267. +Nash, Gen. Francis: 177, 288. +Nashborough: 309. +Nashville: 282, 342, 345. +Nassau Hall: 27, 267. +Natchez: 123, 125, 330. +Neely, Alexander: 153, 154. +Neilson, Archibald: 219. +Nelson, Acting Governor William: 96, 188. +Newcastle: 8. +New England: 4, 86. +New Jersey: 5. +"Newlanders": 11. +Newman, hunter: 119. +Newman's Ridge: 119. +New Orleans: 123, 343, 345. +New River: region, 123, 126;--settlement, 69;--settlers, 70. +"Nolichucky Jack of the Border": 332. +Nolichucky: Valley, 224. +North America: 120, 202. +North Carolina: ch. XV, 5, 10, 13, 14, 15, 43, 52, 55, 59, 71, 73, 84, +99, 101, 107, 116, 130, 134, 136, 140, 160, 162, 163, 167, 174, 175, +176, 186, 187, 188, 191, 192, 193, 194, 197, 200, 203, 218, 219, 220, +221, 222, 237, 238, 245, 259, 260, 261, 265, 269, 277, 278, 279, 280, +281, 282, 288, 289, 290, 291, 295, 304, 305, 307, 310, 311, 312, 313, +317, 319, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 328, 330, 332, 335, 339, 343, 344, +345, 346, 347; frontier conditions in, 25-28;--border, 76;--back +country, 261; grants lands in Tennessee to Transylvania Company, 287; +immigration into, 10, 13; increase in population of, 3, 11;--piedmont, +9, 26;--hunters, 141; pioneers, 95; governor of, 60; commissioners of, +310; troops, 53, 72, 77, 89, 93, 94, 266, 273; cedes Western territory +to United States, 347; legislature of, passes second cession act, 347; +lands accepted by Congress, 348. +North Carolina Assembly: 57-58, 61, 92, 93, 277, 313, 314, 338, 343. +North Carolina: Provincial Congress of, 259, 277; Provincial Council of, +260, 265, 266. +Northwest: 259, 261, 270, 277. +Nottaway Indians: 72. +Nuntewees: 65. + + +O +Oconostota, Cherokee chief: 242; treacherously murders Lieut. Coytomore, +79-80. +Ohio Company: see Land Companies. +Ohio Indians: 46. +Ohio Valley: 102, 145. +Old Abraham: 263. +Old Chillicothe: 212. +Old Southwest: 104, 126, 195, 198, 212, 226, 260, 265, 305, 309, 348; +pioneers of, ch. XV, 5, 12, 14, 17, 28-31; pioneer democracy of, 20-21, +103-104;--planter aristocracy of, 20;--Mimic republics of, 200; +--colonizers of, 20. +Ormond, Duke of: to Leoline Jenkins, 6. +Oroloswa, Catawba Chief: 71, see King Heygler. +Osborne, Captain Alexander: leads Rowan militia, 62. +Otari towns: 217. +Ouasioto Gap: 118, 145, 146, 150, see Cumberland Gap. +Outassitus, Cherokee chief: 91. +Overton, Samuel: 239. +Owen, William: 163, 164, 165. +Oxford: 249. + + +P +Pacific Ocean: 144. +Page, John: 239. +Paintsville: 100. +Paris: 43. +Path Deed: 224. +Paxtang: 145. +Pearis, Capt. Richard: 70. +Peck, John M.: 148. +Penn, William: 8, 21, 22. +Pennsylvania: 5, 10, 13, 27, 33, 45, 54, 99, 118, 144, 209, 277; +population of, 8; lands, 9; immigrants into, 12;--Synod, 13;--settlers, +146;--Proprietaries of, 111;--traders, 146, 207. +Pensacola: 138, 139. +Perkins, John: defeats Indians by strategy, 83-84. +Phifer, Martin: leads frontier rangers, 83. +Philadelphia: 8, 32, 123, 185, 249, 250. +Pilot Knob: 102, 118, 119. +Pilot Mountain: 135. +Piomingo, Chickasaw chief: 125. +Pioneer: farmer, ch. IX; promoter, ch. XI. +Pittsburgh: 122. +"Pocahontas of the West": 262; see Nancy Ward. +Point Pleasant: 213. +Polk, Thomas: 172. +Ponce de Leon: ch. XII. +Portwood, age: 232. +Post St. Vincent: 281. +Pound Gap: 102. +Powell's Mountain: 224. +Powell's Valley: 113, 114, 149, 203, 224, 252; lands in, granted to +Transylvania Company, 287-288. +Presbyterians: in Ireland, 7;--Scotch-Irish, 27. +Preston, Col. William: 208, 212, 240; to Lord Dunmore on Henderson's +offers of land, 220; to George Washington on Transylvania, 237-238, +242-243;--supports Judge Henderson, 254. +Price, Thomas, Indian trader: guides Henderson at Hart to Otari towns, +217; testifies regarding Great Treaty, 225. +Price's Meadow: 124. +Privy Council: 206. +"Proposals for the encouragement of settling the lands, etc.": issued by +Transylvania Company, 219, 220. +Puritan: 86. + + +Q +Quaker Meadows: 294. +Quakers: 20-21. +Quebec: 212. +Quindre, Dagniaux de: commands at siege of Transylvania Fort, 274-276. + + +R +Rains, John: 123. +Randolph, Col. Peter: treaty commissioner, 59. +Recall of Judges: early example, 286-287. +Red Lick Fork: 150. +Regulation: 167, 173, 174, 175, 176, 182, 192. +Regulators: ch. XI, 166, 167, 168, 175, 176, 177, 179, 180, 181, 183, +185, 190. +Reid, Capt. Mayne: 282. +Revere, Paul: 231. +Richard Henderson & Company: 119, 129, 138; organized, 107; despatch +Boone on exploring expedition, 109; granted land by Virginia, 279; see +Land Companies. +Richter: 166. +Rivers: Big Sandy, west fork of, 142; Broad, 59, 289; Catawba, 62, 70, +83, 84;--South fork of, 298; Chattahoochee, 266; Cherokee, 111, 121; +Clinch, 142; Cumberland, 44, 109, 114, 119, 121, 128, 157, 223, 224, +269, 284, 288, 308; Dick's, 126, 156; Great Kanawha, 107, 112, 191, 192, +193; Green, 151, 157, 188, 279, 294; Hiwassee, 332; Holston, 142, 192, +194, 195, 224, 283; Illinois, 207; James, 16, 96-97; Kentucky, 156, 159, +212, 236, 242, 248, 253, 284; Licking, 156; Little Tennessee, 65, 307; +Louisa, 149, 193; Meho, 163; Miami, 102; Mississippi, 42, 102, 139, 155, +259, 329, 330, 343; Muskingum, 102; New, 224; Nonachunheh, Nolichucky, +194, 197; Ohio, 42, 44, 45, 100, 107, 116, 117, 121, 122, 142, 151, 156, +191, 192, 193, 207, 213, 279;--falls of the, 255, 284;--forks of the, +47; Opeckon, 12; Pacolet, 76; Potomac, 122; Red, 119, 153, 154; Reedy, +112, 191; Roanoke, 69; Rockcastle, 100, 155; Scioto, 102; Shenandoah, +17; Stone's, 121; Swannanoa, 136; Tellico, 68; Tennessee, 44, 58, 121, +191, 283, 290; Trinity, 42; Tugaloo, 266; Twelve Mile, 89; Wabash, 123; +Washita, 122; Watauga, 197, 219, 221, 224, 293. +Robertson, Charles: 224. +Robertson, James: 188, 189, 190, 196, 197, 200, 222, 260, 263, 287, 309, +327, 332, 339, 340, 341, 342, 344, 347; leads scouting party for +Transylvania Company, 280-281; guides party to French Lick, 282; joined +by Donelson and party, 284; names Miró District, 343; desires union with +Spain, 343; seeks separation of Cumberland from North Carolina, 345; to +Miró on separatist movement, 346. +Robinson, John: 69. +Rochelle: 43. +Rocky Mountains: 135. +Rogers, Sergt.: 73. +Rogersville: 290. +Roan Mountain: 135. +Round-O, Cherokee chief: 79. +Rowan, Matthew: 19, 76. +Rowan rangers: 83; described, 82-83. +Rowan: settlers murdered, 77, 265. +Rucker, Capt.: 113. +Rutherford, Gen. Griffith: leads Rowan rangers, 76, 83; leads rescuing +force, 265, 270; leads army against Cherokees, 267. +Russell, Capt. William: 203. + + +S +Saint Augustine: 138. +Saint Lusson, Daumont de: 41-42. +Salem: 87. +Salisbury: 34, 38, 59, 146, 148, 162, 165, 166, 168, 172, 289. +Salling, John Peter: 117. +San Salvador: 144. +Sandy Creek Association: 175, 184, 185, 190. +Sandy River expedition: 70. +Sapona Town: 35. +Sault Ste. Marie: 41. +Savannah: 51. +Savannah Indians: 65. +Scaggs, Charles: 126. +Scaggs, Henry: 282; meets Daniel Boone, 109; agent for Richard Henderson +& Co., 109-110; explores Cumberland region, 119; leads Long Hunters into +Kentucky, 125-126. +Scaggs' Ridge: 120. +Schnell, Leonard: pilgrimage of, 14-15. +Scotch Lowlands: 6. +Scotch-Irish: 7, 11, 27, 33, 188; in Pennsylvania, 8;--immigration of, +5, 19; settlers, 28. +Scotchman: 218. +Scotland: 217. +Scovil: 168. +Searcy: connection, 190; Reuben, 169; Valentine, 222. +Settiquo: 76, 307, 316. +Sevier, James: emissary of Franklin to Miró, 337-338. +Sevier, John: 200, 222, 260, 298, 313-314, 322, 325, 326, 327, 330, 337, +344, 347; early life, 198; defends Watauga Fort, 263; rescues Bonny Kate +Sherrill, 264; with Shelly plans King's Mountain campaign, 292, 296; +defeats Indians, 307-308; disavows revolutionary intent, 315; elected +Governor of Franklin, 317; writes defiant letter to Caswell, 323-324; +appeals to Benjamin Franklin, 324; besieges Tipton, 330; attacks +Indians, 331-332; writes Gardoqui, offering to "deliver" Franklin to +Spain, 333-335; arrested for high treason, imprisoned, 337; rescued, +338; restored to office by North Carolina, 338; elected first governor +of Tennessee, 348. +Shawanoes, Shawnese: 25, 44, 69, 117, 151, 203, 205, 209, 271;--chief +of, 204. +Shelby, Col. Evan: leads force against Chickamaugas, 290; appointed +brigadier-general, 322. +Shelby, Isaac: 222, 291, 298; at Battle of Great Kanawha, 213-214; +initiates King's Mountain campaign, 292; at King's Mountain, 301; +elected first governor of Kentucky, 348. +Shelby, Capt. James: 263. +Shenandoah Valley: 10, 34. +Sherrill, Katherine: rescued by John Sevier, 264. +Silonee, Cherokee chief: 79; checks Montgomerie, 89; see Young Warrior +of Estatoe. +Sims, George: writes A Serious Address, etc., 160, 169, 170. +Simms, William Gilmore: 144. +Six Nations: 111, 191. +Slaughter: 138. +Slaughter, Col. Thomas: 244. +Smith, Capt. John: 69. +Smith, Gen. Daniel: 343, 344. +Smith, James: 121. +Smith, John, Jr.: 69. +Smith, William Bailey: 222; carries corn to French Lick, 284. +Smith's Bridge: 89. +Smyth, J. F. D.: describes North Carolina backwoodsmen, 39-40. +South Carolina: ch. XV, 14, 27-28, 43, 45, 58, 66, 68, 71, 112, 121, +139, 167, 192, 237, 262, 265, 268, 291, 294, 295, 305, 313; rangers, 89; +traders, 71. +South Fork of Catawba River, 62, 70;--Boys, 298, 301. +South Sea: ch. XI, 42. +South Sea Islands: 219. +Southwest: see Old Southwest. +Southwest Territory: 348. +Southern Department: 111, 331. +Spach: 166. +Spain: ch. XX, 330, 331, 332, 337, 338, 339, 340, 344, 345, 347. +Spangenberg, Bishop Augustus Gottlieb: makes exploring tour, 13, 14, +131; preaches at Bethania, 87. +Spaniards: 292, 332, 340, 345. +Spanish: authorities, 339; charged affairs, 329;--conspiracy in +Kentucky, 335, 339;--conspiracy in Tennessee, ch. XX, 339;--court, +347;--domain, 348;--government, 346;--minister, 331;--traders, 340. +Spotswood, Gov. Alexander: 97, 98. +St. Asaph's: 243. +St. Clair, Sir John: 54. +St. Clair, Gen. Arthur: 133. +Stalnaker, Samuel: 83, 94. +Stanford: 243. +Steep Rock: 194. +Stephen, Col. Adam: 94, 95. +Stewart, John: 139, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153. +Stone, Uriah: 121, 123. +Stoner, Michael: 121, 212, 232, 272. +Stuart, Capt. John: 91-92. +Stuart, John: 111, 191, 192, 194, 261. +Stuart, pioneer: 283. +Superintendent of Indian Affairs: 112, 331. +Swan, David L.: 252. +Switzerland: 134. +Sycamore Shoals of Watauga River: 219, 221, 263, 293. +Synge, Archbishop: 7. + + +T +Tate, Samuel: 228. +Taylor: Hancock, 122;--Richard, 122; Zachary, 122. +Tennessee: ch. XV, 9, 112, 124, 128, 129, 132, 140, 190, 191, 192, 196, +211, 224, 269, 289, 290, 315, 348, 349; countries, 332;--riflemen, +291;--settlements, 261, 264, 314, 315;--settlers, 270, 281, 330, 331. +Terre Haute: 123. +Thompson: 84. +Thompson, James: 263. +Tiftoe, Cherokee Chief: 79. +Tipton, Col. John: 321, 322, 328, 331. +Tipton, Jonathan: 322. +Tonti, Henry de: 45. +Tories: 289, 305. +Town Fork: 163. +Trabue, Daniel: diary of, 275. +Tracey, John: 69. +Trade: British, 46. +Traders: with Indians, ch. VII-ch. IX, 44, 46, 59, 113, 117, 118, 136. +Trading Ford: 35. +Trading House: British, 47. +Trans-Alleghany: 21, 48, 99, 102, 119, 129, 140, 147, 159, 185, 201, +202, 204, 206, 212, 215, 216, 242, 277, 279, 330, 340. +Transylvania: 200, 235, ch. XV, 243, 248, 252, 258, 279, 280, 287; +colony of, 25; president of, 246; proprietors of, 229, 236, 244, 248, +256. +Transylvania Company: 114, 119, ch. XII, 237, 238, 240, 249, 253, 254, +258, 278, 287, 288; compact of, with Cumberland settlers, 285-286; +organized, 218; permanent contribution of, to colonization of West, 259. +Transylvania Legislature: 244, 249, 255. +Transylvania Purchase: 220, 248, 278. +Transylvania Trail: 215, 226. +Treaty: with Indians, 59; at Charleston, 94; at Fort Stanwix, 111; at +Hard Labor, 112, 114; at Lochaber, 192; at Sycamore Shoals, 221-225. +Trent, Capt. William: 47. +Tryon, Gov. William: 112, 141, 176, 183, 191. +Tryon Mountain: 112, 135, 191. +Tryon's Line: 112. +Tuckasegee: 307. +Tuscarora Indians: 72. + + +U +Ulster: 6-7. +Ulster Scots: characterization of, 23, 32. +Unakas: 263. +Union: 319, 335, 336, 342, 348, 349; see American Union. +United States: 277, 335, 339, 344, 345, 346, 347. +United States Congress: 310, 311, 312, 346. +Untoola: 316. +Upper Towns: 66, 89. +Utopia: 44. + + +V +Valley of Mexico: 144. +Vandalia: 206, 208. +Vasco Nuñez: 144. +Venango: 47. +Versailles: 43. +Villiers, Coulon de: 48. +Virginia: pioneers of, 95, 296;--traders, 96;--troops, 212, 266, 273; +--frontier, 74; Gazette, 110, 272;--backwoods, 28-29;--Valley of, 9, 16, +26, 33, 34;--Convention, 251, 257;--Land Office, 281;--Assembly, 67, +278;--Militia, 209;--House of Delegates, 278, 279;--Governor of, 67, +198;--Path, 64, 76;--Remonstrance, 207, ch. XV, 10, 14, 42, 45, 47, 52, +53, 58, 59, 64, 68, 69, 70, 72, 83, 96, 99, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118, +127, 130, 131, 132, 134, 138, 163, 187, 188, 191, 192, 193, 195, 198, +200, 204, 205, 206, 209, 211, 214, 220, 221, 222, 226, 235, 237, 239, +242, 243, 244, 251, 256, 258, 265, 269, 277, 278, 279, 281, 282, 287, +290, 305, 323, 326. +Virginians: 96, 205, 208, 230, 231, 251, 299. + + +W +Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company: see Land Companies. +Wachau: 83, 87. +Wachovia: 86;--community diary, 64. +Wade, Capt. Robert: 74. +Waddell, Gen. Hugh: 53, 55-56, 95, 133, 134; appointed Indian +commissioner, 59; begins erection of Catawba Fort, 70; discontinues work +on fort, 71; in Fort Duquesne campaign, 72; hastens to Rowan's defence, +76; marches to aid South Carolina, 77; report of, on defeat of Indians +at Fort Dobbs, 81-82; rescues captives, 86; leads North Carolina troops, +93, 94. +Walden, Elisha: 119. +Walden's Mountain: 119-120. +Walker, Dr. Thomas: 99, 102, 115, 116, 117, 191; makes exploration for +Loyal Land Company, 99-100; sells land to Joseph Martin, 113. +Walker, Felix: 228, 245, 260; describes Kentucky, 233-234. +Walpole, Thomas, 206. +Ward, James: 139. +Ward, Nancy: 262, 264. +Washington District: 260, 277, 314, 326. +Washington, George: 47, 55, 72, 134, 256, 291; opinion of royal +proclamation, 106; purchases Western lands, 106-107; makes charges +against Dunmore, 206-207; secures military grants for Western lands, +208; Preston to, on Henderson purchase and Transylvania Company, 221, +237-238, 242-243. +Watauga: ch. XII, 191, 194, 200, 270, 281-282;--commonwealth, 199; +valley of, 188, 195, 196, 306;--country, 187, 189; settlers, 195, 196, +197, 200, 259;--Articles of Association, 197;--Association, 224; +settlement, 260, 281. +"Watauga Plan": commission form of government, 260. +Waxhaws: 32. +Webster: 307. +Welsh: immigration of, 5;--settlers, 28;--stock, 163. +West: 160, 187, 259, 273, 277, 327, 342, 348. +West Virginia: 14, 206. +Western: leaders, 292;--people, 347;--settlers, 311, 329; territory, +347, 348;--waters, 314, 348. +Wharton: Samuel, 206;--Thomas, 209-211. +White, Dr. James: 331, 332, 338, 346; emissary of Franklin, 337. +Whitehall: 206. +Wilderness Trail: 230. +Wilkinson, General James: 335, 336. +Williams, Brigadier-General James: 291, 294; killed at King's Mountain, +302. +Williams, Col. John: 105, 107, 149, 187, 222, 254; elected delegate from +Transylvania to Continental Congress, 249. +Williams, John: 141. +Williams and Henderson, law firm: 105, 147. +Williamsborough: 103. +Williamsburg: 210. +Williamson, Col. Andrew: 266. +Williamson, Dr. Hugh: 10, 312-313. +Wilmington: 169. +Winchester, Kentucky: 117. +Winchester, Virginia: 12. +Winston, Major Joseph: leads North Carolina troops against Cherokees, +266; leads Surry riflemen at King's Mountain, 293, 298, 303-304. +Wolf Hills (Abingdon): 134. +Wood, Col. Abraham: 42. +Wormley, Ralph: 239. +Wytheville: 112. + + +Y +Yadkin: country, 117, 131, 139, 143, 145, 163, 164;--Forks of the, 33, +34, 162, 185;--valley, 10, 13, 15, 32. +York, Pennsylvania: 12. +Yorke, Charles: renders legal opinion, 201. +Young Warrior of Estatoe, Cherokee chief: 79; see Silonee. + + +Z +Zinzendorf, Count: 13. + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + + +Introduction: + +We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but +not in the index. Obvious errors were corrected--and all of these +changes can be found in the Detailed Notes Section of these notes. The +Detailed Notes Section also includes issues that have come up during +transcription. One common issue is that words are sometimes split into +two lines for spacing purposes. These words are hyphenated in the +physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the +hyphen should be retained in transcription. The reasons behind some of +these decisions are itemized. + +There were numerous errors in the index. Places like the Ouasioto Gap +and the Green River, which were spelled consistently and correctly +throughout the text, ended up as "Onasioto" and "Guen" in the index. +Such errors detract from the index. Therefore, corrections were made to +the index and listed in the Detailed Notes Section. + + +Detailed Notes Section: + + +Introduction + +• Page viii: +In his letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Dunmore wrote the clause +"Should for ever immagine the Lands further off..." This is a direct +quote; the spelling is correct. + + +Preface + +• Page xvii: +Home-builder is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing +purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. The word +was not used again in the book. However, "home-makers" was used on Page +17, and the word included a hyphen and was in the middle of the line. We +believe that the author's use of home-makers signals the author's intent +to keep the hyphen in "home-builder." So we kept the hyphen. + + +Chapter III + +• Page 39: +Powder-horn is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing +purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. On Page +213, powder-horns with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. That +was the only other occurrence of the word in the book. Therefore, we +kept the hyphen. + + +Chapter VI + +• Page 68: +The author used the original spelling of the fort on page 68 in the +clause "To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord Loudoun," but +changed the spelling to modern usage (Fort Loudon) on pages 76, 88, and +90. We made no modifications and retained the spelling from the text. + + +Chapter VII + +• Page 98: +Céloron de Bienville is spelled with a grave accent despite the correct +spelling (according to Wikipedia) of Céloron on Page 46. The spelling in +the book was retained. + + +Chapter VIII + +• Page 127: +Half-breed is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing +purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. On Page +141, half-breed with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. That +was the only other occurrence of the word in the book. Therefore, we +kept the hyphen. + + +Chapter IX + +• Page 133: +Life-time is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing +purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. There was +no other occurrence of life-time or lifetime in the book. We kept the +hyphen. + + +Chapter XII + +• Page 181: +Court-room is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing in the +clause "the Regulators took possession of the court-room." On page 180, +court-room is spelled with a hyphen in the middle of a sentence, so we +retained the hyphen here. +• Page 194: +There is a printer's mistake on page 194: the first line of page 194 is +actually the last line of page 194. The line "ston River, south and east +of Long Island;" which is on the top line of page 194 in the printed +book, should be on the bottom line, below "however, to the settlement +north of the Hol-." We have transcribed the book making this adjustment +to the text. +• Page 195: We have removed (See map for settlement and treaty lines.) +because our transcription does not have images scanned. + +Chapter XIV + +• Page 224: +(Compare map.) after "including the Nolichucky Valley." was removed +because maps and images have not been scanned and included in our +transcription of the book. + +Chapter XVI + +• Page 266: +Rendez-voused was hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in +the clause "Colonel William Christian rendez-voused." Rendezvous is +written without the hyphen on pages 59, 203, 226, and 292. Therefore, +the hyphen was omitted in transcribing rendezvoused. + +Chapter XVII + +• Page 270: +Far-flung is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the +clause "along the farflung frontier of Kentucky." There are no other +occurrences of the word. Far-away, far-visioned, and far-reaching were +used in the book. Far west, far north, and far faint were used in the +book, but replacing the hyphen with a space is not an option in +transcribing hyphenated words. There weren't any options with far being +part of a conjoined word. The hyphen was retained in far-flung. +• Page 283: +Flat-boats is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the +clause: "about thirty flatboats, dugouts." On Page 285, flatboats is not +hyphenated, so the hyphen was not kept in transcribing the same word on +page 283. +• Page 286: +Co-partners is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the +clause: "contract between the copartners." There were no other +occurrences of the word. We did not use the hyphen here. +• Page 287: +Entry-taker is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the +clause: "the entry-taker being appointed by Judge Henderson." On Page +220, "entry-Taker" was used in a quote from Joseph Martin. There were no +other occurrences of the word. We retained the hyphen. + +Chapter XVII + +• Page 293: +Over-mountain men is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines +in the clause: "the over-mountain men gathered on September 25th." This +word was used other times in the book, on pages 295, 306, and 316. Each +time it was spelled with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. +• Page 303: +Battle-field is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in +the clause: "His frenzied efforts on the battle-field ..." This word was +used three other times, on pages 54, 214, and 306. Each time it was +spelled with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. + +Chapter XIX + +• Page 315: +In Sevier's quote, "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new +State," the spelling of furtheir matches that of Henderson's book. +Because this is a quote, no change was made, although Sevier meant +further. + +Index + +• Page 393: +In the book, the clause "begins erection of Catawba" is embedded between +"see Land Companies" in the Index entry for Wabash Land Companies. That +clause belongs before "Fort, 70;" in the entry under Hugh Waddell. We +have made the correction. + +Spelling Errors in the Index + +As described in the Introduction to the Transcriber Notes, the book has +numerous spelling errors in the index. Here is a list of changes made +only to the Index, and only because a new, incorrect variation of the +word was introduced in the index. + +• Changed "Bieville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de: 42." to +Bienville. +• Changed "Bathama" to Bethania in preaches index under Bishop +Spangenberg. +• Changed "corn sent from to French Lick" to corn sent to, from French +Lick, in index entry under Boonesborough. +• Changed "Black Fish, Schawano chief" to Shawanoe. +• Changed "Celoron de Blainville" to Céloron. +• Changed "Charleville; Charles" to Charleville, Charles. +• Changed "Conewagoes" to Coghnawagas. +• Changed "Cullodan" to Culloden. +• Changed "Onasioto" to Ouasioto in entry under Cumberland Gap. +• Changed "Laudown" to Loudon in entry under Captain Demere. +• Changed "Dugger, Julius Caesar" to Dugger, Julius Cæsar. +• Changed "Es-Kippa-Ki-Thi-Ki" to Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki. +• Changed "Etchowee" to Et-chow-ee. +• Changed "Gnadenhutten" to Gnadenhütten. +• Changed "Greathouse, Darmel" to Daniel. +• Changed "Howell, Rednup" to Howell, Rednap. +• Changed "Onabache" to Ouabache in the entry for Land Companies, under +the subtopic Wabash. +• Changed "Lockaber" to Lochaber. +• Changed "Lorbulgrud" to Lorbrulgrud. Also added index entry for +Lulbegrud. Lulbegrud is the name of the creek in Kentucky; Lorbrulgrud +is the capital metropolis of Brobdingnag in Swift's Gulliver's Travels. +• Changed "Miro, District of:" to Miró. +• Changed "Monbrenn" to Monbreun under Timothé de Montbreun. +• Changed "Paxtong" to Paxtang. +• Changed "Guen" under Rivers to Green. +• Changed "Nonachunbreh" and "Nolichuetry" under Rivers to Nonachunheh +and Nolichucky. +• Changed "Trabum, Damie" to Trabue, Daniel. +• Changed "Tascarora Indians" to Tuscarora Indians. Moved index entry +from the top of the T's to the bottom to reflect the proper alphabetical +order with the changed spelling. +• Changed "Vasco Nunez" to Vasco Nuñez. +• Moved "begins erection of Catawba," misplaced under index entry Wabash +Land Company to Waddell, Gen. Hugh. The sub-entry is "begins erection of +Catawba Fort, 70;" which is after "Indian commissioner, 59." +• Changed "Wachan" to Wachau. +• Changed "Wachonia" to Wachovia. +• Changed "Young Warrior of Estaloe" to Estatoe. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Conquest of the Old Southwest<br /> + The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers into Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 1740-1790 </div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Archibald Henderson</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November, 2000 [eBook #2390]<br /> +[Most recently updated: March 31, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Dianne Bean, Robert Homa and Al Haines</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST ***</div> + +<h1>THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST:</h1> + +<p class="book-subtitle"> + THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA,<br /> + THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND KENTUCKY 1740-1790<br /> + <br /><br /><br /> +BY +</p> + +<p class="author"> +ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. +</p> + +<p class="noindent" style="font-size:smaller; margin:0 auto; width:15em;"> + Some to endure and many to fail,<br /> + Some to conquer and many to quail<br /> + Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. +</p> + +<p class="noindent" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold;"> +NEW YORK<br /> +THE CENTURY CO.<br /> +1920 +</p> + + + +<p class="book-dedication"> + TO THE HISTORIAN OF<br /> + OLD WEST AND NEW WEST<br /> + FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER<br /> + WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD +</p> + + + +<p class="intro"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">iv</a></span> +The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the +pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add +the rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the +world offer for the loss of so glorious a prospect? +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Richard Henderson.</span> +</p> + + + +<p class="intro"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">viii</a></span> +The established Authority of any government in America, and the +policy of Government at home, are both insufficient to restrain +the Americans.… They acquire no attachment to Place: But +wandering about Seems engrafted in their Nature; and it is a +weakness incident to it, that they Should for ever immagine the +Lands further off, are Still better than those upon which they +are already settled. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Lord Dunmore</span>, +<br /> to the Earl of Dartmouth. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span> + +</p> + + +<h2><a name="introduction"></a> +<a href="#contents">INTRODUCTION</a> +</h2> + +<p> +The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward +migration of successive waves of transplanted European peoples +throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the +history of the growth and evolution of American democracy. Upon +the American continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman +daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the +formation of a new society. The European rudely confronted with +the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered that +his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned upon his +individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting himself +to his environment. The very history of the human race, from the +age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened +civilization, is traversed in the Old +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">x</a></span> +Southwest throughout the course of half a century. +</p> + +<p> +A series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing +the successive episodes in the history of a single family as it +wended its way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely +repulsed the sudden attack of the Indians, toiled painfully up +the granite slopes of the Appalachians, and pitched down into the +transmontane wilderness upon the western waters, would give to +the spectator a vivid conception, in miniature, of the westward +movement. But certain basic elements in the grand procession, +revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would perhaps +escape his scrutiny. Back of the individual, back of the family, +even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, +expansion, and government. In the recognition of these social and +economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the +group into the community; the community into a new society. In +this clear perspective of historic development the spectacular +hero at first sight seems to diminish; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">xi</a></span> +but the mass, the movement, the social force which he epitomizes and +interprets, gain in impressiveness and dignity. +<a href="#Note_1"><span class="superscript">[1]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +As the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever +southward and westward, seeking room for expansion and economic +independence, a series of frontiers was gradually thrust out +toward the wilderness in successive waves of irregular +indentation. The true leader in this westward advance, to whom +less than his deserts has been accorded by the historian, is the +drab and mercenary trader with the Indians. The story of his +enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of +European civilization upon American soil. In the mind of the +aborigines he created the passion for the fruits, both good and +evil, of the white man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the +Indian because he also brought the means for repelling the +further advance of that civilization. The trader was of +incalculable service to the pioneer in first spying out the land +and charting the trackless wilderness. The trail rudely marked by +the buffalo became in time +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">xii</a></span> +the Indian path and the trader's "trace"; and the pioneers upon the +westward march, following the line of least resistance, cut out their +roads along these very routes. It is not too much to say that had it +not been for the trader—brave, hardy, and adventurous however +often crafty, unscrupulous, and immoral—the expansionist movement +upon the American continent would have been greatly retarded. +</p> + +<p> +So scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of +the traders with the Indians that the frontier which they +established was at best both shifting and unstable. Following far +in the wake of these advance agents of the civilization which +they so often disgraced, came the cattle-herder or rancher, who +took advantage of the extensive pastures and ranges along the +uplands and foot-hills to raise immense herds of cattle. Thus was +formed what might be called a rancher's frontier, thrust out in +advance of the ordinary farming settlements and serving as the +first serious barrier against the Indian invasion. The westward +movement of population is in this respect +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">xiii</a></span> +a direct advance from the coast. Years before the influx into the +Old Southwest of the tides of settlement from the northeast, the more +adventurous struck straight westward in the wake of the fur-trader, +and here and there erected the cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier +of the piedmont region. The wild horses and cattle which roamed +at will through the upland barrens and pea-vine pastures were +herded in and driven for sale to the city markets of the East. +</p> + +<p> +The farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real +backbone of western settlement. The pioneering farmers, with the +adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged +deeper and ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the +prospect of free and still richer lands in the dim interior. +Settlements quickly sprang up in the neighborhood of military +posts or rude forts established to serve as safeguards against +hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between these +settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the +trader and the more beaten paths +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">xiv</a></span> +of emigration. The bolder settlers who ventured farthest to the westward +were held in communication with the East through their dependence upon +salt and other necessities of life; and the search for salt-springs in +the virgin wilderness was an inevitable consequence of the desire +of the pioneer to shake off his dependence upon the coast. +</p> + +<p> +The prime determinative principle of the progressive American +civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the +acquisition of land. The struggle for economic independence +developed the germ of American liberty and became the +differentiating principle of American character. Here was a vast +unappropriated region in the interior of the continent to be had +for the seeking, which served as lure and inspiration to the man +daring enough to risk his all in its acquisition. It was in +accordance with human nature and the principles of political +economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited transmontane +land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, should +excite grandiose dreams +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">xv</a></span> +in the minds of English and Colonials alike. England was said to be +"New Land mad and everybody there has his eye fixed on this country." +<a href="#Note_2"><span class="superscript">[2]</span></a> +Groups of wealthy or well-to-do individuals organized themselves into +land companies for the colonization and exploitation of the West. The +pioneer promoter was a powerful creative force in westward expansion; +and the activities of the early land companies were decisive factors +in the colonization of the wilderness. Whether acting under the +authority of a crown grant or proceeding on their own authority, +the land companies tended to give stability and permanence to +settlements otherwise hazardous and insecure. +</p> + +<p> +The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was +<i>wanderlust</i>—the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, +the traveler, and the explorer. This restless class of nomadic +wanderers was responsible in part for the royal proclamation of +1763, a secondary object of which, according to Edmund Burke, was +the limitation of the colonies on the West, as "the charters of +many of our old +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">xvi</a></span> +colonies give them, with few exceptions, no +bounds to the westward but the South Sea." The Long Hunters, +taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth to a fabled +hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they were +driven by the irresistible desire of a Ponce de Leon or a De Soto +to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. +</p> + +<p> +But the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the +chase and of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the +furs and skins of wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in +the centers of trade. He was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and +to assert "corn rights" as he spied out the rich virgin land for +future location and cultivation. Free land and no taxes appealed +to the backwoodsman, tired of paying quit-rents to the agents of +wealthy lords across the sea. Thus the settler speedily followed +in the hunter's wake. In his wake also went many rude and lawless +characters of the border, horse thieves and criminals of +different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in the +merciful liberality +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">xvii</a></span> +of the wilderness. For the most part, however, it was the salutary +instinct of the home-builder—the man with the ax, who made a +little clearing in the forest and built there a rude cabin that he +bravely defended at all risks against continued assaults—which, +in defiance of every restraint, irresistibly thrust westward the thin +and jagged line of the frontier. The ax and the surveyor's chain, +along with the rifle and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial +bearings of the pioneer. With individual as with corporation, with +explorer as with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the +era. +</p> + +<p> +The various desires which stimulated and promoted westward +expansion were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. +The trader sought to exploit the Indian for his own advantage, +selling him whisky, trinkets, and firearms in return for rich +furs and costly peltries; yet he was often a hunter himself and +collected great stores of peltries as the result of his solitary +and protracted hunting-expeditions. The rancher and the herder +sought to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">xviii</a></span> +exploit the natural vegetation of marsh and upland, the +cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring need for +fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer to +the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward +advance. The small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new +region, the alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for +the cultivation of his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet +in the intervals between the tasks of farm life he scoured the +wilderness in search of game and spied out new lands for future +settlement. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_xviii_2" id="Page_xviii_2"></a> +This restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant Francis +Baily, "delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can +enjoy undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the +blessings which nature has bestowed upon them." +<a href="#Note_3"><span class="superscript">[3]</span></a> +Independence of +spirit, impatience of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the +nomadic temperament—these are the strains in the American +character of the eighteenth century which ultimately blended to +create a typical democracy. The rolling +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">xix</a></span> +of wave after wave of +settlement westward across the American continent, with a +reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest +frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each +successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the +eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the +American people during two centuries. +<a href="#Note_4"><span class="superscript">[4]</span></a> +This era, constituting the +first stage in our national existence, and productive of a +buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil, +closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free +land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent +death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid inauguration of the period, +in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and +Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is +the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old Southwest. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="contents"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">xxi</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2> +CONTENTS +</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">I.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap01">The Migration of the Peoples</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">3</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">II.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap02">The Cradle of Westward Expansion</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">19</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">III.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap03">The Back Country and the Border</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">32</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">IV.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap04">The Indian War</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">49</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">V.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap05">In Defense of Civilization</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">64</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">VI.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap06">Crushing the Cherokees</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">78</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">VII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap07">The Land Companies</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">96</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">VIII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap08">The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">116</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">IX.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap09">Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">130</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">X.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap10">Daniel Boone in Kentucky</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">144</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XI.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap11">The Regulators</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">160</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap12">Watauga—Haven of Liberty</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">175</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XIII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap13">Opening the Gateway—Dunmore's War</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">196</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XIV.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap14">Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">216</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XV.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap15">Transylvania—A Wilderness Commonwealth</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">237</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XVI.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap16">The Repulse of the Red Men</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">252</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XVII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap17">The Colonization of the Cumberland</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">269</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap18">King's Mountain</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">289</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XIX.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap19">The State of Franklin</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">306</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="chapterno">XX.</td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#chap20">The Lure of Spain—The Haven of Statehood</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">327</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#notes">List of Notes</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">351</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#bibliography">Bibliographical Notes</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">363</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="chaptername"> +<a href="#index">Index</a></td> +<td class="pagenumber">371</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + +<div class="start-of-book"> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> + </p> + THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST + <br /> +</div> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER I.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Migration of the Peoples +</p> + + +<p class="intro"> +Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and +other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and some +directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the +West, and have got near the mountains. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Gabriel +Johnston</span>, Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the +Board of Trade, February 15, 1751. +</p> + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">A</span><span class="smcap">t</span> +the opening of the eighteenth century the tide +of population had swept inland to the "fall line," the westward boundary +of the established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by +the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue +Ridge. So rapid was the settlement in North Carolina that in the +interval 1717-32 the population quadrupled in numbers. A map of +the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +colonial settlements in 1725 reveals a narrow strip of +populated land along the Atlantic coast, of irregular +indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of settlements +further in the interior. The civilization thus established +continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with +England and the Continent. As long as the settlers, for economic +reasons, clung to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the +transforming influences of the frontier. Within a triangle of +continental altitude with its apex in New England, bounded on the +east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Appalachian range, +lay the settlements, divided into two zones—tidewater and +piedmont. As no break occurred in the great mountain system south +of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, the difficulties of cutting a +passage through the towering wall of living green long proved an +effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain barrier. +</p> + +<p> +In the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from +the coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form around +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +such natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile +soil, frontier posts, mines, salt-springs, and stretches of +upland favorable for grazing. After a time a second advance of +settlement was begun in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, +running in a southwesterly direction along the broad terraces to +the east of the Appalachian Range, which in North Carolina lies +as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The Blue +Ridge in Virginia and a belt of pine barrens in North Carolina +were hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. +This second streaming of the population thrust into the long, +narrow wedge of the piedmont zone a class of people differing in +spirit and in tendency from their more aristocratic and +complacent neighbors to the east. +</p> + +<p> +These settlers of the Valley of Virginia and the North Carolina +piedmont region—English, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scotch, Irish, +Welsh, and a few French—were the first pioneers of the Old +Southwest. From the joint efforts of two strata of population, +geographically, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +socially, and economically distinct—tidewater +and piedmont, Old South and New South—originated and flowered +the third and greatest movement of westward expansion, opening +with the surmounting of the mountain barrier and ending in the +occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of the +continent. +</p> + +<p> +Synchronous with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, +significantly enough, was the first planting of Ulster with the +English and Scotch. Emigrants from the Scotch Lowlands, sometimes +as many as four thousand a year (1625), continued throughout the +century to pour into Ulster. "Those of the North of Ireland…," +as pungently described in 1679 by the Secretary of State, +Leoline Jenkins, to the Duke of Ormond, "are most Scotch and +Scotch breed and are the Northern Presbyterians and phanatiques, +lusty, able-bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see three +or four hundred at every meeting-house on Sunday, and all the +North of Ireland is inhabited by these, which is the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +popular +place of all Ireland by far. They are very numerous and greedy +after land." During the quarter of a century after the English +Revolution of 1688 and the Jacobite uprising in Ireland, which +ended in 1691 with the complete submission of Ireland to William +and Mary, not less than fifty thousand Scotch, according to +Archbishop Synge, settled in Ulster. Until the beginning of the +eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration to +America; and it was first set up as a consequence of English +interference with trade and religion. Repressive measures passed +by the English parliament (1665-1699), prohibiting the +exportation from Ireland to England and Scotland of cattle, +beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and to any country whatever of +manufactured wool, had aroused deep resentment among the +Scotch-Irish, who had built up a great commerce. This discontent +was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious +disabilities upon the Presbyterians, who, in addition to having +to pay tithes for the support of the established church, were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +excluded from all civil and military office (1704), while their +ministers were made liable to penalties for celebrating +marriages. +</p> + +<p> +This pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in +an exodus to the New World. The principal ports by which the +Ulsterites entered America were Lewes and Newcastle (Delaware), +Philadelphia and Boston. The streams of immigration steadily +flowed up the Delaware Valley; and by 1720 the Scotch-Irish began +to arrive in Bucks County. So rapid was the rate of increase in +immigration that the number of arrivals soon mounted from a few +hundred to upward of six thousand, in a single year (1729); and +within a few years this number was doubled. According to the +meticulous Franklin, the proportion increased from a very small +element of the population of Pennsylvania in 1700 to one fourth +of the whole in 1749, and to one third of the whole (350,000) in +1774. Writing to the Penns in 1724, James Logan, Secretary of the +Province, caustically refers to the Ulster settlers on the +disputed Maryland +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +line as "these bold and indigent strangers, +saying as their excuse when challenged for titles, that we had +solicited for colonists and they had come accordingly." The +spirit of these defiant squatters is succinctly expressed in +their statement to Logan that it "was against the laws of God and +nature that so much land should be idle while so many Christians +wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." +</p> + +<p> +The rising scale of prices for Pennsylvania lands, changing from +ten pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in 1719 +to fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a +quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre in 1732, soon turned the eyes +of the thrifty Scotch-Irish settlers southward and southwestward. +In Maryland in 1738 lands were offered at five pounds sterling +per hundred acres. Simultaneously, in the Valley of Virginia free +grants of a thousand acres per family were being made. In the +North Carolina piedmont region the proprietary, Lord Granville, +through his agents was disposing of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> +most desirable lands to +settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for +six hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was +also making large free grants on the condition of seating a +certain proportion of settlers. "Lord Carteret's land in +Carolina," says North Carolina's first American historian, "where +the soil was cheap, presented a tempting residence to people of +every denomination. Emigrants from the north of Ireland, by the +way of Pennsylvania, flocked to that country; and a considerable +part of North Carolina … is inhabited by those people or +their descendants." +<a href="#Note_5"><span class="superscript">[5]</span></a> +From 1740 onward, attracted by the rich lure +of cheap and even free lands in Virginia and North Carolina, a +tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the +Shenandoah, the Yadkin, and the Catawba. The immensity of this +mobile, drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than 400 +families with horse waggons and cattle" into North Carolina in a +single year (1752-3), is attested by the fact that from 1732 to +1754, mainly as the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +result of the Scotch-Irish inundation, the +population of North Carolina more than doubled. +</p> + +<p> +The second important racial stream of population in the +settlement of the same region was composed of Germans, attracted +to this country from the Palatinate. Lured on by the highly +colored stories of the commercial agents for promoting +immigration—the "newlanders," who were thoroughly unscrupulous +in their methods and extravagant in their representations—a +migration from Germany began in the second decade of the +eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. +Although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great +number were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order +to pay for their transportation were compelled to pledge +themselves to several years of servitude. This economic condition +caused the German immigrant, wherever he went, to become a +settler of the back country, necessity compelling him to pass by +the more expensive lands near the coast. +</p> + +<p> +For well-nigh sixty years the influx of German +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +immigrants of various sects was very great, averaging something like +fifteen hundred a year into Pennsylvania alone from 1727 to 1775. +Indeed, Pennsylvania, one third of whose population at the beginning of +the Revolution was German, early became the great distributing +center for the Germans as well as for the Scotch-Irish. Certainly +by 1727 Adam Müller and his fellow Germans had established the +first permanent white settlement in the Valley of Virginia. +<a href="#Note_6"><span class="superscript">[6]</span></a> +By 1732 Jost Heydt, accompanied by sixteen families, came from York, +Pennsylvania, and settled on the Opeckon River, in the +neighborhood of the present Winchester. +<a href="#Note_7"><span class="superscript">[7]</span></a> +There is no longer any +doubt that "the portion of the Shenandoah Valley sloping to the +north was almost entirely settled by Germans." +</p> + +<p> +It was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the +Old Southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty Pennsylvania +Germans (who came to be generally called "Pennsylvania Dutch" +from the incorrect translation of <i>Pennsylvänische Deutsche</i>), +began +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> +to pour into the piedmont region of North Carolina. In the +autumn, after the harvest was in, these ambitious Pennsylvania +pioneers would pack up their belongings in wagons and on beasts +of burden and head for the southwest, trekking down in the manner +of the Boers of South Africa. This movement into the fertile +valley lands of the Yadkin and the Catawba continued unabated +throughout the entire third quarter of the century. Owing to +their unfamiliarity with the English language and the solidarity +of their instincts, the German settlers at first had little share +in government. But they devotedly played their part in the +defense of the exposed settlements and often bore the brunt of +Indian attack. +<a href="#Note_8"><span class="superscript">[8]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries +sent out by the Pennsylvania Synod under the direction of Count +Zinzendorf (1742-8), and by the Moravian Church (1748-53), are +mirrored in the numerous diaries, written in German, happily +preserved to posterity in religious archives of Pennsylvania and +North Carolina. These +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> +simple, earnest crusaders, animated by pure +and unselfish motives, would visit on a single tour of a thousand +miles the principal German settlements in Maryland and Virginia +(including the present West Virginia). Sometimes they would make +an extended circuit through North Carolina, South Carolina, and +even Georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of the +gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the +Christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive +frontiersmen marooned along the outer fringe of white +settlements. These arduous journeys in the cause of piety place +this type of pioneer of the Old Southwest in alleviating contrast +to the often relentless and bloodthirsty figure of the rude +borderer. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_14_2" id="Page_14_2"></a> +Noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the Virginia journey +of Brothers Leonhard Schnell and John Brandmüller (October 12 to +December 12, 1749). +<a href="#Note_9"><span class="superscript">[9]</span></a> +At the last outpost of civilization, the +scattered settlements in Bath and Alleghany counties, these +courageous missionaries—feasting the while solely on bear +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +meat, +for there was no bread—encountered conditions of almost +primitive savagery, of which they give this graphic picture: +"Then we came to a house, where we had to lie on bear skins +around the fire like the rest.… The clothes of the people +consist of deer skins, their food of Johnny cakes, deer and bear +meat. A kind of white people are found here, who live like +savages. Hunting is their chief occupation." Into the valley of +the Yadkin in December, 1752, came Bishop Spangenberg and a party +of Moravians, accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the +purpose of locating the one hundred thousand acres of land which +had been offered them on easy terms the preceding year by Lord +Granville. This journey was remarkable as an illustration of +sacrifices willingly made and extreme hardships uncomplainingly +endured for the sake of the Moravian brotherhood. In the back +country of North Carolina near the Mulberry Fields they found the +whole woods full of Cherokee Indians engaged in hunting. A +beautiful site for the projected settlement met +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +their delighted +gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that it +had already been "taken up" by Daniel Boone's future +father-in-law, Morgan Bryan. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_16_2" id="Page_16_2"></a> +On October 8, 1753, a party of twelve single men headed by the +Rev. Bernhard Adam Grube, set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, +to trek down to the new-found haven in the Carolina +hinterland—"a corner which the Lord has reserved for the +Brethren"—in Anson County. +<a href="#Note_10"><span class="superscript">[10]</span></a> +Following for the most part the great +highway extending from Philadelphia to the Yadkin, over which +passed the great throng sweeping into the back country of North +Carolina—through the Valley of Virginia and past Robert Luhny's +mill on the James River—they encountered many hardships along +the way. Because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty +in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience Brother +Grube, with a touch of modest pride, observes: "People had told +us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely +be able to cross it, for Morgan Bryan, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +the first to travel this way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and +carry it piecemeal to the top, and had been three months on the journey +from the Shanidore [Shenandoah] to the Etkin [Yadkin]." +</p> + +<p> +These men were the highest type of the pioneers of the Old +Southwest, inspired with the instinct of home-makers in a land +where, if idle rumor were to be credited, "the people lived like +wild men, never hearing of God or His Word." In one hand they bore +the implement of agriculture, in the other the book of the gospel +of Jesus Christ. True faith shines forth in the simply eloquent +words: "We thanked our Saviour that he had so graciously led us +hither, and had helped us through all the hard places, for no +matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how we +could win through, everything always went better than seemed +possible." The promise of a new day—the dawn of the heroic +age—rings out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their +journey's end: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1">We hold arrival Lovefeast here,</p> + <p class="poem2">In Carolina land,</p> + <p class="poem1">A company of Brethren true,</p> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> + <p class="poem2">A little Pilgrim-Band,</p> + <p class="poem1">Called by the Lord to be of those</p> + <p class="poem2">Who through the whole world go,</p> + <p class="poem1">To bear Him witness everywhere,</p> + <p class="poem2">And nought but Jesus know.</p> +</div> + + + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> + +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER II.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Cradle of Westward Expansion +</p> + + +<p class="intro"> +In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, +Orange and Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred +fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most +part Irish Protestants and Germans and dailey +increasing. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Matthew Rowan</span>, +President of the North Carolina Council, to the Board of Trade, +June 28, 1753. +</p> + + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">he</span> +conquest of the West is usually +attributed to the ready initiative, the stern self-reliance, and +the libertarian instinct of the expert backwoodsmen. These bold, +nomadic spirits were animated by an unquenchable desire to plunge +into the wilderness in search of an El Dorado at the outer verge +of civilization, free of taxation, quit-rents, and the law's +restraint. They longed to build homes for themselves and their +descendants in a limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper +and deeper into the trackless forests in search of adventure. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +Yet one must not +overlook the fact that behind Boone and pioneers of his stamp +were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive +in purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best +gifts to actual conquest and colonization. These men of large +intellectual mold—themselves surveyors, hunters, and +pioneers—were inspired with the larger vision of the +expansionist. Whether colonizers, soldiers, or speculators on the +grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke the vast +trans-Alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. +</p> + +<p> +Two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from +each other in North Carolina and later in Virginia—the pioneer +democracy of the back country and the upland, and the planter +aristocracy of the lowland and the tide-water region. From the +frontier came the pioneer explorers whose individual enterprise +and initiative were such potent factors in the exploitation of +the wilderness. From the border counties still in contact with +the East came a number of leaders. Thus in the heart +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> +of the Old +Southwest the two determinative principles already referred to, +the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a fortunate +conjunction. The exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed in +the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the +great westward migration. The warlike disposition of the hardy +backwoodsman, controlled by the exercise of military strategy, +accomplished the conquest of the trans-Alleghany country. +</p> + +<p> +Fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in +England and Europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, +from religious persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of +society in the first quarter of the eighteenth century sought a +haven of refuge in the "Quackerthal" of William Penn, with its +trustworthy guarantees of free tolerance in religious faith and +the benefits of representative self-government. From East +Devonshire in England came George Boone, the grandfather of the +great pioneer, and from Wales came Edward Morgan, whose daughter +Sarah became the wife of Squire Boone, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> +Daniel's father. These +were conspicuous representatives of the Society of Friends, drawn +thither by the roseate representations of the great Quaker, +William Penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and +religious toleration. +<a href="#Note_11"><span class="superscript">[11]</span></a> +Hither, too, from Ireland, whither he had +gone from Denmark, came Morgan Bryan, settling in Chester County, +prior to 1719; and his children, William, Joseph, James, and +Morgan, who more than half a century later gave the name to +Bryan's Station in Kentucky, were destined to play important +rôles in the drama of westward migration. +<a href="#Note_12"><span class="superscript">[12]</span></a> +In September, 1734, +Michael Finley from County Armagh, Ireland, presumably +accompanied by his brother Archibald Finley, settled in Bucks +County, Pennsylvania. According to the best authorities, +Archibald Finley was the father of John Finley, or Findlay as he +signed himself, Boone's guide and companion in his exploration of +Kentucky in 1769-71. +<a href="#Note_13"><span class="superscript">[13]</span></a> +To Pennsylvania also came Mordecai Lincoln, +great-grandson of Samuel Lincoln, who had emigrated from England +to Hingham, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> +Massachusetts, as early as 1637. This Mordecai +Lincoln, who in 1720 settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the +great-great-grandfather of President Lincoln, was the father of +Sarah Lincoln, who was wedded to William Boone, and of Abraham +Lincoln, who married Anne Boone, William's first cousin. Early +settlers in Pennsylvania were members of the Hanks family, one of +whom was the maternal grandfather of President Lincoln. +<a href="#Note_14"><span class="superscript">[14]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +No one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for +leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the +West. Yet one particular stock of people, the Ulster Scots, +exhibited with most completeness and picturesqueness a group of +conspicuous qualities and attitudes which we now recognize to be +typical of the American character as molded by the conditions of +frontier life. Cautious, wary, and reserved, these Scots +concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a relentlessness +in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which glowed +and burned with almost fanatical ardor. Strict in religious +observance +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of +the main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of +devotion. It has been happily said of them that they kept the +Sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on. In the +polity of these men religion and education went hand in hand; and +they habitually settled together in communities in order that +they might have teachers and preachers of their own choice and +persuasion. +</p> + +<p> +In little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant +ministers may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful +characterizations of the frontier settlers in their habits of +life and of the scenes amidst which they labored. In a letter to +Edmund Fanning, the cultured Robin Jones, agent of Lord Granville +and Attorney-General of North Carolina, summons to view a piquant +image of the western border and borderers: "The inhabitants are +hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, are stout, of +great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private conversation, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +bold, impertinent, and vain. In the art of war (after the Indian +manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of +strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the +ancient Romans. The Shawnese acknowledge them their superiors +even in their own way of fighting.… [The land] may be truly +called the land of the mountains, for they are so numerous that +when you have reached the summit of one of them, you may see +thousands of every shape that the imagination can suggest, +seeming to vie with each other which should raise his lofty head +to touch the clouds.… It seems to me that nature has been +wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." +<a href="#Note_15"><span class="superscript">[15]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +An excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions +in the backwoods of North Carolina, by one of the early settlers +in the middle of the century, exhibits in all their barren +cheerlessness the hardships and limitations of life in the +wilderness. The father of William Few, the narrator, had trekked +down from Maryland and settled in Orange County, some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +miles east +of the little hamlet of Hillsborough. "In that country at that +time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or doctors or +lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do I recollect +during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or +military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or +three itinerant preachers.… These people had few wants, and +fewer temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined +society, though ignorant. They were more virtuous and more happy.… +A schoolmaster appeared and offered his services to teach +the children of the neighborhood for twenty shillings each per +year.… In that simple state of society money was but little +known; the schoolmaster was the welcome guest of his pupil, fed +at the bountiful table and clothed from the domestic loom.… +In that country at that time there was great scarcity of books." +<a href="#Note_16"><span class="superscript">[16]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The journals of itinerant ministers through the Valley of +Virginia and the Carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes +of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +people, their longing after the things of the spirit, and +their pitiful isolation from the regular preaching of the gospel. +These missionaries were true pioneers in this Old Southwest, +ardent, dauntless, and heroic—carrying the word into remote +places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees of the forest. +In his journal (1755-6), the Rev. Hugh McAden, born in +Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish parentage, a graduate of Nassau Hall +(1753), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that +wherever he found Presbyterians he found people who "seemed +highly pleased, and very desirous to hear the word"; whilst +elsewhere he found either dissension and defection to Baptist +principles, or "no appearance of the life of religion." In the +Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlements in what is now Mecklenburg +County, the cradle of American liberty, he found "pretty serious, +judicious people" of the stamp of Moses, William, and James +Alexander. While traveling in the upper country of South +Carolina, he relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman +who said to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +Governor of South Carolina, when he was in those +parts, in treaty with the Cherokee Indians that 'he had never +seen a shirt, been in a fair, heard a sermon, or seen a minister +in all his life.' Upon which the governor promised to send him up +a minister, that he might hear one sermon before he died." The +minister came and preached; and this was all the preaching that +had been heard in the upper part of South Carolina before Mr. +McAden's visit. +<a href="#Note_17"><span class="superscript">[17]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country +of the Old Southwest—the deliberate and self-controlled English, +the aggressive, land-mongering Scotch-Irish, the buoyant Welsh, +the thrifty Germans, the debonair French, the impetuous Irish, +and the calculating Scotch. The lives they led were marked by +independence of spirit, democratic instincts, and a forthright +simplicity. In describing the condition of the English settlers +in the backwoods of Virginia, one of their number, Doddridge, +says: "Most of the articles were of domestic manufacture. There +might +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +have been incidentally a few things brought to the country +for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for general +supply. The table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, +either turned or coopered. Iron forks, tin cups, etc., were +articles of rare and delicate luxury. The food was of the most +wholesome and primitive kind. The richest meat, the finest +butter, and best meal that ever delighted man's palate were here +eaten with a relish which health and labor only know. The +hospitality of the people was profuse and proverbial." +</p> + +<p> +The circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become +self-sustaining. Every immigrant was an adept at many trades. He +built his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own +clothes. At a very early date rifles were manufactured at the +High Shoals of the Yadkin; Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, was an +expert gunsmith. The difficulty of securing food for the +settlements forced every man to become a hunter and to scour the +forest for wild game. Thus the pioneer, through +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> +force of sheer +necessity, became a dead shot—which stood him in good stead in +the days of Indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. +Primitive in their games, recreations, and amusements, which not +infrequently degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the +pioneers always set the highest premium upon personal bravery, +physical prowess, and skill in manly sports. At all public +gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or auctions, and even +funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. It is worthy +of record that among the effects of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, +the famous teacher and organizer of Presbyterianism in +Mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the Revolution, +were found a punch bowl and glasses. +</p> + +<p> +The frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, +bred in these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the +basis of the American character. The single-handed and successful +struggle with nature in the tense solitude of the forest +developed a spirit of individualism, restive under control. On +the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +other hand, the sense of sharing with others the arduous +tasks and dangers of conquering the wilderness gave birth to a +strong sense of solidarity and of human sympathy. With the lure +of free lands ever before them, the pioneers developed a +restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy of +spirit, which are fundamentally American. Yet this same +untrammeled freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance +of established government which have exhibited themselves +throughout the entire course of our history. Initiative, +self-reliance, boldness in conception, fertility in resource, +readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, inventive genius, +appreciation of material advantages—these, shot through with a +certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high romantic +strain—are the traits of the American national type as it +emerged from the Old Southwest. +</p> + +<p> +<br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> + +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER III.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Back Country and the Border +</p> + +<p class="intro"> +Far from the bustle of the world, they live +in the most delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are +everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; +lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich +valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an +infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape +surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally +robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want +and acquainted with but few vices. Their inexperience of the +elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the +means of enjoying them, but they possess what many princes would +give half their dominion for, health, content, and tranquillity +of mind. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Andrew Burnaby</span>:<br /> <i>Travels +Through North America</i>. +</p> + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">he</span> +two streams of Ulstermen, the greater through +Philadelphia, the lesser through Charleston, which poured into the Carolinas +toward the middle of the century, quickly flooded the back +country. The former occupied the Yadkin Valley and the region to +the westward, the latter the Waxhaws and the Anson County region +to the northwest. The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +first settlers were known as the +"Pennsylvania Irish," because they had first settled in +Pennsylvania after migrating from the north of Ireland; while +those who came by way of Charleston were known as the +"Scotch-Irish." The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long +enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements +along the rivers and creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less +experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks +and water courses. +<a href="#Note_18"><span class="superscript">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_33_2" id="Page_33_2"></a> +Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight +children, together with other families of Quakers from +Pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest +side of the Opeckon River near Winchester. +<a href="#Note_19"><span class="superscript">[19]</span></a> +A few years later they +removed up the Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present +Roanoke County, intent upon pushing westward to the very +outskirts of civilization. In the autumn of 1748, leaving behind +his brother William, who had followed him to Roanoke County, +Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of the Yadkin +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +River. +<a href="#Note_20"><span class="superscript">[20]</span></a> +The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who emigrated +to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over +Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln +families found homes in Virginia—Mordecai Lincoln's son, John, +the great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks +to the Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone, +his wife Sarah (Morgan), and their eleven children—a veritable +caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old—started south; and +tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on Linville +Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 they removed to the Forks +of the Yadkin, and the following year received from Lord +Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County. +<a href="#Note_21"><span class="superscript">[21]</span></a> +About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven +or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly +gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality, +sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the +Bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +conditions and +immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of +the county. Upon the organization of the county court Squire +Boone was chosen justice of the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon +appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_35_2" id="Page_35_2"></a> +The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the +Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the +Trading Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above +Sapona Town near the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which, +according to constant and picturesque tradition, was the spot +where the traders stopped to take a solemn oath never to reveal +any unlawful proceedings that might occur during their sojourn +among the Indians. +<a href="#Note_22"><span class="superscript">[22]</span></a> +In his divertingly satirical "History of the +Dividing Line" William Byrd in 1728 thus speaks of this locality: +"The Soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the Yadkin, abounding +in rank Grass and prodigiously large Trees; and for plenty of +Fish, Fowl and Venison, is inferior to No Part +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +of the Northern +Continent. There the Traders commonly lie Still for some days, to +recruit their Horses' Flesh as well as to recover their own +spirits." In this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement +by Squire Boone—who erected his cabin on the east side of the +Yadkin about a mile and a quarter from Alleman's, now Boone's, +Ford—wild game abounded. Buffaloes were encountered in eastern +North Carolina by Byrd while running the dividing line; and in +the upper country of South Carolina three or four men with their +dogs could kill fourteen to twenty buffaloes in a single day. +<a href="#Note_23"><span class="superscript">[23]</span></a> +Deer and bears fell an easy prey to the hunter; wild turkeys +filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with beaver, otter, +and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious fish. +Panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the +veracious Brother Joseph, while near the present Wilkesboro, +amusingly records: "The wolves wh. are not like those in Germany, +Poland and Lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come +near) give us such music of six +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +different cornets the like of wh. I have never heard in my life." +<a href="#Note_24"><span class="superscript">[24]</span></a> +So plentiful was the game that the wild deer mingled with the cattle +grazing over the wide stretches of luxuriant grass. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up Squire Boone's son, +Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker +persuasion, and Baptist proclivities. +<a href="#Note_25"><span class="superscript">[25]</span></a> +Seen through a glorifying +halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises +before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, +benign—as naïve and shy as some wild thing of the primeval +forest—five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and +shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair +eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, +and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this +restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would +exchange the plow and the grubbing-hoe for the long rifle and +keen-edged hunting-knife. In a single day during the autumn +season he would kill four or five deer; or as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +many bears as would make from two to three thousand pounds weight +of bear-bacon. Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as +well as pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices +he sold his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles +away, sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George +Hartman, on the Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the +Moravian town sixty-odd miles distant. Skins were in such demand +that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly +scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. Upon one +occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, +upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to +Charleston. +<a href="#Note_26"><span class="superscript">[26]</span></a> +So immense was this trade that the year after Boone's +arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were +exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think +that the young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother +Joseph, while in camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) +wrote: "There are many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +hunters about here, who live like Indians, +they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without +much work." +<a href="#Note_27"><span class="superscript">[27]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +In this very class of professional hunters, living like Indians, +was thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous +leadership in the great westward expansionist movement of the +coming decade. An English traveler gives the following minute +picture of the dress and accoutrement of the Carolina +backwoodsman: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +Their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially +different from that of the Indians; being a hunting shirt, +somewhat resembling a waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great +many fringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much +decorated also, in which is fastened a tomahawk, an instrument +that serves every purpose of defence and convenience; being a +hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the other; the shot bag +and powder-horn, carved with a variety of whimsical figures and +devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on their +heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the +intensely hot beams of the sun. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> +</p> +<p> +Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of Indian dressed elk, +or deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. +</p> + +<p> +On their legs they have Indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse +woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied +with garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better +than half-way up the thigh. +</p> + +<p> +On their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, +but generally Indian moccossons, of their own construction also, +which are made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as +for gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the +toe, and lacing from thence round to the fore part of the middle +of the ancle, without a seam in them, yet fitting close to the +feet, and are indeed perfectly easy and pliant. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_40_2" id="Page_40_2"></a> +Their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety +of colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear +them quite white. +<a href="#Note_28"><span class="superscript">[28]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +No less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the +dress of the women of the region—in particular of Surry County, +North Carolina, as described by General William Lenoir: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +</p> +<p> +The women wore linsey [flax] petticoats and 'bed-gowns' [like a +dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. Some +had bonnets and bed-gowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; +and some of them wore men's hats. Their hair was commonly +clubbed. Once, at a large meeting, I noticed there but two women +that had on long gowns. One of these was laced genteelly, and the +body of the other was open, and the tail thereof drawn up and +tucked in her apron or coat-string. +<a href="#Note_29"><span class="superscript">[29]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +While Daniel Boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits +of the chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed +was rapidly approaching a crisis. For three quarters of a century +this titanic contest between France and England for the interior +of the continent had been waged with slowly accumulating force. +The irrepressible conflict had been formally inaugurated at Sault +Ste. Marie in 1671, when Daumont de Saint Lusson, swinging aloft +his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of France over "all +countries, rivers, lakes, and streams … both those which have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in +all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas +of the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea." +Just three months later, three hardy pioneers of Virginia, +despatched upon their arduous mission by Colonel Abraham Wood in +behalf of the English crown, had crossed the Appalachian divide; +and upon the banks of a stream whose waters slipped into the Ohio +to join the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, had carved the +royal insignia upon the blazed trunk of a giant of the forest, +the while crying: "Long live Charles the Second, by the grace of +God, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Virginia and +of the territories thereunto belonging." +</p> + +<p> +La Salle's dream of a New France in the heart of America was +blotted out in his tragic death upon the banks of the River +Trinity (1687). Yet his mantle was to fall in turn upon the +square shoulders of Le Moyne d'Iberville and of his brother—the +good, the constant Bienville, who after countless and arduous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> +struggles laid firm the foundations of New Orleans. In the +precious treasury of Margry we learn that on reaching Rochelle +after his first voyage in 1699 Iberville in these prophetic words +voices his faith: "If France does not immediately seize this part +of America which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony +which is strong enough to resist any which England may have, the +English colonies (already considerable in Carolina) will so +thrive that in less than a hundred years they will be strong +enough to seize all America." +<a href="#Note_30"><span class="superscript">[30]</span></a> +But the world-weary Louis Quatorze, +nearing his end, quickly tired of that remote and unproductive +colony upon the shores of the gulf, so industriously described in +Paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the "paternal providence +of Versailles" willingly yielded place to the monumental +speculation of the great financier Antoine Crozat. In this Paris +of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal +scheme of Law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the +Mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +half-satiric panegyrics upon the new Utopia, this Mississippi +Land of Cockayne: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1">It's to-day no contribution</p> + <p class="poem1">To discuss the Constitution</p> + <p class="poem1">And the Spanish war's forgot</p> + <p class="poem1">For a new Utopian spot;</p> + <p class="poem1">And the very latest phase</p> + <p class="poem1">Is the Mississippi craze. + <a href="#Note_31"><span class="superscript">[31]</span></a></p> + </div> + + +<p> +<a name="Page_44_2" id="Page_44_2"></a> +Interest in the new colony led to a great development of +southwesterly trade from New France. Already the French <i>coureurs +de bois</i> were following the water route from the Illinois to South +Carolina. Jean Couture, a deserter from the service in New +France, journeyed over the Ohio and Tennessee rivers to that +colony, and was known as "the greatest Trader and Traveller +amongst the Indians for more than Twenty years." In 1714 young +Charles Charleville accompanied an old trader from Crozat's +colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the Cumberland, +where a post for trading with the Shawanoes had already been +established by the French. +<a href="#Note_32"><span class="superscript">[32]</span></a> +But the British were preparing to +capture this trade +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +as early as 1694, when Tonti warned Villermont +that Carolinians were already established on a branch of the +Ohio. Four years later, Nicholson, Governor of Maryland, was +urging trade with the Indians of the interior in the effort to +displace the French. At an early date the coast colonies began to +trade with the Indian tribes of the back country: the Catawbas of +the Yadkin Valley; the Cherokees, whose towns were scattered +through Tennessee; the Chickasaws, to the westward in northern +Mississippi; and the Choctaws farther to the southward. Even +before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the South +Carolina settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the +coast, English traders had established posts among the Indian +tribes four hundred miles to the west of Charleston. Following +the sporadic trading of individuals from Virginia with the inland +Indians, the heavily laden caravans of William Byrd were soon +regularly passing along the Great Trading Path from Virginia to +the towns of the Catawbas and other interior tribes of the +Carolinas, delighting +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +the easily captivated fancy and provoking +the cupidity of the red men with "Guns, Powder, Shot, Hatchets +(which the Indians call Tomahawks), Kettles, red and blue Planes, +Duffields, Stroudwater blankets, and some Cutlary Wares, Brass +Rings and other Trinkets." +<a href="#Note_33"><span class="superscript">[33]</span></a> +In Pennsylvania, George Croghan, the +guileful diplomat, who was emissary from the Council to the Ohio +Indians (1748), had induced "all-most all the Ingans in the +Woods" to declare against the French; and was described by +Christopher Gist as a "meer idol among his countrymen, the Irish +traders." +</p> + +<p> +Against these advances of British trade and civilization, the +French for four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours +of exploration into the vast medial valley of the continent and +constructing a chain of forts and trading-posts designed to +establish their claims to the country and to hold in check the +threatened English thrust from the east. Soon the wilderness +ambassador of empire, Céloron de Bienville, was despatched by the +far-visioned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +Galissonière at Quebec to sow broadcast with +ceremonial pomp in the heart of America the seeds of empire, +grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile +symbol of the asserted sovereignty of France. Thus threatened in +the vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea +charters, the English threw off the lethargy with which they had +failed to protect their traders, and in grants to the Ohio and +Loyal land companies began resolutely to form plans looking to +the occupation of the interior. But the French seized the English +trading-house at Venango which they converted into a fort; and +Virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and judicious young man, a +surveyor, George Washington, availed not to prevent the French +from seizing Captain Trent's hastily erected military post at the +forks of the Ohio and constructing there a formidable work, named +Fort Duquesne. Washington, with his expeditionary force sent to +garrison Captain Trent's fort, defeated Jumonville and his small +force near Great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +Meadows (May, 1754); but soon after he was +forced to surrender Fort Necessity to Coulon de Villiers. +</p> + +<p> +The titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of +the Old Southwest, was now on—a struggle in which the resolute +pioneers of these backwoods first seriously measured their +strength with the French and their copper-hued allies, and +learned to surpass the latter in their own mode of warfare. The +portentous conflict, destined to assure the eastern half of the +continent to Great Britain, is a grim, prophetic harbinger of the +mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into the +twilight zone of the trans-Alleghany territory. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER IV.</a> +</h2> + +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Indian War +</p> + + + +<p class="intro"> +All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about +building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such +barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let +loose upon them at pleasure. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +<span class="smcap">—The Reverend +Hugh McAden</span>:<br /> Diary, July, 1755. +</p> + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">L</span><span class="smcap">ong</span> +before the actual outbreak of hostilities +powerful forces were gradually converging to produce a clash between the +aggressive colonials and the crafty Indians. As the settlers +pressed farther westward into the domain of the red men, +arrogantly grazing their stock over the cherished hunting-grounds +of the Cherokees, the savages, who were already well disposed +toward the French, began to manifest a deep indignation against +the British colonists because of this callous encroachment upon +their territory. During the sporadic forays by scattered bands of +Northern Indians +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +upon the Catawbas and other tribes friendly to +the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of the +Carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. In the summer +of 1753 a party of northern Indians warring in the French +interest made their appearance in Rowan County, which had just +been organized, and committed various depredations upon the +scattered settlements. To repel these attacks a band of the +Catawbas sallied forth, encountered a detached party of the +enemy, and slew five of their number. Among the spoils, +significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, +looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of +French manufacture. +<a href="#Note_34"><span class="superscript">[34]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes +existed between Virginia and South Carolina. In strong +remonstrance against the alleged attempt of Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia to alienate the Cherokees, Catawbas, Muscogees, and +Chickasaws from South Carolina and to attach them to Virginia, +Governor Glen of South Carolina made pungent observations to +Dinwiddie: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +"South Carolina is a weak frontier colony, and in case +of invasion by the French would be their first object of attack. +We have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection +of the Indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any +mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the +French, we are in a miserable situation. The Cherokees alone have +several thousand gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the +province … their country is the key to Carolina." By a treaty +concluded at Saluda (November 24, 1753), Glen promised to build +the Cherokees a fort near the lower towns, for the protection of +themselves and their allies; and the Cherokees on their part +agreed to become the subjects of the King of Great Britain and +hold their lands under him. +<a href="#Note_35"><span class="superscript">[35]</span></a> +This fort, erected this same year on +the headwaters of the Savannah, within gunshot distance of the +important Indian town of Keowee, was named Fort Prince George. +"It is a square," says the founder of the fort (Governor Glen to +the Board of Trade, August 26, 1754), "with regular Bastions and +four Ravelins +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +it is near Two hundred foot from Salient Angle to +Salient Angle and is made of Earth taken out of the Ditch, +secured with fachines and well rammed with a banquet on the +Inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, the +Ravelins are made of Posts of Lightwood which is very durable, +they are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half +in the ground." +<a href="#Note_36"><span class="superscript">[36]</span></a> +The dire need for such a fort in the back country +was tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the +"House of John Gutry & James Anshers" in York County by a party +of sixty French Indians (December 16, 1754), who brutally +murdered sixteen of the twenty-one persons present, and carried +off as captives the remaining five. +<a href="#Note_37"><span class="superscript">[37]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 North +Carolina voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops +and several thousand pounds additional for the construction of +forts—a sum considerably larger than that voted by Virginia. A +regiment of two hundred and fifty men was placed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> +under the +command of Colonel James Innes of the Cape Fear section; and the +ablest officer under him was the young Irishman from the same +section, Lieutenant Hugh Waddell. On June 3, 1754, Dinwiddie +appointed Innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief of all the +forces against the French; and immediately after the disaster at +Great Meadows (July, 1754), Innes took command. Within two months +the supplies for the North Carolina troops were exhausted; and as +Virginia then failed to furnish additional supplies, Colonel +Innes had no recourse but to disband his troops and permit them +to return home. Appointed governor of Fort Cumberland by General +Braddock, he was in command there while Braddock advanced on his +disastrous march. +</p> + +<p> +The lesson of Braddock's defeat (July 9, 1755) was memorable in +the history of the Old Southwest. Well might Braddock exclaim +with his last breath: "Who would have thought it? … We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Led on by the +reckless and fiery Beaujeu, wearing an Indian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +gorget about his +neck, the savages from the protection of trees and rough +defenses, a prepared ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the +compact divisions of the English, whose scarlet coats furnished +ideal targets. The obstinacy of the British commanders in +refusing to permit their troops to fight Indian fashion was +suicidal; for as Herman Alrichs wrote Governor Morris of +Pennsylvania (July 22, 1755): "… the French and Indians had +cast an Intrenchment across the road before our Army which they +Discovered not Untill the [y] came Close up to it, from thence and +both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on them, +our Army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would +not be admitted by the Gen<span class="superscript">l</span> or +Sir John St. Clair, to break thro' their Ranks and Take behind +trees." +<a href="#Note_38"><span class="superscript">[38]</span></a> +Daniel Boone, who went from North Carolina as a wagoner +in the company commanded by Edward Brice Dobbs, was on the +battle-field; but Dobbs's company at the time was scouting in +the woods. When the fierce attack fell upon the baggage train, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +Boone succeeded in effecting his escape only +by cutting the traces of his team and fleeing on one of the +horses. To his dying day Boone continued to censure Braddock's +conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect to employ +strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of Provincial scouts +thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and +strategies of savage warfare. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_55_2" id="Page_55_2"></a> +For a number of months following Braddock's defeat there was a +great rush of the frightened people southward. In a letter to +Dinwiddie, Washington expresses the apprehension that Augusta, +Frederick, and Hampshire County will soon be depopulated, as the +whole back country is in motion toward the southern colonies. +During this same summer Governor Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina +made a tour of exploration through the western part of the +colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the frontier. +<a href="#Note_39"><span class="superscript">[39]</span></a> +The +frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison the projected +fort was placed under the command of Hugh Waddell, now promoted +to the rank +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +of captain, though only twenty-one years old. In +addition to Waddell's company, armed patrols were required for +the protection of the Rowan County frontier; and during the +summer Indian alarms were frequent at the Moravian village of +Bethabara, whose inhabitants had heard with distress on March +31st of the slaughter of eleven Moravians on the Mahoni and of +the ruin of Gnadenhütten. Many of the settlers in the outlying +districts of Rowan fled for safety to the refuge of the little +village; and frequently every available house, every place of +temporary abode was filled with panic-stricken refugees. So +persistent were the depredations of the Indians and so alarmed +were the scattered Rowan settlers by the news of the murders and +the destruction of Vaux's Fort in Virginia (June 25, 1756) that +at a conference on July 5th the Moravians "decided to protect our +houses with palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should +invade our tract or attack us, for if the people were all going +to retreat we would be the last left on the frontier and the +first point of attack." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +By July 23d, they had constructed a +strong defense for their settlement, afterward called the "Dutch +Fort" by the Indians. The principal structure was a stockade, +triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on a side, enclosing +the principal buildings of the settlement; and the gateway was +guarded by an observation tower. The other defense was a stockade +embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around +which a small settlement had sprung up. +<a href="#Note_40"><span class="superscript">[40]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +During the same year the fort planned by Dobbs was erected upon +the site he had chosen—between Third and Fourth creeks; and the +commissioners Richard Caswell and Francis Brown, sent out to +inspect the fort, made the following picturesque report to the +Assembly (December 21, 1756): +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +That they had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs, and found +it to be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions +following (that is to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by +forty, the opposite Angles Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In +Height Twenty four and a half feet as by the Plan +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +annexed +Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made of Oak Logs +regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains +three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one +and the same time about one hundred Musketts the same is +beautifully scituated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the +Yadkin River. And that they also found under Command of +Cap<span class="superscript">t</span> Hugh Waddel Forty six +Effective men Officers and Soldiers … the said Officers and +Soldiers Appearing well and in good Spirits. +<a href="#Note_41"><span class="superscript">[41]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +As to the erection of a fort on the Tennessee, promised the +Cherokees by South Carolina, difficulties between the governor of +that province and of Virginia in regard to matters of policy and +the proportionate share of expenses made effective coöperation +between the two colonies well-nigh impossible. Glen, as we have +seen, had resented Dinwiddie's efforts to win the South Carolina +Indians over to Virginia's interest. And Dinwiddie had been very +indignant when the force promised him by the Indians to aid +General Braddock did not arrive, attributing this defection in +part +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +to Glen's negotiations for a meeting with the chieftains and +in part to the influence of the South Carolina traders, who kept +the Indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs and +skins. But there was no such contention between Virginia and +North Carolina. Dinwiddie and Dobbs arranged (November 6, 1755) +to send a commission from these colonies to treat with the +Cherokees and the Catawbas. Virginia sent two commissioners, +Colonel William Byrd, third of that name, and Colonel Peter +Randolph; while North Carolina sent one, Captain Hugh Waddell. +Salisbury, North Carolina, was the place of rendezvous. The +treaty with the Catawbas was made at the Catawba Town, presumably +the village opposite the mouth of Sugaw Creek, in York County, +South Carolina, on February 20-21, 1756; that with the Cherokees +on Broad River, North Carolina, March 13-17. As a result of the +negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the +Catawbas agreed to send forty warriors to aid Virginia within +forty days; and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> +Cherokees, in return for presents and +Virginia's promise to contribute her proportion toward the +erection of a strong fort, undertook to send four hundred +warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall be +built." Virginia and North Carolina thus wisely coöperated to +"straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white +and the red men, in important treaties which have largely escaped +the attention of historians. +<a href="#Note_42"><span class="superscript">[42]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +On May 25, 1756, a conference was held at Salisbury between King +Heygler and warriors of the Catawba nation on the one side and +Chief Justice Henley, doubtless attended by Captain Waddell and +his frontier company, on the other. King Heygler, following the +lead set by the Cherokees, petitioned the Governor of North +Carolina to send the Catawbas some ammunition and to "build us a +fort for securing our old men, women and children when we turn +out to fight the Enemy on their coming." The chief justice +assured the King that the Catawbas would receive a necessary +supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> +gunpowder and four +hundred pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge +with the governor their request to have a fort built as soon as +possible. Pathos not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent +appeal of good old King Heygler, ever the loyal friend of the +whites, at this conference: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +<a name="Page_61_2" id="Page_61_2"></a> +I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by +the White people to my people especially near the Indian nation. +<em>If the White people make strong drink, let them sell it to one +another, or drink it in their own families.</em> This will avoid a +great deal of mischief which otherwise will happen from my +people getting drunk and quarrelling with the White people. I +have no strong prisons like you to confine them for it. Our only +way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing proudly +to his Warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall +deserve it. +<a href="#Note_43"><span class="superscript">[43]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +In response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was +appropriated by the North Carolina Assembly for the erection of +"a Fort on our western frontier to protect and secure the +Catawbas" and for the support of two +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +companies of fifty men each +to garrison this and another fort building on the sea coast. The +commissioners appointed for the purpose recommended (December 21, +1756) a site for the fort "near the Catawba nation"; and on +January 20, 1757, Governor Dobbs reported: "We are now building +a Fort in the midst of their towns at their own Request." The +fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the South +Fork of the Catawba River, as Dobbs says it was in the "midst" of +their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of +38°" and might properly be included within a circle of +thirty miles radius. +<a href="#Note_44"><span class="superscript">[44]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +During the succeeding months many depredations were committed by +the Indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. Had it +not been for the protection afforded by all these forts, by the +militia companies under Alexander Osborne of Rowan and Nathaniel +Alexander of Anson, and by a special company of patrollers under +Green and Moore, the back +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +settlers who had been so outrageously +"pilfered" by the Indians would have "retired from the Frontier +into the inner settlements." +<a href="#Note_45"><span class="superscript">[45]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER V.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + In Defense of Civilization +</p> + + +<p class="intro"> +We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us +by our Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our +neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, +came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our +congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more +than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a +day at a time and being fed by us.</p> +<p class="intro-right">—<i>Wachovia Community Diary</i>, +1757 +</p> + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">W</span><span class="smcap">ith</span> +commendable energy and expedition +Dinwiddie and Dobbs, acting in concert, initiated steps for keeping +the engagements conjointly made by the two colonies with the Cherokees +and the Catawbas in the spring and summer of 1756. Enlisting sixty men, +"most of them Artificers, with Tools and Provisions," Major +Andrew Lewis proceeded in the late spring to Echota in the +Cherokee country. Here during the hot summer months they erected +the Virginia Fort on the path from Virginia, upon the northern +bank +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +of the Little Tennessee, nearly opposite the Indian town of +Echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville. +<a href="#Note_46"><span class="superscript">[46]</span></a> +While +the fort was in process of construction, the Cherokees were +incessantly tampered with by emissaries from the Nuntewees and +the Savannahs in the French interest, and from the French +themselves at the Alibamu Fort. So effective were these +machinations, supported by extravagant promises and doubtless +rich bribes, that the Cherokees soon were outspokenly expressing +their desire for a French fort at Great Tellico. +</p> + +<p> +Dinwiddie welcomed the departure from America of Governor Glen of +South Carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to +the king's interest. From the new governor, William Henry +Lyttelton, who arrived in Charleston on June 1, 1756, he hoped to +secure effective coöperation in dealing with the Cherokees and +the Catawbas. This hope was based upon Lyttelton's recognition, +as stated in Dinwiddie's words, of the "Necessity of strict Union +between the whole Colonies, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +with't any of them considering their +particular Interest separate from the general Good of the whole." +After constructing the fort "with't the least assistance from +South Carolina," Major Lewis happened by accident upon a grand +council being held in Echota in September. At that time he +discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the French +had already produced the greatest imaginable change in the +sentiment of the Cherokees. Captain Raymond Demere of the +Provincials, with two hundred English troops, had arrived to +garrison the fort; but the head men of all the Upper Towns were +secretly influenced to agree to write a letter to Captain Demere, +ordering him to return immediately to Charleston with all the +troops under his command. At the grand council, Atta-kulla-kulla, +the great Cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to the head +men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of +Captain Demere that was there, he would take their Guns, and give +them to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they +would +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +soon be worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of +the same colour as theirs, and that they should live among them +as slaves." With impressive dignity Major Lewis rose and +earnestly pleaded for the observance of the terms of the treaty +solemnly negotiated the preceding March. In response, the crafty +and treacherous chieftains desired Lewis to tell the Governor of +Virginia that "they had taken up the Hatchet against all Nations +that were Enemies to the English"; but Lewis, an astute student +of Indian Psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib +professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a +gloss on their knavery." +<a href="#Note_47"><span class="superscript">[47]</span></a> +So it proved; for instead of the four +hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in +Virginia, the Cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by +three women. Although the Cherokees petitioned Virginia for a +number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, Dinwiddie postponed +sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia Assembly until +he could reassure himself in regard to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> +"Behaviour and +Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a +prudent decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia +fort was destroyed by the Indians. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_68_2" id="Page_68_2"></a> +Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the +Cherokees over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a +recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected +by Virginia with troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina +immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern +bank of the Tennessee at the mouth of Tellico River, some seven +miles from the site of the Virginia fort; and here were posted +twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the +wilderness. +<a href="#Note_48"><span class="superscript">[48]</span></a> +To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord +Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces in +America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and +during the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +next three or four years a little settlement sprang up +there. +</p> + +<p> +The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of +hostile Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755. +In July, the Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in +Virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of +the wars and many murders, committed by the savage Indians on the +back inhabitants." On July 30th a large party of Shawano Indians +fell upon the New River settlement and wiped it out of existence. +William Ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and Mrs. +Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. +<a href="#Note_49"><span class="superscript">[49]</span></a> +The +following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters of +the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was +captured by about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the +fort, killed John Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and +John Ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men, +women, and children. Among the captured was the famous Mrs. Mary +Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, was killed; but after being +"carried away into Captivity, amongst whom she was barbarously +treated," according to her own statement, she +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +finally escaped and returned to Virginia. +<a href="#Note_50"><span class="superscript">[50]</span></a> +The frontier continued to be +infested by marauding bands of French and Indians; and Dinwiddie gloomily +confessed to Dobbs (July 22d): "I apprehend that we shall always +be harrass'd with fly'g Parties of these Banditti unless we form +an Expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r Towns." +<a href="#Note_51"><span class="superscript">[51]</span></a> +Such an +expedition, known as the Sandy River Expedition, had been sent +out in February to avenge the massacre of the New River settlers; +but the enterprise engaged in by about four hundred Virginians +and Cherokees under Major Andrew Lewis and Captain Richard +Pearis, proved a disastrous failure. Not a single Indian was +seen; and the party suffered extraordinary hardships and narrowly +escaped starvation. +<a href="#Note_52"><span class="superscript">[52]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +In conformity with his treaty obligations with the Catawbas, +Governor Dobbs commissioned Captain Hugh Waddell to erect the +fort promised the Catawbas at the spot chosen by the +commissioners near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba +River. This fort, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +for which four thousand pounds had been +appropriated, was for the most part completed by midsummer, 1757. +But owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the French and +to the intermeddling of the South Carolina traders, who desired +to retain the trade of the Catawbas for that province, Oroloswa, +the Catawba King Heygler, sent a "talk" to Governor Lyttelton, +requesting that North Carolina desist from the work of +construction and that no fort be built except by South Carolina. +Accordingly, Governor Dobbs ordered Captain Waddell to discharge +the workmen (August 11, 1757); +<a href="#Note_53"><span class="superscript">[53]</span></a> +and every effort was made for many +months thereafter to conciliate the Catawbas, erstwhile friends +of North Carolina. The Catawba fort erected by North Carolina was +never fully completed; and several years later South Carolina, +having succeeded in alienating the Catawbas from North Carolina, +which colony had given them the best possible treatment, built +for them a fort +<a href="#Note_54"><span class="superscript">[54]</span></a> +at the mouth of Line Creek on the east bank of +the Catawba River. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> +In the spring and summer of 1757 the long-expected Indian allies +arrived in Virginia, as many as four hundred by May—Cherokees, +Catawbas, Tuscaroras, and Nottaways. But Dinwiddie was wholly +unable to use them effectively; and in order to provide amusement +for them, he directed that they should go "a scalping" with the +whites—"a barbarous method of war," frankly acknowledged the +governor, "introduced by the French, which we are oblidged to +follow in our own defense." Most of the Indian allies +discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the +remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the +campaign against Fort Duquesne. Three North Carolina companies, +composed of trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through +this campaign under the command of Major Hugh Waddell, the +"Washington of North Carolina." Long of limb and broad of chest, +powerful, lithe, and active, Waddell was an ideal leader for this +arduous service, being fertile in expedient and skilful in the +employment of Indian tactics. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +With true provincial pride Governor +Dobbs records that Waddell "had great honor done him, being +employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as +an Indian; and his sergeant, Rogers, took the only Indian +prisoner, who gave Mr. Forbes certain intelligence of the forces +in Fort Duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." This +apparently trivial incident is remarkable, in that it proved to +be the decisive factor in a campaign that was about to be +abandoned. The information in regard to the state of the garrison +at Fort Duquesne, secured from the Indian, for the capture of +whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two hundred and +fifty pounds, emboldened Forbes to advance rather than to retire. +Upon reaching the fort (November 25th), he found it abandoned by +the enemy. Sergeant Rogers never received the reward promised by +General Forbes and the other English officer; but some time +afterward he was compensated by a modest sum from the colony of +North Carolina. +<a href="#Note_55"><span class="superscript">[55]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +A series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +the fault of the whites, soon resulted in the precipitation of a +terrible Indian outbreak. A party of Cherokees, returning home in +May, 1758, seized some stray horses on the frontier of +Virginia—never dreaming of any wrong, says an old historian, +as they saw it frequently done by the whites. The owners of the +horses, hastily forming a party, went in pursuit of the Indians and +killed twelve or fourteen of the number. The relatives of the slain +Indians, greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. +<a href="#Note_56"><span class="superscript">[56]</span></a> +Nor was the +tactless conduct of Forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; +for when Atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in +disgust at the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by +Forbes's orders, apprehended and disarmed. +<a href="#Note_57"><span class="superscript">[57]</span></a> +This rude treatment, +coupled with the brutal and wanton murder of some Cherokee +hunters a little earlier, by an irresponsible band of Virginians +under Captain Robert Wade, still further aggravated the Indians. +<a href="#Note_58"><span class="superscript">[58]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Incited by the French, who had fled to the southward after the +fall of Fort Duquesne, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +parties of bloodthirsty young Indians +rushed down upon the settlements and left in their path death and +desolation along the frontiers of the Carolinas. +<a href="#Note_59"><span class="superscript">[59]</span></a> +On the upper +branch of the Yadkin and below the South Yadkin near Fort Dobbs +twenty-two whites fell in swift succession before the secret +onslaughts of the savages from the lower Cherokee towns. +<a href="#Note_60"><span class="superscript">[60]</span></a> +Many of +the settlers along the Yadkin fled to the Carolina Fort at +Bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff of Rowan +County suffered siege by the Cherokees, in his home, until +rescued by a detachment under Brother Loesch from Bethabara. +While many families took refuge in Fort Dobbs, frontiersmen under +Captain Morgan Bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of +Salisbury and guarded the settlements from the hostile incursions +of the savages. So gravely alarmed were the Rowan settlers, +compelled by the Indians to desert their planting and crops, that +Colonel Harris was despatched post-haste for aid to Cape Fear, +arriving there on July 1st. With strenuous energy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +Captain Waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies +of thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six +swivel guns and ammunition on before him; and these +reinforcements brought relief at last to the harassed Rowan +frontiers. +<a href="#Note_61"><span class="superscript">[61]</span></a> +During the remainder of the year, the borders were kept clear by bold +and tireless rangers—under the leadership of expert Indian +fighters of the stamp of Griffith Rutherford and Morgan Bryan. +</p> + +<p> +When the Cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the North +Carolina border in April arrived at their town of Settiquo, they +proudly displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain Rowan +settlers. Upon the demand for these scalps by Captain Demere at +Fort Loudon and under direction of Atta-kulla-kulla, the Settiquo +warriors surrendered eleven of the scalps to Captain Demere who, +according to custom in time of peace, buried them. New murders on +Pacolet and along the Virginia Path, which occurred shortly +afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +was plain, says a contemporary gazette, that "the lower Cherokees +were not satisfied with the murder of the Rowan settlers, but +intended further mischief." +<a href="#Note_62"><span class="superscript">[62]</span></a> +On October 1st and again on October 31st, +Governor Dobbs received urgent requests from Governor Lyttelton, +asking that the North Carolina provincials and militia coöperate +to bring him assistance. Although there was no law requiring the +troops to march out of the province and the exposed frontiers of +North Carolina sorely needed protection, Waddell, now +commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five small companies +and marched to the aid of Governor Lyttelton. But early in +January, 1760, while on the march, Waddell received a letter from +Lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and +that a treaty of peace had been negotiated with the Cherokees. +<a href="#Note_63"><span class="superscript">[63]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER VI.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Crushing the Cherokees +</p> +<p class="intro"> +Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling +strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Hewatt</span>: +<i>An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the +Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia</i>. 1779. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">G</span><span class="smcap">overnor Lyttelton's</span> +treaty of "peace," negotiated with the Cherokees at the close +of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a crass and hideous blunder. +His domineering attitude and tyrannical treatment of these Indians +had aroused the bitterest animosity. Yet he did not realize that +it was no longer safe to trust their word. No sooner did the +governor withdraw his army from the borders than the cunning +Cherokees, whose passions had been inflamed by what may fairly +be called the treacherous conduct of Lyttelton, rushed down +with merciless ferocity upon the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> +innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. On February 1, +1760, while a large party (including the family of Patrick Calhoun), +numbering in all about one hundred and fifty persons, were removing +from the Long Cane settlement to Augusta, they were suddenly +attacked by a hundred mounted Cherokees, who slaughtered about +fifty of them. After the massacre, many of the children were found +helplessly wandering in the woods. One man alone carried to Augusta +no less than nine of the pitiful innocents, some horribly mutilated +with the tomahawk, others scalped, and all yet alive. +</p> + +<p> +Atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and +many people were slain. The Cherokees, under the leadership of +Si-lou-ee, or the Young Warrior of Estatoe, the Round O, Tiftoe, +and others, were baffled in their persistent efforts to capture +Fort Prince George. On February 16th the crafty Oconostota +appeared before the fort and under the pretext of desiring some +white man to accompany him on a visit to the governor on urgent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +business, lured the commander, Lieutenant Coytomore, and two +attendants to a conference outside the gates. At a preconceived +signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were +wounded, and Lieutenant Coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell +dead. Enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death +the Indian hostages within. During the abortive attack upon the +fort, Oconostota, unaware of the murder of the hostages, was +heard shouting above the din of battle: "Fight strong, and you +shall be relieved." +<a href="#Note_64"><span class="superscript">[64]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Now began the dark days along the Rowan border, which were so +sorely to test human endurance. Many refugees fortified +themselves in the different stockades; and Colonel Hugh Waddell +with his redoubtable frontier company of Indian-fighters awaited +the onslaught of the savages, who were reported to have passed +through the mountain defiles and to be approaching along the +foot-hills. The story of the investment of Fort Dobbs and the +splendidly daring sortie of Waddell and Bailey is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +best told in +Waddell's report to Governor Dobbs (February 29, 1760): +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +For several Days I observed a small party of Indians were +constantly about the fort, I sent out several parties after them +to no purpose, the Evening before last between 8 & 9 o'clock I +found by the Dogs making an uncommon Noise there must be a party +nigh a Spring which we sometimes use. As my Garrison is but +small, and I was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out +the Garrison, I took our Capt. Bailie who with myself and party +made up ten: We had not marched 300 yds. from the fort when we +were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party +Orders not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually +observed: We recd the Indians' fire: When I perceived they had +almost all fired, I ordered my party to fire which We did not +further than 12 steps each loaded with a Bullet and 7 Buck Shot, +they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to +tomahawk us or make us Prisoners: They found the fire very hot +from so small a Number which a good deal confused them: I then +ordered my party to retreat, as I found the Instant our skirmish +began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing +the garrison the Indians were soon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +repulsed with I am sure a +considerable Loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can +confide in they cou'd not have less than 10 or 12 killed and +wounded; The next Morning we found a great deal of Blood and one +dead whom I suppose they cou'd not find in the night. On my side +I had 2 Men wounded one of whom I am afraid will die as he is +scalped, the other is in way of Recovery, and one boy killed near +the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I expected they +would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all +Fortifications by Night, but find they did not like their +Reception. +<a href="#Note_65"><span class="superscript">[65]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +<a name="Page_82_2" id="Page_82_2"></a> +Alarmed by Waddell's "offensive-defensive," the Indians abandoned +the siege. Robert Campbell, Waddell's ranger, who was scalped in +this engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was +recompensed by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. +<a href="#Note_66"><span class="superscript">[66]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +In addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies +were now placed under Waddell's command. Companies of volunteers +scoured the woods in search of the lurking Indian foe. These +rangers, who were clad in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, +and who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +employed Indian tactics in fighting, were captained by +such hardy leaders as the veteran Morgan Bryan, the intrepid +Griffith Rutherford, the German partisan, Martin Phifer +(Pfeiffer), and Anthony Hampton, the father of General Wade +Hampton. They visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" +erected by the settlers—extending all the way from Fort Dobbs +and the Moravian fortifications in the Wachau to Samuel +Stalnaker's stockade on the Middle Fork of the Holston in +Virginia. About the middle of March, thirty volunteer Rowan +County rangers encountered a band of forty Cherokees, who +fortified themselves in a deserted house near the Catawba River. +The famous scout and hunter, John Perkins, assisted by one of his +bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted +torches upon the roof. One of the Indians, as the smoke became +suffocating and the flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "Better for +one to die bravely than for all to perish miserably in the +flames," and darting forth, dashed rapidly hither and thither, in +order to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +draw as many shots as possible. This act of superb +self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles of the +whites, who riddled the brave Indian with balls, were empty, the +other savages made a wild dash for liberty. Seven fell thus under +the deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. Ten of the Indians, +all told, lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were +subsequently paid one hundred pounds by the colony of North +Carolina. +<a href="#Note_67"><span class="superscript">[67]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Beaten back from Fort Dobbs, sorely defeated along the Catawba, +hotly pursued by the rangers, the Cherokees continued to lurk in +the shadows of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to +fall suddenly upon wayfaring settlers and isolated cabins remote +from any stronghold. On March 8th William Fish, his son, and +Thompson, a companion, were riding along the "trace," in search +of provisions for a group of families fortified on the Yadkin, +when a flight of arrows hurtled from the cane-brake, and Fish and +his son fell dead. Although pierced with two arrows, one in the +hip and one clean through his body, Thompson +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +escaped upon his +fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally +reached the Carolina Fort at Bethabara. The good Dr. Bonn, by +skilfully extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved +Thompson's life. The pious Moravians rejoiced over the recovery +of the brave messenger, whose sensational arrival gave them +timely warning of the close proximity of the Indians. While +feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush by the +lurking foe; and on March 11th, a family barricaded within a +burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, +were rescued in the nick of time by the militia. No episode from +Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales surpasses in melancholy +interest Harry Hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on Bean +Island Creek. Surrounded by the Indians, Hicks and his family +took refuge within the small outer palisade around his humble +home. Fighting desperately against terrific odds, he was finally +driven from his yard into his log cabin, which he continued to +defend with dauntless courage. With +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +every shot he tried to send a +redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was only after his +powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, beneath +the deadly tomahawk. So impressed were the Indians by his bravery +that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and +these were afterward rescued by Waddell when he marched to the +Cherokee towns in 1761. +<a href="#Note_68"><span class="superscript">[68]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The kindly Moravians had always entertained with generous +hospitality the roving bands of Cherokees, who accordingly held +them in much esteem and spoke of Bethabara as "the Dutch Fort, +where there are good people and much bread." But now, in these +dread days, the truth of their daily text was brought forcibly +home to the Moravians: "Neither Nehemiah nor his brethren put off +their clothes, but prayed as they watched." With Bible in one +hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of Wachovia sternly +marched to religious worship. No Puritan of bleak New England +ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the +hard-won +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +outpost of civilization than did the pious Moravian of +the Wachau. At the new settlement of Bethania on Easter Day, more +than four hundred souls, including sixty rangers, listened +devoutly to the eloquent sermon of Bishop Spangenberg concerning +the way of salvation—the while their arms, stacked without the +<i>Gemein Haus</i>, were guarded by the watchful sentinel. On March 14th +the watchmen at Bethania with well-aimed shots repelled the +Indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down the +wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves." Religion was no +protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to +the present site of Salem were set upon by the red men—one +escaping, another suffering capture, and the third, a Baptist, +losing his life. A little later word came to Fort Dobbs that John +Long and Robert Gillespie of Salisbury had been shot from ambush +and scalped—Long having been pierced with eight bullets and +Gillespie with seven. +<a href="#Note_69"><span class="superscript">[69]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +There is one beautiful incident recorded by the Moravians, which +has a truly symbolic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +significance. While the war was at its +height, a strong party of Cherokees, who had lost their chief, +planned in retaliation to attack Bethabara. "When they went +home," sets forth the Moravian Diary, "they said they had been to +a great town, where there were a great many people, where the +bells rang often, and during the night, time after time, a horn +was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had taken +no prisoners." The trumpet of the watchman, announcing the +passing of the hour, had convinced the Indians that their plans +for attack were discovered; and the regular evening bell, +summoning the pious to prayer, rang in the stricken ears of the +red men like the clamant call to arms. +</p> + +<p> +Following the retirement from office of Governor Lyttelton, +Lieutenant-Governor Bull proceeded to prosecute the war with +vigor. On April 1, 1760, twelve hundred men under Colonel +Archibald Montgomerie arrived at Charleston, with instructions to +strike an immediate blow and to relieve Fort Loudon, then +invested by the Cherokees. With his own +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> +force, two hundred and +ninety-five South Carolina Rangers, forty picked men of the new +"levies," and "a good number of guides," Montgomerie moved from +Fort Ninety-Six on May 28th. On the first of June, crossing +Twelve-Mile River, Montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, +devastating and burning every Indian village in the Valley of +Keowee, killing and capturing more than a hundred of the +Cherokees, and destroying immense stores of corn. Receiving no +reply to his summons to the Cherokees of the Middle and Upper +Towns to make peace or suffer like treatment, Montgomerie took up +his march from Fort Prince George on June 24th, resolved to carry +out his threat. On the morning of the 27th, he was drawn into an +ambuscade within six miles of Et-chow-ee, eight miles south of +the present Franklin, North Carolina, a mile and a half below +Smith's Bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by +some six hundred and thirty warriors led by Si-lou-ee. Fighting +with Indian tactics, the Provincial Rangers under Patrick Calhoun +particularly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> +distinguished themselves; and the blood-curdling +yells of the painted savages were responded to by the wild huzzas +of the kilted Highlanders who, waving their Scotch bonnets, +impetuously charged the redskins and drove them again and again +from their lurking-places. Nevertheless Montgomerie lost from +eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while the loss of +the Indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the whites. +Unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing +his baggage, Montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. In so +doing, he acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon +his original intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of +Fort Loudon. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Demere and his devoted little band, who had been +resolutely holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. After +the bread was exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the +necessity of eating dogs and horses; and the loyal aid of the +Indian wives of some of the garrison, who secretly brought them +supplies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +of food daily, enabled them to hold out still longer. +Realizing at last the futility of prolonging the hopeless +contest, Captain Demere surrendered the fort on August 8, 1760. +At daylight the next morning, while on the march to Fort Prince +George, the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous Cherokees, +who at the first onset killed Captain Demere and twenty-nine +others. A humane chieftain, Outassitus, says one of the gazettes +of the day, "went around the field calling upon the Indians to +desist, and making such representations to them as stopped the +further progress and effects of their barbarous and brutal rage," +which expressed itself in scalping and hacking off the arms and +legs of the defenseless whites. Atta-kulla-kulla, who was +friendly to the whites, claimed Captain Stuart, the second +officer, as his captive, and bore him away by stealth. After nine +days' journey through the wilderness they encountered an advance +party under Major Andrew Lewis, sent out by Colonel Byrd, head of +a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the garrison who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +might effect their escape. Thus Stuart was restored to his +friends. This abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory +lay conclusively with the Indians, ended when Byrd disbanded his +new levies and Montgomerie sailed from Charleston for the north +(August, 1760). +</p> + +<p> +During the remainder of the year, the province of North Carolina +remained free of further alarms from the Indians. But the view +was generally entertained that one more joint effort of North +Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia would have to be made in +order to humble the Cherokees. At the sessions of the North +Carolina Assembly in November and again in December, matters in +dispute between Governor Dobbs and the representatives of the +people made impossible the passage of a proposed aid bill, +providing for five hundred men to coöperate with Virginia and +South Carolina. Nevertheless volunteers in large numbers +patriotically marched from North Carolina to Charleston and the +Congaree (December, 1760, to April, 1761), to enlist in the +famous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> +regiment being organized by Colonel Thomas Middleton. +<a href="#Note_70"><span class="superscript">[70]</span></a> +On March 31, 1761, Governor Dobbs called together the Assembly to +act upon a letter received from General Amherst, outlining a more +vigorous plan of campaign appropriate to the succession of a +young and vigorous sovereign, George III. An aid bill was passed, +providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; and one +regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the +command of Colonel Hugh Waddell, was mustered into service for +seven months' duty, beginning May 1, 1761. +<a href="#Note_71"><span class="superscript">[71]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +On July 7, 1761, Colonel James Grant, detached from the main army +in command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his +march from Fort Prince George. Attacked on June 10th two miles +south of the spot where Montgomerie was engaged the preceding +year, Grant's army, after a vigorous engagement lasting several +hours, drove off the Indians. The army then proceeded at leisure +to lay waste the fifteen towns of the Middle Settlements; and, +after this work of systematic devastation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +was over, returned to +Fort Prince George. Peace was concluded in September as the +result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was +pushed seventy miles farther to the west. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, Colonel Waddell with his force of five hundred North +Carolinians had acted in concert with Colonel William Byrd, +commanding the Virginia detachment. The combined forces went into +camp at Captain Samuel Stalnaker's old place on the Middle Fork +of Holston. Because of his deliberately dilatory policy, Byrd was +superseded in the command by Colonel Adam Stephen. Marching their +forces to the Long Island of Holston, Stephen and Waddell erected +there Fort Robinson, in compliance with the instructions of +Governor Fauquier, of Virginia. The Cherokees, heartily tired of +the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, independent of +the treaty at Charleston, on November 19, 1761. +</p> + +<p> +The successful termination of this campaign had an effect of +signal importance in the development +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +of the expansionist spirit. +The rich and beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the +North Carolina and Virginia pioneers under Waddell, Byrd, and +Stephen, lured them irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune +and bolder explorations into the unknown, beckoning West. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +<br /><br /><br /> + +</p> +<h2><a name="chap07"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER VII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Land Companies +</p> +<p class="intro"> +It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as +possible, and that the granting them to men of the first +consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large +bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of +effecting the end proposed. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Acting-Governor Nelson</span> of Virginia +to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. +</p> + + + + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">A</span><span class="smcap">lthough</span> +for several decades the Virginia +traders had been passing over the Great Trading Path to the towns of +the Cherokees and the Catawbas, it was not until the early years of the +eighteenth century that Virginians of imaginative vision directed +their eyes to the westward, intent upon crossing the mountains +and locating settlements as a firm barrier against the +imperialistic designs of France. Acting upon his oft-expressed +conviction that once the English settlers had established +themselves at the source of the James +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +River "it would not be in +the power of the French to dislodge them," Governor Alexander +Spotswood in 1716, animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led +an expedition of fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the +mountains, arduously ascended to the summit of the Blue Ridge, +and claimed the country by right of discovery in behalf of his +sovereign. In the journal of John Fontaine this vivacious account +is given of the historic episode: "I graved my name on a tree by +the river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper +enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of this place +in the name and for King George the First of England. We had a +good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all +their arms and we drank the King's health in Burgundy and fired a +volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family in claret and a +volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired another volley." +</p> + +<p> +By this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated +by presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +a golden horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, <i>Sic juvat +transcendere montes</i>, Alexander Spotswood anticipated by a third +of a century the more ambitious expedition on behalf of France by +Cèloron de Bienville (see Chapter III), and gave a memorable +object-lesson in the true spirit of westward expansion. During +the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the minds of men of the +stamp of William Byrd and Joshua Gee that there was imperative +need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the +trans-Alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing +wave of French influence and occupation. By the fifth decade of +the century, as we have seen, the Virginia settlers, with their +squatter's claims and tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the +mountains; and great pressure was brought to bear upon the +council to issue grants for vast tracts of land in the uncharted +wilderness of the interior. +</p> + +<p> +At this period the English ministry adopted the aggressive policy +already mentioned in connection with the French and Indian war, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> +indicative of a determination to contest with France the right to +occupy the interior of the continent. This policy had been +inaugurated by Virginia with the express purpose of stimulating +the adoption of a similar policy by North Carolina and +Pennsylvania. Two land companies, organized almost +simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries necessary to +settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to +discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best +land in the trans-Alleghany. +</p> + +<p> +In June, 1749, a great corporation, the Loyal Land Company of +Virginia, received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above +the North Carolina line and west of the mountains. Dr. Thomas +Walker, an expert surveyor, who in company with several other +gentlemen had made a tour of exploration through eastern +Tennessee and the Holston region in 1748, was chosen as the agent +of this company. Starting from his home in Albemarle County, +Virginia, March 6, 1750, accompanied by five stalwart pioneers, +Walker made a tour of exploration +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +to the westward, being absent +four months and one week. On this journey, which carried the +party as far west as the Rockcastle River (May 11th) and as far +north as the present Paintsville, Kentucky, they named many +natural objects, such as mountains and rivers, after members of +the party. Their two principal achievements were the erection of +the first house built by white men between the Cumberland +Mountains and the Ohio River—a feat, however, which led to no +important developments; and the discovery of the wonderful gap in +the Alleghanies to which Walker gave the name Cumberland, in +honor of the ruthless conqueror at Culloden, the "bloody duke." +</p> + +<p> +In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized by Colonel Thomas Lee, +president of the Virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of +Virginia and Maryland. In their petition for five hundred +thousand acres, one of the declared objects of the company was +"to anticipate the French by taking possession of that country +southward of the Lakes to which the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +French had no right.…" +By the royal order of May 19, 1749, the company was awarded two +hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and the +promise was made of an additional award of the remainder +petitioned for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon +the original grant and the building and maintaining of a fort. +Christopher Gist, summoned from his remote home on the Yadkin in +North Carolina, was instructed "to search out and discover the +Lands upon the river Ohio & other adjoining branches of the +Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof." In this +journey, which began at Colonel Thomas Cresap's, in Maryland, in +October, 1750, and ended at Gist's home on May 18, 1751, Gist +visited the Lower Shawnee Town and the Lower Blue Licks, ascended +Pilot Knob almost two decades before Findlay and Boone, from the +same eminence, "saw with pleasure the beautiful level of +Kentucky," intersected Walker's route at two points, and crossed +Cumberland Mountain at Pound Gap on the return journey. This was +a far more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +extended journey than Walker's, enabling Gist to +explore the fertile valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Miami +rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of Kentucky. +<a href="#Note_72"><span class="superscript">[72]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +It is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was +inaugurating an era of land-hunger unparalleled in American +history, that the first authentic records of the trans-Alleghany +were made by surveyors who visited the country as the agents of +great land companies. The outbreak of the French and Indian War +so soon afterward delayed for a decade and more any important +colonization of the West. Indeed, the explorations and findings +of Walker and Gist were almost unknown, even to the companies +they represented. But the conclusion of peace in 1763, which gave +all the region between the mountains and the Mississippi to the +British, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist +movement in the Old Southwest, and inaugurated the constructive +leadership of North Carolina in the occupation and colonization +of the imperial domain of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> +In the middle years of the century many families of Virginia +gentry removed to the back country of North Carolina in the +fertile region ranging from Williamsborough on the east to +Hillsborough on the west. +<a href="#Note_73"><span class="superscript">[73]</span></a> +There soon arose in this section of the +colony a society marked by intellectual distinction, social +graces, and the leisured dignity of the landlord and the large +planter. So conspicuous for means, intellect, culture, and +refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance of +wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that Governor Josiah Martin, +in passing through this region some years later, significantly +observes: "They have great pre-eminence, as well with respect to +soil and cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the +inhabitants, in which last respect the difference is so great +that one would be led to think them people of another region." +<a href="#Note_74"><span class="superscript">[74]</span></a> +This new wealthy class which was now turning its gaze toward the +unoccupied lands along the frontier was "dominated by the +democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the aristocratic +tendencies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +of slave-holding planters." +<a href="#Note_75"><span class="superscript">[75]</span></a> +From the cross-fertilization +of the ideas of two social groups—this back-country +gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic +instincts, economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and +the primitive pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, +responsive to leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in +execution—there evolved the militant American expansion in the Old +Southwest. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_104_2" id="Page_104_2"></a> +A conspicuous figure in this society of Virginia emigrants was a +young man named Richard Henderson, whose father had removed with +his family from Hanover County, Virginia, to Bute, afterward +Granville County, North Carolina, in 1742. +<a href="#Note_76"><span class="superscript">[76]</span></a> +Educated at home by a +private tutor, he began his career as assistant of his father, +Samuel Henderson, the High Sheriff of Granville County; and after +receiving a law-license, quickly acquired an extensive practice. +"Even in the superior courts where oratory and eloquence are as +brilliant and powerful as in Westminster-hall," records an +English acquaintance, "he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> +soon became distinguished and eminent, +and his superior genius shone forth with great splendour, and +universal applause." This young attorney, wedded to the daughter +of an Irish lord, often visited Salisbury on his legal circuit; +and here he became well acquainted with Squire Boone, one of the +"Worshipfull Justices," and often appeared in suits before him. +By his son, the nomadic Daniel Boone, conspicuous already for his +solitary wanderings across the dark green mountains to the +sun-lit valleys and boundless hunting-grounds beyond, Henderson +was from time to time regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales +of western exploration; and Boone, in his dark hour of poverty +and distress, when he was heavily involved financially, turned +for aid to this friend and his partner, who composed the law-firm +of Williams and Henderson. +<a href="#Note_77"><span class="superscript">[77]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the West stimulated +Henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the +rich possibilities of unoccupied lands there. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +While the Board of +Trade in drafting the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, +forbade the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was +specifically reserved to the Indians, it was clearly not their +intention to set permanent western limits to the colonies. +<a href="#Note_78"><span class="superscript">[78]</span></a> +The prevailing opinion among the shrewdest men of the period was well +expressed by George Washington, who wrote his agent for +preëmpting western lands: "I can never look upon that +proclamation in any other light (but I say this between +ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of +the Indians." And again in 1767: "It [the proclamation of 1763] +must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those +Indians consent to our occupying the lands. Any person, +therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out +good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing +them for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, +will never regain it." Washington had added greatly to his +holdings of bounty lands in the West by purchasing at trivial +prices the claims +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> +of many of the officers and soldiers. Three +years later we find him surveying extensive tracts along the Ohio +and the Great Kanawha, and, with the vision of the expansionist, +making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be seated +upon his own lands. Henderson, too, recognized the importance of +the great country west of the Appalachians. He agreed with the +opinion of Benjamin Franklin, who in 1756 called it "one of the +finest in North America for the extreme richness and fertility of +the land, the healthy temperature of the air and the mildness of +the climate, the plenty of hunting, fishing and fowling, the +facility of trade with the Indians and the vast convenience of +inland navigation or water carriage." +<a href="#Note_79"><span class="superscript">[79]</span></a> +Henderson therefore +proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose of acquiring +and colonizing a large domain in the West. This partnership, +which was entitled Richard Henderson and Company, was composed of +a few associates, including Richard Henderson, his uncle and +law-partner, John Williams, and, in all probability, their close +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +friends Thomas and Nathaniel Hart of Orange County, North +Carolina, immigrants from Hanover County, Virginia. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_108_2" id="Page_108_2"></a> +Seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of +peace, the company engaged Daniel Boone as scout and surveyor. He +was instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to +examine, with respect to their location and fertility, the lands +which he visited, and to report his findings upon his return. The +secret expedition must have been transacted with commendable +circumspection; for although in after years it became common +knowledge among his friends that he had acted as the company's +agent, Boone himself consistently refrained from betraying the +confidence of his employers. +<a href="#Note_80"><span class="superscript">[80]</span></a> +Upon a similar mission, Gist had +carefully concealed from the suspicious Indians the fact that he +carried a compass, which they wittily termed "land stealer"; and +Washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land agent Crawford, +insisting that the operation be carried on under the guise of +hunting game. +<a href="#Note_81"><span class="superscript">[81]</span></a> +The discreet Boone, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> +taciturn and given to keeping +his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous +to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well +known to him, in order to secure the results of their information +in regard to the best lands they had encountered in the course of +their hunting expedition. Boone came among the hunters, known as +the "Blevens connection," at one of their Tennessee station camps +on their return from a long hunt in Kentucky, in order, as +expressed in the quaint phraseology of the period, to be +"informed of the geography and locography of these woods, saying +that he was employed to explore them by Henderson & Company." +<a href="#Note_82"><span class="superscript">[82]</span></a> +The acquaintance which Boone on this occasion formed with a member of +the party, Henry Scaggs, the skilled hunter and explorer, was +soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward Scaggs was employed as +prospector by the same land company. In 1764 Scaggs had passed +through Cumberland Gap and hunted for the season on the +Cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> +Richard Henderson and Company, he was despatched on an extended +exploration to the lower Cumberland, fixing his station at the +salt lick afterward known as Mansker's Lick. +<a href="#Note_83"><span class="superscript">[83]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_110_2" id="Page_110_2"></a> +Richard Henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the Harts and +others in an enterprise which his own genius planned," says Peck, +the personal acquaintance and biographer of Boone, "and then +encouraged several hunters to explore the country and learn where +the best lands lay." Just why Henderson and his associates did +not act sooner upon the reports brought back by the +hunters—Boone and Scaggs and Callaway, who accompanied +Boone in 1764 in the interest of the land company—is not +known; +<a href="#Note_84"><span class="superscript">[84]</span></a> + but in all probability the fragmentary nature of these +reports, however glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause +for the delay of five years before the land company, through the +agency of Boone and Findlay, succeeded in having a thorough +exploration made of the Kentucky region. Delay was also caused +by rival claims to the territory. In the <i>Virginia Gazette</i> +of December 1, 1768, Henderson +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +must have read with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that +"the Six Nations and all their tributaries have granted a vast +extent of country to his majesty, and the Proprietaries of +Pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous boundary line between +their hunting country and this, and the other colonies to the +Southward as far as the Cherokee River, for which they received +the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever +given at any conference since the settlement of America." The +news was now bruited about through the colony of North Carolina +that the Cherokees were hot in their resentment because the +Northern Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees and the +perpetual disputants for the vast Middle Ground of Kentucky, had +received at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, November 5, 1768, an +immense compensation from the crown for the territory which they, +the Cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. +<a href="#Note_85"><span class="superscript">[85]</span></a> +Only three weeks +before, John Stuart, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the +Southern Department, had negotiated with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> +the Cherokees the Treaty +of Hard Labor, South Carolina (October 14th), by which Governor +Tryon's line of 1767, from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, was +continued direct to Colonel Chiswell's mine, the present +Wytheville, Virginia, and thence in a straight line to the mouth +of the Great Kanawha. +<a href="#Note_86"><span class="superscript">[86]</span></a> +Thus at the close of the year 1768 the +crown through both royal governor and superintendent of Indian +affairs acknowledged in fair and open treaty the right of the +Cherokees, whose Tennessee villages guarded the gateway, to the +valley lands east of the mountain barrier as well as to the dim +mid-region of Kentucky. In the very act of negotiating the Treaty +of Fort Stanwix, Sir William Johnson privately acknowledged that +possession of the trans-Alleghany could be legally obtained only +by extinguishing the title of the Cherokees. +<a href="#Note_87"><span class="superscript">[87]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +These conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the +Indians and the company's settlers. In the spring of 1769 +occurred one of those incidents in the westward advance which, +though slight in itself, was to have a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> +definite bearing upon the +course of events in later years. In pursuance of his policy, as +agent of the Loyal Land Company, of promoting settlement upon the +company's lands, Dr. Thomas Walker, who had visited Powell's +Valley the preceding year and come into possession of a very +large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party of +men including the Kirtleys, Captain Rucker, and others, and to +another party led by Joseph Martin, trader of Orange County, +Virginia, afterward a striking figure in the Old Southwest. The +fevered race by these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for +possession of an early "Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter +band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that +when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly handed them "a letter +from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got to the valley +first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were not to +interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with +the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> +and destroyed 23 deer—15 bears—2 buffaloes and a great quantity +of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland +who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The +company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees, +who, fortified by the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this +country within the Indian reservation, were determined to drive +Martin and his company out. While hunting on the Cumberland +River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, Martin and his company were +surrounded and disarmed by a party of Cherokees who said they had +orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men +hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived at +their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and +their goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse +but to return to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until +six years later that Martin, under the stable influence of the +Transylvania Company, was enabled to return to this spot and +erect there +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +the station which was to play an integral part in the +progress of westward expansion. +<a href="#Note_88"><span class="superscript">[88]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under +the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn +back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and +explorers who visited that territory between the time of its +discovery by Walker and Gist and the advent of Boone. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +<br /><br /><br /> + +</p> +<h2><a name="chap08"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER VIII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone +</p> + + +<p class="intro"> +The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of +Virginia & North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when +they intended to make a long Hunt (as they +call<span class="superscript">d</span> it) they Collected near the +head of Holston near whare Abingdon now stands.… +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">General William Hall</span>. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">B</span><span class="smcap">efore</span> +the coming of Walker and Gist in +1750 and 1751 respectively, the region now called Kentucky had, as +far as we know, been twice visited by the French, once in 1729 when +Chaussegros de Léry and his party visited the Big Bone Lick, and +again in the summer of 1749 when the Baron de Longueuil with four +hundred and fifty-two Frenchmen and Indians, going to join +Bienville in an expedition against "the Cherickees and other +Indians lying at the back of Carolina and Georgia," doubtless +encamped on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio. Kentucky was also +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> +traversed by John Peter Salling with his three adventurous +companions in their journey through the Middle West in 1742. But +all these early visits, including the memorable expeditions of +Walker and Gist, were so little known to the general public that +when John Filson wrote the history of Kentucky in 1784 he +attributed its discovery to James McBride in 1754. More +influential upon the course of westward expansion was an +adventure which occurred in 1752, the very year in which the +Boones settled down in their Yadkin home. +</p> + +<p> +In the autumn of 1752, a Pennsylvania trader, John Findlay, with +three or four companions, descended the Ohio River in a canoe as +far as the falls at the present Louisville, Kentucky, and +accompanied a party of Shawanoes to their town of +Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of what is now Winchester. +This was the site of the "Indian Old Corn Field," the Iroquois +name for which ("the place of many fields," or "prairie") was +Ken-ta-ke, whence came the name of the state. +Five miles east of this spot, where still may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +be seen a mound and an ellipse showing the outline of the stockade, +is the famous Pilot Knob, from the summit of which the fields +surrounding the town lie visible in their smooth expanse. During +Findlay's stay at the Indian town other traders from Pennsylvania +and Virginia, who reported that they were "on their return from +trading with the Cuttawas (Catawbas), a nation who live in the +Territories of Carolina," assembled in the vicinity in January, +1753. Here, as the result of disputes arising from their barter, +they were set upon and captured by a large party of straggling +Indians (Coghnawagas from Montreal) on January 26th; but Findlay and +another trader named James Lowry were so fortunate as to escape +and return through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania +settlements. +<a href="#Note_89"><span class="superscript">[89]</span></a> +The incident is of important historic significance; +for it was from these traders, who must have followed the Great +Warriors' Path to the country of the Catawbas, that Findlay +learned of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Gap traversed by the Indian +path. His reminiscences—of this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> +gateway to Kentucky, of the site +of the old Indian town on Lulbegrud Creek, a tributary of the Red +River, and of the Pilot Knob—were sixteen years later to fire +Boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the +Transylvania Company. +</p> + +<p> +During the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of +the savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east +ranged through the trans-Alleghany. But in 1761, a party of +hunters led by a rough frontiersman, Elisha Walden, penetrated +into Powell's Valley, followed the Indian trail through +Cumberland Gap, explored the Cumberland River, and finally +reached the Laurel Mountain where, encountering a party of +Indians, they deemed it expedient to return. With Walden went +Henry Scaggs, afterward explorer for the Henderson Land Company, +William Blevens and Charles Cox, the famous Virginia hunters, one +Newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. Their itinerary +may be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of +members of the party—Walden's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +Mountain and Walden's Creek, +Scaggs' Ridge and Newman's Ridge. Following the peace of 1763, +which made travel in this region moderately safe once more, the +English proceeded to occupy the territory which they had won. In +1765 George Croghan with a small party, on the way to prepare the +inhabitants of the Illinois country for transfer to English +sovereignty, visited the Great Bone Licks of Kentucky (May 30th, +31st); and a year later Captain Harry Gordon, chief engineer in +the Western Department in North America, visited and minutely +described the same licks and the falls. But these, and numerous +other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were +kept, though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing +upon the larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. +</p> + +<p> +The decade opening with the year 1765 is the epoch of bold and +ever bolder exploration—the more adventurous frontiersmen of the +border pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured +on by the excitements +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +of the chase and the profit to be derived from the sale of peltries. +In midsummer, 1766, Captain James Smith, Joshua Horton, Uriah Stone, +William Baker, and a young mulatto slave passed through Cumberland +Gap, hunted through the country south of the Cherokee and along the +Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and as Smith reports "found no +vestige of any white man." During the same year a party of five +hunters from South Carolina, led by Isaac Lindsey, penetrated the +Kentucky wilderness to the tributary of the Cumberland, named Stone's +River by the former party, for one of their number. Here they +encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western +pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic +association with the early settlement of Kentucky—James Harrod +and Michael Stoner, a German, both of whom had descended the Ohio +from Fort Pitt. With the year 1769 began those longer and more +extended excursions into the interior which were to result in +conveying at last to the outside +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +world graphic and detailed +information concerning "the wonderful new country of Cantucky." +In the late spring of this year Hancock and Richard Taylor (the +latter the father of President Zachary Taylor), Abraham +Hempinstall, and one Barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left +their homes in Orange County, Virginia, and hunted extensively in +Kentucky and Arkansas. Two of the party traveled through Georgia +and East and West Florida; while the other two hunted on the +Washita during the winter of 1770-1. Explorations of this type +became increasingly hazardous as the animosity of the Indians +increased; and from this time onward for a number of years almost +all the parties of roving hunters suffered capture or attack by +the crafty red men. In this same year Major John McCulloch, +living on the south branch of the Potomac, set out accompanied by +a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western country. +While passing down the Ohio from Pittsburgh McCulloch was +captured by the Indians near the mouth of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +Wabash and carried +to the present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. Set free after four +or five months, he journeyed in company with some French +<i>voyageurs</i> first to Natchez and then to New Orleans, whence he +made the sea voyage to Philadelphia. Somewhat later, Benjamin +Cleveland (afterward famous in the Revolution), attended by four +companions, set out from his home on the upper Yadkin to explore +the Kentucky wilderness. After passing through Cumberland Gap, +they encountered a band of Cherokees who plundered them of +everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and ordered +them to leave the Indian hunting-grounds. On their return journey +they almost starved, and Cleveland, who was reluctantly forced to +kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in +after years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. +</p> + +<p> +Fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by Uriah +Stone, a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto +ventured westward—including Uriah Stone as pilot, Gasper +Mansker, John Rains, the Bledsoes, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +and a dozen others—assembled +in June, 1769, in the New River region. "Each Man carried two +horses," says an early pioneer in describing one of these +parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and led, and a small +hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the purpose of +fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." Passing +through Cumberland Gap, they continued their long journey until +they reached Price's Meadow, in the present Wayne County, +Kentucky, where they established their encampment. In the course +of their explorations, during which they gave various names to +prominent natural features, they established their "station camp" +on a creek in Sumner County, Tennessee, whence originated the +name of Station Camp Creek. Isaac Bledsoe and Gasper Mansker, +agreeing to travel from here in opposite directions along a +buffalo trace passing near the camp, each succeeded in +discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his name—namely +Bledsoe's Lick and Mansker's Lick. The flat surrounding the lick, +about one hundred acres in extent, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +discovered by Bledsoe, +according to his own statement "was principally Covered with +buffelows in every direction—not hundreds but thousands." As he +sat on his horse, he shot down two deer in the lick; but the +buffaloes blindly trod them in the mud. They did not mind him and +his horse except when the wind blew the scent in their nostrils, +when they would break and run in droves. Indians often lurked in +the neighbourhood of these hunters—plundering their camp, +robbing them, and even shooting down one of their number, Robert +Crockett, from ambush. After many trials and vicissitudes, which +included a journey to the Spanish Natchez and the loss of a great +mass of peltries when they were plundered by Piomingo and a war +party of Chickasaws, they finally reached home in the late spring +of 1770. +<a href="#Note_90"><span class="superscript">[90]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The most notable expedition of this period, projected under the +auspices of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in +woodcraft, Joseph Drake and Henry Scaggs, was organized in the +early autumn of 1770. This imposing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +band of stalwart hunters from +the New River and Holston country, some forty in number, garbed +in hunting shirts, leggings, and moccasins, with three +pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, +blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through Cumberland Gap into the +heart of what was later justly named the "Dark and Bloody Ground" +(see Chapter XIV)—"not doubting," says an old border chronicler, +"that they were to be encountered by Indians, and to subsist on +game." From the duration of their absence from home, they +received the name of the Long Hunters—the romantic appellation +by which they are known in the pioneer history of the Old +Southwest. Many natural objects were named by this party—in +particular Dick's River, after the noted Cherokee hunter, Captain +Dick, who, pleased to be recognized by Charles Scaggs, told the +Long Hunters that on <em>his</em> river, pointing it out, they would +find meat plenty—adding with laconic significance: "Kill it +and go home." From the Knob Lick, in Lincoln County, as reported +by a member of the party, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +"they beheld largely over a thousand +animals, including buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild +turkies scattered among them; all quite restless, some playing, +and others busily employed in licking the earth.… The +buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away the soil, that they +could, in places, go entirely underground." Upon the return of a +detachment to Virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to +remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon +a long exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling +party of Indians under Will Emery, a half-breed Cherokee. Two of +the hunters were carried into captivity and never heard of again; +a third managed to escape. In embittered commemoration of the +plunder of the camp and the destruction of the peltries, they +inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, this emphatic +record, followed by their names: +</p> + +<p style="font-size:small;"> +<a name="Page_127_2" id="Page_127_2"></a> +2300 Deer Skins lost Ruination by God +<a href="#Note_91"><span class="superscript">[91]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued +their hunt in the direction +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> +of the lick which Bledsoe had discovered the preceding year. Shortly +after this discovery, a French <i>voyageur</i> from the Illinois who +had hunted and traded in this region for a decade, Timothé de +Monbreun, subsequently famous in the history of Tennessee, had visited +the lick and killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their tallow +and tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat and +descended the Cumberland. An early pioneer, William Hall, learned +from Isaac Bledsoe that when "the long hunters Crossed the ridge +and came down on Bledsoe's Creek in four or five miles of the +Lick the Cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they +thought they had mistaken the place until they Came to the Lick +and saw what had been done.… One could walk for several +hundred yards a round the Lick and in the lick on buffellows +Skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the Lick was bleached +with buffellows bones, and they found out the Cause of the Canes +growing up so suddenly a few miles around the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +Lick which was in +Consequence of so many buffellows being killed." +</p> + +<p> +This expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of +the frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing +many to settle subsequently in the West—some in Tennessee, some +in Kentucky. The elaborate and detailed information brought back +by Henry Scaggs exerted an appreciable influence, no doubt, in +accelerating the plans of Richard Henderson and Company for the +acquisition and colonization of the trans-Alleghany. But while +the "Long Hunters" were in Tennessee and Kentucky the same region +was being more extensively and systematically explored by Daniel +Boone. To his life, character, and attainments, as the typical +"long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now turn +our particular attention. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +<br /><br /><br /> + + +</p> +<h2><a name="chap09"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER IX.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration +</p> +<p class="intro"> +Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; +where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the +distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and +adorations of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the +miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities +laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the +greatest upon earth. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Daniel Boone</span>, 1784. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">he</span> +wandering life of a border Nimrod +in a surpassingly beautiful country teeming with game was the +ideal of the frontiersman of the eighteenth century. As early as +1728, while running the dividing line between North Carolina and +Virginia, William Byrd encountered along the North Carolina +frontier the typical figure of the professional hunter: +"a famous Woodsman, call'd +Epaphroditus Bainton. This Forester Spends all his time in +ranging the Woods, and is said to make great Havock among the +Deer, and other Inhabitants +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +of the Forest, not much wilder than +himself." By the middle of the century, as he was threading his +way through the Carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of +the Yadkin and Catawba country, Bishop Spangenberg found ranging +there many hunters, living like Indians, who killed thousands of +deer each year and sold the skins in the local markets or to the +fur-traders from Virginia whose heavy pack-trains with their +tinkling bells constantly traversed the course of the Great +Trading Path.</p> +<p> +The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both +as woodsman and marksman, was proverbial along the border. The +name of Daniel Boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship +and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. The bottoms of the +creek near the Boone home, three miles west of present +Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped +large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by +bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because +Daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> +ninety-nine bears in a single hunting-season. After living for a time +with his young wife, Rebecca Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, +Daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased +from his father on October 12, 1759, and lying on Sugar Tree, a +tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for the next five +years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal +to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of +his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in +wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the +mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of +1760 he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain +region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine +hunting-grounds, in what is now Washington County in east +Tennessee. Of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his +hunting-feats, which Boone with pardonable pride was accustomed +throughout his life-time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon +trees and rocks, the earliest known is found +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +upon a leaning beech +tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which +since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and +enduring record in the history of American exploration: +</p> + +<pre> + D. Boon + CillED A. BAR On + Tree + in The + yEAR + 1760 +</pre> + +<p class="noindent"> +Late in the summer of the following year Boone marched under the +command of the noted Indian-fighter of the border, Colonel Hugh +Waddell, in his campaign against the Cherokees. From the lips of +Waddell, who was outspoken in his condemnation of Byrd's futile +delays in road-cutting and fort-building, Boone learned the true +secret of success in Indian warfare, which was lost upon +Braddock, Forbes, and later St. Clair: that the art of defeating +red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected blow, before +they had time either to learn the strength of the force employed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful ambuscade. +</p> + +<p> +In the late autumn of 1761, Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Gist, the +son of Washington's famous guide, who were both serving under +Waddell, temporarily detached themselves from his command and led +a small party on a "long hunt" in the Valley of the Holston. +While encamping near the site of Black's Fort, subsequently +built, they were violently assailed by a pack of fierce wolves +which they had considerable difficulty in beating off; and from +this incident the locality became known as Wolf Hills (now +Abingdon, Virginia). +<a href="#Note_92"><span class="superscript">[92]</span></a> +</p> + + +<p> +From this time forward Boone's roving instincts had full sway. +For many months each year he threaded his way through that +marvelously beautiful country of western North Carolina +felicitously described as the Switzerland of America. Boone's +love of solitude and the murmuring forest was surely inspired by +the phenomenal beauties of the country through which he roamed +at will. Blowing Rock on one arm of a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +great horseshoe of +mountains and Tryon Mountain upon the other arm, overlooked an +enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad +eminences. There was the Pilot Mountain, the towering and +isolated pile which from time immemorial had served the +aborigines as a guide in their forest wanderings; there was the +dizzy height of the Roan on the border; there was Mt. Mitchell, +portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on the continent +east of the Rockies; and there was the Grandfather, the oldest +mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been +written: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem-noindent1">Oldest of all terrestrial things—still holding</p> + <p class="poem-noindent2">Thy wrinkled forehead high;</p> + <p class="poem-noindent1">Whose every seam, earth's history enfolding,</p> + <p class="poem-noindent2">Grim science doth defy!</p> + <br /> + <p class="poem-noindent1">Thou caught'st the far faint ray from Sirius rising,</p> + <p class="poem-noindent2">When through space first was hurled</p> + <p class="poem-noindent1">The primal gloom of ancient voids surprising,</p> + <p class="poem-noindent2">This atom, called the World!</p> +</div> + +<p class="noindent"> +What more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the +luxuriant vegetation and lavish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +profusion of the gorgeous flowers +upon the mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and +laurel, and the azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of +the water—the cataract of Linville, taking its shimmering leap +into the gorge, and that romantic river poetically celebrated in +the lines: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1">Swannanoa, nymph of beauty,</p> + <p class="poem1">I would woo thee in my rhyme,</p> + <p class="poem1">Wildest, brightest, loveliest river</p> + <p class="poem1">Of our sunny Southern clime.<br /> + • • • + </p> + <p class="poem1">Gone forever from the borders</p> + <p class="poem1">But immortal in thy name,</p> + <p class="poem1">Are the Red Men of the forest</p> + <p class="poem1">Be thou keeper of their fame!</p> + <p class="poem1">Paler races dwell beside thee,</p> + <p class="poem1">Celt and Saxon till thy lands</p> + <p class="poem1">Wedding use unto thy beauty—</p> + <p class="poem1">Linking over thee their hands.</p> +</div> + + +<p> +The long rambling excursions which Boone made through western +North Carolina and eastern Tennessee enabled him to explore every +nook and corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. +Among the companions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> +and contemporaries with whom he hunted and +explored the country were his little son James and his brother +Jesse; the Linville who gave the name to the beautiful falls; +Julius Cæsar Dugger, whose rock house stood near the head of Elk +Creek; and Nathaniel Gist, who described for him the lofty +gateway to Kentucky, through which Christopher Gist had passed in +1751. Boone had already heard of this gateway, from Findlay, and +it was one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to +scale the mountain wall of the Appalachians and to reach that +high portal of the Cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious +new Eden beyond. Although hunting was an endless delight to Boone +he was haunted in the midst of this pleasure, as was Kipling's +Explorer, by the lure of the undiscovered: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem-noindent1">Till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes</p> + <p class="poem-noindent1">On one everlasting whisper day and night repeated—so:</p> + <p class="poem-noindent1">'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges— + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> + </p> + <p class="poem-noindent1">'Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go.'</p> +</div> + + +<p> +Of Boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as +Richard Henderson and Company, an account has already been given; +and the delay in following them up has been touched on and in +part explained. Meanwhile Boone transferred his efforts for a +time to another field. Toward the close of the summer of 1765 a +party consisting of Major John Field, William Hill, one +Slaughter, and two others, all from Culpeper County, Virginia, +visited Boone and induced him to accompany them on the "long +Journey" to Florida, whither they were attracted by the liberal +offer of Colonel James Grant, governor of the eastern section, +the Florida of to-day. On this long and arduous expedition they +suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little +game, and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. They +explored Florida from St. Augustine to Pensacola; and Boone, who +relished fresh scenes and a new environment, purchased a house +and lot +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +in Pensacola in anticipation of removal thither. But upon +his return home, finding his wife unwilling to go, Boone once +more turned his eager eye toward the West, that mysterious and +alluring region beyond the great range, the fabled paradise of +Kentucky. +</p> + +<p> +The following year four young men from the Yadkin, Benjamin +Cutbird, John Stewart (Boone's brother-in-law who afterwards +accompanied him to Kentucky), John Baker, and James Ward made a +remarkable journey to the westward, crossing the Appalachian +mountain chain over some unknown route, and finally reaching the +Mississippi. The significance of the journey, in its bearing upon +westward expansion, inheres in the fact that while for more than +half a century the English traders from South Carolina had been +winning their way to the Mississippi along the lower routes and +Indian trails, this was the first party from either of the +Carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the Mississippi +by crossing the great mountain barrier. When Cutbird, a superb +woodsman and veritable Leatherstocking, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +narrated to Boone the story of his adventures, it only confirmed Boone +in his determination to find the passage through the mountain chain +leading to the Mesopotamia of Kentucky. +</p> + +<p> +Such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. During 1766 +and 1767 the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the +ancestral domain which the Indians reserved for their imperial +hunting-preserve aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the +red men. Bloody reprisal was often the sequel to such +encroachment. The vast region of Tennessee and the +trans-Alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages +roamed at will. From time to time war parties of northern +Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees, scouted through +this no-man's land and even penetrated into the western region of +North Carolina, committing murders and depredations upon the +Cherokees and the whites indiscriminately. During the summer of +1766, while Boone's friend and close connection, Captain William +Linville, his son John, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +another young man, named John +Williams, were in camp some ten miles below Linville Falls, they +were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of Northern +Indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second volley +killed both the Linvilles and severely wounded Williams, who +after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements. +<a href="#Note_93"><span class="superscript">[93]</span></a> +In May, 1767, four traders and a half-breed child of one of them +were killed in the Cherokee country. In the summer of this year +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina laid out the boundary +line of the Cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation +forbidding any purchase of land from the Indians and any issuance +of grants for land within one mile of the boundary line. Despite +this wise precaution, seven North Carolina hunters who during the +following September had lawlessly ventured into the mountain +region some sixty miles beyond the boundary were fired upon, and +several of them killed, by the resentful Cherokees. +<a href="#Note_94"><span class="superscript">[94]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Undismayed by these signs of impending +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> +danger, undeterred even by the tragic fate of the Linvilles, +Daniel Boone, with the determination of the indomitable pioneer, +never dreamed of relinquishing his long-cherished design. +Discouraged by the steady disappearance of game under the +ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, Boone continued to +direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring the fair +region of Kentucky. The adventurous William Hill, to whom Boone +communicated his purpose, readily consented to go with him; and +in the autumn of 1767 Boone and Hill, accompanied, it is believed, +by Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, set forth upon their almost +inconceivably hazardous expedition. They crossed the Blue Ridge +and the Alleghanies, the Holston and Clinch rivers near their +sources, and finally reached the head waters of the West Fork of +the Big Sandy. Surmising from its course that this stream must +flow into the Ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the +westward and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a +salt-spring in what is now Floyd County, in the extreme +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +eastern section of Kentucky. Here Boone beheld great droves of buffalo +that visited the salt-spring to drink the water or lick the +brackish soil. After spending the winter in hunting and trapping, +the Boones and Hill, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the +hilly country which with its dense growth of laurel was +exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding +Kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the +Yadkin. +</p> + +<p> +The account of Boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose +must be postponed to the next chapter. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER X.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Daniel Boone in Kentucky +</p> +<p class="intro"> +He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San +Salvador; as Cortes, looking down from the crest of Ahualco, on +the Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nuñez, standing alone on the +peak of Darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto +undiscovered waters of the Pacific. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">William Gilmore Simms</span>:<br /> +<i>Views and Reviews</i>. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a name="Page_144_2" id="Page_144_2"></a> +<span class="dropcap">A</span> +<span class="smcap">chance</span> +acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, +during the French and Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, +John Findlay, +<a href="#Note_95"><span class="superscript">[95]</span></a> +was the origin of Boone's cherished longing to reach the El +Dorado of the West. In this slight incident we may discern the +initial inspiration for the epochal movement of westward +expansion. Findlay was a trader and horse peddler, who had early +migrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had been licensed a trader +with the Indians in 1747. During the same year he was married to +Elizabeth Harris, daughter of John Harris, the Indian-trader +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +at Harris's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, after whom Harrisburg +was named. During the next eight years Findlay carried on his +business of trading in the interior. Upon the opening of the +French and Indian War he was probably among "the young men about +Paxtang who enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in +Braddock's expedition. Over the camp-fires, during the ensuing +campaign in 1765, young Boone was an eager listener to Findlay's +stirring narrative of his adventures in the Ohio Valley and on +the wonderfully beautiful levels of Kentucky in 1752. The fancies +aroused in his brooding mind by Findlay's moving recital and his +description of an ancient passage through the Ouasioto or +Cumberland Gap and along the course of the Warrior's Path, +inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring +promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's +paradise. +</p> + +<p> +Thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, +thread, and Irish linens in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +the Yadkin country, Findlay learned +from the Pennsylvania settlers at Salisbury or at the Forks of +the Yadkin of Boone's removal to the waters of the upper Yadkin. +At Boone's rustic home, in the winter of 1768-9, Findlay visited +his old comrade-in-arms of Braddock's campaign. On learning of +Boone's failure during the preceding year to reach the Kentucky +levels by way of the inhospitable Sandy region, Findlay again +described to him the route through the Ouasioto Gap traversed +sixteen years before by Pennsylvania traders in their traffic +with the Catawbas. Boone, as we have seen, knew that Christopher +Gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper Yadkin, had +found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had +never been able to discover the passage. Findlay's renewed +descriptions of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in +Kentucky, the great salt-licks where they congregated, the +abundance of bears, deer, and elk with which the country teemed, +the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks, aroused +in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +Boone the hunter's passion for the chase; while the beauty of +the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the Irishman, +inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country +which had, as John Filson records, "greatly engaged Mr. Findlay's +attention." +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_147_2" id="Page_147_2"></a> +In the comprehensive designs of Henderson, now a judge, for +securing a graphic report of the trans-Alleghany region in +behalf of his land company, Boone divined the means of securing +the financial backing for an expedition of considerable size and +ample equipment. +<a href="#Note_96"><span class="superscript">[96]</span></a> +In numerous suits for debt, aggregating hundreds +of dollars, which had been instituted against Boone by some of +the leading citizens of Rowan, Williams and Henderson had acted +as Boone's attorneys. In order to collect their legal fees, they +likewise brought suit against Boone; but not wishing to press the +action against the kindly scout who had hitherto acted as their +agent in western exploration, they continued the litigation from +court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions performed" on +behalf of Boone, during his unbroken absence, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +by his attorney in this suit, Alexander Martin. +<a href="#Note_97"><span class="superscript">[97]</span></a> +Summoned to appear in 1769 at the +March term of court at Salisbury, Boone seized upon the occasion +to lay before Judge Henderson the designs for a renewed and +extended exploration of Kentucky suggested by the golden +opportunity of securing the services of Findlay as guide. Shortly +after March 6th, when Judge Henderson reached Salisbury, the +conference, doubtless attended by John Stewart, Boone's +brother-in-law, John Findlay, and Boone, who were all present at +this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of +devising ways and means for the expedition. Peck, the only +reliable contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many +facts from Boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws +the conclusion (1847): "Daniel Boone was engaged as the master +spirit of this exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity +entire confidence could be reposed.… He was known to +Henderson and encouraged by him to make the exploration, and to +examine particularly the whole country south of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> +Kentucky—or as then called the Louisa River." +<a href="#Note_98"><span class="superscript">[98]</span></a> +As confidential agent of the +land company, Boone carried with him letters and instructions for +his guidance upon this extended tour of exploration. +<a href="#Note_99"><span class="superscript">[99]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +On May 1, 1769, with Findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of +his neighbors, John Stewart, a skilled woodsman, Joseph Holden, +James Mooney, and William Cooley, Boone left his "peaceable +habitation" on the upper Yadkin and began his historic journey +"in quest of the country of Kentucky." Already heavily burdened +with debts, Boone must have incurred considerable further +financial obligations to Judge Henderson and Colonel Williams, +acting for the land company, in order to obtain the large amount +of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. Each of the +adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and +behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, +and cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the +wilderness. In Powell's Valley they doubtless encountered the +party led +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +thither by Joseph Martin (see Chapter VII), and there +fell into the "Hunter's Trail" commented on in a letter written +by Martin only a fortnight before the passing of Boone's +cavalcade. Crossing the mountain at the Ouasioto Gap, they made +their first "station camp" in Kentucky on the creek, still named +after that circumstance, on the Red Lick Fork. After a +preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, Findlay +led the party to his old trading-camp at Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, +where then (June 7, 1769) remained but charred embers of the +Indian huts, with some of the stockading and the gate-posts still +standing. In Boone's own words, he and Findlay at once "proceeded +to take a more thorough survey of the country"; and during the +autumn and early winter, encountering on every hand apparently +inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the ever-changing +beauties of the country, the various members of the party made +many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as +base. On December 22, 1769, while +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> +engaged in a hunt, Boone and +Stewart were surprised and captured by a large party of +Shawanoes, led by Captain Will, who were returning from the +autumn hunt on Green River to their villages north of the Ohio. +Boone and Stewart were forced to pilot the Indians to their main +camp, where the savages, after robbing them of all their peltries +and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and little +ammunition, set off to the northward. They left, on parting, this +menacing admonition to the white intruders: "Now, brothers, go +home and stay there. Don't come here any more, for this is the +Indians' hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are +ours. If you are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be +sure the wasps and yellow jackets will sting you severely." +</p> + +<p> +Chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, Boone and +Stewart for two days pursued the Indians in hot haste. Finally +approaching the Indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, +they secured two of the horses, upon which they fled at top +speed. In turn +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +they were immediately pursued by a detachment of +the Indians, mounted upon their fleetest horses; and suffered the +humiliation of recapture two days later. Indulging in wild +hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, the Indians +took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about +Boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished +tomahawks to caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the +while with the derisive query, uttered in broken English: "Steal +horse, eh?" With as good grace as they could summon—wry smiles +at best—Boone and Stewart patiently endured these humiliations, +following the Indians as captives. Some days later (about January +4, 1770), while the vigilance of the Indians was momentarily +relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a dense cane-brake and +in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting their escape. +Finding their camp deserted upon their return, Boone and Stewart +hastened on and finally overtook their companions. Here Boone was +both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +Squire, loaded down with supplies. Having heard nothing from Boone, +the partners of the land company had surmised that he and his party +must have run short of ammunition, flour, salt, and other things +sorely needed in the wilderness; and because of their desire that +the party should remain, in order to make an exhaustive +exploration of the country, Squire Boone had been sent to him +with supplies. +<a href="#Note_100"><span class="superscript">[100]</span></a> +Findlay, Holden, Mooney, and Cooley returned to the settlements; +but Stewart, Squire Boone, and Alexander Neely, who had accompanied +Squire, threw in their lot with the intrepid Daniel, and fared +forth once more to the stirring and bracing adventures of the +Kentucky wilderness. In Daniel Boone's own words, he expected +"from the furs and peltries they had an opportunity of taking +… to recruit his shattered circumstances; discharge the +debts he had contracted by the adventure; and shortly return +under better auspices, to settle the newly discovered country." +<a href="#Note_101"><span class="superscript">[101]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of +the Red River, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +soon provided themselves, against the hardships of the long winter, +with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, dried buffalo tongues, fresh +meat, and marrow-bones as food, and buffalo robes and bearskins as +shelter from the inclement weather. Neely had brought with him, to +while away dull hours, a copy of "Gulliver's Travels"; and in +describing Neely's successful hunt for buffalo one day, Boone in after +years amusingly deposed: "In the year 1770 I encamped on Red River with +five other men, and we had with us for our amusement the History +of Samuel Gulliver's Travels, wherein he gave an account of his +young master, Glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to +a town called Lulbegrud. A young man of our company called +Alexander Neely came to camp and told us he had been that day to +Lulbegrud, and had killed two Brobdignags in their capital." +<a href="#Note_102"><span class="superscript">[102]</span></a> +Far from unlettered were pioneers who indulged together in such +literary chat and gave to the near-by creek the name (after Dean +Swift's <i>Lorbrulgrud</i>) of Lulbegrud which name, first seen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +on +Filson's map of Kentucky (1784), it bears to this day. From one +of his long, solitary hunts Stewart never returned; and it was +not until five years later, while cutting out the Transylvania +Trail, that Boone and his companions discovered, near the old +crossing at Rockcastle, Stewart's remains in a standing hollow +sycamore. The wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. +</p> + +<p> +The close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the +Boones, after Neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, +hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport Daniel +particularly excelled. Owing to the drain upon their ammunition, +Squire was at length compelled to return to the settlements for +supplies; and Daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to +complete his explorations for the land company, must often have +shared the feelings of Balboa as, from lofty knob or towering +ridge, he gazed over the waste of forest which spread from the +dim outlines of the Alleghanies to the distant waters of the +Mississippi. He now proceeded to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +make those remarkable solitary +explorations of Kentucky which have given him immortality—through +the valley of the Kentucky and the Licking, and along the +"Belle Rivière" (Ohio) as low as the falls. He visited the Big +Bone Lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the +mammoth found there. Along the great buffalo roads, worn several +feet below the surface of the ground, which led to the Blue +Licks, he saw with amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy +buffalo gamboling, bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath +the trampling of their hooves. One day, while upon a cliff near +the junction of the Kentucky and Dick's Rivers, he suddenly found +himself hemmed in by a party of Indians. Seizing his only chance +of escape, he leaped into the top of a maple tree growing beneath +the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty feet below, made his +escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of guttural "Ughs" from +the dumbfounded savages. +</p> + +<p> +Finally making his way back to the old camp, Daniel was rejoined +there by Squire +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +on July 27, 1770. During the succeeding months, +much of their time was spent in hunting and prospecting in +Jessamine County, where two caves are still known as Boone's +caves. Eventually, when ammunition and supplies had once more run +low, Squire was compelled a second time to return to the +settlements. Perturbed after a time by Squire's failure to rejoin +him at the appointed time, Daniel started toward the settlements, +in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him +along the trail. Overjoyed at this meeting (December, 1770) the +indomitable Boones once more plunged into the wilderness, +determined to conclude their explorations by examining the +regions watered by the Green and Cumberland rivers and their +tributaries. In after years, Gasper Mansker, the old German +scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the +consternation created among the Long Hunters, while hunting one +day on Green River, by a singular noise which they could not +explain. Stealthily slipping from tree to tree, Mansker finally +beheld with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bare-headed, +stretched flat upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, +singing merrily at the top of his voice! It was Daniel Boone, +joyously whiling away the solitary hours in singing one of his +favorite songs of the border. In March, 1771, after spending some +time in company with the Long Hunters, the Boones, their horses +laden with furs, set their faces homeward. On their return +journey, near Cumberland Gap, they had the misfortune to be +surrounded by a party of Indians who robbed them of their guns +and all their peltries. With this humiliating conclusion to his +memorable tour of exploration, Daniel Boone, as he himself says, +"once more reached home after experiencing hardships which would +defy credulity in the recital." +<a href="#Note_103"><span class="superscript">[103]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Despite the hardships and the losses, Boone had achieved the +ambition of years: he had seen Kentucky, which he "esteemed a +second paradise." The reports of his extended explorations, which +he made to Judge Henderson, were soon communicated to the other +partners +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> +of the land company; and their letters of this period, +to one another, bristle with glowing and minute descriptions of +the country, as detailed by their agent. Boone was immediately +engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the Cherokees +confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or sell +the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-Alleghany. +<a href="#Note_104"><span class="superscript">[104]</span></a> +The high +hopes of Henderson and his associates at last gave promise of +brilliant realization. Daniel Boone's glowing descriptions of +Kentucky excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, +the "spirit of an enterprise which in point of magnitude and +peril, as well as constancy and heroism displayed in its +execution, has never been paralleled in the history of America." +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XI.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Regulators +</p> +<p class="intro"> +It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but +if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one +cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to +raise money which is not to be had. And lastly if his personal +estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his +lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) +must go the same way to satisfy these cursed hungry +caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our +Commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a +very short time. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">George Sims</span>: <i>A Serious Address +to the Inhabitants of Granville County, containing an Account of our +deplorable Situation we suffer … and some necessary Hints with +Respect to a Reformation</i>. June 6, 1765. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">I</span><span class="smcap">t</span> +is highly probable that even at +the time of his earlier explorations in behalf of Richard Henderson +and Company, Daniel +Boone anticipated speedy removal to the West. Indeed, in the very +year of his first tour in their interest, Daniel and his wife +Rebeckah sold all their property in North Carolina, consisting of +their home and six hundred and forty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> +acres of land, and after several removals established themselves +upon the upper Yadkin. This removal and the later western +explorations just outlined were due not merely to the spirit of +adventure and discovery. Three other causes also were at work. +In the first place there was the scarcity of game. For fifteen +years the shipments of deerskins from Bethabara to Charleston +steadily increased; and the number of skins bought by Gammern, +the Moravian storekeeper, ran so high that in spite of the +large purchases made at the store by the hunters he would +sometimes run entirely out of money. Tireless in the chase, +the far-roaming Boone was among "the hunters, who brought in +their skins from as far away as the Indian lands"; and the +beautiful upland pastures and mountain forests, still teeming +with deer and bear, doubtless lured him to the upper Yadkin, +where for a time in the immediate neighborhood of his home +abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. Certainly +the deer and other game, which were being killed in +enormous numbers to satisfy the insatiable +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> +demand of the traders at Salisbury, the Forks, and Bethabara, became +scarcer and scarcer; and the wild game that was left gradually fled +to the westward. Terrible indeed was the havoc wrought among the elk; +and it was reported that the last elk was killed in western North +Carolina as early as 1781. +</p> + +<p> +Another grave evil of the time with which Boone had to cope in +the back country of North Carolina was the growth of undisguised +outlawry, similar to that found on the western plains of a later +era. This ruthless brigandage arose as the result of the +unsettled state of the country and the exposed condition of the +settlements due to the Indian alarms. When rude borderers, +demoralized by the enforced idleness attendant upon fort life +during the dark days of Indian invasion, sallied forth upon +forays against the Indians, they found much valuable +property—horses, cattle, and stock—left by their owners when +hurriedly fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. +The temptations thus afforded were too great to resist; and the +wilder spirits of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> +backwoods, with hazy notions of private +rights, seized the property which they found, slaughtered the +cattle, sold the horses, and appropriated to their own use the +temporarily abandoned household goods and plantation tools. The +stealing of horses, which were needed for the cultivation of the +soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves beyond the +reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and was +carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and +acting in collusive concert. +</p> + +<p> +Toward the end of July, 1755, when the Indian outrages upon the +New River settlements in Virginia had frightened away all the +families at the Town Fork in the Yadkin country, William Owen, a +man of Welsh stock, who had settled in the spring of 1752 in the +upper Yadkin near the Mulberry Fields, was suspected of having +robbed the storekeeper on the Meho. Not long afterward a band of +outlaws who plundered the exposed cabins in their owners' +absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain region in the rear +of the Yadkin +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +settlements, where they stored their ill-gotten +plunder and made themselves secure from attack. Other members of +the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their +robber friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious +projects of theft and rapine. +</p> + +<p> +The entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations +of the outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the Yadkin +country organized under the name of Regulators to break up the +outlaw band. When it was discovered that Owen, who was well known +at Bethabara, had allied himself with the highwaymen, one of the +justices summoned one hundred men; and seventy, who answered the +call, set forth on December 26, 1755, to seek out the outlaws and +to destroy their fortress. Emboldened by their success, the +latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl of the +settlements. Daniel Boone placed himself at the head of one of +the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her +rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release +of the frightened maiden. One of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +the robbers was apprehended and brought to Salisbury, where he was thrown +into prison for his crimes. Meanwhile a large amount of plunder had been +discovered at the house of one Cornelius Howard; and the evidences of his +guilt so multiplied against him that he finally confessed his +connection with the outlaw band and agreed to point out their +fort in the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Daniel Boone and George Boone joined the party of seventy men, +sent out by the colonial authorities, under the guidance of +Howard, to attack the stronghold of the bandits. Boone afterward +related that the robbers' fort was situated in the most fitly +chosen place for such a purpose that he could imagine—beneath an +overhanging cliff of rock, with a large natural chimney, and a +considerable area in front well stockaded. The frontiersmen +surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven children, and +then burned the fort to the ground. Owen and his wife, +Cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; +but Harman and the remainder of the band escaped by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +flight. Owen and his fellow captives were then borne to Salisbury, +incarcerated in the prison there, and finally (May, 1756) +condemned to the gallows. Owen sent word to the Moravians, +petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to apprentice one to a +tailor, the other to a carpenter. But so infuriated was Owen's +wife by Howard's treachery that she branded him as a second +Judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "Judas" +Howard—a sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year +later he was ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of +a stream. He thus paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw +band. For a number of years, the Regulators continued to wage war +against the remaining outlaws, who from time to time committed +murders as well as thefts. As late as January, 1768, the +Regulators caught a horse thief in the Hollows of Surry County +and brought him to Bethabara, whence Richter and Spach took him +to the jail at Salisbury. After this year, the outlaws were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +heard of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Edmund Fanning—of whom more anon—declared that the +Regulation began in Anson County which bordered upon South +Carolina. +<a href="#Note_105"><span class="superscript">[105]</span></a> +Certain it is that the upper country of that province +was kept in an uproar by civil disturbances during this early +period. Owing to the absence of courts in this section, so remote +from Charleston, the inhabitants found it necessary, for the +protection of property and the punishment of outlaws, to form an +association called, like the North Carolina society, the +Regulation. Against this association the horse thieves and other +criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from +certain more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of +the Regulators." The Regulation which had been thus organized in +upper South Carolina as early as 1764 led to tumultuous risings +of the settlers; and finally in the effort to suppress these +disorders, the governor, Lord Charles Montagu, appointed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +one +Scovil, an utterly unworthy representative, to carry out his +commands. After various disorders, which became ever more +unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a crisis (1769) +as the result of the high-handed proceedings of Scovil, who +promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the Regulators he +could lay hands on. In the month of March the back country rose +in revolt against Scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on +the point of attacking the force under his command when an +eleventh-hour letter arrived from Montagu, dismissing Scovil from +office. Thus was happily averted, by the narrowest of margins, a +threatened precursor of the fight at Alamance in 1771 (see +Chapter XII). As the result of the petition of the Calhouns and +others, courts were established in 1760, though not opened until +four years later. Many horse thieves were apprehended, tried, and +punished. Justice once more held full sway. +</p> + +<p> +Another important cause for Boone's removal from the neighborhood +of Salisbury into +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive +administration of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and +tax-gatherers, and the dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters +with the owners of the soil. At the close of the year 1764 +reports reached the town of Wilmington, after the adjournment of +the assembly in November, of serious disturbances in Orange +County, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant exactions of the +clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. +<a href="#Note_106"><span class="superscript">[106]</span></a> +As a result of this +disturbing news, Governor Dobbs issued a proclamation forbidding +any officer to take illegal fees. Troubles had been brewing in +the adjacent county of Granville ever since the outbreak of the +citizens against Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent (January +24, 1759), and the issuance of the petition of Reuben Searcy and +others (March 23d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees +taken and injustices practised by Robert (Robin) Jones, the +famous lawyer. These disturbances were cumulative in their +effect; and the people at last (1765) found in George Sims, of +Granville, a fit +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +spokesman of their cause and a doughty champion +of popular rights. In his "Serious Address to the Inhabitants of +Granville County, containing an Account of our deplorable +Situation we suffer … and some necessary Hints with Respect +to a Reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a +crushing indictment of the clerk of the county court, Samuel +Benton, the grandfather of Thomas Hart Benton. After describing +in detail the system of semi-peonage created by the merciless +exactions of lawyers and petty court officials, and the +insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry caterpillars," Sims with +rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull them down from their +nests for the salvation of the Commonwealth. +<a href="#Note_107"><span class="superscript">[107]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Other abuses were also recorded. So exorbitant was the charge for +a marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler +records: "The consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the +head-waters of the Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other +for better or for worse; and considered themselves as +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> +married without further ceremony." The extraordinary scarcity of currency +throughout the colony, especially in the back country, was +another great hardship and a perpetual source of vexation. All +these conditions gradually became intolerable to the uncultured +but free-spirited men of the back country. Events were slowly +converging toward a crisis in government and society. Independent +in spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not +only against excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and +extortionate fees, but also against the rapacious practices of +the agents of Lord Granville. These agents industriously picked +flaws in the titles to the lands in Granville's proprietary upon +which the poorer settlers were seated; and compelled them to pay +for the land if they had not already done so, or else to pay the +fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only remedy of +the alleged defect in their titles. In Mecklenburg County the +spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the +proprietary agents. Acting under instructions to survey and close +bargains +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +for the lands or else to eject those who held them, +Henry Eustace McCulloh, in February, 1765, went into the county +to call a reckoning. The settlers, many of whom had located +without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering to buy only at +their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out the +holdings when this smaller price was declined. They not only +terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to +pay the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared +that they would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment +proceedings. On May 7th an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by +Thomas Polk, set upon John Frohock, Abraham Alexander, and +others, as they were about to survey a parcel of land, and gave +them a severe thrashing, even threatening the young McCulloh with +death. +<a href="#Note_108"><span class="superscript">[108]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with +Francis Bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. +Especial objects of their animosity were the brothers Frohock, +John and Thomas, the latter clerk of the court at Salisbury, and +Edmund Fanning, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +a cultured gentleman-adventurer, associate +justice of the superior court. So rapacious and extortionate were +these vultures of the courts who preyed upon the vitals of the +common people, that they were savagely lampooned by Rednap +Howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the Regulation. The temper +of the back country is well caught in Howell's lines anent this +early American "grafter," the favorite of the royal governor: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <a name="Page_173_2" id="Page_173_2"></a> + <p class="poem1">When Fanning first to Orange came,</p> + <p class="poem2">He looked both pale and wan;</p> + <p class="poem1">An old patched coat was on his back,</p> + <p class="poem2">An old mare he rode on.</p> + <br /> + <p class="poem1">Both man and mare wan't worth five pounds,</p> + <p class="poem2">As I've been often told;</p> + <p class="poem1">But by his civil robberies,</p> + <p class="poem2">He's laced his coat with gold. + <a href="#Note_109"><span class="superscript">[109]</span></a> + </p> +</div> + +<p> +The germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade +were thus working among the people of the back country. If the +tense nervous energy of the American people is the transmitted +characteristic of the border settlers, who often slept with +loaded rifle in hand +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> +in grim expectation of being awakened by the +hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, and the lurid firebrand of +the savage, the very buoyancy of the national character is in +equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded on a +freehold inheritance of land." The desire for free land was the +fundamental factor in the development of the American democracy. +No colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did North +Carolina in the turbulent days of the Regulation. The North +Carolina frontiersmen resented the obligation to pay quit-rents +and firmly believed that the first occupant of the soil had an +indefeasible right to the land which he had won with his rifle +and rendered productive by the implements of toil. Preferring the +dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of tribute to +absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial +government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle +rather than in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his +obligations to the owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Watauga—Haven of Liberty +</p> +<p class="intro"> +The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore +quitted the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle +of Alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only +waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow +them. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Reverend Morgan Edwards</span>, 1772. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">he</span> +five years (1766-1771) which saw +the rise, development, and ultimate defeat of the popular movement +known as the Regulation, +constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance in +North Carolina but also of fruitful consequences in the larger +movements of westward expansion. With the resolute intention of +having their rulers "give account of their stewardship," to +employ their own words, the Sandy Creek Association of Baptists +(organized in 1758), in a series of papers known as Regulators' +Advertisements (1766-8) proceeded to mature, through popular +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. At length, +discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to +bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this +association ceased actively to function. It was the precursor of +a movement of much more drastic character and formidable +proportions, chiefly directed against Colonel Edmund Fanning and +his associates. This movement doubtless took its name, "the +Regulation," from the bands of men already described who were +organized first in North Carolina and later in South Carolina, to +put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back +country, such as the tyrannies of Scovil and his henchmen. +Failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal +channels, the Regulators finally made such a powerful +demonstration in support of their refusal to pay taxes that +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina, in 1768, called out the +provincial militia, and by marching with great show of force +through the disaffected regions, succeeded temporarily in +overawing the people +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> +and thus inducing them to pay their +assessments. +<a href="#Note_110"><span class="superscript">[110]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The suits which had been brought by the Regulators against Edmund +Fanning, register, and Francis Nash, clerk, of Orange County, +resulted in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." +<a href="#Note_111"><span class="superscript">[111]</span></a> +Fanning immediately resigned his commission as register; while +Nash, who in conjunction with Fanning had fairly offered in 1766 +to refund to any one aggrieved any fee charged by him which the +Superior Court might hold excessive, gave bond for his appearance +at the next court. Similar suits for extortion against the three +Frohocks in Rowan County in 1769 met with failure, however; and +this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of the Regulators, as +recorded by Herman Husband in his "Impartial Relation." During +this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the people, who +felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their inability +to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices from +the bench and threatening court officials with violence. +</p> + + +<div class="broadside"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> +<p class="broadside">An Impartial</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:xx-large; font-weight:bold;">RELATION</p> +<p class="broadside"><span class="smcap">of the</span></p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;">First Rise and Cause</p> +<p class="broadside"><span class="smcap">of the</span></p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;"><span class="smcap">Recent</span> DIFFERENCES,</p> +<p class="broadside"><span class="smcap">in</span></p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;"><span class="smcap">Publick</span> AFFAIRS,</p> +<p class="hanging">In the Province of <i>North-Carolina</i>; +and of the past <i>Tumults</i> and <i>Riots</i> +that lately happened in that Province.</p> + +<p class="hanging" style="font-size:small;"> +Containing most of the true and +genuine Copies of Letters, Messages +and Remonstrances, between the Parties +contending:———By +which any impartial Man may easily +gather and see the true Ground +and Reasons of the dissatisfaction +that universally reigns all over said +Province in more or less Degree. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:small;"> +Printed for the Compiler, 1770.</p> + +</div> + + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +At the session of the Superior Court at Hillsborough, September +22, 1770, an elaborate petition prepared by the Regulators, +demanding unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes +by the sheriffs, was handed to the presiding justice by James +Hunter, a leading Regulator. This justice was our acquaintance, +Judge Richard Henderson, of Granville County, the sole high +officer in the provincial government from the entire western +section of the colony. In this petition occur these trenchant +words: "As we are serious and in good earnest and the cause +respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to +enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a +few men who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has +a feeling and knows when he has justice done him as well as the +most learned." +<a href="#Note_112"><span class="superscript">[112]</span></a> +On the following Monday (September 24th), upon +convening of court, some one hundred and fifty Regulators, led by +James Hunter, Herman Husband, Rednap Howell, and others, armed +with clubs, whips, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> +and cudgels, surged into the court-room and +through their spokesman, Jeremiah Fields, presented a statement +of their grievances. "I found myself," says Judge Henderson, +"under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the fury +of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such +could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve +the little remaining dignity of the court." +<a href="#Note_113"><span class="superscript">[113]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +During an interim, in which the Regulators retired for +consultation, they fell without warning upon Fanning and gave him +such rough treatment that he narrowly escaped with his life. The +mob, now past control, horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers +and citizens gathered there at court, and treated others, notably +the courtly Mr. Hooper of Boston, "with every mark of contempt +and insult." Judge Henderson was assured by Fields that no harm +should come to him provided he would conduct the court in +accordance with the behest of the Regulators: namely, that no +lawyer, save the King's Attorney, should be admitted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +to the court, and that the Regulators' cases should be tried with new +jurors chosen by the Regulators. With the entire little village +terrorized by this campaign of "frightfulness," and the court +wholly unprotected, Judge Henderson reluctantly acknowledged to +himself that "the power of the judiciary was exhausted." +Nevertheless, he says, "I made every effort in my power +consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to +claim to preserve peace and good order." +<a href="#Note_114"><span class="superscript">[114]</span></a> +Agreeing under duress to resume the session the following day, +the judge ordered an adjournment. But being unwilling, on mature +reflection, to permit a mockery of the court and a travesty of +justice to be staged under threat and intimidation, he returned +that night to his home in Granville and left the court adjourned +in course. Enraged by the judge's escape, the Regulators took +possession of the court-room the following morning, called over +the cases, and in futile protest against the conditions they were +powerless to remedy, made profane entries which may still be seen on the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +record: "Damned rogues," "Fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "Negroes +not worth a damn, Cost exceeds the whole," "Hogan pays and be +damned," and, in a case of slander, "Nonsense, let them argue for +Ferrell has gone hellward." +<a href="#Note_115"><span class="superscript">[115]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly +educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to +secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest +lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and +secret incendiarism. +<a href="#Note_116"><span class="superscript">[116]</span></a> +In the dead of night, November 12th and +14th, Judge Henderson's barn, stables, and dwelling house were +fired by the Regulators and went up in flames. Glowing with a +sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by fanatical +agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only upon +their oppressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring +them—men of the stamp of William Hooper, afterward signer of the +Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, afterward governor +and United States Senator, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> +and Richard Henderson, popular representative of the back country +and a firm champion of due +process of law. It is perhaps not surprising in view of these +events that Governor Tryon and the ruling class, lacking a +sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to the oppressed people, +seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that a widespread +insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and +property, but also civil government itself. The governor called +out the militia of the province and led an army of well-nigh one +thousand men and officers against the Regulators, who had +assembled at Alamance to the number of two thousand. Tryon stood +firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government +and disperse at a designated hour. The Regulators, on their side, +hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the +governor with a great display of force. The battle was a tragic +fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without +adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this +desultory action, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> +fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), +the power of the Regulators was completely broken. +<a href="#Note_117"><span class="superscript">[117]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element—an element +whose influence upon the course of American history has been but +imperfectly understood—which now looms into prominence as the +vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of +the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were +deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and +the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin +Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman +Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then +rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the +inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, +referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each +neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of +investigating the question "whether the free men of this country +labor under any abuses of power or not." The +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +close connection +between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply +demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in +connection with the "stamp law" are praised for "redeeming us +from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament +in behalf of true liberty." +<a href="#Note_118"><span class="superscript">[118]</span></a> +Upon the records of the Dutchman's +Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, +to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this +memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a +year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At +the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American +Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the +liberty to do it without being called to an account by the +church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used +with brotherly love." +<a href="#Note_119"><span class="superscript">[119]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward +hegira are found in the remarkable petition of the Regulators of +Anson County (October 9, 1769), who request +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> +that "Benjamin Franklin or some other known <em>patriot</em>" be +appointed agent of the province in London to seek redress at the +source. They exposed the basic evil in the situation by pointing +out that, in violation of the law restricting the amount of land +that might be granted to each person to six hundred and forty +acres, much of the most fertile territory in the province had been +distributed in large tracts to wealthy landlords. In consequence +"great numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the +cultivation of the bad Lands whereon they hardly can subsist." +<a href="#Note_120"><span class="superscript">[120]</span></a> +It was these poor people, "thereby deprived of His Majesties +liberality and Bounty," who soon turned their gaze to the +westward and crossed the mountains in search of the rich, free +lands of the trans-Alleghany region. +</p> + +<p> +This feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the +economic pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually +entering North Carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across +the mountains in 1769. Long before Alamance, many of the true +Americans, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +distraught by apparently irremediable injustices, +plunged fearlessly into the wilderness, seeking beyond the +mountains a new birth of liberty, lands of their own selection +free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of their own +choosing and control. +<a href="#Note_121"><span class="superscript">[121]</span></a> +The glad news of the rich valleys beyond +the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as Andrew +Greer and Julius Cæsar Dugger to the Watauga country. The +glowing stories, told by Boone, and disseminated in the back +country by Henderson, Williams, and the Harts, seemed to give +promise to men of this stamp that the West afforded relief from +oppressions suffered in North Carolina. During the winter of +1768-9 there was also a great rush of settlers from Virginia into +the valley of the Holston. A party from Augusta County, led by +men who had been delighted with the country viewed seven years +before when they were serving under Colonel William Byrd against +the Cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on their +outward passage in 1768, was dotted with cabins on every spot +where the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +grazing was good, upon their return the following year. +Writing to Hillsborough on October 18, 1770, concerning the "many +hundred families" in the region from Green River to the branches +of the Holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation +of 1763, Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia reports that "very +little if any Quit Rents have been received for His Majesty's use +from that Quarter for some time past"—the people claiming that +"His Majesty hath been pleased to withdraw his protection from +them since 1763." +<a href="#Note_122"><span class="superscript">[122]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +In the spring of 1770, with the express intention of discovering +suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, +who wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, James +Robertson of Orange County, North Carolina, made an arduous +journey to the pleasing valley of the Watauga. Robertson, who was +born in Brunswick County, Virginia, June 28, 1742, of excellent +Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a noteworthy figure of a certain +type—quiet, reflective, conservative, wise, a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +firm believer in the +basic principles of civil liberty and the right of local +self-government. Robertson spent some time with a man named +Honeycut in the Watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose +for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. +Lost upon his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by +him on the outward journey, Robertson probably escaped death from +starvation only through the chance passing of two hunters who +succored him and set him upon the right path. On arriving in +Orange he found political and social conditions there much worse +than before, many of the colonists declining to take the +obligatory oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the +Battle of Alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new +homes along the western waters. Some sixteen families of this +stamp, indignant at the injustices and oppressions of British +rule, and stirred by Robertson's description of the richness and +beauty of the western country, accompanied him to Watauga shortly +after the battle. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +This vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent +Americans in spirit with a negligible sprinkling of Loyalists, +now swept in a great tide into the northeastern section of +Tennessee. The men of Sandy Creek, actuated by independent +principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic side of the +Regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "After the defeat of +the Regulators," says the historian of the Sandy Creek +Association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of +redress for their grievances, moved into and settled east +Tennessee. A large proportion of these were of the Baptist +population. Sandy Creek Church which some time previous to 1771, +numbered 606, was afterward reduced to fourteen members!" +<a href="#Note_123"><span class="superscript">[123]</span></a> +This movement exerted powerful influence in stimulating westward +expansion. Indeed, it was from men of Regulating principles—Boone, +Robertson, and the Searcys—who vehemently condemned the +anarchy and incendiarism of 1770, that Judge Henderson received +powerful coöperation in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +the opening up of Kentucky and Tennessee. +<a href="#Note_124"><span class="superscript">[124]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The several treaties concerning the western boundary of white +settlement, concluded in close succession by North Carolina, +Virginia, and the Crown with the Southern and Northern Indians, +had an important bearing upon the settlement of Watauga. The +Cherokee boundary line, as fixed by Governor Tryon (1767) and by +John Stuart (1768), ran from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, +thence straight to Chiswell's Mine, and thence direct to the +mouth of the Great Kanawha River. By the treaty at Fort Stanwix +(November 5, 1768), in the negotiation of which Virginia was +represented by Dr. Thomas Walker and Major Andrew Lewis, the Six +Nations sold to the Crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of +western country, including in particular all the land between the +Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers. The news of the cession resulted +in a strong southwestward thrust of population, from the +neighborhood of Abingdon, in the direction of the Holston +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +Valley. +<a href="#Note_125"><span class="superscript">[125]</span></a> +Recognizing that hundreds of these settlers were beyond the line +negotiated by Stuart, but on lands not yet surveyed, Governor +Botetourt instructed the Virginia commissioners to press for +further negotiations, through Stuart, with the Cherokees. +Accordingly, on October 18, 1770, a new treaty was made at +Lochaber, South Carolina, by which a new line back of Virginia +was established, beginning at the intersection of the North +Carolina-Cherokee line (a point some seventy-odd miles east of +Long Island), running thence in a west course to a point six +miles east of Long Island, and thence in a direct course to the +confluence of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. At the time of +the treaty, it was agreed that the Holston River, from its +intersection with the North Carolina-Virginia line, and down the +course of the same, should be a temporary southern boundary of +Virginia until the line should be ascertained by actual survey. +<a href="#Note_126"><span class="superscript">[126]</span></a> +A strong influx of population into the immense new triangle thus +released for settlement +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +brought powerful pressure to bear upon +northern Tennessee, the point of least resistance along the +western barrier. Singularly enough, this advance was not opposed +by the Cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme +southeast corner of Tennessee. +</p> + +<p> +When Colonel John Donelson ran the line in the latter part of +1771, The Little Carpenter, who with other Indian chiefs +accompanied the surveying party, urged that the line agreed upon +at Lochaber should break off at the head of the Louisa River, and +should run thence to the mouth thereof, and thence up the Ohio to +the mouth of the Great Kanawha. For this increase in the +territory of Virginia they of course expected additional payment. +As a representative of Virginia, Donelson agreed to the proposed +alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised to send +the Cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to +have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the +additional area. This informal agreement, it is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +believed, was never ratified by Virginia; nor was the promised +compensation ever paid the Cherokees. +<a href="#Note_127"><span class="superscript">[127]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_194_2" id="Page_194_2"></a> +Under the belief that the land belonged to Virginia, Jacob Brown +with one or two families from North Carolina settled in 1771 upon +a tract of land on the northern bank of the Nonachunheh +(corruption, Nolichucky) River. During the same year, an +experimental line run westward from Steep Rock and Beaver Creek +by Anthony Bledsoe showed that upon the extension of the boundary +line, these settlers would fall within the bounds of North +Carolina. Although thus informally warned of the situation, the +settlers made no move to vacate the lands. But in the following +year, after the running of Donelson's line, Alexander Cameron, +Stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements +beyond the said line to relinquish them." Thus officially warned, +Brown and his companions removed to Watauga. +<a href="#Note_128"><span class="superscript">[128]</span></a> +Cameron's order did +not apply, however, to the settlement north of the Holston River, +south and east of Long Island; and the settlement in Carter's +Valley, north of the Holston and west of the Long Island, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> +although lying without the Virginia boundary, strangely enough remained +unmolested. The order was directed at the Watauga settlers, who were +seated south of the Holston River in the Watauga Valley. +</p> + +<p> +The plight in which the Watauga settlers now found themselves was +truly desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this +apparently insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and +characteristic events in the pre-Revolutionary history of the Old +Southwest. It exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource +of the American character at the margin of desperation. The +momentous influence of the Watauga settlers, inadequately +reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon to make itself +powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward +expansion. +</p> + + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +<br /><br /><br /> + +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XIII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Opening the Gateway—Dunmore's War +</p> +<p class="intro"> +Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the +greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their +Charter. They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the +memorable Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet +continued inaccessable. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<i>The Harrodsburg Petition</i>.<br /> + June 7-15, 1776. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">I</span><span class="smcap">t</span> +was fortunate for the Watauga +settlers that the Indians and the whites were on the most peaceful +terms with each other at the time the Watauga Valley was shown, +by the running of the boundary line, to lie within the Indian +reservation. With true American self-reliance, the settlers met +together for deliberation and counsel, and deputed James Robertson +and John Been, as stated by Tennessee's first historian, "to treat +with their landlords, and agree upon articles of accomodation and +friendship. The attempt succeeded. For though the Indians refused +to give up the land +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount of +merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease +all the country on the waters of the Watauga." +<a href="#Note_129"><span class="superscript">[129]</span></a> +In addition to the +land thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were +purchased from the Indians by Jacob Brown, who reoccupied his +former location on the Nolichucky. +</p> + +<p> +In taking this daring step, the Watauga settlers moved into the +spotlight of national history. For the inevitable consequence of +leasing the territory was the organization of a form of +government for the infant settlement. Through his familiarity +with the North Carolina type of "association," in which the +settlers had organized for the purpose of "regulating" abuses, +and his acquaintance with the contents of the "Impartial +Relation," in which Husband fully expounded the principles and +practices of this association, Robertson was peculiarly fitted +for leadership in organizing this new government. The convention +at which Articles of Association, unfortunately lost, were drawn +up, is noteworthy as the first +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +governmental assemblage of +free-born American citizens ever held west of the Alleghanies. +The government then established was the first free and +independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in +form, ever organized upon the American continent. In describing +this mimic republic, the royal Governor of Virginia says: "They +appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their present +occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves +into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate State." +<a href="#Note_130"><span class="superscript">[130]</span></a> +The most daring spirit in this little state was the young John +Sevier, of French Huguenot family (originally spelled Xavier), +born in Augusta County, Virginia, on September 23, 1745. It was +from Millerstown in Shenandoah County where he was living the +uneventful life of a small farmer, that he emigrated (December, +1773) to the Watauga region. With his arrival there begins one of +the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded in the varied +and stirring annals of the Old Southwest. In this daring and +impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +magnetic, debonair—of powerful build, splendid proportions, +and athletic skill—we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly +heroic life of the border. The story of his life, thrilling in the +extreme, is rich in all the multi-colored elements which impart +romance to the arduous struggle of American civilization in the +opening years of the republic. +</p> + +<p> +The creative impulses in the Watauga commonwealth are hinted at +by Dunmore, who observes, in the letter above quoted, that Watauga +"sets a dangerous example to the people America, of forming +governments distinct from and independent of his Majesty's +authority." It is true that the experiment was somewhat limited. +The organization of the Watauga association, which constituted a +temporary expedient to meet a crisis in the affairs of a frontier +community cut off by forest wilderness and mountain barriers from +the reach of the arm of royal or provincial government, is not to +be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at Boonesborough, +May 23, 1775, or with the extraordinary demands for independence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, during the same month. +Nevertheless the Watauga settlers defied both North Carolina and +the Crown, by adopting the laws of Virginia and by ignoring +Governor Josiah Martin's proclamation (March 26, 1774) "requiring +the said settlers immediately to retire from the Indian +Territories." +<a href="#Note_131"><span class="superscript">[131]</span></a> +Moreover, Watauga really was the parent of a series +of mimic republics in the Old Southwest, gradually tending toward +higher forms of organization, with a larger measure of individual +liberty. Watauga, Transylvania, Cumberland, Franklin represent +the evolving political genius of a free people under the creative +leadership of three constructive minds—James Robertson, John +Sevier, and Richard Henderson. Indeed, Watauga furnished to Judge +Henderson precisely the "dangerous example" of which Dunmore +prophetically speaks. +<a href="#Note_132"><span class="superscript">[132]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Immediately upon his return in 1771 from the extended exploration +of Kentucky, Daniel Boone as already noted was engaged as secret +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +agent, to treat with the Cherokees for the lease or purchase of +the trans-Alleghany region, on behalf of Judge Henderson and his +associates. Embroiled in the exciting issues of the Regulation +and absorbed by his confining duties as colonial judge, Henderson +was unable to put his bold design into execution until after the +expiration of the court itself which ceased to exist in 1773. +Disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 and Locke's +Fundamental Constitutions for the Carolinas, which forbade +private parties to purchase lands from the Indians, Judge +Henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in England +to know if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of +lands from the Indian tribes. Lord Mansfield gave Judge Henderson +the "sanction of his great authority in favor of the purchase." +<a href="#Note_133"><span class="superscript">[133]</span></a> +Lord Chancellor Camden and Mr. Yorke had officially advised the +King in 1757, in regard to the petition of the East Indian +Company, "that in respect to such territories as have been, or +shall be acquired by treaty or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +grant from the Great Mogul, or any of the Indian princes or governments, +your Majesty's letters patent are <em>not necessary</em>; the property of +the soil vesting in the company by the Indian grant subject only to your +Majesties right of sovereignty over the settlements, as English +settlements, and over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry +with them your Majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive +your Majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." +<a href="#Note_134"><span class="superscript">[134]</span></a> +This opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the +Indian tribes of North America by the same two authorities, +certainly as early as 1769; +<a href="#Note_135"><span class="superscript">[135]</span></a> +and a true copy, made in London, April 1, 1772, was transmitted to +Judge Henderson. +<a href="#Note_136"><span class="superscript">[136]</span></a> +Armed with the legal opinions received from England, Judge Henderson +was fully persuaded that there was no legal bar whatsoever to his +seeking to acquire by purchase from the Cherokees the vast domain +of the trans-Alleghany. +<a href="#Note_137"><span class="superscript">[137]</span></a> +A golden dream of empire, with its promise of an +independent republic in the form of a proprietary colony, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +casts him under the spell of its alluring glamour. +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime, the restless Boone, impatient over the delay in +the consummation of Judge Henderson's plans, resolved to +establish himself in Kentucky upon his own responsibility. +Heedless of the question of title and the certain hazards +incident to invading the territory of hostile savages, Boone +designated a rendezvous in Powell's Valley where he and his party +of five families were to be met by a band under the leadership of +his connections, the Bryans, and another company led by Captain +William Russell, a daring pioneer of the Clinch Valley. A small +detachment of Boone's party was fiercely attacked by Shawanoes in +Powell's Valley on October 10, 1773, and almost all were killed, +including sons of Boone and Russell, and young John and Richard +Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. As the result of +this bloody repulse, Boone's attempt to settle in Kentucky at +this time was definitely abandoned. His failure to effect a +settlement in Kentucky was due to that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +characteristic disregard +of the territorial rights of the Indians which was all too common +among the borderers of that period. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_204_2" id="Page_204_2"></a> +This failure was portentous of the coming storm. The reign of the +Long Hunters was over. Dawning upon the horizon was the day of +stern adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to +invade the trans-Alleghany country and to battle savagely with +the red man for its possession. More successful than Boone was +the McAfee party, five in number, from Botetourt County, +Virginia, who between May 10th and September 1, 1773, safely +accomplished a journey through Kentucky and carefully marked +well-chosen sites for future location. +<a href="#Note_138"><span class="superscript">[138]</span></a> +An ominous incident of +the time was the veiled warning which Cornstalk, the great +Shawanoe chieftain, gave to Captain Thomas Bullitt, head of a +party of royal surveyors, sent out by Lord Dunmore, Governor of +Virginia. Cornstalk at Chillicothe, June 7, 1773, warned Bullitt +concerning the encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive +us," he said, "of the hunting of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +the country, <em>as usual</em> … the +hunting we stand in need of to buy our clothing." During the +preceding summer, George Rogers Clark, an aggressive young +Virginian, with a small party, had descended the Ohio as low as +Fish Creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for many +months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in +locating and surveying lands covered by military grants. Most +significant of the ruthless determination of the pioneers to +occupy by force the Kentucky area was the action of the large +party from Monongahela, some forty in number, led by Captain +James Harrod, who penetrated to the present Miller County, where +in June, 1774, they made improvements and actually laid out a +town. +</p> + +<p> +A significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians +have taken but little account, was now in progress under the +manipulation of Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. +John Connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony +south of the Ohio; and the design of securing such territory from +the Indians found lodgment in the mind of Lord Dunmore. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> +But this +design was for the moment thwarted when on October 28, 1773, an +order was issued from the Privy Council chamber in Whitehall +granting an immense territory, including all of the present West +Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's +agreement with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including +Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. +This new colony, to be named "Vandalia," seemed assured. A clash +between Dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for +Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle +region of the continent, extending without known limit to west +and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great land +speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating +Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of +surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands +covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain +members of the "Honourable Board," his council, as charged by +Washington, was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +more than "lukewarm," secretly restricting as rigorously as he dared +the extent and number of the soldiers' allotments. According to the +famous <i>Virginia Remonstrance</i>, he was in league with "men of +great influence in some of the neighboring states" to secure, under +cover of purchases from the Indians, large tracts of country between +the Ohio and the Mississippi. +<a href="#Note_139"><span class="superscript">[139]</span></a> +In shaping his plans Dunmore had the +shrewd legal counsel of Patrick Henry, who was equally intent upon +making for himself a private purchase from the Cherokees. It was +Henry's legal opinion that the Indiana purchase from the Six Nations +by the Pennsylvania traders at Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was +valid; and that purchase by private individuals from the Indians +gave full and ample title. +<a href="#Note_140"><span class="superscript">[140]</span></a> +In consequence of these facts, William +Murray, in behalf of himself and his associates of the Illinois Land +Company, and on the strength of the Camden-Yorke decision, +purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and Ohio +respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in +order +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +to win the support of Dunmore, who was ambitious to make a +fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the +Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company, with the governor as the chief +share-holder. In response to Murray's petition on behalf of the +Illinois Land Company, Dunmore (May, 1774) recommended it to Lord +Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and urged that it +be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed +any personal interest in the Illinois speculation. +</p> + +<p> +The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel +William Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading +eastern men, in 1774 located lands covered by military grants on +the Ohio and in the Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, +including Washington, Patrick Henry, William Byrd, William +Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, and Andrew Lewis, +among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. Certain of +these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply +(September +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> +10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly +censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white +settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, +the war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door +of Dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore +personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's +charter rights, but actually in order to further his own +speculative designs. +<a href="#Note_141"><span class="superscript">[141]</span></a> +Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a +party posing as Virginia militia, fired without provocation upon +a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs assembled at Fort Pitt (January, +1774). Taking advantage of the alarming situation created by the +conflict of the claims of Virginia and Pennsylvania, Connolly, +inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary +circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to exist. +Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick +Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> +that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D. when Dr. Conolly first +came there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed +Ld. Dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on +both sides of the Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had +been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or +Vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite +shore, and that as his Lordship was determined to settle his +family in America he was really pursueing this war, in order to +obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of +territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced +from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the +natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that +they had Lord Camden and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which +opinion with some others that Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with +the knowledge Conolly had given him of the quality of the country +and his determined resolution to settle his family on this +continent, were the real motives or springs of the present +expedition. +<a href="#Note_142"><span class="superscript">[142]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="noindent"> +At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William +Byrd 3d and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of +lands from the Cherokees; and when Wharton, after +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +answering +Henry's inquiry as to where he might buy Indian goods, remarked: +"It's not possible you mean to enter the Indian trade at this +period," Henry laughingly replied: "The wish-world is my hobby +horse." "From whence I conclude," adds Wharton, "he has some +prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where I know +not." +</p> + +<p> +The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret +instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came +on apace. After the inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the +Indian chieftain, by one Greathouse and his drunken companions +(April 30th), Logan, who contrary to romantic views was a +black-hearted and vengeful savage, harried the Tennessee and +Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to arouse the +Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan as +late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: "The Indians +are not angry, only myself," and not until then did Dunmore begin +to give full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of +the border, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, +having been despatched on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to +warn the surveyors of the trans-Alleghany, made a remarkable +journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. +Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at +Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the surveyors +at Mann's Lick, thus warned, hurried in to the settlements and +were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia +forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal +proclamation of 1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of +Quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous +campaign, and fortified Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillicothe. +Andrew Lewis, however, in charge of the other division of +Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and +burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from the very +flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most +representative body of borderers of this region that up to this +time had assembled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +to measure strength with the red men. It was +an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed +leggings and hunting-capes, rifles and powder-horns, +hunting-knives and tomahawks. +</p> + +<p> +The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant, was fought on +October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, +and the Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. +It was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in +very brushy country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. +Throughout the long day, the Indians fought with rare craft and +stubborn bravery—loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking +off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, in regard to the +absence of the fifes: "Where are your whistles now?" Slowly +retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and +at a favorable moment to "drive the Long Knives like bullocks +into the river." No marked success was achieved on either side +until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young Isaac +Shelby +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +alarmed the Indians, who mistook this party for the +expected reinforcement under Christian, and retired across the +Ohio. In the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the +Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing +call of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!", had quit the +battle-field and left the victory with the whites. +<a href="#Note_143"><span class="superscript">[143]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had +accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and +vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic +satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to +him and avowing their allegiance to George III, at the close of +the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert +all their powers "for the defense of American liberty, and for +the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any +precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly +called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." Dunmore's +War is epochal, in that it procured for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +the nonce a state of +peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge +Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and, through his +establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the +ultimate acquisition by the American Confederation of the +imperial domain of the trans-Alleghany. +<a href="#Note_144"><span class="superscript">[144]</span></a> +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XIV.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company +</p> +<p class="intro"> +I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of +conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary +persons and excentric geniuses in America, and perhaps in the +world. His name is Richard Henderson. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +<span class="smcap">—J. F. D. Smyth</span>: <i>A Tour in +the United States of America.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a name="Page_216_2" id="Page_216_2"></a> +<span class="dropcap">E</span><span class="smcap">arly</span> +in 1774, chastened by his own +disastrous failure the preceding autumn, Boone advised Judge +Henderson that the time was auspicious for opening negotiations +with the Cherokees for purchasing the trans-Alleghany region. +<a href="#Note_145"><span class="superscript">[145]</span></a> +In organizing a company for this purpose, Henderson chose men +of action and resource, leaders in the colony, ready for any +hazard of life and fortune in this gigantic scheme of +colonization and promotion. The new men included, in addition +to the partners in the organization known as Richard Henderson +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> +and Company, were Colonel John Luttrell, destined to win laurels +in the Revolution, and William Johnston, a native of Scotland, +the leading merchant of Hillsborough. +<a href="#Note_146"><span class="superscript">[146]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_217_2" id="Page_217_2"></a> +Meeting in Hillsborough on August 27, 1774, these men organized +the new company under the name of the Louisa Company. In the +articles then drawn up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract +of land from the Indian owners of the soil for the express +purpose of "settling the country." Each partner obligated himself +to "furnish his Quota of Expenses necessary towards procuring the +grant." In full anticipation of the grave dangers to be +encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as "equal sharers in +the property," to "support each other with our lives and +fortunes." +<a href="#Note_147"><span class="superscript">[147]</span></a> +Negotiations with the Indians were begun at once. +Accompanied by Colonel Nathaniel Hart and guided by the +experienced Indian-trader, Thomas Price, Judge Henderson visited +the Cherokee chieftains at the Otari towns. After elaborate +consultations, the latter deputed the old chieftain, +Atta-kulla-kulla, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +a young buck, and a squaw, "to attend the said +Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there examine the Goods +and Merchandize which had been by them offered as the +Consideration of the purchase." The goods purchased at Cross +Creek (now Fayetteville, North Carolina), in which the Louisa +Company "had embarked a large amount," met the entire approval of +the Indians—the squaw in particular shrewdly examining the goods +in the interest of the women of the tribe. +<a href="#Note_148"><span class="superscript">[148]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_218_2" id="Page_218_2"></a> +On January 6, 1775, the company was again enlarged, and given the +name of the Transylvania Company—the three new partners being +David Hart, brother to Thomas and Nathaniel, Leonard Henley +Bullock, a prominent citizen of Granville, and James Hogg, of +Hillsborough, a native Scotchman and one of the most influential +men in the colony. In the elaborate agreement drawn up reference +is explicitly made to the contingency of "settling and voting as +a proprietor and giving Rules and Regulations for the Inhabitants +etc." +<a href="#Note_149"><span class="superscript">[149]</span></a> +Hillsborough was the actual starting-point for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +the westward movement, the first emigrants traveling thence to the +Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga. In speaking of the departure of the +settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent westward +migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "At this place +[Hillsborough] I saw the first party of emigrant families that +moved to Kentucky under the auspices of Judge Henderson. They +marched out of the town with considerable solemnity, and to many +their destination seemed as remote as if it had been to the South +Sea Islands." +<a href="#Note_150"><span class="superscript">[150]</span></a> +</p> +<p> +Meanwhile, the "Proposals for the encouragement of +settling the lands etc.," issued on Christmas Day, 1774, were +quickly spread broadcast through the colony and along the +border. +<a href="#Note_151"><span class="superscript">[151]</span></a> +It was the greatest sensation North Carolina had known +since Alamance; and Archibald Neilson, deputy-auditor and naval +officer of the colony, inquired with quizzical anxiety: "Pray, is +Dick Henderson out of his head?" The most liberal terms, +proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were embodied +in these proposals. Land at twenty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +shillings per hundred acres +was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and +raising a crop of corn before September 1, 1775, the emigrant +being permitted to take up as much as five hundred acres for +himself and two hundred and fifty acres for each tithable person +under him. In these "Proposals" there was no indication that the +low terms at which the lands were offered would be maintained +after September 1, 1775. +<a href="#Note_152"><span class="superscript">[152]</span></a> +In a letter to Governor Dunmore +(January, 1775), Colonel William Preston, county surveyor of +Fincastle County, Virginia, says: "The low price he [Henderson] +proposes to sell at, together with some further encouragement he +offers, will I am apprehensive induce a great many families to +remove from this County (Fincastle) & Carolina and settle there." +<a href="#Note_153"><span class="superscript">[153]</span></a> +Joseph Martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-Taker and +agent for the Powell Valley portion" of the Transylvania Purchase +on January 20, 1775; and "he (Joseph Martin) and others went on +in the early part of the year 1775 and made their stand at the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> +very spot where he had made corn several years before." +<a href="#Note_154"><span class="superscript">[154]</span></a> +In speaking of the startling design, unmasked by Henderson, of +establishing an independent government, Colonel Preston writes to +George Washington of the contemplated "large Purchase by one +Col.<span class="superscript">o</span> Henderson of North Carolina +from the Cherokees.… I hear +that Henderson talks with great Freedom & Indecency of the +Governor of Virginia, sets the Government at Defiance & says if +he once had five hundred good Fellows settled in that Country he +would not Value Virginia." +<a href="#Note_155"><span class="superscript">[155]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Early in 1775 runners were sent off to the Cherokee towns to +summon the Indians to the treaty ground at the Sycamore Shoals of +the Watauga; and Boone, after his return from a hunt in Kentucky +in January, was summoned by Judge Henderson to aid in the +negotiations preliminary to the actual treaty. The dominating +figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty ground, +consisting of twelve hundred Indians and several hundred whites, +was Richard Henderson, "comely in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> +person, of a benign and social +disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous +action—"noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, +firm-set jaw, with kindness and openness of expression." Gathered about +him, picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of +the buckskin-clad leaders of the border—James Robertson, John +Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Bailey Smith, and their +compeers—as well as his Carolina friends John Williams, Thomas +and Nathaniel Hart, Nathaniel Henderson, Jesse Benton, +<a href="#Note_156"><span class="superscript">[156]</span></a> +and Valentine Searcy. +</p> + +<p> +Little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (March +14th); but on the next day, the Cherokees offered to sell the +section bargained for by Donelson acting as agent for Virginia in +1771. Although the Indians pointed out that Virginia had never +paid the promised compensation of five hundred pounds and had +therefore forfeited her rights, Henderson flatly refused to +entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which Virginia had +the prior claim. Angered by Henderson's refusal, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +The Dragging Canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, +made an impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination +peculiar to the American Indian. With pathetic eloquence he dwelt +upon the insatiable land-greed of the white men, and predicted the +extinction of his race if they committed the insensate folly of +selling their beloved hunting-grounds. Roused to a high pitch of +oratorical fervor, the savage with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted +his people to resist further encroachments at all hazards—and +left the treaty ground. This incident brought the conference to a +startling and abrupt conclusion. On the following day, however, +the savages proved more tractable, agreeing to sell the land as +far south as the Cumberland River. In order to secure the additional +territory watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, Henderson +agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. Upon this +day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of Kentucky +when The Dragging Canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, +declared that a <em>Dark</em> Cloud +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> +hung over that land, which was known as the <em>Bloody Ground</em>. +</p> + +<p> +On the last day, March 17th, the negotiations were opened with +the signing of the "Great Grant." The area purchased, some twenty +millions of acres, included almost all the present state of +Kentucky, and an immense tract in Tennessee, comprising all the +territory watered by the Cumberland River and all its +tributaries. For "two thousand weight of leather in goods" +Henderson purchased "the lands lying down Holston and between the +Watauga lease, Colonel Donelson's line and Powell's Mountain" as +a pathway to Kentucky—the deed for which was known as the "Path +Deed." By special arrangement, Carter's Valley in this tract went +to Carter and Lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, +Charles Robertson on behalf of the Watauga Association purchased +a large tract in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and New +Rivers; and eight days later Jacob Brown purchased two large +areas, including the Nolichucky Valley. This historic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +treaty, +which heralds the opening of the West, was conducted with +absolute justice and fairness by Judge Henderson and his +associates. No liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and +Thomas Price, the ablest of the Cherokee traders, deposed that +"he at that time understood the Cherokee language, so as to +comprehend everything which was said and to know that what was +observed on either side was fairly and truly translated; that the +Cherokees perfectly understood, what Lands were the subject of +the Treaty.…" The amount paid by the Transylvania Company +for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds sterling, in +money and in goods. +<a href="#Note_157"><span class="superscript">[157]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Although Daniel Boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior +to the negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the +voluminous records of the conference. Indeed, he was not then +present; for a fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he +was commissioned by Judge Henderson to form a party of competent +woodmen to blaze a passage through the wilderness. On March 10th +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +this party of thirty ax-men, under the leadership of Boone, +started from the rendezvous, the Long Island of Holston, to +engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the Transylvania +Trail. +<a href="#Note_158"><span class="superscript">[158]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_226_2" id="Page_226_2"></a> +Henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and +resolution the hazardous task of occupying the purchased +territory and establishing an independent government. No mere +financial promoter of a vast speculative enterprise, he was one +of the heroic figures of the Old Southwest; and it was his +dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in the +face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a +successful conclusion. At Martin's Station, where Henderson and +his party tarried to build a house in which to store their +wagons, as the road could be cleared no further, they were joined +by another party, of five adventurers from Prince William County, +Virginia. +<a href="#Note_159"><span class="superscript">[159]</span></a> +In Henderson's party were some forty men and boys, +with forty pack-horses and a small amount of powder, lead, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +salt, +and garden-seeds. The warning freely given by Joseph Martin of +the perils of the path was soon confirmed, as appears from the +following entry in Henderson's diary: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +<a name="Page_227_2" id="Page_227_2"></a> +<i>Friday the 7th</i>. [April] About Brake of Day began to snow. About +11 oClock received a letter from Mr. Luttrells camp that were +five persons kill<span class="superscript">d</span>. on the road to the +Cantuckie by Indians. Cap<span class="superscript">t</span>. [Nathaniel] Hart, +uppon the receipt of this News Retreated back with his Company, & +determined to Settle in the Valley to make Corn for the Cantucky people. +The same Day Received a Letter from Da<span class="superscript">n</span>. +Boone, that his Company was fired uppon by Indians, Kill'd Two of his +men—tho he kept the ground & saved the Baggage +&<span class="superscript">c</span>. +<a href="#Note_160"><span class="superscript">[160]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +The following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged +resolution of Boone and his reliance upon Henderson and his +company in this black hour of disaster, addressed "Colonel +Richard Henderson—these with care," is eloquent in its +simplicity: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p class="letter" style="text-indent:0;"> +<span class="smcap">Dear Colonel</span>: +After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you +of our misfortunes. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> +On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on +my Company about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty +and his negro, and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he +will recover. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +On March the 28 as we were hunting for provisions, we found +Samuel Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired +on their camp on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and +found two men killed and sculped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah +McFeters. I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in +order to gather them all at the mouth of Otter Creek. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. +Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, +but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you. and now +is the time to flusterate their [the Indians'] intentions, and +keep the country, whilst we are in it. If we give way to them +now, it will ever be the case. This day we start from the battle +ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where we shall immediately +erect a Fort, which will be done before you can come or send, +then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them. +</p> + +<p class="letter" style="margin-bottom:0;"> +I am, Sir, your most obedient</p> +<p class="letter-center"> + Omble Sarvent</p> +<p class="letter-right"> +<span class="smcap">Daniel Boone</span>. +</p> + +<p class="letter" style="text-indent:0;"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +N.B. We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, +and lost nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck +[Kentucky River] at Otter Creek. +<a href="#Note_161"><span class="superscript">[161]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> + + +<p class="noindent"> +This dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail +and induced some to turn back, but Henderson, the jurist-pioneer, +was made of sterner stuff. At once (April 8th) he despatched an +urgent letter in hot haste to the proprietors of Transylvania, +enclosing Boone's letter, informing them of Boone's plight and +urging them to send him immediately a large quantity of powder +and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon his supply of +saltpeter at Martin's Station. "We are all in high spirits," he +assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to Boone's +assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a +country." Laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: +"Saturday the 8th. Started ab<span class="superscript">t</span>. +10 <span class="superscript">o</span>Clock Crossed Cumberland Gap +about 4 miles met about 40 persons Returning from the Cantucky, on +Acc<span class="superscript">t</span>. of the Late Murders by the +Indians could prevail on one only to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +return. +Mem<span class="superscript">o</span> Several Virginians who were +with us return'd." +</p> + +<p> +There is no more crucial moment in early Western history than +this, in which we see the towering form of Henderson, clad in the +picturesque garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely +pointing forward to the "dark and bloody ground," and in +impassioned but futile eloquence pleading with the pale and +panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to join his company, and +to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer conquest. +Significant indeed are the lines: +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1">Some to endure, and many to fail,</p> + <p class="poem1">Some to conquer, and many to quail,</p> + <p class="poem1">Toiling over the Wilderness Trail.</p> +</div> + +<p class="noindent"> +The spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires Henderson's +words: "In this situation, some few, of genuine courage and +undaunted resolution, served to inspire the rest; by the help of +whose example, assisted by a little pride and some ostentation, +we made a shift to march on with all the appearance of gallantry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +and, cavalier like, treated every insinuation of danger with the +utmost contempt." +</p> + +<p> +Fearing that Boone, who did not even know that Henderson's +cavalcade was on the road, would be unable to hold out, Henderson +realized the imperative necessity for sending him a message of +encouragement. The bold young Virginian, William Cocke, +volunteered to brave alone the dangers of the murder-haunted +trail—to undertake a ride more truly memorable and hazardous than +that of Revere. "This offer, extraordinary as it was, we could by +no means refuse," remarks Henderson, who shed tears of gratitude +as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the brave +messenger's hand. Equipped with "a good Queen Anne's musket, +plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [French, +<i>couteau</i>], a Dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," +Cocke on April 10th rode off "to the Cantuckey to Inform +Cap<span class="superscript">t</span> Boone that we were on the road." +The fearful apprehensions felt for Cocke's safety were later relieved, +when along the road were discovered his letters informing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +Henderson of his arrival and of +his having been joined on the way by Page Portwood of Rowan. On +his arrival at Otter Creek, Cocke found Boone and his men, and on +relating his adventures, "came in for his share of applause." +Boone at once despatched the master woodman, Michael Stoner, with +pack-horses to assist Henderson's party, which he met on April +18th at their encampment "in the Eye of the Rich Land." Along +with "Excellent Beef in plenty," Stoner brought the story of +Boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude +little fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist +attack. With laconic significance Henderson pays the following +tribute to Boone which deserves to be perpetuated in national +annals: "It was owing to Boone's confidence in us, and the +people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted in order to wait +for our coming." +</p> + +<p> +In the course of their journey over the mountains and through the +wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +face of the surpassing beauties of the country. The Cumberlands +were covered with rich undergrowth of the red and white +rhododendron, the delicate laurel, the mountain ivy, the +flame-azalea, the spicewood, and the cane; while the white stars +of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the red-bud, strewn +across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in the eager +air of spring. "To enter uppon a detail of the Beuty & Goodness +of our Country," writes Nathaniel Henderson, "would be a task too +arduous.… Let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any +country I ever saw or herd off. I am conscious its out of the +power of any man to make you clearly sensible of the great Beuty +and Richness of Kentucky." Young Felix Walker, endowed with more +vivid powers of description, says with a touch of native +eloquence: +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +Perhaps no Adventureor Since the days of donquicksotte or before +ever felt So Cheerful & Ilated in prospect, every heart abounded +with Joy & excitement … & exclusive of the Novelties of the +Journey the advantages & +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +accumalations arising on the Settlement +of a new Country was a dazzling object with many of our Company.… +As the Cain ceased, we began to discover the pleasing & +Rapturous appearance of the plains of Kentucky, a New Sky & +Strange Earth to be presented to our view.… So Rich a Soil +we had never Saw before, Covered with Clover in full Bloom. the +Woods alive abounding in wild Game, turkeys so numerous that it +might be said there appeared but one flock Universally Scattered +in the woods … it appeared that Nature in the profusion of +her Bounties, had Spread a feast for all that lives, both for the +Animal & Rational World, a Sight so delightful to our View and +grateful to our feelings almost Induced us, in Immitation of +Columbus in Transport to Kiss the Soil of Kentucky, as he haild & +Saluted the sand on his first setting his foot on the Shores of +America. +<a href="#Note_162"><span class="superscript">[162]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +On the journey Henderson was joined in Powell's Valley by +Benjamin Logan, afterward so famous in Kentucky annals, and a +companion, William Galaspy. At the Crab Orchard they left +Henderson's party; and turning their course westward finally +pitched camp in the present Lincoln County, where +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> +Logan +subsequently built a fort. On Sunday, April 16th, on Scaggs's +Creek, Henderson records: "About 12 oClock Met James McAfee with +18 other persons Returning from Cantucky." They advised Henderson +of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the Indians, says Robert +McAfee junior: "but Henderson assured them that he had purchased +the whole country from the Indians, that it belonged to him, and +he had named it Transylvania.… Robt, Samuel, and William +McAfee and 3 others were inclined to return, but James opposed +it, alleging that Henderson had no right to the land, and that +Virginia had previously bought it. The former (6) returned with +Henderson to Boonesborough." Among those who had joined +Henderson's party was Abraham Hanks from Virginia, the maternal +grandfather of Abraham Lincoln; but alarmed by the stories +brought by Stewart and his party of fugitives, Hanks and Drake, +as recorded by William Calk on that day (April 13th), turned +back. +<a href="#Note_163"><span class="superscript">[163]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +At last the founder of Kentucky with his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +little band reached the +destined goal of their arduous journeyings. Henderson's record on +his birthday runs: "Thursday the 20th [April] Arrived at Fort +Boone on the Mouth of Oter Creek Cantuckey River where we were +Saluted by a running fire of about 25 Guns; all that was then at +Fort.… The men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced in +our arrival." It is a coincidence of historic interest that just +one day after the embattled farmers at Lexington and Concord +"fired the shots heard round the world," the echoing shots of +Boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce the +arrival of the proprietor of Transylvania and the birth of the +American West. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XV.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + Transylvania—A Wilderness Commonwealth +</p> +<p class="intro"> +You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being +of this country in general, in which the interest and security of +each and every individual are inseparably connected.… Our +peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all +sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common +danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in +their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, +consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to the +forming good, wise and wholesome laws. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Judge Richard Henderson</span>: +Address to the Legislature of Transylvania, May 23, 1775. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">he</span> +independent spirit displayed by +the Transylvania Company, and Henderson's procedure in open +defiance of the royal governors of both North Carolina and +Virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm throughout these +colonies and South Carolina. "This in my Opinion," says +Preston in a letter to George Washington (January 31, 1775), +"will soon become a serious Affair, & highly +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +deserves the Attention of the Government. For it is certain that a vast +Number of People are preparing to go out and settle on this +Purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be next to +impossible to remove them or reduce them to Obedience; as they +are so far from the Seat of Government. Indeed it may be the +Cherokees will support them." +<a href="#Note_164"><span class="superscript">[164]</span></a> +Governor Martin of North Carolina, +already deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming +revolutionary cataclysm, thundered in what was generally regarded +as a forcible-feeble proclamation (February 19, 1775) against +"Richard Henderson and his Confederates" in their "daring, unjust +and unwarrantable proceedings." +<a href="#Note_165"><span class="superscript">[165]</span></a> +In a letter to Dartmouth he +denounces "Henderson the famous invader" and dubs the +Transylvania Company "an infamous Company of land Pyrates." +</p> + +<p> +Officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed +Henderson's plans. Lord Dunmore, who in 1774, as we have seen, +was heavily interested in the Wabash Land Company engineered by +William Murray, took the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> +ground that the Wabash purchase was valid under the Camden-Yorke +decision. This is so stated in the records of the Illinois Company, +likewise under Murray's control. But although the "Ouabache Company," +of which Dunmore was a leading member, was initiated as early as +May 16, 1774, the purchase of the territory was not formally +effected until October 18, 1775—too late to benefit Dunmore, +then deeply embroiled in the preliminaries to the Revolution. Under +the cover of his agent's name, it is believed, Dunmore, with his +"passion for land and fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating +thousands of acres of land surveyed by the royal surveyors in the +summer of 1774 for Dr. John Connolly. +<a href="#Note_166"><span class="superscript">[166]</span></a> +Early in this same year, Patrick +Henry, who, as already pointed out, had entered large tracts in +Kentucky in violation of Virginia's treaty obligations with the +Cherokees, united with William Byrd 3d, John Page, Ralph Wormley, +Samuel Overton, and William Christian, in the effort to purchase +from the Cherokees a tract of land west of Donelson's line, being +firmly persuaded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +of the validity of the Camden-Yorke opinion. +Their agent, William Kenedy, considerably later in the year, went +on a mission to the Cherokee towns, and upon his return reported +that the Indians might be induced to sell. When it became known +that Judge Henderson had organized the Transylvania Company and +anticipated Patrick Henry and his associates, Colonel Arthur +Campbell, as he himself states, applied to several of the +partners of the Transylvania Company on behalf of Patrick Henry, +requesting that Henry be taken in as a partner. +<a href="#Note_167"><span class="superscript">[167]</span></a> +It was afterward stated, as commonly understood among the +Transylvania proprietors, that both Patrick Henry and Thomas +Jefferson desired to become members of the company; but that +Colonel Richard Henderson was instrumental in preventing their +admission "lest they should supplant the Colonel [Henderson] +as the guiding spirit of the company." +<a href="#Note_168"><span class="superscript">[168]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Fully informed by Preston's elaborate communication on the +gravity of the situation, Dunmore acted energetically, though +tardily, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +to prevent the execution of Henderson's designs. On +March 21st Dunmore sent flying through the back country a +proclamation, demanding the immediate relinquishment of the +territory by "one Richard Henderson and other disorderly persons, +his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of violently +detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately fined +and imprisoned." +<a href="#Note_169"><span class="superscript">[169]</span></a> +This proclamation, says a peppery old chronicler, +may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and +rebels, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, from the mercy of the +British monarch. In view of Dunmore's confidence in the validity +of the Camden-Yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of +the royal proclamation of 1763 occurs in his broadside; and that +he bases his objection to the Transylvania purchase upon the +king's instructions that all vacant lands "within this colony" be +laid off in tracts, from one hundred to one thousand acres in +extent, and sold at public auction. This proclamation which was +enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of official instructions +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +to Preston warning him not to survey any lands "beyond the line run +by Colonel Donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. At the same +time, Dunmore despatched a pointed letter to Oconostota, +Atta-kulla-kulla, Judge's Friend, and other Cherokee chieftains, +notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the +Kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's +displeasure if they did not repudiate the sale. +<a href="#Note_170"><span class="superscript">[170]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +News of the plans which Henderson had already matured for +establishing an independent colony in the trans-Alleghany +wilderness, now ran like wild-fire through Virginia. In a letter +to George Washington (April 9, 1775), Preston ruefully says: +"Henderson I hear has made the Purchase & got a Conveyance of the +great and Valluable Country below the Kentucky from the +Cherokees. He and about 300 adventurers are gone out to take +Possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent +Government & form a Code of Laws for themselves. How this may be +I cant say, but I am affraid the steps taken by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +the Government have been too late. Before the Purchase was made had +the Governor interfered it is believed the Indians would not have sold." +<a href="#Note_171"><span class="superscript">[171]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Judge Henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to +erect a large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. +Captain James Harrod with forty-two men was stationed at the +settlement he had made the preceding year, having arrived there +before the McAfees started back to Virginia; and there were small +groups of settlers at Boiling Spring, six miles southeast of +Harrod's settlement, and at St. Asaph's, a mile west of the +present Stanford. A representative government for Transylvania +was then planned. When the frank and gallant Floyd arrived at the +Transylvania Fort on May 3d, he "expressed great satisfaction," +says Judge Henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed +for Legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & +every other measure we should adopt for the well +Govern<span class="superscript">g</span> or good of the Community +in Gen<span class="superscript">l</span>." In reference to a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> +conversation with Captain James Harrod and Colonel Thomas Slaughter +of Virginia, Henderson notes in his diary (May 8th): "Our plan of +Legislation, the evils pointed out—the remedies to be applyed +&c &c &c were Acceeded to without Hesitation. The plann +was plain & Simple—'twas +nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago it was +in use, and found by every year's experience since to be +unexceptionable. We were in four distinct +settlem<span class="superscript">ts</span>. Members or +delegates from every place by free choice of Individuals they +first having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to +obey and carry into Execution Such Laws as representatives should +from time to time make, Concurred with, by A Majority of the +Proprietors present in the Country." +</p> + +<p> +In reply to inquiries of the settlers, Judge Henderson gave as +his reason for this assembling of a Transylvania Legislature that +"all power was derived from the people." Six days before the +prophetic arrival of the news of the Battle of Lexington and +eight days before +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +the revolutionary committee of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, +promulgated their memorable Resolves establishing laws for an +independent government, the pioneers assembled on the green beneath +the mighty plane-tree at the Transylvania Fort. In his wise and +statesmanlike address to this picturesque convention of free +Americans (May 23, 1775), an address which Felix Walker described +as being "considered equal to any of like kind ever delivered to +any deliberate body in that day and time," Judge Henderson used +these memorable words: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +You, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first +corner stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose +superstructure … can only become great in proportion to the +excellence of its foundation.… If any doubt remain amongst +you with respect to the force or efficiency of whatever laws you +now, or hereafter make, be pleased to consider that <em>all power is +originally in the people; make it their interest, therefore, by +impartial and beneficent laws, and you may be sure of their +inclination to see them enforced.</em> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> +An early writer, in speaking of the full-blooded democracy of +these "advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "If Jeremy +Bentham had been in existence of manhood, he would have sent his +compliments to the President of Transylvania." This, the first +representative body of American freemen which ever convened west +of the Alleghanies, is surely the most unique colonial government +ever set up on this continent. The proceedings of this backwoods +legislature—the democratic leadership of the principal +proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for protecting +game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the granting +of full religious liberty—all display the acumen and practical +wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. As the result of Henderson's +tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly +democratized in tone, was complacently accepted by the +backwoodsmen. From one who, though still under royal rule, vehemently +asserted that the source of all political power was the people, +and that "laws +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +derive force and efficiency from our mutual +consent," Western democracy thus born in the wilderness was +"taking its first political lesson." In their answer to +Henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the +pioneers unhesitatingly declared: "That we have an absolute +right, as a political body, without giving umbrage to Great +Britain, or any of the colonies, to form rules for the government +of our little society, cannot be doubted by any sensible mind and +being without the jurisdiction of, and not answerable to any of +his Majesty's courts, the constituting tribunals of justice shall +be a matter of our first contemplation.…" In the +establishment of a constitution for the new colony, Henderson +with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal +code based on the laws of England. Out of a sense of +self-protection he reserved for the proprietors only one +prerogative not granted them by the people, the right of veto. He +clearly realized that if this power were given up, the delegates +to any convention +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +that might be held after the first would be able to assume +the claims and rights of the proprietors. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_248_2" id="Page_248_2"></a> +A land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store +was established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, +salt, osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer +existence. Writing to his brother Jonathan from Leestown, the +bold young George Rogers Clark, soon to plot the downfall of +Transylvania, enthusiastically says (July 6, 1775): "A richer and +more Beautifull Cuntry than this I believe has never been seen in +America yet. Co<span class="superscript">l</span>. Henderson is +hear and Claims all y<span class="superscript">e</span> Country +below Kentucke. If his Claim Should be good, land may be got +Reasonable Enough and as good as any in +y<span class="superscript">e</span> World." +<a href="#Note_172"><span class="superscript">[172]</span></a> +Those who settled on the south side of Kentucky River acknowledged +the validity of the Transylvania purchase; and Clark in his +<i>Memoir</i> says: "the Proprietors at first took great pains +to Ingratiate themselves in the +fav<span class="superscript">r</span>. of the people." +</p> + +<p> +In regard to the designs of Lord Dunmore, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> +who, as noted above, +had illegally entered the Connolly grant on the Ohio and sought +to outlaw Henderson, and of Colonel William Byrd 3d, who, after +being balked in Patrick Henry's plan to anticipate the +Transylvania Company in effecting a purchase from the Cherokees, +was supposed to have tried to persuade the Cherokees to repudiate +the "Great Treaty," Henderson defiantly says: "Whether Lord +Dunmore and Colonel Byrd have interfered with the Indians or not, +Richard Henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. The utmost +result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the +futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few +faint-hearted persons, naturally prone to reverence great names +and fancy everything must shrink at the magic of a splendid +title." +<a href="#Note_173"><span class="superscript">[173]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Prompted by Henderson's desire to petition the Continental +Congress then in session for recognition as the fourteenth +colony, the Transylvania legislature met again on the first +Thursday in September and elected Richard Henderson and John +Williams, among others, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +as delegates to the gathering at Philadelphia. +<a href="#Note_174"><span class="superscript">[174]</span></a> +Shortly afterward the Proprietors of Transylvania +held a meeting at Oxford, North Carolina (September 25, 1775), +elected Williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to +proceed to Boonesborough there to reside until April, 1776. James +Hogg, of Hillsborough, chosen as Delegate to represent the Colony +in the Continental Congress, was despatched to Philadelphia, +bearing with him an elaborate memorial prepared by the President, +Judge Henderson, petitioning the Congress "to take the infant +Colony of Transylvania into their protection." +<a href="#Note_175"><span class="superscript">[175]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia, James Hogg +was presented to "the famous Samuel and John Adams." The latter +warned Hogg, in view of the efforts then making toward +reconciliation between the colonies and the king, that "the +taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in +defiance of the King's proclamation, will be looked on as a +confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily +reproached." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> +Jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all +the use the Virginians should make of their charter would be "to +prevent any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established +within the boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a +free government established at the back of theirs [Virginia's] +properly united with them." He would not consent, however, that +Congress should acknowledge the colony of Transylvania, until it +had the approbation of the Virginia Convention. The quit-rents +imposed by the company were denounced in Congress as a mark of +vassalage; and many advised a law against the employment of +negroes in the colony. "They even threatened us with their +opposition," says Hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act +upon liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to +render ourselves immortal." +<a href="#Note_176"><span class="superscript">[176]</span></a> +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XVI.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Repulse of the Red Men +</p> +<p class="intro"> +To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind +feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the +Cherokees ever afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the +Indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were +they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the +property of our frontier men. +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">David L. Swain</span>:<br /> +<i>The Indian War of 1776.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">D</span><span class="smcap">uring</span> +the summer of 1775 the proprietors +of Transylvania were confronted with two stupendous tasks—that +of winning the favor and support of the frontiersmen and that of +rallying the rapidly dwindling forces in Kentucky in defense of the +settlements. Recognizing the difficulty of including Martin's Station, +because of its remoteness, with the government provided for Transylvania, +Judge Henderson prepared a plan of government for the group of +settlers located in Powell's Valley. In a letter to Martin (July +30th), in regard to the recent energetic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +defense of the settlers +at that point against the Indians, Henderson says: "Your spirited +conduct gives me much pleasure.… Keep your men in heart if +possible, <em>now is our time, the Indians must not drive us</em>." The +gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete desertion +of the stations at Harrodsburg, the Boiling Spring, and the +Transylvania Fort or Boonesborough was dispelled with the return +of Boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on September 8th, +and of Richard Callaway with a considerable party on September +26th. The crisis was now passed; and the colony began for the +first time really to flourish. The people on the south side of +the Kentucky River universally accepted proprietary rule for the +time being. But the seeds of dissension were soon to be sown +among those who settled north of the river, as well as among men +of the stamp of James Harrod, who, having preceded Henderson in +the establishment of a settlement in Kentucky, naturally resented +holding lands under the Transylvania Company. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +The great liberality of this organization toward incoming +settlers had resulted in immense quantities of land being taken +up through their land-office. +<a href="#Note_177"><span class="superscript">[177]</span></a> +The ranging, hunting, and road-building were paid for by the company; +and the entire settlement was furnished with powder, lead, and +supplies, wholly on credit, for this and the succeeding year. +"Five hundred and sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," +reports Floyd on December 1st, "and most of the people waiting to +have it run out." +<a href="#Note_178"><span class="superscript">[178]</span></a> +After Dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, +escaped to the protection of a British vessel, the <i>Fowey</i>, +Colonel Preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants +within the Transylvania territory; and his original hostility to Judge +Henderson gave place to friendship and support. +</p> +<p> +On December 1st, +Colonel John Williams, resident agent of the Transylvania +Company, announced at Boonesborough the long-contemplated and +widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to +fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four +dollars +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> +for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. +<a href="#Note_179"><span class="superscript">[179]</span></a> +At a meeting of the Transylvania legislature, convened on December +21st, John Floyd was chosen surveyor general of the colony, +Nathaniel Henderson was placed in charge of the Entering Office, +and Richard Harrison given the post of secretary. At this meeting +of the legislature, the first open expression of discontent was +voiced in the "Harrodsburg Remonstrance," questioning the +validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting against any +increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by the +proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the +Falls of the Ohio. Every effort was made to accommodate the +remonstrants, who were led by Abraham Hite. Office fees were +abolished, and the payment of quit-rents was deferred until +January 1, 1780. Despite these efforts at accommodation, grave +doubts were implanted by this Harrodsburg Remonstrance in the +minds of the people; and much discussion and discontent ensued. +</p> + +<p> +By midsummer, 1775, George Rogers Clark, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +a remarkably enterprising and independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all +the land he could" in Kentucky. Upon his return to Virginia, as +he relates, he "found there was various oppinions Respecting +Henderson claim. many thought it go[o]d, others douted whether or +not Virginia coud with propriety have any pretentions to the +cuntrey." +<a href="#Note_180"><span class="superscript">[180]</span></a> +Jefferson displayed a liberal attitude toward the +claims of the Transylvania proprietors; and Patrick Henry openly +stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand good." But +many others, of the stamp of George Mason and George Washington, +vigorously asserted Virginia's charter rights over the Western +territory. +<a href="#Note_181"><span class="superscript">[181]</span></a> +This sharp difference of opinion excited in Clark's +mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the country +and making terms with Virginia under threat of secession. +</p> +<p> +With the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the +title of the Transylvania proprietors, Judge Henderson and Colonel +Williams set off from Boonesborough +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +about May 1st, intending first to appeal to the Virginia Convention and +ultimately to lay their claims before the Continental Congress. +"Since they have gone," reports Floyd to Preston, "I am told most +of the men about Harrodsburg have re-assumed their former +resolution of not complying with any of the office rules +whatever. Jack Jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & +flourishes away prodigiously." +<a href="#Note_182"><span class="superscript">[182]</span></a> +John Gabriel Jones was the mere +figurehead in the revolt. The real leader, the brains of the +conspiracy, was the unscrupulous George Rogers Clark. At Clark's +instance, an eight-day election was held at Harrodsburg (June +7-15), at which time a petition to the Virginia Convention was +drawn up; +<a href="#Note_183"><span class="superscript">[183]</span></a> +and Clark and Jones were elected delegates. Clark's +plan, the scheme of a bold revolutionist, was to treat with +Virginia for terms; and if they were not satisfactory, to revolt +and, as he says, "Establish an Independent Government" … +"giving away great part of the Lands and disposing of the +Remainder." In a second petition, prepared +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> +by the self-styled "Committee of West Fincastle" (June 20th), it +was alleged that "if these pretended Proprietors have leave to +continue to act in their arbitrary manner out the controul of this +colony [Virginia] the end must be evident to every well wisher to +American Liberty." +<a href="#Note_184"><span class="superscript">[184]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The contest which now ensued between Richard Henderson and George +Rogers Clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind +the scenes, resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a +moment in American history marked by the signing of the +Declaration of Independence. Virginia, under the leadership of +her new governor, Patrick Henry, put an end to the proprietary +rule of the Transylvania Company. On December 7th such part of +Transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of Virginia was +erected by the legislature of that colony into the County of +Kentucky. The proprietary form of government with its "marks of +vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, +was unendurable to the independent and lawless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +pioneers, already intoxicated with the spirit of freedom swept in +on the first fresh breezes of the Revolution. Yet it is not to be +doubted that the Transylvania Company, through the courage and +moral influence of its leaders, made a permanent contribution to +the colonization of the West, which, in providential timeliness +and effective execution, is without parallel in our early annals. +<a href="#Note_185"><span class="superscript">[185]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +While events were thus shaping themselves in Kentucky—events +which made possible Clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in +the Northwest and ultimately resulted in the establishment of the +Mississippi instead of the Alleghanies as the western boundary of +the Confederation—the pioneers of Watauga were sagaciously +laying strong the foundations of permanent occupation. In +September, 1775, North Carolina, through her Provincial Congress, +provided for the appointment in each district of a Committee of +Safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. +Following the lead thus set, the Watauga settlers assumed for +their country the name of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +"Washington District"; and proceeded by +unanimous vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, +which included James Robertson and John Sevier. This district was +organized "shortly after October, 1775," according to Felix +Walker; and the first step taken after the election of the +committee was the organization of a court, consisting of five +members. Felix Walker was elected clerk of the court thus +organized, and held the position for about four years. James +Robertson and John Sevier, it is believed, were also members of +this court. To James Robertson who, with the assistance of his +colleagues, devised this primitive type of frontier rule—a true +commission form of government, on the "Watauga Plan"—is justly +due distinctive recognition for this notable inauguration of the +independent democracy of the Old Southwest. The Watauga +settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest loyalty to the +American cause. In a memorable petition these hardy settlers +requested the Provincial Council of North Carolina not to regard +them as a "lawless mob," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> +but to "annex" them to North Carolina without delay. "This committee +(willing to become a party in the present unhappy contest)", states +the petition, which must have been drafted about July 15, 1776, +"resolved (which is now on our records), to adhere strictly to the +rules and orders of the Continental Congress, and in open committee +acknowledged themselves indebted to the united colonies their full +proportion of the Continental expense." +<a href="#Note_186"><span class="superscript">[186]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +While these disputes as to the government of the new communities +were in progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. +For a whole year the British had been plying the various Indian +tribes from the lakes to the gulf with presents, supplies, and +ammunition. In the Northwest bounties had actually been offered +for American scalps. During the spring of 1776 plans were +concerted, chiefly through Stuart and Cameron, British agents +among the Southern Indians, for uniting the Loyalists and the +Indians in a crushing attack upon the Tennessee settlements and +the back country of North Carolina. Already the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +frontier of South +Carolina had passed through the horrors of Indian uprising; and +warning of the approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the +Holston settlers by Atta-kulla-kulla's niece, Nancy Ward, the +"Pocahontas of the West"—doubtless through the influence of her +daughter, who loved Joseph Martin. The settlers, flocking for +refuge into their small stockaded forts, waited in readiness for +the dreaded Indian attacks, which were made by two forces +totaling some seven hundred warriors. +</p> + +<p> +On July 20th, warned in advance of the approach of the Indians, +the borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two +columns from the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at Eaton's +Station, to meet the Indians, double their own number, led by The +Dragging Canoe. The scouts surprised one party of Indians, +hastily poured in a deadly fire, and rushed upon them with such +impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. Withdrawing now +toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering there a +larger force, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves attacked +in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. Extending +their own line under the direction of Captain James Shelby, the +frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the Indians, who, +mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to +retreat, incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, +giving the war-whoop and shouting: "The Unakas are running!" In +the ensuing hot conflict at close quarters, in some places hand +to hand, the Indians were utterly routed—The Dragging Canoe +being shot down, many warriors wounded, and thirteen left dead +upon the field. +</p> + +<p> +On the day after Thompson, Cocke, Shelby, Campbell, Madison, and +their men were thus winning the battle of the Long Island +"flats," Robertson, Sevier, and their little band of forty-two +men were engaged in repelling an attack, begun at sunrise, upon +the Watauga fort near the Sycamore Shoals. This attack, which was +led by Old Abraham, proved abortive; but as the result of the +loose investment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +of the log fortress, maintained by the Indians for several weeks, +a few rash venturers from the fort were killed or captured, +notably a young boy who was carried to one of the Indian towns +and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer settler, +William Been, who was rescued from a like fate by the +intercession of the humane and noble Nancy Ward. It was during +this siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier +lass, active and graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very +stockade by the fleet-footed savages. Seeing her plight, an +athletic young officer mounted the stockade at a single leap, +shot down the foremost of the pursuers, and leaning over, seized +the maiden by the hands and lifted her over the stockade. The +maiden who sank breathless into the arms of the young officer, +John Sevier, was "Bonnie Kate Sherrill"—who, after the fashion +of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant +rescuer. +</p> + +<p> +While the Tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of +siege and attack, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +settlers on the frontiers of Rowan were +falling beneath the tomahawk of the merciless savage. In the +first and second weeks of July large forces of Indians penetrated +to the outlying settlements; and in two days thirty-seven persons +were killed along the Catawba River. On July 13th, the bluff old +soldier of Rowan, General Griffith Rutherford, reported to the +council of North Carolina that "three of our Captains are killed +and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with what +men he could muster to relieve Colonel McDowell, ten men, and one +hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some +kind of a fort." Aroused to extraordinary exertions by these +daring and deadly blows, the governments of North Carolina, South +Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia instituted a joint campaign +against the Cherokees. It was believed that, by delivering a +series of crushing blows to the Indians and so conclusively +demonstrating the overwhelming superiority of the whites, the +state governments in the Old Southwest would convince the savages +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> +of the futility of any attempt ever again to oppose them +seriously. +</p> + +<p> +Within less than a week after sending his despatches to the +council Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred +men to protect the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm +the foe. Leading the South Carolina army of more than eighteen +hundred men, Colonel Andrew Williamson directed his attack +against the lower Cherokee towns; while Colonel Samuel Jack led +two hundred Georgians against the Indian towns at the heads of +the Chattahoochee and Tugaloo Rivers. Assembling a force of some +sixteen hundred Virginians, Colonel William Christian +rendezvoused in August at the Long Island of Holston, where his +force was strengthened by between three and four hundred North +Carolinians under Colonels Joseph Williams and Love, and Major +Winston. The various expeditions met with little effective +opposition on the whole, succeeding everywhere in their design of +utterly laying waste the towns of the Cherokees. One serious +engagement occurred +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> + when the Indians resolutely challenged +Rutherford's advance at the gap of the Nantahala Mountains. +Indian women—heroic Amazons disguised in war-paint and armed +with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair—fought +side by side with the Indian braves in the effort to arrest +Rutherford's progress and compass his defeat. More than forty +frontiersmen fell beneath the deadly shots of this truly Spartan +band before the final repulse of the savages. +</p> + +<p> +The most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful +campaign were the bluff old Indian-fighter, Griffith Rutherford, +wearing "a tow hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white +fringe" as a uniform; Captain Benjamin Cleveland, a rude paladin +of gigantic size, strength, and courage; Lieutenant William +Lenoir (Le Noir), the gallant and recklessly brave French +Huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the Revolution; and +that militant man of God, the Reverend James Hall, graduate of +Nassau Hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> +shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the +savages, preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty +backwoodsmen. Such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign—when +the whites, maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by +the recent ghastly murders, gladly availed themselves of the +South Carolina bounty offered for fresh Indian scalps. At times +they exultantly displayed the reeking patches of hair above the +gates of their stockades; at others, with many a bloody oath, +they compelled their commanders either to sell the Indian +captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. +Twenty years afterward Benjamin Hawkins relates that among Indian +refugees in extreme western Georgia the children had been so +terrorized by their parents' recitals of the atrocities of the +enraged borderers in the campaign of 1776, that they ran +screaming from the face of a white man. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XVII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Colonization of the Cumberland +</p> +<p class="intro"> +March 31, 1780. Set out this day, and after running some +distance, met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the +line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were +much rejoiced. He gave us every information we wished, and +further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in +Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of Ohio, for the use of the +Cumberland settlement. We are now without bread, and are +compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">John Donelson</span>: +<i>Journal of a Voyage, intended by God's permission, in the good +boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry, on Holston River, to the +French Salt Springs on Cumberland River.</i> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">o</span> +the settlements in Tennessee and +Kentucky, which they had seized and occupied, the pioneers held on +with a tenacious grip which never relaxed. From these strongholds, +won through sullen and desperate strokes, they pushed deeper into +the wilderness, once again to meet with undimmed courage the bitter +onslaughts of their resentful foes. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +The crushing of the Cherokees in 1776 +relieved the pressure upon the Tennessee settlers, enabling them +to strengthen their hold and prepare effectively for future +eventualities; the possession of the gateway to Kentucky kept +free the passage for Western settlement; Watauga and its +defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to British +invasion of the East from Kentucky and the Northwest during the +Revolution; while these Tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon +to set forth again to invade a new wilderness and at frightful +cost to colonize the Cumberland. +</p> + +<p> +The little chain of stockades along the far-flung frontier of +Kentucky was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly +resolved that this chain must not break. The Revolution +precipitated against this chain wave after wave of formidable +Indian foes from the Northwest under British leadership. At the +very time when Griffith Rutherford set out for the relief of +McDowell's Fort, a marauding Indian band captured by stealth near +the Transylvania Fort, known as Boone's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +Fort (Boonesborough), Elizabeth and Frances Callaway, and Jemima +Boone, the daughters of Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, and +rapidly marched them away toward the Shawanoe towns on the Ohio. +A relief party, in two divisions, headed respectively by the young +girls' fathers, and composed among others of the lovers of the +three girls, Samuel Henderson, John Holder, and Flanders Callaway, +pursued them with almost incredible swiftness. Guided by broken +twigs and bits of cloth surreptitiously dropped by Elizabeth +Callaway, they finally overtook the unsuspecting savages, killed +two of them, and rescued the three maidens unharmed. This romantic +episode—which gave Fenimore Cooper the theme for the most +memorable scene in one of his Leatherstocking Tales—had an +even more romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three +pairs of lovers. +</p> + +<p> +This bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously +foiled, was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the +coming years. Soon the red men were lurking in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> +neighborhood of the stations; and relief was felt when the +Transylvania Fort, the great stockade planned by Judge Henderson, +was completed by the pioneers (July, 1776). Glad tidings arrived +only a few days later when the Declaration of Independence, read +aloud from the <i>Virginia Gazette</i>, was greeted with wild huzzas by +the patriotic backwoodsmen. During the ensuing months occasional +invasions were made by savage bands; but it was not until April +24, 1777, that Henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, +being invested by a company of some seventy-five savages. The +twenty-two riflemen in the fort drove off the painted warriors, +but not before Michael Stoner, Daniel Boone, and several others +were severely wounded. As he lay helpless upon the ground, his +ankle shattered by a bullet, Boone was lifted by Simon Kenton and +borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of the stockade amid a +veritable shower of balls. The stoical and taciturn Boone clasped +Kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness in the +brief but heartfelt +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +utterance; "You are a fine fellow." On July +4th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when +two hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. +But owing to the vigilance and superb markmanship of the +defenders, as well as to the lack of cannon by the besieging +force, the Indians reluctantly abandoned the siege, after leaving +a number dead upon the field. Soon afterward the arrival of two +strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily summoned +from the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia, once again +made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the West. +</p> + +<p> +Kentucky's terrible year, 1778, opened with a severe disaster to +the white settlers—when Boone with thirty men, while engaged in +making salt at the "Lower Salt Spring," was captured in February +by more than a hundred Indians, sent by Governor Hamilton of +Detroit to drive the white settlers from "Kentucke." Boone +remained in captivity until early summer, when, learning that his +Indian captors were planning an attack in force upon +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +the +Transylvania Fort, he succeeded in effecting his escape. After a +break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which +he ate but one meal, Boone finally arrived at the big fort on +June 20th. The settlers were thus given ample time for +preparation, as the long siege did not begin until September 7th. +The fort was invested by a powerful force flying the English +flag—four hundred and forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion +and ochre of their war-paint, and eleven Frenchmen, the whole +being commanded by the French-Canadian, Captain Dagniaux de +Quindre, and the great Indian Chief, Black-fish, who had adopted +Boone as a son. +<a href="#Note_187"><span class="superscript">[187]</span></a> +In the effort to gain his end de Quindre resorted +to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to outwit the +settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "They formed +a scheme to deceive us," says Boone, "declaring it was their +orders, from Governor Hamilton, to take us captives, and not to +destroy us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, +they would immediately withdraw their forces from +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +our walls, and +return home peacably." Transparent as the stratagem was, Boone +incautiously agreed to a conference with the enemy; Callaway +alone took the precaution to guard against Indian duplicity. +After a long talk, the Indians proposed to Boone, Callaway, and +the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them that they shake +hands in token of peace and friendship. As picturesquely +described by Daniel Trabue: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +The Indians sayed two Indians must shake hands with one white +man to make a Double or sure peace at this time the Indians had +hold of the white men's hands and held them. Col. Calloway +objected to this but the other Indians laid hold or tryed to lay +hold of the other hand but Colonel Calloway was the first that +jerked away from them but the Indians seized the men two Indians +holt of one man or it was mostly the case and did their best to +hold them but while the man and Indians was a scuffling the men +from the Fort agreeable to Col. Calloway's order fired on them +they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe +and the fire continued on both sides. +<a href="#Note_188"><span class="superscript">[188]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +During the siege Callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a +wooden cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a +group of Indians "made them scamper perdidiously." The secret +effort of the Indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, +being discovered by the defenders, was frustrated by a +countermine. Unable to outwit, outfight, or outmaneuver the +resourceful Callaway, de Quindre finally withdrew on September +16th, closing the longest and severest attack that any of the +fortified stations of Kentucky had ever been called upon to +withstand. +</p> + +<p> +The successful defense of the Transylvania Fort, made by these +indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the +Continental Congress and left to fight alone their battles in the +forests, was of national significance in its results. Had the +Transylvania Fort fallen, the northern Indians in overwhelming +numbers, directed by Hamilton and led by British officers, might +well have swept Kentucky free of defenders and fallen with +devastating force upon the exposed settlements along the western +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +frontiers of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. This +defense of Boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of +commemoration in the annals of the Revolution, along with +Lexington and Bunker's Hill. Coupled with Clark's meteoric +campaign in the Northwest and the subsequent struggles in the +defense of Kentucky, it may be regarded as an event basically +responsible for the retention of the trans-Alleghany region by +the United States. The bitter struggles, desperate sieges, and +bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a close with the +expeditions of Clark and Logan in November, 1782, which +appropriately concluded the Revolution in the West by putting a +definite end to all prospect of formidable invasion of Kentucky. +</p> + +<p> +In November, 1777, "Washington District," the delegates of which +had been received in the preceding year by the Provincial +Congress of North Carolina, was formed by the North Carolina +General Assembly into Washington County; and to it were assigned +the boundaries of the whole of the present state of Tennessee. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +While this immense territory was thus being definitely included +within the bounds of North Carolina, Judge Henderson on behalf of +the Transylvania Company was making a vigorous effort to secure +the reëstablishment of its rights from the Virginia Assembly. By +order of the Virginia legislature, an exhaustive investigation of +the claims of the Transylvania Company was therefore made, +hearings being held at various points in the back country. On +July 18, 1777, Judge Henderson presented to the peace +commissioners for North Carolina and Virginia at the Long Island +treaty ground an elaborate memorial in behalf of the Transylvania +Company, which the commissioners unanimously refused to consider, +as not coming under their jurisdiction. +<a href="#Note_189"><span class="superscript">[189]</span></a> +Finally, after a full and +impartial discussion before the Virginia House of Delegates, that +body declared the Transylvania purchase void. +<a href="#Note_190"><span class="superscript">[190]</span></a> +But in +consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the +company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said +lands, by which the commonwealth is likely to receive +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +great +advantage, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a +barrier against the Indians," the House of Delegates granted +Richard Henderson and Company two hundred thousand acres of land +situated between the Ohio and Green rivers, where the town of +Henderson, Kentucky, now stands. +<a href="#Note_191"><span class="superscript">[191]</span></a> +With this bursting of the +Transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden dreams of +Henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth +American colony in the heart of the trans-Alleghany, a first +romantic chapter in the history of Westward expansion comes to a +close. +</p> + +<p> +But another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. +Undiscouraged by Virginia's confiscation of Transylvania, and +disregarding North Carolina's action in extending her boundaries +over the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered +limits, Henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the +ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking +conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more +solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +of Transylvania. It was not his purpose, however, to found an +independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the +Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North Carolina, +and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale +of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland +supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the +prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was +necessary to prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to +determine whether or not the Great French Lick, the ideal +location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of North +Carolina. +<a href="#Note_192"><span class="superscript">[192]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an +extensive colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to +take form in vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project +Henderson had chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North +Carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for +future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing +party the ablest of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +Tennessee pioneers, James Robertson. +Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga settlement +and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North +Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to +leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in +this desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight +white men and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth +from the Holston settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a +preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be +prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." After +erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense, +Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long +journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult +with George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the +Virginia Land Office several thousand acres of land at the French +Lick. After perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing +"cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in Virginia, +Robertson returned to Watauga +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +to take command of the migration. +</p> + +<p> +Toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the +other by water, for the wonderful new country on the Cumberland +of which Boone and Scaggs and Mansker had brought back such +glowing descriptions. During the autumn Judge Henderson and other +commissioners from North Carolina, in conjunction with +commissioners from Virginia, had been running out the boundary +line between the two states. On the very day—Christmas, +1779—that Judge Henderson reached the site of the Transylvania +Fort, now called Boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from the +parent hive at Watauga, under Robertson's leadership, reached the +French Lick; and on New Year's Day, 1780, crossed the river on the +ice to the present site of Nashville. +</p> + +<p> +The journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, +reads like a chapter from one of Captain Mayne Reid's fascinating +novels of adventure, was written by Colonel John Donelson, the +father-in-law of Andrew Jackson. Setting out from Fort Patrick +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +Henry on Holston River, December 22, 1779, with a flotilla +consisting of about thirty flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, they +encountered few difficulties until they began to run the gauntlet +of the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee. Here they were +furiously attacked by the Indians, terrible in their red and +black war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with +smallpox on board, was driven to shore by the Indians. The +occupants were massacred; but the Indians at once contracted the +disease and died by the hundreds. This luckless sacrifice of +"poor Stuart, his family and friends," while a ghastly price to +pay, undoubtedly procured for the Cumberland settlements +comparative immunity from Indian forays until the new-comers had +firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. +Eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the +typical American pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for +reunion of families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a +log cabin, is the last entry in Donelson's diary (April 24, +1780): +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +This day we arrived at our journey's end at the Big Salt Lick, +where we have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his +company. It is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to +restore to him and others their families and friends, who were +intrusted to our care, and who, some time since, perhaps, +despaired of ever meeting again. Though our prospects at present +are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which have been built +on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and his +company. +<a href="#Note_193"><span class="superscript">[193]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +In the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the +"hard winter," Judge Henderson was sorely concerned for the fate +of the new colony which he had projected, and immediately +proceeded to purchase at huge cost a large stock of corn. On +March 5, 1780, this corn, which had been raised by Captain +Nathaniel Hart, was "sent from Boonesborough in perogues +[pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of William Bailey +Smith.… This corn was taken down the Kentucky River, and +over the Falls of Ohio, to the mouth of the Cumberland, and +thence up that river to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> +the fort at the French Lick. It is +believed have been the only bread which the settlers had until it +was raised there in 1781." +<a href="#Note_194"><span class="superscript">[194]</span></a> +There is genuine impressiveness in +this heroic triumphing over the obstacles of obdurate nature and +this paternalistic provision for the exposed Cumberland +settlement—the purchase by Judge Henderson, the shipment by +Captain Hart, and the transportation by Colonel Smith, in an +awful winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this +indispensable quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand +dollars in depreciated currency. +</p> + +<p> +Upon his arrival at the French Lick, shortly after the middle of +April, Judge Henderson at once proceeded to organize a government +for the little community. On May 1st articles of association were +drawn up; and important additions thereto were made on May 13th, +when the settlers signed the complete series. The original +document, still preserved, was drafted by Judge Henderson, being +written throughout in his own handwriting; and his name heads the +list of two hundred and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> +fifty and more signatures. +<a href="#Note_195"><span class="superscript">[195]</span></a> +The "Cumberland Compact," as this paper is called, is fundamentally a +mutual contract between the copartners of the Transylvania +Company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the company. +It represents the collective will of the community; and on +account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each +party to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. The +organization of this pure democracy was sound and +admirable—another notable early example of the commission form +of government. The most remarkable feature of this backwoods +constitution marks Judge Henderson as a pioneer in the use of the +political device so prominent to-day, one hundred and forty years +later—the "recall of judges." In the following striking clause +this innovation in government was recognized thus early in +American history as the most effective means of securing and +safeguarding justice in a democracy: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +As often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the +doings of the Judges or +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +Triers so to be chosen, they may call a new election in any of the +said stations, and elect others in their stead, having due respect +to the number now agreed to be elected at each station, which +persons so to be chosen shall have the same power with those in +whose room or place they shall or may be chosen to act. +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +A land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by +Judge Henderson, in accordance with the compact; and the lands, +for costs of entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of +ten dollars per thousand acres. But as the Transylvania Company +was never able to secure a "satisfactory and indisputable title," +the clause resulted in perpetual nonpayment. In 1783, following +the lead of Virginia in the case of Transylvania, North Carolina +declared the Transylvania Company's purchase void, but granted +the company in compensation a tract of one hundred and ninety +thousand acres in Powell's Valley. +<a href="#Note_196"><span class="superscript">[196]</span></a> +As compensation, the grants of +North Carolina and Virginia were quite inadequate, considering +the value of the service in behalf of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +permanent western +colonization rendered by the Transylvania company. +<a href="#Note_197"><span class="superscript">[197]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +James Robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of +twelve commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of +the military forces of the eight little associated settlements on +the Cumberland. Here for the next two years the self-reliant +settlers under Robertson's wise and able leadership successfully +repelled the Indians in their guerrilla warfare, firmly +entrenched themselves in their forest-girt stronghold, and +vindicated their claim to the territory by right of occupation +and conquest. Here sprang up in later times a great and populous +city—named, strangely enough, neither for Henderson, the +founder, nor for Robertson and Donelson, the leaders of the two +colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its +history or origins, the gallant North Carolinian, General Francis +Nash, who was killed at the Battle of Germantown. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + King's Mountain +</p> +<p class="intro"> +With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden +and favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago +destruction hung over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 +British and Tories waited at Charlotte for the reinforcement of +1000 from Broad River, which reinforcement has been entirely cut +off, 130 killed and the remainder captured. Cornwallis +immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward Charleston, +with part of our army in his rear.… +</p> +<p class="intro-right"> +—<span class="smcap">Elizabeth Maxwell Steel:</span><br /> +Salisbury, October 25, 1780. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">S</span><span class="smcap">o</span> +thoroughly had the Cherokees been +subdued by the devastations of the campaign of 1776 that for +several years thereafter they were unable to organize for a new +campaign against the backwoodsmen along the frontiers of North +Carolina and Tennessee. During these years the Holston settlers +principally busied themselves in making their position secure, +as well as in setting their house in order by severely punishing +the lawless Tory element among them. In 1779 the Chickamaugas, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +with whom The +Dragging Canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the +Cherokees had joined hands after the campaign of 1776, grew so +bold in their bloody forays upon small exposed settlements that +North Carolina and Virginia in conjunction despatched a strong +expedition against them. Embarking on April 10th at the mouth of +Big Creek near the present Rogersville, Tennessee, three hundred +and fifty men led by Colonel Evan Shelby descended the Tennessee +to the fastnesses of the Chickamaugas. Meeting with no resistance +from the astonished Indians, who fled to the shelter of the +densely wooded hills, they laid waste the Indian towns and +destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the British +agents for distribution among the red men. The Chickamaugas were +completely quelled; and during the period of great stress through +which the Tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the Cherokees +were restrained through the wise diplomacy of Joseph Martin, +Superintendent of Indian affairs for Virginia. +</p> + +<p> +The great British offensive against the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> +Southern colonies, which +were regarded as the vulnerable point in the American +Confederacy, was fully launched upon the fall of Charleston in +May, 1780. Cornwallis established his headquarters at Camden; and +one of his lieutenants, the persuasive and brilliant Ferguson, +soon rallied thousands of Loyalists in South Carolina to the +British standard. When Cornwallis inaugurated his campaign for +cutting Washington wholly off from the Southern colonies by +invading North Carolina, the men upon the western waters realized +that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and in +protection of their homes. Two hundred Tennessee riflemen from +Sullivan County, under Colonel Isaac Shelby, were engaged in +minor operations in South Carolina conducted by Colonel Charles +McDowell; and conspicuous among these engagements was the affair +at Musgrove's Mill on August 18th when three hundred horsemen led +by Colonel James Williams, a native of Granville County, North +Carolina, Colonel Isaac Shelby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of +Georgia repulsed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +with heavy loss a British force of between four +and five hundred. +</p> + +<p> +These minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous +defeat of Gates by Cornwallis at Camden on August 16th and the +humiliating blow to Sumter at Rocky Mount on the following day. +Ferguson hotly pursued the frontiersmen, who then retreated over +the mountains; and from his camp at Gilbert Town he despatched a +threatening message to the Western leaders, declaring that if +they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms and +take protection under his standard, he would march his army over +the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and sword. +Stung to action, Shelby hastily rode off to consult with Sevier +at his log castle near Jonesboro; and together they matured a +plan to arouse the mountain men and attack Ferguson by surprise. +In the event of failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to +leave the country and find a home with the Spaniards in +Louisiana. +<a href="#Note_198"><span class="superscript">[198]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +At the original place of rendezvous, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +Sycamore Shoals of the +Watauga, the over-mountain men gathered on September 25th. There +an eloquent sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of God, +the Reverend Samuel Doak, who concluded his discourse with a +stirring invocation to the sword of the Lord and of Gideon—a +sentiment greeted with the loud applause of the militant +frontiersmen. Here and at various places along the march they +were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to join +the expedition—Colonel William Campbell, who with some +reluctance had abandoned his own plans in response to Shelby's +urgent and repeated message, in command of four hundred hardy +frontiersmen from Washington County, Virginia; Colonel Benjamin +Cleveland, with the wild fighters of Wilkes known as "Cleveland's +Bulldogs"; Colonel Andrew Hampton, with the stalwart riflemen of +Rutherford; Major Joseph Winston, the cousin of Patrick Henry, +with the flower of the citizenry of Surry; the McDowells, Charles +and Joseph, with the bold borderers of Burke; Colonels Lacy and +Hill, with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> +well-trained soldiers of South Carolina; and +Brigadier-General James Williams, leading the intrepid Rowan +volunteers. +</p> + +<p> +Before breaking camp at Quaker Meadows, the leading officers in +conference chose Colonel William Campbell as temporary officer of +the day, until they could secure a general officer from +headquarters as commander-in-chief. The object of the +mountaineers and big-game hunters was, in their own terms, to +pursue Ferguson, to run him down, and to capture him. In +pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the ford of +Green River chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best +mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on October 6th this force +of picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" +eager to join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the Cowpens. +Here a second selection took place; and Colonel Campbell, was +again elected commander of the detachment, now numbering some +nine hundred and ten horsemen and eighty odd footmen, which +dashed rapidly on in pursuit of Ferguson. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> +The British commander had been apprised of the coming of the +over-mountain men. Scorning to make a forced march and attempt to +effect a junction with Cornwallis at Charlotte, Ferguson chose to +make a stand and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom +he denounced as mongrels and the dregs of mankind. After +despatching to Cornwallis a message asking for aid, Ferguson took +up his camp on King's Mountain, just south of the North Carolina +border line, in the present York County, South Carolina. Here, +after his pickets had been captured in silence, he was surprised +by his opponents. At three o'clock in the afternoon of October +7th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the heights. +</p> + +<p> +The battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the +character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and +tactics. +<a href="#Note_199"><span class="superscript">[199]</span></a> +Each party ran true to form—Ferguson repeating +Braddock's suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the +deadly fusillade of riflemen, who in Indian fashion were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +carefully posted behind trees and every shelter afforded by the +natural inequalities of the ground. In the army of the Carolina +and Virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent detachments +recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own +individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its +own leader. Campbell—like Cleveland, Winston, Williams, Lacey, +Shelby, McDowell, Sevier, and Hambright—personally led his own +division; but the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of +the terrain made it impossible for him, though the chosen +commander of the expedition, actually to play that rôle in the +battle. The plan agreed upon in advance by the frontier leaders +was simple enough—to surround and capture Ferguson's camp on the +high plateau. The more experienced Indian fighters, Sevier and +Shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme which in any +case would doubtless have been employed by the frontiersmen; it +was to give the British "Indian play"—namely to take cover +everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +Cleveland, a +Hercules in strength and courage who had fought the Indians and +recognized the wisdom of Indian tactics, ordered his men, as did +some of the other leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, +but to return to the attack after the charge had spent its force. +</p> + +<p> +"My brave fellows," said Cleveland, "every man must consider +himself an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as quick +as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. When you +can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not +to run quite off. If we are repulsed, let us make a point of +returning and renewing the fight; perhaps we may have better luck +in the second attempt than in the first." +</p> + +<p> +The plateau upon which Ferguson was encamped was the top of an +eminence some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and +fifty yards from one base across to the other; and its shape was +that of an Indian paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty +yards at the blade to sixty yards at the handle in width. +Outcropping boulders upon the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +outer edge of the plateau afforded +some slight shelter for Ferguson's force; but, unsuspicious of +attack, Ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp from the +assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection +of the timber surrounding it on all sides. As to the disposition +of the attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied +by Cleveland with his "Bulldogs," Hambright with his South Fork +Boys from the Catawba (now Lincoln County, North Carolina), and +Winston with his Surry riflemen; to the south were the divisions +of Joseph McDowell, Sevier, and Campbell; while Lacey's South +Carolinians, the Rowan levies under Williams, and the Watauga +borderers under Shelby were stationed upon the north side. +Ferguson's forces consisted of Provincial Rangers, one hundred +and fifty strong, and other well-drilled Loyalists, between eight +and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously +weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and +two hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. +Shelby's men, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span> +before getting into position, received a hot fire, +the opening shots of the engagement. This inspired Campbell, who +now threw off his coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men +posted on the side of the mountain opposite to Shelby's force. +When Campbell's Virginians uttered a series of piercing shouts, +the British officer, De Peyster, second in command, remarked to +his chief: "These things are ominous—these are the damned +yelling boys." +</p> + +<p> +The battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged +with terrific ferocity. The Loyalist militia, whenever possible, +fired from the shelter of the rocks; while the Provincial Corps, +with fixed bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired +at close range and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the +mountain. After each bayonet charge the Provincials coolly +withdrew to the summit, under the accumulating fire of the +returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in their rear. Owing +to their elevated location, the British, although using the +rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by Ferguson +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span> +himself, found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, +thus suffering from nature's handicap, refraction. +<a href="#Note_200"><span class="superscript">[200]</span></a> +The militia, using sharpened butcher-knives which Ferguson had taught +them to utilize as bayonets, charged against the mountaineers; but their +fire, in answer to the deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel-shooters, +was belated, owing to the fact that they could not fire +while the crudely improvised bayonets remained inserted in their +pieces. The Americans, continually firing upward, found ready +marks for their aim in the clearly delineated outlines of their +adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which animates the +hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game at +bay. +</p> + +<p> +The leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore +themselves with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the +lines of fire and with native eloquence, interspersed with +profanity, rallying their individual commands again and again to +the attack. The valiant Campbell scaled the rugged heights, +loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +Cleveland, resolutely facing the foe, urged on his Bulldogs with +the inspiriting words: "Come, boys; let's try 'em again. We'll +have better luck next time." No sooner did Shelby's men reach +the bottom of the hill, in retreating before a charge, +than their commander, fiery and strenuous, ardently shouted: +"Now boys, quickly reload your rifles, and let's advance upon +them, and give them another hell of a fire." The most deadly +charge, led by De Peyster himself, fell upon Hambright's +South Fork boys; and one of their gallant officers, Major +Chronicle, waving his military hat, was mortally wounded, +the command, "Face to the hill!", dying on his lips. +These veteran soldiers, unlike the mountaineers, firmly met the +shock of the charge, and a number of their men were shot down or +transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their fire until the +charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a deadly +volley before retiring. The gallant William Lenoir, whose +reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, +received several wounds +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +and emerged from the battle with his hair +and clothes torn by balls. The ranking American officer, +Brigadier-General James Williams, was mortally wounded while "on +the very top of the mountain, in the thickest of the fight"; and +as he momentarily revived, his first words were: "For God's sake, +boys, don't give up the hill." +<a href="#Note_201"><span class="superscript">[201]</span></a> +Hambright, sorely wounded, his +boot overflowing with blood and his hat riddled with three bullet +holes, declined to dismount, but pressed gallantly forward, +exclaiming in his "Pennsylvania Dutch": "Huzza, my prave poys, +fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" On the +British side, Ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing +from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all +danger. Wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, +there the fighting was hottest and the British resistance the +most stubborn. His officers fought with the characteristic +steadiness of the British soldier; and again and again his men +charged headlong against the wavering and fiery circle of the +frontiersmen. +<a href="#Note_202"><span class="superscript">[202]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +Ferguson's boast that "he was on King's Mountain, that he was +king of the Mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from +it" was doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the +impregnability of his position, than by a desperate desire to +inspire confidence in his men. His location was admirably chosen +for defense against attack by troops employing regulation +tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of sudden +investment, Ferguson had erected no fortifications for his +encampment. His frenzied efforts on the battle-field seem like a +mad rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the +peculiar tactics of the frontiersmen. While the mountain flamed +like a volcano and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a +steady stricture was in progress. The lines were drawn tighter +and tighter around the trapped and frantically struggling army; +and at last the fall of their commander, riddled with bullets, +proved the tragic futility of further resistance. The game was +caught and bagged to a man. When Winston, with his fox-hunters of +Surry, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span> +dashed recklessly through the woods, says a chronicler of +the battle, and the last to come into position, +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> +<p class="poem1">Flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, +</p> +</div> +<p class="noindent"> +then +</p> + +<div class="poem1"> + <p class="poem1">From all the circle of the hills</p> + <p class="poem2">death sleeted in upon the doomed.</p> +</div> + +<p> +The battle was decisive in its effect—shattering the plans of +Cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. The +victory put a full stop to the invasion of North Carolina, which +was then well under way. Cornwallis abandoned his carefully +prepared campaign and immediately left the state. After +ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an action which had an +effectively deterrent effect upon future Tory murders and +depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. The brilliant +initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous energy +of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise—all +reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the +given situation—were the controlling factors +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +in this +overwhelming victory of the Revolution. The pioneers of the Old +Southwest—the independent and aggressive yeomanry of North +Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina—had risen in their might. +Without the aid or authority of blundering state governments, +they had created an army of frontiersmen, Indian-fighters, and +big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the +continent since the Battle of the Great Kanawha. +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XIX.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The State of Franklin +</p> +<p class="intro"> +Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare +in the western revolt.… I have thought proper to issue this +manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said +revolt … that the honour of this State has been particularly +wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, +would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation +would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual +satisfaction of the mother and new State.… Let your +proposals be consistent with the honour of the State to accede +to, which, by your allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate +and I make no doubt but her generosity, in time, will meet your +wishes. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Governor Alexander Martin</span>: +Manifesto against the State of Franklin, April 25, 1785. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">T</span><span class="smcap">o</span> +the shrewd diplomacy of Joseph Martin, +who held the Cherokees in check during the period of the King's +Mountain campaign, the settlers in the valleys of the Watauga and +the Holston owed their temporary immunity from Indian attack. But +no sooner did Sevier and his over-mountain men return from the +battle-field of King's Mountain than they were called upon to join +in an expedition +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +against the Cherokees, who had again gone on the war-path at the +instigation of the British. After Sevier with his command had +defeated a small party of Indians at Boyd's Creek in December, +the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command of +Colonel Arthur Campbell, with Major Joseph Martin as subordinate, +penetrated to the heart of the Indian country, burned Echota, +Chilhowee, Settiquo, Hiawassee, and seven other principal +villages, and destroyed an immense amount of property and +supplies. In March, suspecting that the arch-conspirators against +the white settlers were the Cherokees at the head waters of the +Little Tennessee, Sevier led one hundred and fifty horsemen +through the devious mountain defiles and struck the Indians a +swift and unexpected blow at Tuckasegee, near the present +Webster, North Carolina. In this extraordinarily daring raid, one +of his most brilliant feats of arms, Sevier lost only one man +killed and one wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the +loss of thirty killed, took many more prisoners, burned six +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +Indian towns, and captured many horses and supplies. Once his +deadly work was done, Sevier with his bold cavaliers silently +plunged again into the forest whence he had so suddenly emerged, +and returned in triumph to the settlements. +</p> + +<p> +Disheartened though the Indians were to see the smoke of their +burning towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they +did not keep the treaty made at Long Island in July, 1781. The +Indians suffered from very real grievances at the hands of the +lawless white settlers who persisted in encroaching upon the +Indian lands. When the Indian ravages were resumed, Sevier and +Anderson, the latter from Sullivan County, led a punitive +expedition of two hundred riflemen against the Creeks and the +Chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste +the Indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to +the copper-colored marauders. +</p> + +<p> +During this same period the settlers on the Cumberland were +displaying a grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of +Indian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +attack forever memorable in the history of the Old +Southwest. On the night of January 15, 1781, the settlers at +Freeland's Station, after a desperate resistance, succeeded in +beating off the savages who attacked in force. At Nashborough on +April 2d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the stockade by +the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after serious +loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of +the fort. Indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the +settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and +attacked the astounded Indians with such ferocity that the +diversion thus created enabled the settlers to escape from the +deadly trap. During the next two years the history of the +Cumberland settlements is but the gruesome recital of murder +after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the lurking +Indian foe. Robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the +abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. The arrival +of the North Carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off +bounty lands and settlers' preemptions, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +and the treaty of peace +concluded at the French Lick on November 5 and 6, 1783, gave +permanence and stability to the Cumberland settlements. The +lasting friendship of the Chickasaws was won; but the Creeks for +some time continued to harass the Tennessee pioneers. The +frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the Cherokees, stoically, +heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, +syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal +battle. The treaty at Hopewell on November 28, 1785, marks the +end of an era—the Spartan yet hopeless resistance of the +intrepid red men to the relentless and frequently unwarranted +expropriation by the whites of the ancient and immemorial domain +of the savage. +</p> + +<p> +The skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the +mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the +organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on +June 2, 1784, when the legislature of North Carolina ceded to the +Congress of the United States the title which that state +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">311</a></span> +possessed to the land west of the Alleghanies. Among the terms of +the Cession Act were these conditions: that the ceded territory +should be formed into a separate state or states; and that if +Congress should not accept the lands thus ceded and give due +notice within two years, the act should be of no force and the +lands should revert to North Carolina. +<a href="#Note_203"><span class="superscript">[203]</span></a> +No sooner did this news +reach the Western settlers than they began to mature plans for +the organization of a government during the intervening twelve +months. Their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed +by the Indians, and North Carolina's delay in sending goods +promised the Indians by a former treaty, both promoted Indian +hostility; and these facts, combined with their remote location +beyond the mountains, rendering them almost inaccessible to +communication with North Carolina—all rendered the decision of +the settlers almost inevitable. Moreover, the allurements of high +office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional +motives sufficiently human in themselves to give driving +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">312</a></span> +power to the movement toward independence. +</p> + +<p> +At a convention assembled at Jonesborough on August 23, 1784, +delegates from the counties of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene +characteristically decided to organize an "Association." They +solemnly declared by resolution: "We have a just and undeniable +right to petition to Congress to accept the session made by North +Carolina, and for that body to countenance us for forming +ourselves into a separate government, and to frame either a +permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a resolve of +Congress.…" Meanwhile, Governor Martin, largely as the +result of the prudent advice of North Carolina's representative +in Congress, Dr. Hugh Williamson, was brought to the conclusion +that North Carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted +precipitately. This important step had been taken without the +full consideration of the people of the state. Among the various +arguments advanced by Williamson was the impressive contention +that, in accordance +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +with the procedure in the case of other +states, the whole expense of the huge Indian expeditions in 1776 +and the heavy militia aids to South Carolina and Georgia should +be credited to North Carolina as partial fulfilment of her +continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably +made to the Federal government. Williamson's arguments proved +convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of +far-reaching national importance that the assembly of North Carolina +(October 22 to November 25, 1784) repealed the cession act made +the preceding spring. +<a href="#Note_204"><span class="superscript">[204]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +Before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the +western waters, a second convention met at Jonesborough on +December 17th. Sentiment at this time was much divided, for a +number of the people, expecting the repeal of the cession act, +genuinely desired a continued allegiance to North Carolina. Of +these may well have been John Sevier, who afterward declared to +Joseph Martin that he had been "Draged into the Franklin +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">314</a></span> +measures by a large number of the people of this country." +<a href="#Note_205"><span class="superscript">[205]</span></a> +The principal +act of this convention was the adoption of a temporary +constitution for six months and the provision for a convention to +be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this +constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent +constitution of the new state. +<a href="#Note_206"><span class="superscript">[206]</span></a> +The scholars on the western +waters, desiring to commemorate their aspirations for freedom, +chose as the name of the projected new state: "Frankland"—the +Land of the Free. The name finally chosen, however, perhaps for +reasons of policy, was "Franklin," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. +Meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for a stable +government along the Tennessee frontier, the North Carolina +assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four +western counties the District of Washington, with John Haywood as +presiding judge and David Campbell as associate, and conferred +upon John Sevier the rank of brigadier-general of the new +district. The first week in December +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span> +Governor Martin sent to +Sevier his military commission; and replying to Joseph Martin's +query (December 31, 1784, prompted by Governor Martin) as to +whether, in view of the repeal of the cession act, he intended to +persist in revolt or await developments, Sevier gave it out +broadcast that "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new +State." +</p> + +<p> +Owing to the remoteness of the Tennessee settlements and the +difficulty of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere +of sentiment in Franklin, Governor Martin realized the necessity +of sending a personal representative to discover the true state +of affairs in the disaffected region beyond the mountains. For +the post of ambassador to the new government, Governor Martin +selected a man distinguished for mentality and diplomatic skill, +a pioneer of Tennessee and Kentucky, Judge Richard Henderson's +brother, Colonel Samuel Henderson. Despite Sevier's disavowal of +any further intention to establish a new state, the governor gave +Colonel Henderson elaborate written instructions, the purport +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +of which was to learn all that he could about the political +complexion of the Tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the +people, and the agitation for a separate commonwealth. Moreover, +in the hope of placating the leading chieftains of the Cherokees, +who had bitterly protested against the continued aggressions and +encroachments upon their lands by the lawless borderers, he +instructed Colonel Henderson also to learn the temper and +dispositions of the Indians, and to investigate the case of +Colonel James Hubbardt who was charged with the murder of Untoola +of Settiquo, a chief of the Cherokees. +</p> + +<p> +When Colonel Henderson arrived at Jonesborough, he found the +third Franklin legislature in session, and to this body he +presented Governor Martin's letter of February 27, 1785. In +response to the governor's request for an "account of the late +proceedings of the people in the western country," an extended +reply was drafted by the new legislature; and this letter, +conveyed to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson, in setting +forth in detail +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span> +the reasons for the secession, made the following +significant statement: "We humbly thank North Carolina for every +sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, +that as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent +from the tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause +ceases which is the basis of that affection, we shall lose your +esteem." At the same time (March 22nd), Sevier, who had just been +chosen Governor of the State of Franklin, transmitted to Governor +Martin by Colonel Henderson a long letter, not hitherto published +in any history of the period, in which he outspokenly says: +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +It gives me great pain to think there should arise any Disputes +between us and North Carolina, & I flatter myself when North +Carolina states the matter in a fair light she will be fully +convinced that necessity and self-preservation have Compelled Us +to the measures we Have taken, and could the people have +discovered that No. Carolina would Have protected and Govern'd +them, They would have remained where they were; but they +perceived +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span> +a neglect and Coolness, and the Language of Many of +your most leading members Convinced them they were Altogether +Disregarded. <a href="#Note_207"><span class="superscript">[207]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="noindent"> +Following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by Martin (April +25th) and Sevier (May 15th), +<a href="#Note_208"><span class="superscript">[208]</span></a> +the burden of the problem fell upon +Richard Caswell, who in June succeeded Martin as Governor of +North Carolina. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the +name of Franklin to the new state, although for some time it +continued to be called by many Frankland, and its adherents +Franks. The legislature had also established an academy named +after Governor Martin, and had appointed (March 12th) William +Cocke as a delegate to the Continental Congress, urging its +acceptance of the cession. In the Memorial from the Franklin +legislature to the Continental Congress, dealing in some detail +with North Carolina's failure to send the Cherokees some goods +promised them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +She [North Carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had +promised to give the Indians for the said land which so +exasperated them that they begun to commit hostalities on our +frontiers in this situation we were induced to a declaration of +Independence not doubting we should be excused by Congress … as +North Carolina seemed quite regardless of our interest and the +Indians daily murdering our friends and relations without +distinction of age or sex. +<a href="#Note_209"><span class="superscript">[209]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +Sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as +well as desiring the cession, Congress urged North Carolina to +amend the repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western +territory to the Union. +</p> + + +<div class="broadside"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +<p class="broadside">A</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;">DECLARATION <span class="smcap">of</span> RIGHTS</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:small;">ALSO, THE</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;">CONSTITUTION</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:small;">OR</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;">FORM <span class="smcap">of</span> GOVERNMENT</p> +<p class="hanging" style="margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:2em;">Agreed to, and resolved upon, by the +<span class="smcap">Representatives</span> of the Freemen of the </p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:large;">STATE <span class="smcap">of</span> FRANKLAND,</p> +<p class="hanging" style="font-size:small; margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:2em;"> +Elected and chosen for that particular purpose, +in Convention assembled at +<span class="smcap">Greeneville</span>, +the 14th of November, 1785. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="broadside">PHILADELPHIA:</p> +<p class="broadside" style="font-size:small;"> +Printed by <span class="smcap">Francis Bailey</span>, at <i>Yorick's Head</i>.</p> +<p class="broadside">M.DCC.LXXXVI.</p> + +</div> + + + +<p> +Among the noteworthy features of the Franklin movement was the +constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the Reverend +Samuel Houston of Washington County, and presented at the meeting +of the Franklin legislature, Greeneville, November 14, 1785. This +eccentric constitution was based in considerable part upon the +North Carolina model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +constitution of North Carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. +Under this Houston constitution, the name "Frankland" was chosen +for the new state. The legislature was to consist of but a single +house. In a section excluding from the legislature "ministers of +the gospel, attorneys at law, and doctors of physics," those were +declared ineligible for office who were of immoral character or +guilty of "such flagrant enormities as drunkenness, gaming, +profane swearing, lewdness, Sabbath-breaking and such like," or +who should deny the existence of God, of heaven, and of hell, the +inspiration of the Scriptures, or the existence of the Trinity. +Full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were +assured—but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to +office. No one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar +to do the business." This remarkable document, which provided for +many other curious innovations in government, was the work of +pioneer doctrinaires—Houston, Campbell, Cocke, and Tipton—and +deserves +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +study as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius +of the western frontiersmen. +<a href="#Note_210"><span class="superscript">[210]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The liberal policy of Martin, followed by the no less +conciliatory attitude of his successor, Caswell, for the time +proved wholly abortive. However, Martin's appointment of Evan +Shelby in Sevier's place as brigadier, and of Jonathan Tipton as +colonel of his county, produced disaffection among the Franks; +and the influence of Joseph Martin against the new government was +a powerful obstacle to its success. At first the two sets of +military, civil, and judicial officers were able to work amicably +together; and a working-basis drawn up by Shelby and Sevier, +although afterward repudiated by the Franklin legislature, +smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. The +persistent and quiet assertion of authority by North Carolina, +without any overt act of violence against the officers of +Franklin state, revealed great diplomatic skill in Governors +Martin and Caswell. It was doubtless the considerate policy of +the latter, coupled with the defection from Sevier's cause +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +of men +of the stamp of Houston and Tipton, after the blundering and +cavalier rejection of their singular constitution, which +undermined the foundations of Franklin. Sevier himself later +wrote with considerable bitterness: "I have been faithfull, and +my own breast acquits myself that I have acted no part but what +has been Consistent with honor and justice, tempered with +Clemency and mercy. How far our pretended patriots have supported +me as their pretended chiefe magistrate, I leave the world at +large to Judge." Arthur Campbell's plans for the formation of a +greater Franklin, through the union of the people on the western +waters of Virginia with those of North Carolina, came to nought +when Virginia in the autumn of 1785 with stern decisiveness +passed an act making it high treason to erect an independent +government within her limits unless authorized by the assembly. +Sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to +establish a free state, writing to Governor Caswell: "We shall +continue to act independent and would rather suffer death, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span> +in all +its various and frightful shapes, than conform to anything that +is disgraceful." North Carolina, now proceeding with vigor +(November, 1786), fully reassumed its sovereignty and +jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed an act of +pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and +conciliatory measures. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="Page_324_2" id="Page_324_2"></a> +Driven to extremities, Cocke and Sevier in turn appealed for aid +and advice to Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor the new state had +been named. In response to Cocke, Franklin wrote (August 12, +1786): "I think you are perfectly right in resolving to submit +them [the Points in Dispute] to the Decision of Congress and to +abide by their Determination." +<a href="#Note_211"><span class="superscript">[211]</span></a> +Franklin's views change in the +interim; for when, almost a year later, Sevier asks him for +counsel, Franklin has come to the conclusion that the wisest move +for Sevier was not to appeal to Congress, but to endeavor to +effect some satisfactory compromise with North Carolina (June 30, +1787): +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +There are only two Things that Humanity induces me to wish you +may succeed in: The Accomodating your Misunderstanding with the +Government of North Carolina, by amicable Means; and the Avoiding +an Indian war, by preventing Encroaching on their Lands.… +The Inconvenience to your People attending so remote a Seat of +Government, and the difficulty to that Government in ruling well +so remote a People, would I think be powerful Inducements with +it, to accede to any fair & reasonable Proposition it may receive +from you towards an Accommodation. +<a href="#Note_212"><span class="superscript">[212]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +Despite Sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence—his +treaty with the Indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the +Cherokees into the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt +against others in face of the reality of revolt against himself, +his struggle, equivocal and half-hearted, with the North Carolina +authorities under Tipton—despite all these heroic efforts, the +star of Franklin swiftly declined. The vigorous measures pursued +by General Joseph Martin, and his effective influence focussed +upon a movement already honey-combed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">326</a></span> +with disaffection, finally +turned the scale. To the Franklin leaders he sent the urgent +message: "Nothing will do but a submission to the laws of North +Carolina." Early in April, 1788, Martin wrote to Governor +Randolph of Virginia: "I returned last evening from Green Co. +Washington destrict, North Carolina, after a tower through that +Co'ntry, and am happy to inform your Excellency that the late +unhappy dispute between the State of North Carolina, and the +pretended State of Franklin is subsided." Ever brave, constant, +and loyal to the interest of the pioneers, Sevier had originally +been drawn into the movement against his best judgment. Caught in +the unique trap, created by the passage of the cession act and +the sudden <i>volte-face</i> of its repeal, he struggled desperately to +extricate himself. Alone of all the leaders, the governor of +ill-starred Franklin remained recalcitrant. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a> +<a href="#contents">CHAPTER XX.</a> +</h2> +<p class="chaptertitle"> + The Lure of +Spain<a href="#Note_213"><span class="superscript">[213]</span></a>—The +Haven of Statehood +</p> +<p class="intro"> +The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what +part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness +and security depend, and they immediately infer that their +interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and +liberality of your government. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">John Sevier</span> to Don Diego de +Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. +</p> + +<p class="intro"> +From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent +to the late & more recent settlements on the Kentucky in the West +the same difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress +you, but by a series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited +exertions and unconquerable perseverance, they have been +altogether or in great measure subdued. +</p> +<p class="intro-source"> +—<span class="smcap">Governor Samuel Johnston</span> +to James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe, January 29, 1788. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<span class="dropcap">A</span> +<span class="smcap">strange</span> +sham-battle, staged like +some scene from <i>opéra bouffe</i>, +in the bleak snow-storm of February, 1788, is really the prelude +to a remarkable drama of revolt in which Sevier, Robertson, +Bledsoe, and the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> +Cumberland stalwarts play the leading rôles. On +February 27th, incensed beyond measure by the action of Colonel +John Tipton in harboring some of his slaves seized by the sheriff +under an execution issued by one of the North Carolina courts, +Sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents besieged Tipton with +a few of his friends in his home on Sinking Creek. The siege was +raised at daybreak on February 29th by the arrival of +reinforcements under Colonel Maxwell from Sullivan County; and +Sevier, who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his +forces after some desultory firing, in which two men were killed +and several wounded. Soon afterward Sevier sent word to Tipton +that on condition his life be spared he would submit to North +Carolina. On this note of tragi-comedy the State of Franklin +appeared quietly to expire. The usually sanguine Sevier, now +thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant settlements—deeply +despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans and +the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and +supporters. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">329</a></span> +The revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies +which he still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret +conspiracy to give over the State of Franklin into the protection +of a foreign power. +</p> + +<p> +The fame of Sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for +independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so +famous an advocate of liberty as Patrick Henry and winning the +sympathy of the Continental Congress. One of the most interested +observers of the progress of affairs in the State of Franklin was +Don Diego de Gardoqui, who had come to America in the spring of +1785, bearing a commission to the American Congress as Spanish +chargé d'affaires (<i>Encargados de Negocios</i>) to the +United States. In the course of his negotiations with Jay +concerning the right of navigation of the Mississippi River, +which Spain denied to the Americans, Gardoqui was not long in +discovering the violent resentment of the Western frontiersmen, +provoked by Jay's crass blunder in proposing that the American +republic, in return for reciprocal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +foreign advantages offered by Spain, should waive for +twenty-five years her right to navigate the Mississippi. The +Cumberland traders had already felt the heavy hand of Spain in +the confiscation of their goods at Natchez; but thus far the +leaders of the Tennessee frontiersmen had prudently restrained +the more turbulent agitators against the Spanish policy, fearing +lest the spirit of retaliation, once aroused, might know no +bounds. Throughout the entire region of the trans-Alleghany, a +feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed—quite as much the +result of dissatisfaction with the central government which +permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment +against the domination of Spain. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner had the shrewd and watchful Gardoqui, who was eager to +utilize the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in +the interest of his country, learned of Sevier's armed +insurrection against the authority of North Carolina than he +despatched an emissary to sound the leading men of Franklin and +the Cumberland settlements in regard to an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span> +alliance. This secret +emissary was Dr. James White, who had been appointed by the +United States Government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for +the Southern Department on November 29, 1786. Reporting as +instructed to Don Estevan Miró, governor of Louisiana, White, the +corrupt tool of Spain, stated concerning his confidential mission +that the leaders of "Frankland" and "Cumberland district" had +"eagerly accepted the conditions" laid down by Gardoqui: to take +the oath of allegiance to Spain, and to renounce all submission +or allegiance whatever to any other sovereign or power. Satisfied +by the secret advices received, the Spanish minister reported to +the home authorities his confident belief that the Tennessee +backwoodsmen, if diplomatically handled, would readily throw in +their lot with Spain. +<a href="#Note_214"><span class="superscript">[214]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +After the fiasco of his siege of Tipton's home, Sevier had seized +upon the renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees as a means of +regaining his popularity. This he counted upon doing by rallying +his old comrades-in-arms +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +under his standard and making one of his +meteoric, whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient Indian foe. The +victory of this erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "Nolichucky +Jack of the Border," over the Indians at a town on the Hiwassee +"so raised him in the esteem of the people on the frontier," +reports Colonel Maxwell, "that the people began [once more] to +flock to his standard." Inspirited by this good turn in his +fortunes, Sevier readily responded to Dr. White's overtures. +</p> + +<p> +Alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and +murders by the Indians in several Tennessee counties and on the +Kentucky road, Sevier, Robertson, and Anthony Bledsoe had +persuaded Governor Samuel Johnston of North Carolina to address +Gardoqui and request him to exert his influence to prevent +further acts of savage barbarity. In letters to Governor +Johnston, to Robertson, and to Sevier, all of date April 18th, +Gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely +surprised to know that there is a suspicion that the good +government +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span> +of Spain is encouraging these acts of barbarity." The +letters to Robertson and Sevier, read between the lines as +suggestive reinforcements of Spain's secret proposals, possess +real significance. The letter to Sevier contains this dexterously +expressed sentiment: "His Majesty is very favorably inclined to +give the inhabitants of that region all the protection that they +ask for and, on my part, I shall take very great pleasure in +contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." +</p> + +<p> +This letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of Dr. +White, furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the +Spaniards; and in July Sevier wrote to Gardoqui indicating his +readiness to accede to their proposals. After secret conferences +with men who had supported him throughout the vicissitudes of his +ill-starred state, Sevier carefully matured his plans. The +remarkable letter of great length which he wrote to Gardoqui on +September 12, 1788, reveals the conspiracy in all its details and +presents in vivid colors the strong separatist sentiment of the +day. Sevier +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span> +urgently petitions Gardoqui for the loan of a few +thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and +necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan +within a short time "by sending the products of this region to +the lower ports." Upon the vital matter of "delivering" the State +of Franklin to Spain, he forthrightly says: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +Since my last of the 18th of July, upon consulting with the +principal men of this country, I have been particularly happy to +find that they are equally disposed and ready as I am to accept +your propositions and guarantees. You may be sure that the +pleasing hopes and ideas which the people of this country hold +with regard to the probability of an alliance with, and +commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and that we are +unanimously determined on that score. The people of this region +have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon +which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they +immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend +entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government.… +Being the first from this side of the Appalachian Mountains +to resort in this way to your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span> +protection and liberality, we feel +encouraged to entertain the greatest hope that we shall be +granted all reasonable aid by him who is so amply able to do it, +and to give the protection and help that is asked of him in this +petition. You know our delicate situation and the difficulties in +which we are in respect to our mother State which is making use +of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity of +this country.… Before I conclude, it may be necessary to +remind you that there will be no more favorable occasion than the +present one to put this plan into execution. North Carolina has +rejected the Constitution and moreover it seems to me that a +considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the +Union, if that event ever happens. +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +Through Miró, Gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar +correspondence with General James Wilkinson. The object of the +Spanish conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, +was to seduce Kentucky from her allegiance to the United States. +Despite the superficial similarity between the situation of +Franklin and Kentucky, it would be doing Sevier and his adherents +a capital +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span> +injustice to place them in the category of the corrupt +Wilkinson and the malodorous Sebastian. Moreover, the +secessionists of Franklin, as indicated in the above letter, had +the excuse of being left virtually without a country. On the +preceding August 1st, North Carolina had rejected the +Constitution of the United States; and the leaders of Franklin, +who were sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her +indifference and neglect, now felt themselves more than ever out +of the Union and wholly repudiated by the mother state. Again, +Sevier had the embittered feeling resultant from outlawry. +Because of his course in opposing the laws and government of +North Carolina and in the killing of several good citizens, +including the sheriff of Washington County, by his forces at +Sinking Creek, Sevier, through the action of Governor Johnston of +North Carolina, had been attainted of high treason. Under the +heavy burden of this grave charge, he felt his hold upon Franklin +relax. Further, an atrocity committed in the recent campaign +under +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +Sevier's leadership—Kirk's brutal murder of Corn Tassel, a +noble old Indian, and other chieftains, while under the +protection of a flag of truce—had placed a bar sinister across +the fair fame of this stalwart of the border. Utter desperation +thus prompted Sevier's acceptance of Gardoqui's offer of the +protection of Spain. +</p> + +<p> +John Sevier's son, James, bore the letter of September 12th to +Gardoqui. By a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day +(October 10, 1788) that Gardoqui wrote to Miró, recommending to +the attention of Spain Dr. White and James Sevier, the emissaries +of Franklin, with their plans and proposals, John Sevier was +arrested by Colonel Tipton at the Widow Brown's in Washington +County, on the charge of high treason. He was handcuffed and +borne off, first to Jonesborough and later to Morganton. But his +old friends and former comrades-in-arms, Charles and Joseph +McDowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and Morrison, +the sheriff, who also had fought at King's Mountain, knocked the +irons from his wrists and released him on +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span> +parole. Soon afterward +a number of Sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, +rode across the mountains to Morganton and silently bore him +away, never to be arrested again. In November an act of pardon +and oblivion with respect to Franklin was passed by the North +Carolina Assembly. Although Sevier was forbidden to hold office +under the state, the passage of this act automatically operated +to clear him of the alleged offense of high treason. With affairs +in Franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder that Gardoqui +and Miró paid no further heed to Sevier's proposal to accept the +protection of Spain. Sevier's continued agitation in behalf of +the independence of Franklin inspired Governor Johnston with the +fear that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last +extremity." But Sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was +pardoned, given a seat in the North Carolina assembly, and with +extraordinary consideration honored with his former rank of +brigadier-general. +</p> + +<p> +When Dr. White reported to Miró that the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +leaders of "Frankland" +had eagerly accepted Gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with +Spain, he categorically added: "With regard to Cumberland +district, what I have said of Frankland applies to it with equal +force and truth." James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe had but +recently availed themselves of the good offices of Governor +Johnston of North Carolina in the effort to influence Gardoqui to +quiet the Creek Indians. The sagacious and unscrupulous half +breed Alexander McGillivray had placed the Creeks under the +protection of Spain in 1784; and shortly afterward they began to +be regularly supplied with ammunition by the Spanish authorities. +At first Spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these +Indians to resist the encroachments of the Americans, while she +remained on outwardly friendly terms with the United States. +During the period of the Spanish conspiracy, however, there is +reason to believe that Miró endeavored to keep the Indians at +peace with the borderers, as a friendly service, intended to pave +the way for the establishment +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +of intimate relations between Spain +and the dwellers in the trans-Alleghany. Yet his efforts cannot +have been very effective; for the Cumberland settlements +continued to suffer from the ravages and depredations of the +Creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, notwithstanding +they have had no cause of offence"; and Robertson and Bledsoe +reported to Governor Caswell (June 12, 1787): "It is certain, the +Chickasaws inform us, that Spanish traders offer a reward for +scalps of the Americans." The Indian atrocities became so +frequent that Robertson later in the summer headed a party on the +famous Coldwater Expedition, in which he severely chastised the +marauding Indians. Aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and +warriors at the hands of Robertson's men, and instigated, as was +generally believed, by the Spaniards, the Creeks then prosecuted +their attacks with renewed violence against the Cumberland +settlements. +</p> + +<p> +Unprotected either by the mother state or by the national +government, unable to secure +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +free passage to the Gulf for their +products, and sorely pressed to defend their homes, now seriously +endangered by the incessant attacks of the Creeks, the Cumberland +leaders decided to make secret overtures to McGillivray, as well +as to communicate to Miró, through Dr. White, their favorable +inclination toward the proposals of the one country which +promised them protection. In a letter which McGillivray wrote to +Miró (transmitted to Madrid, June 15, 1788) in regard to the +visit of Messrs. Hackett and Ewing, two trusty messengers sent by +Robertson and Bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the +district of Cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of +peace but "had added that they would throw themselves into the +arms of His Majesty as subjects, and that Kentucky and Cumberland +are determined to free themselves from their dependence on +Congress, because that body can not protect either their +property, or favor their commerce, and they therefore believe +that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is incapable +of protecting them." +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span> +Commenting upon McGillivray's communication, +Miró said in his report to Madrid (June 15, 1788): "I consider as +extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to McGillivray by +the deputies on the fermentation existing in Kentucky, with +regard to a separation from the Union. Concerning the proposition +made to McGillivray by the inhabitants of Cumberland to become +the vassals of His Majesty, I have refrained from returning any +precise answer." +</p> + +<p> +In his long letter of reply to Robertson and Bledsoe, McGillivray +agreed to make peace between his nation, the Creeks, and the +Cumberland settlers. This letter was most favorably received and +given wide circulation throughout the West. In a most +ingratiating reply, offering McGillivray a fine gun and a lot in +Nashville, Robertson throws out the following broad suggestion, +which he obviously wishes McGillivray to convey to Miró: "In all +probability we cannot long remain in our present state, and if +the British or any commercial nation who may be in possession of +the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +mouth of the Mississippi would furnish us with trade, and +receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the +west side of the Appalachian mountains will open their eyes to +their real interest." Robertson actually had the district erected +out of the counties of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee given the +name of "Miró" by the Assembly of North Carolina in November, +1788—a significant symbol of the desires of the Cumberland +leaders. In a letter (April 23, 1789), Miró, who had just +received letters from Robertson (January 29th) and Daniel Smith +(March 4th) postmarked "District of Miró," observes: "The bearer, +Fagot, a confidential agent of Gen. Smith, informed me that the +inhabitants of Cumberland, or Miró, would ask North Carolina for +an act of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this +should be obtained other delegates would be sent from Cumberland +to New Orleans, with the object of placing that territory under +the domination of His Majesty. I replied to both in general +terms." +<a href="#Note_215"><span class="superscript">[215]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span> +Robertson, Bledsoe, and Smith were successful in keeping secret +their correspondence with McGillivray and Miró; and few were in +the secret of Sevier's effort to deliver the State of Franklin to +Spain. Joseph Martin was less successful in his negotiations; and +a great sensation was created throughout the Southern colonies +when a private letter from Joseph Martin to McGillivray (November +8, 1788) was intercepted. In this letter Martin said: "I must beg +that you write me by the first opportunity in answer to what I am +now going to say to you.… I hope to do honor to any part of +the world I settle in, and am determined to leave the United +States, for reasons that I can assign to you when we meet, but +durst not trust it to paper." The general assembly of Georgia +referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor +of North Carolina (January 24, 1789); and the result was a +legislative investigation into Martin's conduct. Eleven months +later, the North Carolina assembly exonerated him. From the +correspondence of Joseph Martin and Patrick +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">345</a></span> +Henry, it would +appear that Martin, on Henry's advice, had acted as a spy upon +the Spaniards, in order to discover the views of McGillivray, to +protect the exposed white settlements from the Indians, and to +fathom the designs of the Spaniards against the United States. +<a href="#Note_216"><span class="superscript">[216]</span></a> +</p> + +<p> +The sensational disclosures of Martin's intercepted letter had no +deterrent effect upon James Robertson in the attempted execution +of his plan for detaching the Cumberland settlements from North +Carolina. History has taken no account of the fact that Robertson +and the inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act +of separation from North Carolina. In the event of success, the +next move planned by the Cumberland leaders, as we have already +seen, was to send delegates to New Orleans for the purpose of +placing the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain. +</p> + +<p> +A hitherto unknown letter, from Robertson to (Miró), dated +Nashville, September 2, 1789, proves that a convention of the +people +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">346</a></span> +was actually held—the first overt step looking to an +alliance with Spain. In this letter Robertson says: +</p> +<blockquote> +<p> +I must beg your Excellency's permission to take this early +opportunity of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing +by Mr. White. +</p> + +<p> +I still hope that your Government, and these Settlements, are +destined to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are +impressed with the necessity of it. +</p> + +<p> +We have just held a Convention; which has agreed that our +members shall insist on being Seperated from North Carolina. +</p> + +<p> +Unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new Congress of the +United States; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting +Connection. +</p> + +<p> +The United States afford us no protection. The district of Miró +is daily plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the Creeks, +and Cherokees, unprovoked. +</p> + +<p> +For my own part, I conceive highly of the advantages of your +Government. +<a href="#Note_217"><span class="superscript">[217]</span></a> +</p> +</blockquote> +<p> +A serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of Robertson and +the other leaders of the Cumberland settlements was the prompt +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">347</a></span> +action of North Carolina. In actual conformity with the wishes of +the Western people, as set forth in the petition of Robertson and +Hayes, their representatives, made two years earlier, +<a href="#Note_218"><span class="superscript">[218]</span></a> +the legislature of North Carolina in December passed the second act +of cession, by which the Western territory of North Carolina was +ceded to the United States. Instead of securing an act of +separation from North Carolina as the preparatory step to forming +what Robertson calls "a more interesting connection" with Spain, +Robertson and his associates now found themselves and the +transmontane region which they represented flung bodily into the +arms of the United States. Despite the unequivocal offer of the +calculating and desperate Sevier to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, +and the ingenious efforts of Robertson and his associates to +place the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain, the +Spanish court by its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision +definitely relinquished the ready opportunities thereby afforded, +of utilizing the powerful separatist tendencies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">348</a></span> +of Tennessee for +the purpose of adding the empire upon the Western waters to the +Spanish domain in America. +</p> + +<p> +The year 1790 marks the end of an era—the heroic age of the +pioneers of the Old Southwest. Following the acceptance of North +Carolina's deed of cession of her Western lands to the Union +(April 2, 1790) the Southwest Territory was erected on May 26th; +and William Blount, a North Carolina gentleman of eminence and +distinction, was appointed on June 8th to the post of governor of +the territory. Two years later (June 1, 1792) Kentucky was +admitted into the Union. +</p> + +<p> +It is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of +the martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane +people, that the two men to whom the Western country in great +measure owed its preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits +of the King's Mountain campaign, were the unopposed first choice +of the people as leaders in the trying experiment of +Statehood—John Sevier of Tennessee and Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. +Had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">349</a></span> +Franklin possessed the patient will of Kentucky, she might +well have preceded that region into the Union. It was not, +however, until June 1, 1796, that Tennessee, after a romantic and +arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals +into the domain of national statehood. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="notes"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">351</a></span> +</p> + +<h2><a href="#contents">LIST OF NOTES</a></h2> + +<p> +<a name="Note_1" id="Note_1"></a> +<a href="#Page_xi"><span class="superscript">1</span></a> +Roosevelt's <i>The Winning of the West</i>, a stirring recital with chief stress +thrown upon the militant characteristics of the frontiersmen, is open to grave +criticism because of failure to give adequate account of social and economic +tendencies, the development of democracy, and the evolution of government under +the pressure of frontier conditions. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_2" id="Note_2"></a> +<a href="#Page_xv"><span class="superscript">2</span></a> +Johnson MSS., xii, No. 127. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_3" id="Note_3"></a> +<a href="#Page_xviii_2"><span class="superscript">3</span></a> +<i>Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 and 1797</i>, +217. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_4" id="Note_4"></a> +<a href="#Page_xix"><span class="superscript">4</span></a> +Turner: "Significance of the Frontier in American History," American +Historical Association <i>Report</i>, 1893. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_5" id="Note_5"></a> +<a href="#Page_10"><span class="superscript">5</span></a> +Hugh Williamson: <i>History of North Carolina</i> (1812), ii, 71-2. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_6" id="Note_6"></a> +<a href="#Page_12"><span class="superscript">6</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xiii, 133; <i>William and Mary +Quarterly</i>, ix, 132. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_7" id="Note_7"></a> +<a href="#Page_12"><span class="superscript">7</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, op. cit. Cf. also <i>West Virginia +Historical Magazine</i>, April, 1903. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_8" id="Note_8"></a> +<a href="#Page_13"><span class="superscript">8</span></a> +Bernheim: <i>The German Element and the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_9" id="Note_9"></a> +<a href="#Page_14_2"><span class="superscript">9</span></a> +For this and other Moravian diaries, see <i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, +vols xi and xii. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_10" id="Note_10"></a> +<a href="#Page_16_2"><span class="superscript">10</span></a> +Original diary in German in Archives of the Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, +N. C. Cf. Mereness, <i>Travels in the American Colonies 1690-1783</i>, +327-356. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_11" id="Note_11"></a> +<a href="#Page_22"><span class="superscript">11</span></a> +Cf. original minutes of Abington and Gwynedd Monthly Meetings, Pa. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_12" id="Note_12"></a> +<a href="#Page_22"><span class="superscript">12</span></a> +MS. History of Bryan family, compiled by Col. W. L. Bryan, +Boone, N. C. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_13" id="Note_13"></a> +<a href="#Page_22"><span class="superscript">13</span></a> +Ely: <i>The Finleys of Bucks</i> (Publications, Bucks County Historical +Society); also "Historic Associations of Neshaminy Valley," <i>Daily +Intelligencer</i> (Reading, Pa.), July 29, 1913. See also Wisconsin +State Historical Society, Draper MSS., 2 B 161. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span> +<a name="Note_14" id="Note_14"></a> +<a href="#Page_23"><span class="superscript">14</span></a> +"The Creative Forces in Westward Expansion," <i>American Historical Review</i>, +xx, 1. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_15" id="Note_15"></a> +<a href="#Page_25"><span class="superscript">15</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vii, 100-101. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_16" id="Note_16"></a> +<a href="#Page_26"><span class="superscript">16</span></a> +<i>Magazine of American History</i>, November, 1881. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_17" id="Note_17"></a> +<a href="#Page_28"><span class="superscript">17</span></a> +Foote: <i>Sketches of North Carolina</i>, xiii. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_18" id="Note_18"></a> +<a href="#Page_33"><span class="superscript">18</span></a> +Howe: <i>History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_19" id="Note_19"></a> +<a href="#Page_33_2"><span class="superscript">19</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xiii, 127-8-9. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_20" id="Note_20"></a> +<a href="#Page_34"><span class="superscript">20</span></a> +Draper: MS. Life of Boone; Draper Collection, Wisconsin State Historical +Society. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_21" id="Note_21"></a> +<a href="#Page_34"><span class="superscript">21</span></a> +Rowan County Records, Salisbury, N. C. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_22" id="Note_22"></a> +<a href="#Page_35_2"><span class="superscript">22</span></a> +Rumple: <i>History of Rowan County</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_23" id="Note_23"></a> +<a href="#Page_36"><span class="superscript">23</span></a> +Logan: <i>History of Upper South Carolina</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_24" id="Note_24"></a> +<a href="#Page_37"><span class="superscript">24</span></a> +"Diary of Bishop Spangenberg" (1752), <i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_25" id="Note_25"></a> +<a href="#Page_37"><span class="superscript">25</span></a> +Sheets: <i>History of Liberty Baptist Association</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_26" id="Note_26"></a> +<a href="#Page_38"><span class="superscript">26</span></a> +Moravian Community Diary, preserved at Winston-Salem, N. C. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_27" id="Note_27"></a> +<a href="#Page_39"><span class="superscript">27</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 6. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_28" id="Note_28"></a> +<a href="#Page_40_2"><span class="superscript">28</span></a> +J. F. D. Smyth: <i>A Tour in the United States of America</i> +(London: 1784), vol. 1. Chapter xxiii. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_29" id="Note_29"></a> +<a href="#Page_41"><span class="superscript">29</span></a> +Unpublished MS.: "In the Olden Time." +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_30" id="Note_30"></a> +<a href="#Page_43"><span class="superscript">30</span></a> +Margry: <i>Navigation of the Mississippi</i>, iv, 322. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_31" id="Note_31"></a> +<a href="#Page_44"><span class="superscript">31</span></a> +Raunié: <i>Chansonnier historique du +xviii<span class="superscript">e</span> siècle</i>, +iii, 132-3. This translation is by Barbara Henderson. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_32" id="Note_32"></a> +<a href="#Page_44_2"><span class="superscript">32</span></a> +J. Haywood: <i>Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee</i> (1823), 223. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_33" id="Note_33"></a> +<a href="#Page_46"><span class="superscript">33</span></a> +Byrd: <i>History of the Dividing Line</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_34" id="Note_34"></a> +<a href="#Page_50"><span class="superscript">34</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 25. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_35" id="Note_35"></a> +<a href="#Page_51"><span class="superscript">35</span></a> +D. D. Wallace: <i>The Life of Henry Laurens</i>, Appendix iv. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_36" id="Note_36"></a> +<a href="#Page_52"><span class="superscript">36</span></a> +See also Hewit in Carroll's <i>Collections</i>, i, 435. Fort Prince George was +located in the fork of the Six Mile Creek and Keowee River, in the southwestern +part of Pickens County, and was completed probably by the end of 1753 (<i>South +Carolina Gazette</i>, December 17, 1753). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_37" id="Note_37"></a> +<a href="#Page_52"><span class="superscript">37</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 140. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_38" id="Note_38"></a> +<a href="#Page_54"><span class="superscript">38</span></a> +Cited in Channing, <i>History of the United States</i>, ii, 5-73 n. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_39" id="Note_39"></a> +<a href="#Page_55_2"><span class="superscript">39</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 333, 357. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +<a name="Note_40" id="Note_40"></a> +<a href="#Page_57"><span class="superscript">40</span></a> +Moravian Community Diary. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_41" id="Note_41"></a> +<a href="#Page_58"><span class="superscript">41</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 849. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_42" id="Note_42"></a> +<a href="#Page_60"><span class="superscript">42</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xiii, 225-264. <i>North Carolina Colonial +Records</i>, v, 560, 617. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_43" id="Note_43"></a> +<a href="#Page_61_2"><span class="superscript">43</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 579. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_44" id="Note_44"></a> +<a href="#Page_62"><span class="superscript">44</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 641, 742, 849. Cf. also Hunter: +<i>Sketches of Western North Carolina</i>, 325. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_45" id="Note_45"></a> +<a href="#Page_63"><span class="superscript">45</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 604, 639. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_46" id="Note_46"></a> +<a href="#Page_65"><span class="superscript">46</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xiii, 263; <i>North Carolina Colonial +Records</i>, v, 606, 609, 613. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_47" id="Note_47"></a> +<a href="#Page_67"><span class="superscript">47</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 585, 612-4, 635, 637. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_48" id="Note_48"></a> +<a href="#Page_68_2"><span class="superscript">48</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 610; Cf. Timberlake's "A Draught of +the Cherokee Country" in Avery's <i>History of the United States</i>, iv, +facing p. 347; Ramsey, <i>History of Tennessee</i>, 57. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_49" id="Note_49"></a> +<a href="#Page_69"><span class="superscript">49</span></a> +Summers: <i>Southwest Virginia</i>, 57-60. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_50" id="Note_50"></a> +<a href="#Page_70"><span class="superscript">50</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xv, 254-7; Waddell, <i>Augusta County</i> +(second edition), 115-6, 150-1. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_51" id="Note_51"></a> +<a href="#Page_70"><span class="superscript">51</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v, 606-8. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_52" id="Note_52"></a> +<a href="#Page_70"><span class="superscript">52</span></a> +Summers: <i>Southwest Virginia</i>, 60-1. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_53" id="Note_53"></a> +<a href="#Page_71"><span class="superscript">53</span></a> +Williamson: <i>History of North Carolina</i>, ii, 37, footnote. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_54" id="Note_54"></a> +<a href="#Page_71"><span class="superscript">54</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 563; xi, map facing p. 80, and p. +227. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_55" id="Note_55"></a> +<a href="#Page_73"><span class="superscript">55</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, v. Introduction, pp. xxx-xxxi. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_56" id="Note_56"></a> +<a href="#Page_74"><span class="superscript">56</span></a> +Carroll's <i>Collections</i>, i, 433; ii, 519-20; Draper's MS. Life of Boone, +iii, 65-6. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_57" id="Note_57"></a> +<a href="#Page_74"><span class="superscript">57</span></a> +Sparks: <i>Washington</i>, ii, 322. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_58" id="Note_58"></a> +<a href="#Page_74"><span class="superscript">58</span></a> +Journal: "Concerning a March that Capt. Robt. Wade took to the New River," in +Summers, <i>Southwest Virginia</i>. 62-66. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_59" id="Note_59"></a> +<a href="#Page_75"><span class="superscript">59</span></a> +Carroll's <i>Collections</i>, i, 443-4. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_60" id="Note_60"></a> +<a href="#Page_75"><span class="superscript">60</span></a> +<i>South Carolina Gazette</i>, May 12, 1759. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_61" id="Note_61"></a> +<a href="#Page_76"><span class="superscript">61</span></a> +<i>South Carolina Gazette</i>, July 14, 1759. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_62" id="Note_62"></a> +<a href="#Page_77"><span class="superscript">62</span></a> +<i>South Carolina Gazette</i>, Aug. 4, Sept. 22, 1759. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_63" id="Note_63"></a> +<a href="#Page_77"><span class="superscript">63</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vi, 221. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_64" id="Note_64"></a> +<a href="#Page_80"><span class="superscript">64</span></a> +Draper: MS. Life of Boone, iii, 75. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_65" id="Note_65"></a> +<a href="#Page_82"><span class="superscript">65</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vi, 229-230. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_66" id="Note_66"></a> +<a href="#Page_82_2"><span class="superscript">66</span></a> +For a full account of the part which Fort Dobbs played +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">354</a></span> +in this Indian warfare see the monograph, <i>Fort Dobbs</i>, by +Mrs. M. H. Eliason. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_67" id="Note_67"></a> +<a href="#Page_84"><span class="superscript">67</span></a> +<i>Maryland Gazette</i>, May 8, 1760; Haywood: <i>Natural and Aboriginal +History of Tennessee</i>, 239-40; <i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, +xxii, 822. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_68" id="Note_68"></a> +<a href="#Page_86"><span class="superscript">68</span></a> +"Notes on the Indians and the Early Settlers of Western North Carolina," +Collections of the North Carolina Historical Commission. Printed in +<i>Papers of A. D. Murphy</i>, ii, 380 <i>et seq</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_69" id="Note_69"></a> +<a href="#Page_87"><span class="superscript">69</span></a> +<i>Maryland Gazette</i>, May 8, 1760. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_70" id="Note_70"></a> +<a href="#Page_93"><span class="superscript">70</span></a> +<i>South Carolina Gazette</i>, Dec. 23, 1760; Feb. 28, April 11, 1761. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_71" id="Note_71"></a> +<a href="#Page_93"><span class="superscript">71</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vi, 622. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_72" id="Note_72"></a> +<a href="#Page_102"><span class="superscript">72</span></a> +J. S. Johnston: <i>The First Explorations of Kentucky</i>. Filson Club +Publications, No. 13. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_73" id="Note_73"></a> +<a href="#Page_103"><span class="superscript">73</span></a> +<i>William and Mary College Quarterly</i>, xii, 129-134; Young: <i>Genealogical +Narrative of the Hart Family</i> (1882); Nash: "History of Orange County," +<i>North Carolina Booklet</i>; Henderson: "A Federalist of the Old School," +<i>North Carolina Booklet</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_74" id="Note_74"></a> +<a href="#Page_103"><span class="superscript">74</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, ix, 349. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_75" id="Note_75"></a> +<a href="#Page_104"><span class="superscript">75</span></a> +Turner: "The Old West," Wisconsin Historical Society <i>Proceedings</i>, 1908. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_76" id="Note_76"></a> +<a href="#Page_104_2"><span class="superscript">76</span></a> +Cf. "Memoir of Pleasant Henderson," Draper MSS. 2CC21-23; W. H. Battle: "A +Memoir of Leonard Henderson," <i>North Carolina University Magazine</i>, Nov., +1859; T. B. Kingsbury: "Chief Justice Leonard Henderson," <i>Wake Forest +Student</i>, November, 1898. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_77" id="Note_77"></a> +<a href="#Page_105"><span class="superscript">77</span></a> +"The Life and Times of Richard Henderson," in the <i>Charlotte Observer</i>, +March 9 to June 1, 1913; Draper's MS. Life of Boone; Morehead's <i>Address</i> +at Boonesborough, 105 n. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_78" id="Note_78"></a> +<a href="#Page_106"><span class="superscript">78</span></a> +C. W. Alvord: "The Genesis of the Proclamation of 1763," <i>Michigan Pioneer +and Historical Collections</i>, xxxvi. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_79" id="Note_79"></a> +<a href="#Page_107"><span class="superscript">79</span></a> +Sparks: <i>Works of Franklin</i> (1844), iii, 69-77. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_80" id="Note_80"></a> +<a href="#Page_108_2"><span class="superscript">80</span></a> +J. M. Peck to L. C. Draper, May 15, 1854. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_81" id="Note_81"></a> +<a href="#Page_108_2"><span class="superscript">81</span></a> +Washington to Crawford, September 21, 1767, in Sparks: <i>Life and Writings of +Washington</i>, ii, 346-50. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_82" id="Note_82"></a> +<a href="#Page_109"><span class="superscript">82</span></a> +Haywood: <i>Civil and Political History of Tennessee</i> (1823), 35. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_83" id="Note_83"></a> +<a href="#Page_110"><span class="superscript">83</span></a> +Ramsey: <i>Annals of Tennessee</i> (1853), 69-70. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span> +<a name="Note_84" id="Note_84"></a> +<a href="#Page_110_2"><span class="superscript">84</span></a> +Ramsey: <i>Annals of Tennessee</i>, 69. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_85" id="Note_85"></a> +<a href="#Page_111"><span class="superscript">85</span></a> +Cf. C. W. Alvord: "The British Ministry and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix," +Wisconsin Historical Society <i>Proceedings</i>, 1908. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_86" id="Note_86"></a> +<a href="#Page_112"><span class="superscript">86</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vii, 851-855. For Tryon's line, ibid., +245, 460, 470, 508. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_87" id="Note_87"></a> +<a href="#Page_112"><span class="superscript">87</span></a> +Johnson to Gage, December 16, 1768. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_88" id="Note_88"></a> +<a href="#Page_115"><span class="superscript">88</span></a> +Jefferson MSS. Department of state. Cf. also Weeks: <i>General Joseph Martin</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_89" id="Note_89"></a> +<a href="#Page_118"><span class="superscript">89</span></a> +Hanna: <i>The Wilderness Trail</i>, ii, 216, 230, 255; Darlington: <i>Journals of +Gist</i>, 131. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_90" id="Note_90"></a> +<a href="#Page_125"><span class="superscript">90</span></a> +"Narrative of General William Hall," Draper MSS., Wisconsin State Historical +Society. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_91" id="Note_91"></a> +<a href="#Page_127_2"><span class="superscript">91</span></a> +Draper: MS. Life of Boone, viii, 238. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_92" id="Note_92"></a> +<a href="#Page_134"><span class="superscript">92</span></a> +Summers: <i>Southwest Virginia</i>, 76. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_93" id="Note_93"></a> +<a href="#Page_141"><span class="superscript">93</span></a> +<i>Papers of A. D. Murphy</i>, ii, 386. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_94" id="Note_94"></a> +<a href="#Page_141"><span class="superscript">94</span></a> +<i>Pennsylvania Journal</i>, October 29, 1769. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_95" id="Note_95"></a> +<a href="#Page_144_2"><span class="superscript">95</span></a> +Compare "John Finley; and Kentucky before Boone," being chapter seven in +volume two of C. A. Hanna's <i>The Wilderness Trail</i> (1911). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_96" id="Note_96"></a> +<a href="#Page_147_2"><span class="superscript">96</span></a> +J. W. Monette: <i>History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the +Mississippi</i> (1846), ii, 53. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_97" id="Note_97"></a> +<a href="#Page_148"><span class="superscript">97</span></a> +Court Records of Rowan County. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_98" id="Note_98"></a> +<a href="#Page_149"><span class="superscript">98</span></a> +Cf. "The Pioneers of the West" in <i>Missouri Republican</i> (1847). Cf. also +Putnam: <i>Middle Tennessee</i>, 20. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_99" id="Note_99"></a> +<a href="#Page_149"><span class="superscript">99</span></a> +J. M. Peck to L. C. Draper, May 15, 1854. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_100" id="Note_100"></a> +<a href="#Page_153"><span class="superscript">100</span></a> +<i>Missouri Republican</i> (1847). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_101" id="Note_101"></a> +<a href="#Page_153"><span class="superscript">101</span></a> +<i>A Memorial to the Legislature of Kentucky</i> (1812). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_102" id="Note_102"></a> +<a href="#Page_154"><span class="superscript">102</span></a> +Deposition Book No. 1, p. 156, Clark County Court, Kentucky. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_103" id="Note_103"></a> +<a href="#Page_158"><span class="superscript">103</span></a> +Cf. "Daniel Boone and the Wilderness Trail," <i>Bristol</i> (Tennessee-Virginia) +<i>Herald Courier</i>, Boone Trail Edition, April, 1917. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_104" id="Note_104"></a> +<a href="#Page_159"><span class="superscript">104</span></a> +Hall: <i>The Romance of Western History</i> (1857), 150-1, 158-9. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_105" id="Note_105"></a> +<a href="#Page_167"><span class="superscript">105</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vii, 713. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_106" id="Note_106"></a> +<a href="#Page_169"><span class="superscript">106</span></a> +Martin: <i>History of North Carolina</i>, ii, 191. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_107" id="Note_107"></a> +<a href="#Page_170"><span class="superscript">107</span></a> +"The Origin of the Regulation in North Carolina," <i>American Historical +Review</i>, xxi, No. 2. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_108" id="Note_108"></a> +<a href="#Page_172"><span class="superscript">108</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vii, 14-31, 32-4, 37. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">356</a></span> +<a name="Note_109" id="Note_109"></a> +<a href="#Page_173_2"><span class="superscript">109</span></a> +<i>Raleigh (N. C.) Register</i>, June 2, 1825. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_110" id="Note_110"></a> +<a href="#Page_177"><span class="superscript">110</span></a> +Cf. Tryon's Journal, <i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vii, 819-838. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_111" id="Note_111"></a> +<a href="#Page_177"><span class="superscript">111</span></a> +Tryon to Hillsborough, December 24, 1768. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_112" id="Note_112"></a> +<a href="#Page_179"><span class="superscript">112</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 231-4. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_113" id="Note_113"></a> +<a href="#Page_180"><span class="superscript">113</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 241-244. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_114" id="Note_114"></a> +<a href="#Page_181"><span class="superscript">114</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 241-244. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_115" id="Note_115"></a> +<a href="#Page_182"><span class="superscript">115</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 236-240. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_116" id="Note_116"></a> +<a href="#Page_182"><span class="superscript">116</span></a> +Cf. J. S. Bassett: "The Regulators of North Carolina (1765-1771)", American +Historical Association <i>Report</i> for 1894. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_117" id="Note_117"></a> +<a href="#Page_184"><span class="superscript">117</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, x, 1019-1022; Caruthers: <i>Life of +Caldwell</i>, 145-158. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_118" id="Note_118"></a> +<a href="#Page_185"><span class="superscript">118</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, vi, 250. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_119" id="Note_119"></a> +<a href="#Page_185"><span class="superscript">119</span></a> +Alderman: "The Baptists at the Forks of the Yadkin," in <i>Baptist Historical +Papers</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_120" id="Note_120"></a> +<a href="#Page_186"><span class="superscript">120</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, viii, 70-80. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_121" id="Note_121"></a> +<a href="#Page_187"><span class="superscript">121</span></a> +The discovery of an immense quantity of contemporary documents, since +Roosevelt's <i>The Winning of the West</i> was written, betrays the numerous +inaccuracies of that fascinating work, as well as the imperfect perspective in +the picture of the westward expansionist movement. Mr. Roosevelt's virile +apotheosis of the strenuous pioneer seems today almost as old-fashioned in its +method and outlook as is Draper's work on King's Mountain. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_122" id="Note_122"></a> +<a href="#Page_188"><span class="superscript">122</span></a> +Bancroft Transcripts, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_123" id="Note_123"></a> +<a href="#Page_190"><span class="superscript">123</span></a> +Purefoy: <i>History of Sandy Creek Baptist Association</i> (1859). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_124" id="Note_124"></a> +<a href="#Page_191"><span class="superscript">124</span></a> +Cf. "Pioneer Contributions of North Carolina to Kentucky," <i>Charlotte +(N. C.) Observer</i>, November 10, 1913. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_125" id="Note_125"></a> +<a href="#Page_192"><span class="superscript">125</span></a> +Summers: <i>Southwest Virginia</i>, 616-8. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_126" id="Note_126"></a> +<a href="#Page_192"><span class="superscript">126</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, xiv, 314. Cf. Farrand: "The Indian +Boundary Line," <i>American Historical Review</i>, x. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_127" id="Note_127"></a> +<a href="#Page_194"><span class="superscript">127</span></a> +Dunmore to Hillsborough, March, 1772. Cf. also Draper, MS. Life of Boone, +Draper MSS., 3 B 87, 88. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_128" id="Note_128"></a> +<a href="#Page_194_2"><span class="superscript">128</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, x, 885-6. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_129" id="Note_129"></a> +<a href="#Page_197"><span class="superscript">129</span></a> +Moses Fisk: "A Summary Notice of the First Settlements made by White People +within the Limits which Bound the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span> +State of Tennessee," in <i>Massachusetts Historical Collections</i>, 1st series +(1816). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_130" id="Note_130"></a> +<a href="#Page_198"><span class="superscript">130</span></a> +Dunmore to Dartmouth, May 16, 1774. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_131" id="Note_131"></a> +<a href="#Page_200"><span class="superscript">131</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, ix, 825-6, 982. MS. Copy in Minutes of +Council, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, 5:355. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_132" id="Note_132"></a> +<a href="#Page_200"><span class="superscript">132</span></a> +Haywood: <i>Civil and Political History of Tennessee</i> (1823), 40. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_133" id="Note_133"></a> +<a href="#Page_201"><span class="superscript">133</span></a> +Butler: <i>History of Kentucky</i> (1836), p. lxvii, note. Also Draper MSS., +2 CC 34. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_134" id="Note_134"></a> +<a href="#Page_202"><span class="superscript">134</span></a> +Wharton: <i>Plain Facts</i> (1781), 9. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_135" id="Note_135"></a> +<a href="#Page_202"><span class="superscript">135</span></a> +Alvord: <i>The Illinois-Wabash Land Company Manuscript</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_136" id="Note_136"></a> +<a href="#Page_202"><span class="superscript">136</span></a> +A copy of the opinion, bearing this date, is in the Henderson papers, Draper +collection, Wisconsin Historical Society. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_137" id="Note_137"></a> +<a href="#Page_202"><span class="superscript">137</span></a> +Extended investigation establishes beyond question that Judge Henderson was +proceeding in strict accordance with law in seeking to acquire title by purchase +from the Cherokees instead of applying to the royal government for a grant. +When Virginia's sea-to-sea charter was abrogated in 1624, Virginia became a +royal province and the settlement of boundaries a royal prerogative. Of the +three presumed Indian claimants to the trans-Alleghany region, viz., the +Iroquois, Shawanoes, and Cherokees, the Iroquois by defeating the Shawanoes and +their confederates in the Ohio Valley at the battle of Sandy Island in 1672 +acquired title, as understood by the Indians, to this region. By the treaties of +Lancaster (1744), Loggstown (1752), and Fort Stanwix (1768), the claims of the +Shawanoes and the Iroquois to the trans-Alleghany territory were ceded to the +crown. While the Shawanoes and the Cherokees acquiesced in the Treaty of Fort +Stanwix, the crown fully acknowledged the claim of the Cherokees to the +trans-Alleghany region; and by the treaties of Hard Labor (1768) and Lochaber +(1770) confirmed them in possession of this region to the west of the boundary +line (See Chapter XII). The sovereignty of England extended over this territory, +the right of eminent domain being vested in the crown. Henderson was legally +justified in disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 which was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span> +largely in the nature of a temporary expedient, and in purchasing the title to +the trans-Alleghany region from the Cherokees in 1775. The right of eminent +domain over the trans-Alleghany region still vested in the crown after the +treaty of Sycamore Shoals. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_138" id="Note_138"></a> +<a href="#Page_204_2"><span class="superscript">138</span></a> +MS. Journals of James and Robert McAfee. Durrett Collection, University of +Chicago. These journals are printed in <i>Woods-McAfee Memorial</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_139" id="Note_139"></a> +<a href="#Page_207"><span class="superscript">139</span></a> +Hening: <i>Virginia Statutes at Large</i>, x, 558. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_140" id="Note_140"></a> +<a href="#Page_207"><span class="superscript">140</span></a> +Wharton: <i>Plain Facts</i>, 96 <i>et seq</i>. See also text ff. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_141" id="Note_141"></a> +<a href="#Page_209"><span class="superscript">141</span></a> +Alvord: <i>The Mississippi Valley in British Politics</i>, ii, ch. 7; Cotterill: +<i>History of Pioneer Kentucky</i>, 65-66. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_142" id="Note_142"></a> +<a href="#Page_210"><span class="superscript">142</span></a> +T. Wharton to Walpole, September 23, 1774, in "Letter Book of Thomas +Wharton," <i>Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography</i>, xxxiii +(October, 1909). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_143" id="Note_143"></a> +<a href="#Page_214"><span class="superscript">143</span></a> +For ample materials, cf. Thwaites and Kellogg: <i>Documentary History of +Dunmore's War—1774</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_144" id="Note_144"></a> +<a href="#Page_215"><span class="superscript">144</span></a> +Cf. "The Inauguration of Westward Expansion," <i>News and Observer</i> (Raleigh, +N. C.) July 5, 1914. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_145" id="Note_145"></a> +<a href="#Page_216_2"><span class="superscript">145</span></a> +Letter of Major Pleasant Henderson, in <i>The Harbinger</i> (Chapel Hill, +N. C), 1834. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_146" id="Note_146"></a> +<a href="#Page_217"><span class="superscript">146</span></a> +Cf. "The Beginnings of Westward Expansion," <i>North Carolina Review</i>, +September and October, 1910. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_147" id="Note_147"></a> +<a href="#Page_217_2"><span class="superscript">147</span></a> +Draper MSS. 1 CC 2-9, Wisconsin State Historical Society. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_148" id="Note_148"></a> +<a href="#Page_218"><span class="superscript">148</span></a> +Jefferson MSS. 5th Series, v. 8. In MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_149" id="Note_149"></a> +<a href="#Page_218_2"><span class="superscript">149</span></a> +Draper MSS. 1 CC 2-9. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_150" id="Note_150"></a> +<a href="#Page_219"><span class="superscript">150</span></a> +Diary of Morgan Brown in <i>Tennessee Historical Magazine</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_151" id="Note_151"></a> +<a href="#Page_219"><span class="superscript">151</span></a> +Enclosure 6 in Dunmore to Dartmouth, No. 25, March 14, 1775, Public Record +Office, Colonial Office, 5:1353. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_152" id="Note_152"></a> +<a href="#Page_220"><span class="superscript">152</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Colonial Records</i>, ix, 1117, 1129-1131. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_153" id="Note_153"></a> +<a href="#Page_220"><span class="superscript">153</span></a> +Draper MSS. 4 QQ 1. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_154" id="Note_154"></a> +<a href="#Page_221"><span class="superscript">154</span></a> +<i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, viii, 355. Cf. also Draper MSS. 2 CC 5. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_155" id="Note_155"></a> +<a href="#Page_221"><span class="superscript">155</span></a> +Letters to Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_156" id="Note_156"></a> +<a href="#Page_222"><span class="superscript">156</span></a> +I am indebted to Miss Lucretia Hart Clay for the privilege +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +of examining the extensive collection of Hart and Benton +MSS. in her possession. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_157" id="Note_157"></a> +<a href="#Page_225"><span class="superscript">157</span></a> +The voluminous records of the treaty are found in the Jefferson MSS., vol. +5. MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_158" id="Note_158"></a> +<a href="#Page_226"><span class="superscript">158</span></a> +"Narrative of Felix Walker," Original MS. owned by C. L. Walker. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_159" id="Note_159"></a> +<a href="#Page_226_2"><span class="superscript">159</span></a> +Hulbert: <i>Boone's Road</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_160" id="Note_160"></a> +<a href="#Page_227_2"><span class="superscript">160</span></a> +Original of Henderson's Journal is in Draper MSS., 1 CC 21-130 A. D. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_161" id="Note_161"></a> +<a href="#Page_229"><span class="superscript">161</span></a> +Hall: <i>Sketches of the West</i>, i, 254-5. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_162" id="Note_162"></a> +<a href="#Page_234"><span class="superscript">162</span></a> +This quotation is taken from the original manuscript. The version in <i>De +Bow's Review</i>, 1854, is imperfect. For better printed versions of Walker's +two accounts, see <i>Memoirs of Felix Walker</i>, New Orleans (1877), and +<i>Journal of American History</i>, i, No. 1 (1907). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_163" id="Note_163"></a> +<a href="#Page_235"><span class="superscript">163</span></a> +Original journal of William Calk, owned by Mrs. Price Calk. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_164" id="Note_164"></a> +<a href="#Page_238"><span class="superscript">164</span></a> +Letters to Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_165" id="Note_165"></a> +<a href="#Page_238"><span class="superscript">165</span></a> +<i>North Carolina Gazette</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_166" id="Note_166"></a> +<a href="#Page_239"><span class="superscript">166</span></a> +Draper MSS., 1 CC 160-194, deposition of Arthur Campbell. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_167" id="Note_167"></a> +<a href="#Page_240"><span class="superscript">167</span></a> +Draper MSS., 1 CC 160-194, deposition of Arthur Campbell. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_168" id="Note_168"></a> +<a href="#Page_240"><span class="superscript">168</span></a> +Draper Collection, Kentucky MSS., ii. For a contrary view, cf. P. Henry's +deposition, Kentucky MSS., i. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_169" id="Note_169"></a> +<a href="#Page_241"><span class="superscript">169</span></a> +Published in <i>Virginia Gazette</i>, March 23, 1775. Cf. "Forerunners of the +Republic", <i>Neale's Monthly</i>, January-June, 1913. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_170" id="Note_170"></a> +<a href="#Page_242"><span class="superscript">170</span></a> +Draper MSS., 4 QQ 17. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_171" id="Note_171"></a> +<a href="#Page_243"><span class="superscript">171</span></a> +Letters to George Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_172" id="Note_172"></a> +<a href="#Page_248_2"><span class="superscript">172</span></a> +Draper MSS., 1 L 20. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_173" id="Note_173"></a> +<a href="#Page_249"><span class="superscript">173</span></a> +Henderson and Luttrell to the Proprietors, July 18, 1775; printed in +<i>Louisville News-Letter</i>, May 9, 1840. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_174" id="Note_174"></a> +<a href="#Page_250"><span class="superscript">174</span></a> +Nathaniel Henderson to John Williams, October 5, 1775. Copy supplied by +heirs of B. J. Lossing. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_175" id="Note_175"></a> +<a href="#Page_250"><span class="superscript">175</span></a> +"The Struggle for the Fourteenth American Colony," <i>News and Observer</i> +(Raleigh, N. C.), May 19, 1918. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +<a name="Note_176" id="Note_176"></a> +<a href="#Page_251"><span class="superscript">176</span></a> +In connection with Transylvania, consult G. W. Ranck: <i>Boonesborough</i>: +Filson Club Publications, No. 16; F. J. Turner: "State Making in the +Revolutionary Era", <i>American Historical Review</i>, i; G. H. Alden: "New +Governments West of the Alleghanies before 1780." +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_177" id="Note_177"></a> +<a href="#Page_254"><span class="superscript">177</span></a> +In a "Proposal for the Sale of its Lands" (<i>Virginia Gazette</i>, Sept. 30, +1775), the Transylvania Company offered to any settlers before June 1, 1776, +land, limited in amount, at the rate of fifty shillings sterling per hundred +acres, subject to an annual quit-rent of two shillings. Cf. facsimile. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_178" id="Note_178"></a> +<a href="#Page_254"><span class="superscript">178</span></a> +Draper MSS., 2 CC 25. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_179" id="Note_179"></a> +<a href="#Page_255"><span class="superscript">179</span></a> +These increased rates were voted at a meeting of the Proprietors of +Transylvania at Oxford, N. C., September 25, 1775. <i>American Archives</i>, iv. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_180" id="Note_180"></a> +<a href="#Page_256"><span class="superscript">180</span></a> +Draper MSS., 47 J 1. This memoir has often been printed. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_181" id="Note_181"></a> +<a href="#Page_256"><span class="superscript">181</span></a> +Cf. for example, Mason to Washington, March 9, 1775, in Letters to +Washington, MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_182" id="Note_182"></a> +<a href="#Page_257"><span class="superscript">182</span></a> +Letter of date May 19, 1776. Draper MSS., 33 S 292-295. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_183" id="Note_183"></a> +<a href="#Page_257"><span class="superscript">183</span></a> +Original in Virginia State Archives. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_184" id="Note_184"></a> +<a href="#Page_258"><span class="superscript">184</span></a> +Original in Virginia State Archives. This and the aforementioned petition +are printed in the <i>Virginia Historical Magazine</i>, xvi, 157-163. See also +J. R. Robertson: <i>Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky</i>, +Filson Club Publications, No. 27. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_185" id="Note_185"></a> +<a href="#Page_259"><span class="superscript">185</span></a> +Cf. "Richard Henderson and the Occupation of Kentucky, 1775," <i>Mississippi +Valley Historical Review</i>, December, 1914. Also A. B. Hulbert: +<i>Pilots of the Republic</i>. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_186" id="Note_186"></a> +<a href="#Page_261"><span class="superscript">186</span></a> +Original in North Carolina State Archives. Printed in Ramsey: <i>Annals of +Tennessee</i> (1853), 134-138. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_187" id="Note_187"></a> +<a href="#Page_274"><span class="superscript">187</span></a> +Haldimand MSS. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_188" id="Note_188"></a> +<a href="#Page_275"><span class="superscript">188</span></a> +Original in Draper MSS. Collections. It has recently been printed in +<i>Colonial Men and Times</i> (1915), by Lillie Du P. Van C. Harper. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_189" id="Note_189"></a> +<a href="#Page_278"><span class="superscript">189</span></a> +Haywood: <i>Civil and Political History of Tennessee</i>, (1823), Appendix, +500-503. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_190" id="Note_190"></a> +<a href="#Page_278"><span class="superscript">190</span></a> +<i>Journal Virginia House of Delegates</i>, Nov. 4-17, 1778. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_191" id="Note_191"></a> +<a href="#Page_279"><span class="superscript">191</span></a> +Hening: <i>Statutes at Large</i>, ix, 571. Cf. also Starling: <i>History of +Henderson County, Kentucky</i>. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +<a name="Note_192" id="Note_192"></a> +<a href="#Page_280"><span class="superscript">192</span></a> +Cf. Sioussat: "The Journal of Daniel Smith," <i>Tennessee Historical +Magazine</i>, March, 1915. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_193" id="Note_193"></a> +<a href="#Page_284"><span class="superscript">193</span></a> +The original journal is in the archives of the Tennessee State Historical +Society. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_194" id="Note_194"></a> +<a href="#Page_285"><span class="superscript">194</span></a> +N. Hart, Jr., to Wilkins Tannehill, April 27, 1839, in <i>Louisville +News-Letter</i>, May 23, 1840. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_195" id="Note_195"></a> +<a href="#Page_286"><span class="superscript">195</span></a> +The original document is preserved in the archives of the Tennessee +Historical Society. It is printed, with a number of minor inaccuracies, in +Putnam: <i>Middle Tennessee</i>, 94-102. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_196" id="Note_196"></a> +<a href="#Page_287"><span class="superscript">196</span></a> +Acts of North Carolina, 1783, ch. xxxviii, <i>North Carolina State Records</i>, +xxiv, 530-531. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_197" id="Note_197"></a> +<a href="#Page_288"><span class="superscript">197</span></a> +For a more extended treatment of the subjects dealt with in the present +chapter, see "Richard Henderson, the Authorship of the Cumberland Compact, and +the Founding of Nashville," <i>Tennessee Historical Magazine</i>, September, +1916. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_198" id="Note_198"></a> +<a href="#Page_292"><span class="superscript">198</span></a> +"Isaac Shelby, Revolutionary Patriot and Border Hero," in <i>North Carolina +Booklet</i>, xvi, No. 3, 109-144. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_199" id="Note_199"></a> +<a href="#Page_295"><span class="superscript">199</span></a> +While Draper's <i>King's Mountain and its Heroes</i> is most valuable as a +source book, it is very faulty in style and arrangement. The account of the +battle, in particular, is deficient in perspective; and in general no clear line +is drawn between traditionary and authentic testimony. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_200" id="Note_200"></a> +<a href="#Page_300"><span class="superscript">200</span></a> +F. B. McDowell: <i>The Battle of King's Mountain</i> (Raleigh, 1907). This +account was prepared chiefly from unpublished letters from Isaac Shelby to +Franklin Brevard. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_201" id="Note_201"></a> +<a href="#Page_302"><span class="superscript">201</span></a> +<i>A Sketch of the Life and Career of Colonel James D. Williams</i>, by Rev. +J. D. Bailey (Cowpens, S. C., 1898). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_202" id="Note_202"></a> +<a href="#Page_302"><span class="superscript">202</span></a> +A valuable source is the <i>King's Mountain Expedition</i>, by David Vance and +Robert Henry, edited by D. L. Schenck (Greensboro, 1891). +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_203" id="Note_203"></a> +<a href="#Page_311"><span class="superscript">203</span></a> +Cf. <i>Acts of North Carolina</i>, 1784, April Session, Chapters XI and XII. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_204" id="Note_204"></a> +<a href="#Page_313"><span class="superscript">204</span></a> +Sioussat: "The North Carolina Cession of 1784 in its Federal Aspects," +Mississippi Valley Historical Association <i>Proceedings</i>, ii. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_205" id="Note_205"></a> +<a href="#Page_314"><span class="superscript">205</span></a> +Quoted in Alden: "The State of Franklin," <i>American Historical Review</i>, +viii. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_206" id="Note_206"></a> +<a href="#Page_314"><span class="superscript">206</span></a> +See <i>Charlotte (N. C.) Observer</i>, September 25, 1904. Also consult +<i>North Carolina State Records</i>, xxii, 664 ff. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +<a name="Note_207" id="Note_207"></a> +<a href="#Page_318"><span class="superscript">207</span></a> +State Archives of North Carolina. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_208" id="Note_208"></a> +<a href="#Page_318"><span class="superscript">208</span></a> +<i>Pennsylvania Packet</i>, August 9, 1785. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_209" id="Note_209"></a> +<a href="#Page_319"><span class="superscript">209</span></a> +State Department MSS., Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_210" id="Note_210"></a> +<a href="#Page_322"><span class="superscript">210</span></a> +A single complete draft, in pamphlet form, printed in 1786, is preserved in +the archives of the Tennessee Historical Society. Cf. "The Provisional +Constitution of Frankland," <i>American Historical Magazine</i>, i. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_211" id="Note_211"></a> +<a href="#Page_324_2"><span class="superscript">211</span></a> +Franklin Papers, vii, folio 1651. MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_212" id="Note_212"></a> +<a href="#Page_325"><span class="superscript">212</span></a> +Franklin Papers, viii, folio 1803. MSS. Division, Library of Congress. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_213" id="Note_213"></a> +<a href="#Page_327"><span class="superscript">213</span></a> +For a more extended treatment of matters dealt with in this chapter, compare +"The Spanish Conspiracy in Tennessee," <i>Tennessee Historical Magazine</i>, +December, 1917. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_214" id="Note_214"></a> +<a href="#Page_331"><span class="superscript">214</span></a> +Gardoqui to Floridablanca, April 18, 1788. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_215" id="Note_215"></a> +<a href="#Page_343"><span class="superscript">215</span></a> +On April 30th Miró wrote to Valdez, in Spain, informing him of the +proposals received through McGillivray and stating that he had returned +conciliatory replies but had refrained from committing the Spanish Government +until the pleasure of the king should be known. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_216" id="Note_216"></a> +<a href="#Page_345"><span class="superscript">216</span></a> +W. W. Henry: <i>Life, Correspondence and Speeches of Patrick Henry</i>, +iii, 409, 412-5. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_217" id="Note_217"></a> +<a href="#Page_346"><span class="superscript">217</span></a> +Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain. +</p> +<p> +<a name="Note_218" id="Note_218"></a> +<a href="#Page_347"><span class="superscript">218</span></a> +Ramsey: <i>Annals of Tennessee</i> (1853), 502-3. +</p> + +<p> +<a name="bibliography"></a> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span> +<br /> +</p> + +<h2><a href="#contents">BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</a></h2> + +<p> +For the entire period (1740-1790) covered by this volume, an exceptionally rich +store of materials is to be found in the <i>Colonial Records of North Carolina, +1662-1775</i> (published 1886-1890), and its continuation, the <i>State Records of +North Carolina, 1776-1790</i> (published 1895-1905), thirty volumes in all, +including the four volumes of index. The introductions and supplementary matter +in these volumes constitute a survey of the period. Theodore Roosevelt's <i>The +Winning of the West</i> (1889-1896; various editions), a vigorous and stirring +narrative, over-accentuates the strenuous life, largely underemphasises +economic and governmental phases, and is by no means free from error. +</p> +<p> +For the Scotch-Irish migrations one should read C. A. Hanna, <i>The Scotch-Irish</i> +(2 vols., 1902), a large collection of original materials, imperfectly +coördinated; and the excellent historical sketch by H. J. Ford, <i>The +Scotch-Irish in America</i> (1905). For the German migrations, adequate and +readable accounts are A. B. Faust, <i>The German Element in the United States</i> +(2 vols., 1909); J. H. Clewell, <i>History of Wachovia in North Carolina</i> (1902); +J. W. Wayland, <i>The German Element of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span> +Shenandoah Valley of Virginia</i> (1907); and G. D. Bernheim, <i>History of the +German Settlements and of the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina</i> +(1872). +</p> +<p> +The best original sources for the life of the people in this period are: the +State Archives of North Carolina at Raleigh, scientifically ordered and +accessible to collectors; the Lyman C. Draper Collection at Madison, Wisconsin; +the Reuben T. Durrett Collection at the University of Chicago; the State +Archives of South Carolina, especially rich in collections of contemporary +newspapers; the collections of the North Carolina Historical Society at Chapel +Hill; and the Archives of the Moravian Church, in Pennsylvania and at +Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The State Archives of Virginia, an unexplored +mine of great riches, are as yet inaccessible, properly speaking, to +investigators. The state of Tennessee has not yet made any provision for the +conservation of historical materials; but the Tennessee Historical Society has +preserved much valuable documentary material. +</p> +<p> +Books shedding light, from various quarters, upon the life of the people in this +period are: W. H. Foote, <i>Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and +Biographical</i> (1846; reprinted 1913), dealing almost exclusively with the +Presbyterian Church and the Scotch-Irish; J. F. D. Smyth, <i>A Tour in the United +States of America</i> (2 vols., 1784), untrustworthy as to historical events and +partisan as to politics, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +but graphic in description of the people and the country; William Bartram, +<i>Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida</i> +(1791), delightful in its simplicity and genial tone; William Byrd, <i>History of +the Dividing Line</i> and other writings (J. S. Bassett's edition, 1901), of +sprightly style and instinct with literary charm, pungently satirical, +untrustworthy as to North Carolina; Joseph Doddridge, <i>Notes on the Settlement +and Indian Wars &c.</i> (1824; reprinted 1912), photographic in its realistic +delineation of backwoods conditions; J. H. Logan, <i>History of Upper South +Carolina</i> (1859); J. Rumple, <i>Rowan County</i> (1881; reprinted 1916); +<i>Biographical History of North Carolina</i> (8 volumes printed, 1905-); S. Dunbar, +<i>A History of Travel in America</i>(4 vols., 1915), first volume; <i>Travels in the +American Colonies, 1690-1783</i> (Edited by N. D. Mereness, 1916); and O. Taylor, +<i>Historic Sullivan</i> (1909). +</p> +<p> +Many valuable articles, of both local and national interest, are found in the +excellent periodical publications: <i>James Sprunt Historical Monographs and +Publications</i> (16 vols., 1900-), published by the University of North Carolina; +<i>North Carolina Booklet</i> (18 vols., 1901-), published by the N. C. Society, +D. A. R.; <i>Virginia Magazine of History and Biography</i> (27 vols., 1893-); <i>American +Historical Magazine</i> (8 vols., 1896-1903); <i>Tennessee Historical Magazine</i> (4 +vols., 1915-); <i>Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society</i> (17 vols., +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +1902-); <i>Mississippi Valley Historical Review</i> (6 vols., 1914-). A notable study +is F. J. Turner, <i>The Old West</i> (Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, +1908). +</p> +<p> +There is no adequate account in print of the French and Indian War, in the Old +Southwest. Useful sources are E. McCrady, <i>South Carolina under the Royal +Government, 1719-1776</i> (1899); S. A. Ashe, <i>History of North Carolina, +1584-1783</i> (1 vol., 1908); L. P. Summers, <i>History of South-West Virginia, +1746-1786</i> (1903); J. P. Hale, <i>Trans-Alleghany Pioneers</i> (1886); J. A. Waddell, +<i>Annals of Augusta County</i>, Virginia (1886); S. Kercheval, <i>A History of the +Valley of Virginia</i> (third edition, 1902); A. S. Withers, <i>Chronicles of Border +Warfare</i> (R. G. Thwaites' edition, 1908); B. R. Carroll, <i>Historical Collections +of South Carolina</i> (2 vols., 1886); E. M. Avery, <i>History of the United States</i> +(7 vols., 1908), fourth volume; J. G. M. Ramsey, <i>Annals of Tennessee</i> (1853); +<i>Calendar Virginia State Papers</i> (11 vols., 1875-1893). An interesting biography +is A. M. Waddell, <i>A Colonial Officer and his Times</i> (1890). +</p> +<p> +The early explorations of the West, and the career of Boone, are treated with +reasonable fullness in the admirable publications of the Filson Club of Kentucky +(27 vols., 1884-); C. A. Hanna, <i>The Wilderness Trail</i> (2 vols., 1911); John +Haywood, <i>Civil and Political History of Tennessee</i> (1823; reprinted 1891), +written in delightfully quaint style; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +L. and R. H. Collins, <i>History of Kentucky</i> (2 vols., 1882), a mine of +conglomerate material; N. M. Woods, <i>The Woods-McAfee Memorial</i> +(1905); A. B. Hulbert, <i>Pilots of the Republic</i> (1905) and <i>Boone's +Wilderness Road</i> (1903), attractively written; R. G. Thwaites, +<i>Daniel Boone</i> (1911), a lifeless condensation of Draper's sprawling +projected (MS.) biography; and John Filson, <i>Kentucke</i> (1784). +</p> +<p> +Of the voluminous mass of literature dealing with the Regulation in North +Carolina, one should read: J. S. Bassett, <i>The Regulators of North +Carolina, 1765-1771</i> (American Historical Association Report, 1894); M. +DeL. Haywood, <i>Governor Tryon of North Carolina</i> (1903); H. Husband, +<i>An Impartial Relation of the First Rise and Cause of the Present +Differences in Publick Affairs, in the Province of North Carolina</i> +(1770); and Archibald Henderson, <i>The Origin of the Regulation in North +Carolina</i> (American Historical Review, 1916). +</p> +<p> +In addition to titles already mentioned, the following books and monographs give +the best accounts of the Watauga and Cumberland settlements and of the State of +Franklin: A. W. Putnam, <i>History of Middle Tennessee</i> (1859), a remarkably +interesting book by a real "character"; J. W. Caldwell, <i>Constitutional History +of Tennessee</i> (second edition, 1907); F. M. Turner, <i>Life of General John +Sevier</i> (1910), in pedestrian style, reasonably accurate for the romantic period +only; G. H. Alden, <i>The State of Franklin</i> (American Historical Review, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span> +1903); S. B. Weeks, <i>Joseph Martin</i> (American Historical Association Report, +1894); Archibald Henderson, <i>Isaac Shelby</i> (North Carolina Booklet, 1917-1918). +The source book for the Indian war of 1774 is <i>Documentary History of Dunmore's +War</i> (Edited by R. G. Thwaites and L. P. Kellogg, 1905). For exhaustive data +concerning the King's Mountain campaign and its preliminaries, read L. C. +Draper, <i>King's Mountain and its Heroes</i> (1881), though the book is lacking in +discrimination and deficient in perspective. For a briefer treatment, read D. L. +Schenck, <i>North Carolina, 1780-1781</i> (1889). +</p> +<p> +Other books and monographs dealing with the period, the westward movement, the +settlement of the trans-Alleghany, and the little governments, to be consulted +are: James Hall, <i>Sketches of the West</i> (2 vols., 1835) and <i>The Romance of +Western History</i> (1857); <i>Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia</i> for +1766-1769 and 1770-1772 (published 1906); G. H. Alden, <i>New Governments West of +the Alleghanies before 1780</i> (published 1897); C. W. Alvord, <i>The Mississippi +Valley in British Politics</i> (2 vols., 1917), a notable work, ably written and +embodying an immense amount of information; J. T. Morehead, <i>Address at +Boonesborough, May 25, 1840</i> (published 1840); F. J. Turner, <i>The Significance +of the Frontier in American History</i> (Wisconsin Historical Society Proceedings, +1894) and <i>Western State-Making in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">369</a></span> +the Revolutionary Era</i> (American Historical Review, 1895-1896), papers +characterised by both brilliance and depth; and Archibald Henderson, <i>The +Creative Forces in Westward Expansion</i> (American Historical Review, 1914), <i>The +Occupation of Kentucky in 1775</i> (Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 1914), +<i>The Founding of Nashville</i> (Tennessee Historical Magazine, 1916), and <i>The +Spanish Conspiracy in Tennessee</i> (Tennessee Historical Magazine, 1917). +</p> +<p> +On the subject of Indian tribes and Indian treaties, the <i>Annual Reports of the +Bureau of Ethnology</i>, in especial numbers 5, 18, and 19, although compiled from +secondary historical sources and occasionally erroneous in important matters, +are useful—as is also Bulletin 22: J. Mooney, <i>Siouan Tribes of the East</i> +(1895). Rare and interesting works dealing with the Eastern Indian tribes are +H. Timberlake, <i>Memoirs</i> (1765); J. Haywood, <i>Natural and Aboriginal History of +Tennessee</i> (1823); and J. Adair, <i>American Indians</i> (1775). +</p> +<p> +For both wider and more intensive reading in the history of this period, +consult: F. J. Turner, <i>List of References on the History of the West</i> (Edition +of 1915); <i>A Critical Bibliography of Kentucky History</i>, in R. M. McElroy, +<i>Kentucky in the Nation's History</i> (1909); S. B. Weeks, <i>A Bibliography of the +Historical Literature of North Carolina</i> (1895); E. G. Swem, <i>A Bibliography of +Virginia</i> (Part I, 1916); and the bibliographies in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +J. Phelan, <i>History of Tennessee</i> (1888); E. McCrady, <i>South Carolina under the +Royal Government, 1719-1776</i> (published 1899) and <i>South Carolina in the +Revolution, 1775-1780</i> (published 1901); and E. M. Avery, <i>A History of the +United States</i> (1908), volumes 4, 5, and 6. +</p> +<p> +Note. For the use of a complete set of transcripts of the Richard Henderson +Papers in the Draper Collection, I am indebted to the North Carolina Historical +Commission through the courtesy of the Secretary, Mr. R. D. W. Connor. +</p> + +<p> + <a name="index"></a> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> + <br /> +</p> + <h2><a href="#contents">INDEX</a></h2> + <h3>A</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Abingdon: <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Adams, John: <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Adams, Samuel: <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Ahualco: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Alamance: see <i>Battles</i>.<br /> + Alexander, Abraham: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + Alexander, James: <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Alexander, Moses: <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Alexander, Capt. Nathaniel: <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> + Alexander, William: <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Alibamu Fort: <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> + Alleghany Mountains: + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.<br /> + Alleman's Ford: <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.<br /> + Alrichs, Herman: describes ambuscade of Braddock's army, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.<br /> + Amazons: <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + America: <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>; + continent of, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + history of, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>; + emigration to, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + people of, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + democracy in, + <a href="#chap14">ch. XIV</a>-<a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, + <a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + colonies of, necessity for union, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_66">66</a>.<br /> + American: cause, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + congress, + <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; + confederation, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + republic, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.<br /> + American Revolution: + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, + <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.<br /> + American Union: + <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; + see <i>Union</i>.<br /> + Americans: <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, + <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>; + pioneers, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + civilization of, <a href="#chap10">ch. X</a>, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + character of, <a href="#chap10">ch. X</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.<br /> + Amherst, Gen. Jeffrey: <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Anderson, Colonel: <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.<br /> + Anshers, James: <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.<br /> + Appalachian Mountains: + <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.<br /> + Arkansas: <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + Atlantic Ocean: <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br /> + Atta-kulla-kulla, Cherokee chief: + <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> + Augusta: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>B</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Bacon, Francis: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + Bailey, Capt. Andrew: leads sortie from Fort Dobbs, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>.<br /> + Baily, Francis: on frontiersmen, <a href="#chap14">ch. XIV</a>.<br /> + Baker, John: <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + Baker, William: <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> + Bainton, Epaphroditus: <a href="#Page_130">130</a>.<br /> + Balboa: <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.<br /> + Baptists: <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">372</a></span> + Barbour, explorer: <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + <span class="smcap">Battles</span>: + Alamance, + <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, + <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, + <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + Great Kanawha, of the, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>; + King's Mountain, at, <a href="#chap18">ch. XVIII</a>, + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>; + Lexington, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + Long Island Flats, of, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>; + Musgrove's Mill, at, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.<br /> + Beaujeu, Captain: <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.<br /> + Been, John: <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> + Been, Mrs. William: <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + "Belle Riviere": <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; see <i>Ohio River</i>. <br /> + Bentham, Jeremy: <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + Benton, Jesse: <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Benton, Samuel: <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> + Benton, Thomas Hart: <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> + Bethabara: <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, + <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>; + invested by Indians, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + Bethania: <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Bienville (Blainville) Céloron de: + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> + Bienville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de: + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + Big Bone Lick: + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; + see <i>Great Bone Lick</i>.<br /> + Big Lick: <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.<br /> + Big Salt Lick: <a href="#Page_284">284</a>; + see <i>French Lick, French Salt Springs, Great French Lick, + Great Salt Springs</i>.<br /> + Black Fish, Shawanoe chief: adopts Daniel Boone, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> + Bledsoe, Anthony: + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.<br /> + Bledsoe family: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> + Bledsoe, Isaac: <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + discovers lick, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.<br /> + Bledsoe's Lick: discovery of, described, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Blevens: hunters named, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.<br /> + Blevens, William: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Blount, William: <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Blowing Rock: <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Blue Licks: <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.<br /> + Blue Ridge: + <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> + Board of Trade: Johnston to, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + Glen to, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + draft royal proclamation, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + Boiling Spring: + <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> + Bonn, Dr. Jacob: <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.<br /> + Boone, Anne: <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.<br /> + Boone, Daniel: + <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#chap9">ch. IX</a>, + <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, + <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, + <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + personal appearance, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + at Braddock's Defeat, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a>-<a href="#Page_55">55</a>; + meets Richard Henderson, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + explores Tennessee for Henderson & Company, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + serves under Waddell, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; + explores Kentucky for Richard Henderson, + <a href="#chap10">ch. X</a>; + clears Transylvania Trail, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + asks aid of Judge Henderson, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>; + returns to Boonesborough, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + rescues daughter, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + rescued by Kenton, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>; + captured, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>; + adopted by Black Fish, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + deceived by Indians, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span> + Boone family: settles in North Carolina, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + Boone, George: + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + Boone, James: <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Boone, Jemima: captured by Indians, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Boone, Jesse: <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Boone, Squire: + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, + <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.<br /> + Boone, Squire, Jr.: + <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + sent by Transylvania Company to aid Daniel Boone, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Boone, William: <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.<br /> + Boonesborough: + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, + <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + Henderson arrives at, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + Transylvania convention at, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a href="#Page_248">248</a>; + Boone returns to, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + capture of girls at, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + besieged by Indians, + <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>; + Henderson returns to, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + corn sent to, from French Lick, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.<br /> + Boone's Caves: <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.<br /> + Boone's Ford: <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.<br /> + Boston: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>.<br /> + Botetourt; Governor, of Virginia: <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> + Boyd's Creek: <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Braddock, Gen. Edward: + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, + <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>; + defeat of, described, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_55">55</a>.<br /> + Brandmüller, John: pilgrimage of, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>.<br /> + British: + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, + <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>; + Crown, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.<br /> + Brobdignags: <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Brown, Francis: <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /> + Brown, Jacob: + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Brown, the widow: <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Bryan family: <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> + Bryan, James: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Bryan, Joseph: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Bryan, Martha: <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.<br /> + Bryan, Morgan: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, + settled in Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + in North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + leads frontier rangers, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + in Rowan, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + Bryan, Morgan, Jr.: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Bryan, Rebeckah: + <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /> + Bryan, William: + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.<br /> + Bryan's Station: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + "Buffalo Bill" (W. F. Cody): <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>.<br /> + Bull, Lieut. Gov. William: <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + Bullitt, Capt. Thomas: <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> + Bullock, Leonard Henley: + Member Transylvania Company, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> + Bunker's Hill: battle of, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.<br /> + Burke, Edmund: on charters, <a href="#chap11">ch. XI</a>.<br /> + Burnaby, Andrew: describes life in backwoods, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> + Byrd, Col. William, 3rd.: + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, + <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + Byrd, William: + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>; + describes Yadkin region, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>C</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Calhoun, Patrick: family attacked, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + commands Provincial Rangers, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> + relatives of, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> + Calk, William: <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + with exploring party from Virginia, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> + Callaway, Elizabeth: captured by Indians, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + rescued, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Callaway, Flanders: <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Callaway, Frances: capture by Indians, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; + rescued, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Callaway, Col. Richard: <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + commands in defence of Transylvania Fort, + <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>.<br /> + Callaway, Samuel: <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br /> + Camden: <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br /> + Camden, Lord Chancellor: <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Camden-Yorke opinion: + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.<br /> + Cameron, Alexander: + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Camp Charlotte: <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + Campbell, Col. Arthur: + interested in Kentucky lands, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + seeks partnership in Transylvania Company for Patrick Henry, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + leads force against Cherokees, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>; + plans Greater Franklin, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.<br /> + Campbell, Colonel William: + leads Virginians, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + elected commander King's Mountain expedition, + <a href="#Page_294">294</a>; + at King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, + <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.<br /> + Campbell, David: + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.<br /> + Campbell, John: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Campbell, Robert: scalped, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.<br /> + Cape Fear: + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + Captain Will: <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /> + Carlisle: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Carolina: + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> + Carolinas, the two: <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Carter, John: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Carter's Valley: <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Carteret, Lord: lands of, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.<br /> + Caswell, Gov. Richard: + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /> + Catawba Town: <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> + Catawba Valley: <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.<br /> + Catawbas: + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, + <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + towns of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + country, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.<br /> + Cession Act: <a href="#Page_310">310</a>-<a href="#Page_311">311</a>, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.<br /> + Charles the Second: <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + Charleston: + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /> + Charleville, Charles: at French Lick, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + Charlotte: + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.<br /> + Cherokees: <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, + <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, + <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_346">346</a>; + fort promised to, by South Carolina, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + treaty with, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + hunters, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + attack on Long Cane settlement, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + warriors, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + defeated, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>; + boundary line, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + chiefs, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>; + country of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /> + Chickamaugas: <a href="#Page_308">308</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span> + town of, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + bloody forage of, + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>-<a href="#Page_290">290</a>; + quelled, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.<br /> + Chickasaws: <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, + <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /> + Chilhowee: <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Chillicothe: <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> + Chiswell's Mine: + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Choctaws: <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> + Christian, Col. William: + member of company to purchase Cherokee lands, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>; + leads Virginia forces against Cherokees, + <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> + Chronicle, Major William: killed at King's Mountain, + <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + Clark, George Rogers: <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + prospecting in Kentucky, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>; + opinion of Transylvania title, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>; + <i>Memoir</i> of, cited as to Henderson Claim, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>-<a href="#Page_256">256</a>; + threatens Virginia with revolt in Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_257">257</a>; + visited by James Robertson, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + Clark, Jonathan: <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Cleveland, Col. Benjamin: <a href="#Page_296">296</a>; + explores West, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>; + leads pioneers against Indians, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>; + leads Wilkes volunteers at King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + addresses troops at King's Mountain, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + "Cleveland's Bulldogs": + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + Clinch Valley: <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> + Cocke, William: <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>; + delegate from Franklin to + Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>; + appeals to Benjamin Franklin, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.<br /> + Coldwater Expedition: <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /> + Columbus, Christopher: + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.<br /> + Committee of Safety: <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> + Concord: <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> + Coghnawagas: <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> + Connolly, Dr. John: <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, + <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Constitution: rejected by North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.<br /> + Continent, European: <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br /> + Continental Congress: <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, + <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.<br /> + Cooley, William: explores Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Cooper, James Fenimore: + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Corbin, Francis: <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> + Cornstalk, Shawanoe chief: <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + leads Indians at the Great Kanawha, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a>.<br /> + Corn Tassel, Indian Chief: <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Cornwallis, Lord Charles: + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, + <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.<br /> + Cortez, Hernando: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + <span class="smcap">Counties</span>: + Albemarle, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + Anson, + <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + Armagh, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + Augusta, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + Berks, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + Botetourt, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + Brunswick, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; + Bucks, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + Burke, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + Chester, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + Culpeper, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + Davidson, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + Fincastle, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>; + Floyd, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + Frederick, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>; + Granville, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, + <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, + <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + Greene, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>; + Guilford, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>; + Hampshire, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>; + Hanover, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>; + Jessamine, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + Kentucky, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>; + Lincoln, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, + <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>; + Mecklenburg, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>; + Miller, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>; + Orange, North Carolina, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>, + <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, + <a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + Orange, Virginia, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + Prince William, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + Roanoke, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + Rowan, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, + <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>; + Rutherford, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + Shenandoah, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + Sullivan, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>; + Sumner, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + Surry, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>; + Tennessee, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + Washington, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>; + Wayne, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + Wilkes, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>; + York, Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + York, South Carolina, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.<br /> + Couture, Jean: <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + Cowpens: <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.<br /> + Cox, Charles: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Coytomore, Lieut.: murdered by Indians, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> + Craighead, Rev. Alexander: <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.<br /> + Crawford, William: Washington to, on Western lands, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.<br /> + Creeks: + <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, + <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.<br /> + <span class="smcap">Creeks</span>: + Bean Island, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + Bear, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>; + Beaver, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>; + Bledsoe's, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>; + Crooked, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>; + Cross, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + Dutchman's, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + Elk, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>; + Fish, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>; + Fourth, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + Line, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + Linville, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + Lulbegrud, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>; + Otter, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + Sinking, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>; + Sugar Tree, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + Sugaw, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + Swearing, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>; + Station Camp, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>; + Third, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>; + Walden's, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Cresap, Col. Thomas: <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.<br /> + Crockett, Robert: <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Croghan, George: + <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Cross Creek (Fayetteville): <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> + Crozat, Antoine: + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + Culloden: <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + Cumberland: Colony, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + leaders, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; + desire alliance with Spain, + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>; + traders, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, + settlements, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>; + settlers, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>; + desire separation from North Carolina, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + valley, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>; + region, <a href="#chap17">ch. XVII</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.<br /> + Cumberland: outlaw, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + "Cumberland Compact": + drafted by Richard Henderson, + <a href="#Page_285">285</a>-<a href="#Page_286">286</a>.<br /> + Cumberland District: <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.<br /> + Cumberland, Duke of: <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + Cumberland Gap: names, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + traversed by traders, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, + <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + see <i>Ouasioto Gap</i>.<br /> + Cumberland Mountains: + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /> + Cutbird, Benjamin: <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>D</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span> + Darien: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Dark and Bloody Ground: <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + origin of name, + <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Dartmouth, Earl of: <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + Dean Swift: <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Declaration of Independence: <a href="#Page_258">258</a>; + read at Boonesborough, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> + Delaware: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + valley, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> + Demere, Capt. Raymond: <a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + takes command of Virginia Fort, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + surrenders Fort Loudon, + <a href="#Page_90">90</a>-<a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + De Peyster: <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + De Soto, Fernando: <a href="#chap12">ch. XII</a>.<br /> + Detroit: <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Devonshire, East: <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /> + Dick, Captain: Cherokee hunter, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Dinwiddie, Gov. Robert: <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>; + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> + Dividing Line: running of the North Carolina-Virginia, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + William Byrd's <i>History of the</i>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + Doak, Rev. Samuel: <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.<br /> + Dobbs, Gov. Arthur: + <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; + sends commissioner to treat with Indians, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + begins erection of Catawba Fort, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + orders building discontinued, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Dobbs, Edwards Brice: <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.<br /> + Doddridge, Joseph: on conditions of pioneer life, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Donelson, Col, John: + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>; + runs boundary line, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + meets Richard Henderson, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + leads party by water route to French Lick, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + diary of, quoted, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_284">284</a>.<br /> + Donelson's line: + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> + Dragging Canoe, the Cherokee chief: + <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>; + leads Indians in battle, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Drake, Enoch: <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> + Drake, Joseph: <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Dunmore, John Murray, Earl of: + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, + <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.<br /> + Dunmore's War: <a href="#chap13">ch. XIII</a>, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.<br /> + Dugger, Julius Cæsar: Tennessee pioneer, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> + Dutch, Pennsylvania: + <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + Dutchman's Creek Church: <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>E</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + East India Company: <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Eaton's Station: defence of, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.<br /> + Echota: <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, + <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Edwards, Rev. Morgan: on exodus of Regulators for North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.<br /> + Emery, Will: <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /> + England: land-mad, <a href="#chap11">ch. XI</a>, + <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + English: <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + settlers, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span> + Revolution, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; + parliament, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + colonies, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>; + troops, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; + settlements, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki: + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> + Et-chow-ee: <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>F</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Fagot: <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.<br /> + Falls of the Ohio River (Louisville): + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.<br /> + Fanning, Col. Edmund: + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /> + Fauquier, Gov, Francis: <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Fayetteville: <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> + Ferguson, Col. Patrick: + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, + <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>; + conduct at King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>; + killed, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.<br /> + Few, William: describes life in backwoods, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /> + Fields, Jeremiah: + <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.<br /> + Filson, John: + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + Fincastle, Committee of West: + drafts protest against Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.<br /> + Findlay, Findley, Finley: Archibald, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + Michael, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Findlay, John: visits Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_118">118</a>; + meets Boone, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + visits Boone on the Yadkin, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Fish, William: murdered by Indians, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br /> + Fleming, Col. William: <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Florida: <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + East, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + West, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + Floyd, John: <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>; + appointed Surveyor General of Transylvania, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + Fontaine, John: journal of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> + Fontainebleau: <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + Forbes, Gen. John: <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /> + Forks of Ohio River: <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Forts</span>: + Bethabara, at, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + Boone's, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + chain of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + Carolina, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + Catawba, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, + <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + Cumberland, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + Dobbs, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_58">58</a>, + <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, + <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + Duquesne, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + Dutch, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, + <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;—at mouth of Line Creek, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + Loudoun, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + McDowell's, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + Necessity, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + Ninety-Six, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + Patrick Henry, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>-<a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + Pitt, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + Prince George, + <a href="#Page_51">51</a>-<a href="#Page_52">52</a>, + <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>, + <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + Robinson, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + Stalnaker's, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + Stanwix, treaty of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;—on Tellico River, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + Transylvania, + <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, + <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, + <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + Vaux's, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + Virginia, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + Watauga, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + <i>Fowey</i>: <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.<br /> + France: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> + Frankland: <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + origin of name, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.<br /> + Franklin: <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + Franklin, Benjamin: + <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + new state named for, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>; + to Cocke, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>; + to Sevier, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>-<a href="#Page_325">325</a>.<br /> + Franklin, State of: <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, + <a href="#chap19">ch. XIX</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, + <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, + <a href="#Page_337">317</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;—leaders of, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;—legislature of, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;—Greater, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>; + origin of name, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.<br /> + Freeland's Station: <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.<br /> + French: + <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + <i>coureurs de bois</i>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + Huguenot, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + voyageurs, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;—Canadian, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + immigration of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + settlers, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>; + traders, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + explorations, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + French Lick: <a href="#Page_281">281</a>; + treaty of peace at, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + See <i>French Salt Springs, Great French Lick, Great Salt Springs</i>. <br /> + French and Indian War: + <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Frohock, John: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.<br /> + Frohock, Thomas: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.<br /> + Frontier: <a href="#chap07">ch. VII</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>G</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Galaspy, William: <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.<br /> + Galissonière, Roland Michel Barrin, Marquis de la: + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> + Gammern: storekeeper on Yadkin, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + Gardoqui, Diego de: + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, + <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.<br /> + Gee, Joshua: <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> + George I: <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> + George III: <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.<br /> + Georgia: + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>;—Assembly of, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>; + tours into, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.<br /> + German: pioneers, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_18">18</a>, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;—Palatinate, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + immigration, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>, + <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.<br /> + Gilbert Town: <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.<br /> + Gillespie, Robert: slain from ambush by Indians, + <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Gist, Christopher: <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + makes exploration for Ohio Company, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /> + Gist, Nathaniel: + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Glen, Governor James: + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a>, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>; + describes South Carolina's condition, + <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + promises Cherokees a fort, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + concludes treaty at Saluda, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> + Glumdelick: <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Gnadenhütten: <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.<br /> + Gordon, Capt. Harry: <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Grandfather Mountain: <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Grant, Col. James: <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + leads expedition against Indians, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Granville, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Lord: <a href="#Page_15">15</a>; + lands of, + <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> + Great Bone Licks: <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Great Britain: + <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Great French Lick: <a href="#Page_280">280</a>; + See <i>Great Salt Springs, French Lick, French Salt Springs</i>.<br /> + Great Grant: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Greathouse, Daniel: <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + Great Meadows: + <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.<br /> + Great Mogul: <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Great Tellico: <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> + Great Trading Path: + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.<br /> + Great Treaty: <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + Great Salt Springs, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> + <i>See French Lick, French Salt Springs, Great French Lick</i>.<br /> + Great Warrior's Path: <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Green: <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> + Greeneville: <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.<br /> + Greer, Andrew: <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> + Grube, Rev. Bernhard Adam: heads settlers into North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Gulf of Mexico: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.<br /> + "Gulliver's Travels": <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Gutry, John: <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>H</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Hackett: <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.<br /> + Hall, Gen. William: + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /> + Hall, Rev. James: <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + Hambright, Lt. Col. Frederick: at King's Mountain, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + Hamilton, Gov. Henry: <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.<br /> + Hampton, Anthony: leads Rowan rangers, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Hampton, Col. Andrew: leads Rutherford riflemen, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.<br /> + Hampton, Gen. Wade: <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Hancock, John: <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.<br /> + Hanks: family, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Abraham, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> + Hard Labor: treaty at, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.<br /> + Harman, outlaw: <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + Harris, Col.: <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + Harris: Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + John, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Harris's Ferry: <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Harrisburg: <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Harrison, Richard: <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + Harrod, James: + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> + Harrodsburg: <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + election held at, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> + Harrodsburg Remonstrance: <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + Hart: David, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;—Nathaniel, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;—Thomas, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Hartman, George: <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> + Hawkins, Benjamin: <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + Hayes: <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.<br /> + Haywood, John: <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.<br /> + Hempinstall, Abraham: <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + Henderson, Kentucky: <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.<br /> + Henderson, Col. Samuel: + chosen special envoy to Franklin, + <a href="#Page_315">315</a>-<a href="#Page_316">316</a>; + negotiates with John Sevier, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a>-<a href="#Page_318">318</a>.<br /> + Henderson, Nathaniel: <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + Henderson, Richard: born in Virginia, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + removes to North Carolina, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>; + acquainted with Boones, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + promotes Western exploration, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + in law suits involving Boone, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>; + promotes Western exploration under Boone's leadership, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a>; + sends supplies to Boone, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; + court broken up by Regulators, + <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_181">181</a>; + burned out by Regulators, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; + secures from English authorities sanction + for purchase of Indian lands, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> + reorganizes Richard Henderson & Co. into Louisa Company, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>; + visits Otari towns, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + organizes Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + negotiates Great Treaty with Cherokees, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>; + despatches Boone to clean Transylvania Trail, + <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + receives urgent appeal from Boone, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + hastens to Boone's rescue, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>-<a href="#Page_232">232</a>; + reaches Fort Boone, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + draws up plan of government for Transylvania, + <a href="#Page_243">243</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a>; + addresses Legislature of Transylvania, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>; + elected delegate from Transylvania to Continental Congress, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>; + prepares plan of government for Powell's Valley settlement, + <a href="#Page_252">252</a>; + attends Virginia Convention, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>-<a href="#Page_257">257</a>; + purchases corn for Cumberland settlement, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + runs North Carolina-Virginia dividing line, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + presents memorial on Transylvania purchase, + <a href="#Page_278">278</a>; + plans colonization of Cumberland region, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>-<a href="#Page_280">280</a>; + despatches Robertson on prospecting tour, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a>-<a href="#Page_281">281</a>; + sends corn to French Lick, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_285">285</a>; + organizes government on Cumberland, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>; + author of "Cumberland Compact," + <a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + introduces recall of judges, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + founder of Nashville, personal appearance, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + diary of, quoted, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + mentioned, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, + <a href="#chap14">ch. XIV</a> <i>passim</i>, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, + <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_242">315</a>.<br /> + Henderson, Richard & Company: organized, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + despatch Boone on Western exploration, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_217">217</a>; + granted 200,000 acres by Virginia; <i>see Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Henderson, Samuel: <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> + Henderson & Company; <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + see <i>Richard Henderson & Company</i>.<br /> + Henley, Chief Justice Peter: <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.<br /> + Henry, Patrick: <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>; + pronounces Camden-Yorke decision valid, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>; + endeavors to purchase lands from Cherokees, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + desires to become partner in Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + considers Transylvania title good, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>; + confiscates Transylvania, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>; + correspondence of, with Joseph Martin, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>-<a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /> + Hewatt, Rev. Alexander: <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Heydt, Jost: settles in Virginia, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + Heygler, King, Catawba chief: +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> + petitions for fort, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + prevents completion of fort, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + see <i>Oroloswa</i>.<br /> + Hiawassee: <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Hicks, Harry: heroic defence of home against Indian attack, + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> + High Shoals: <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.<br /> + Highlanders: <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.<br /> + Hill, William: <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.<br /> + Hillsborough: <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, + <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.<br /> + Hillsborough, Earl of: <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> + Hingham: <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Hogg, James: <a href="#Page_251">251</a>; + partner in Transylvania Company, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + appointed delegate from Transylvania to Continental Congress, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Holder, John: rescues sweetheart, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Holden, Joseph: <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Hollows, the: <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> + Holston: region, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>; + settlement, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a>; + valley of, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.<br /> + Honeycut: <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.<br /> + Hooper, William: <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.<br /> + Hopewell: <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.<br /> + Horton, Joshua: <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> + Houston, Rev. Samuel: <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>; + drafts constitution for Frankland, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>; + features of constitution drafted by, + <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + Howard, Cornelius: <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> + Howell, Rednap: poet-laureate of the Regulation, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> + Hubbardt, Col. James: <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.<br /> + Hudson Valley: <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br /> + Hunter, James: <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> + Hunter's Trail: <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> + Husband, Herman: author of "Impartial Relation," + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>; + leader in insurrection at Hillsborough, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>; + in correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, + <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>I</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Iberville, Le Moyne d': + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Illinois Company: see <i>Land Companies</i>. + Illinois country: <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + "Impartial Relation": + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> + Indian: agent, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;—Allies, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + chiefs, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, + <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;—depredations, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;—expeditions, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>; + governments, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + Grant, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + hostages, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;—lands, + <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;—outbreak, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;—princes, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;—territories, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;—towns, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;—trade, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;—traders, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;—trails, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;—tribes, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;—war, + <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;—warfare, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_295">295</a>-<a href="#Page_296">296</a>, + <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;—affairs, superintendent of, + <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.<br /> + Indians: + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_63">63</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, + <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, + <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, + <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, + <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, + <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, + <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, + <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;—Northern, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;—Southern, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Indiana: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> + Ingles: John, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;—Mrs. Mary, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;—William, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;—Mrs. William, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Innes, Col. James: <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.<br /> + Ireland, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + character of inhabitants of North of, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + Irish: immigration of, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;—Pennsylvania, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + settlers, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Iroquois: <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>J</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Jack, Col. Samuel: <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + Jackson, Andrew: <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.<br /> + Jacobite uprising: <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + Jamestown: <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> + Jay, John: + <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-<a href="#Page_330">330</a>.<br /> + Jefferson, Thomas: desires to join Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + favors free government back of Virginia, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>-<a href="#Page_251">251</a>; + attitude of, toward Transylvania claim, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + Jenkins, Leoline: on character of Scotch-Irish, + <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Sir William: <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> + Johnston, Gov. Gabriel: on immigration into North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.<br /> + Johnston, Gov. Samuel: + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + to Robertson and Bledsoe, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.<br /> + Johnston, William: <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Jones, John Gabriel: <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.<br /> + Jones, Robert (<i>Robin</i>): <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; + characterization of Scotch-Irish by, + <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_25">25</a>.<br /> + Jonesborough: <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Joseph, Miller: describes conditions of North Carolina backwoods, + <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.<br /> + Judge's Friend, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>K</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Kenedy, William: agent for Virginia gentlemen to purchase Cherokee lands, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.<br /> + Kenton, Simon: rescues Daniel Boone, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> + Kentucky (Cantucky, Cantuckey, Cantuckie, Cantuck): + <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, + <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, + <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, + <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, + <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, + <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; + origin of name, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;—road, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.<br /> + Keowee: <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;—valley of, + <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + King's Mountain: <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> + King's Mountain campaign: <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Kipling, Rudyard: <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Kirk: <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Kirtleys, the: pioneers, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + Knob Lick: <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>L</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Lacey, Col. William: + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.<br /> + Land: policy of selling large tracts of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + Land Companies: + Illinois, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_239">239</a>; + Louisa, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + Loyal, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_100">100</a>, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + Ohio, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + organized, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + sends out exploring expedition, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + Richard Henderson & Company, organized, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + Wabash (Ouabache), <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>-<a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Land of Cockayne: <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + La Salle, Robert Cavelier de: <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + Laurel Mountain: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + "Leatherstocking Tales": <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Leestown: <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Lewes: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> + Lenoir (Le Noir), Gen. William: + describes costume of pioneer women, + <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a>; + marches against Indians; + at King's Mountain, + <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + Léry, Chaussegros de: <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> + Lewis, Major Andrew: + <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + erects Virginia Fort, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a>; + leads Sandy River expedition, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + commands at Battle of Great Kanawha, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + Lexington: <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> + Lincoln: family, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Abraham, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + John, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Mordecai, + <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + Samuel, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;—Sarah, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.<br /> + Lindsay, Isaac, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> + Linville: John, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + Capt. William, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> + Linville Falls: + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + Lochaber: + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> + Locke, John: "Fundamental Constitutions" of, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> + Loesch, Brother: <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + Logan, Cayuga Mingo chief: <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + Logan, Col. Benjamin: + <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.<br /> + Logan, James: on character of squatters, + <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>.<br /> + London: <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.<br /> + Loudoun, Lord: <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.<br /> + Long Cane Settlement: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + Long Hunters: <a href="#chap12">ch. XII</a>, + <a href="#chap08">ch. VIII</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> + Long Island of Holston River: <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, + <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.<br /> + Long, John: slain by Indians, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Long Knives: <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.<br /> + Longueuil, Charles de Moyne, Baron de: <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> + Lorbrulgrud: <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Louis Quatorze: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Louisa Company: see <i>Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Louisiana: + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /> + Love, Col.: <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> + Lower Blue Licks: <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.<br /> + Lower Salt Spring: <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Lower Shawnee Town: <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.<br /> + Lowry, James: <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> + Loyal Company: see <i>Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Loyalists: <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.<br /> + Lucas, Robert: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Luhny, Robert, mill of, on James River, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Lulbegrud: <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Luttrell, Col. John: <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; + joins Transylvania Company, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Lyttelton, Gov. William Henry: + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, + <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>M</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Madison, Thomas: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Madrid: <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.<br /> + Mansfield, Low: <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Mansker, Gasper, pioneer: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + discovers lick, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + encounters Boone, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>-<a href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /> + Mansker's Lick: + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.<br /> + Margry, Pierre: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Martin, Gov. Alexander: <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, + <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>; + attorney for Daniel Boone, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + appoints Samuel Henderson ambassador to Franklin, + <a href="#Page_315">315</a>; + issues manifesto against State of Franklin, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, + <a href="#Page_318">318</a>; + Sevier to, on Franklin, + <a href="#Page_317">317</a>-<a href="#Page_318">318</a>; + academy named for, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.<br /> + Martin, Col Joseph: <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>; + settles in Powell's Valley, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + driven out, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + appointed agent for Transylvania Company, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + Richard Henderson to, + <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + letter of, to Governor Randolph, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>; + exonerated of treason by North Carolina Assembly, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>; + acts as spy on Spaniards, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>-<a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /> + Martin, Gov. Josiah: + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>; + issues proclamation against Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + Martin's Station: + <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; + founded, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a href="#Page_221">221</a>; + Henderson draws up plan of government for, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>; + brave defence of, against Indians, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> + Maryland: <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, + <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + price of lands in, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.<br /> + Mason, George: opposed to Transylvania claim, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + Maxwell, Col. George: + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.<br /> + McAden, Rev. Hugh: diary of, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + McAfees: <a href="#Page_243">243</a>; + exploring party, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + return home, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;—James, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;—Robert, + <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + Robert, Jr., <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + Samuel, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; + William, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /> + McBride, James: <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + McCulloch, Major John: <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + McCulloh, Henry Eustace: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + McDowell, Col.: <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + McDowell, Col. Charles: <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + McDowell, Col. Joseph: + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + McDowell, Thomas: <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> + McFeters, Jeremiah: <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + McGillivray, Alexander: + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>; + receives overtures from Cumberland leaders, + <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.<br /> + Mendenhall: John, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;—Richard, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> + Middle Ground: <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.<br /> + Middle Settlements: <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Middleton, Col. Thomas: <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Middle Towns: <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + Middle West: <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + Millerstown: <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.<br /> + Miró, District of: + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.<br /> + Miró, Gov. Estevan: <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>; + reports on separatist movement in West, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.<br /> + Mississippi Bubble: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Mohawk Valley: <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.<br /> + Monbreun, Timothé de: hunts on Cumberland, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.<br /> + Monongahela: <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /> + Montagu, Lord Charles: + <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> + Montgomerie, Col. Archibald: + abortive campaign of, against Indians, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + sails, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.<br /> + Montreal: <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> + Mooney, James: explores Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Moore: <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> + Moravian: church, + <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_89">89</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;—community diary, + <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;—brotherhood, + <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>;—town, + <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + <i>Gemein Haus</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;—store-keeper, + <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.<br /> + Moravians: <a href="#Page_166">166</a>; + eleven killed, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + warned against Indians, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + hospitable to Indians, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> + Morgan family: <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Edward, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + Sarah, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Richard, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.<br /> + Morganton: <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.<br /> + Morris, Gov. Samuel: <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.<br /> + Morrison: <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Mount Mitchell: <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Mulberry Fields: <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Müller, Adam: settles in Virginia, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + Murray, William: + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>N</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Nantahala Mountains: <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + Nash, Gen. Francis: + <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.<br /> + Nashborough: <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.<br /> + Nashville: <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /> + Nassau Hall: + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + Natchez: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.<br /> + Neely, Alexander: + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.<br /> + Neilson, Archibald: <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.<br /> + Nelson, Acting Governor William: + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.<br /> + Newcastle: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> + New England: <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> + New Jersey: <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> + "Newlanders": <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.<br /> + Newman, hunter: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Newman's Ridge: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + New Orleans: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /> + New River: region, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, + <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;—settlement, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.<br /> + "Nolichucky Jack of the Border": <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.<br /> + Nolichucky: Valley, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> + North America: + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.<br /> + North Carolina: <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, + <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, + <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, + <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, + <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, + <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, + <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_280">282</a>, + <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, + <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, + <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, + <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, + <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, + <a href="#Page_347">347</a>; + frontier conditions in, + <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>;—border, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;—back country, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; + grants lands in Tennessee to Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + immigration into, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>; + increase in population of, + <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;—piedmont, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;—hunters, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + pioneers, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + governor of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + commissioners of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>; + troops, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, + <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>; + cedes Western territory to United States, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>; + legislature of, passes second cession act, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>; + lands accepted by Congress, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + North Carolina Assembly: + <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_58">58</a>, + <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.<br /> + North Carolina: Provincial Congress of, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + Provincial Council of, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> + Northwest: + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.<br /> + Nottaway Indians: <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> + Nuntewees: <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>O</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Oconostota, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_242">242</a>; + treacherously murders Lieut. Coytomore, + <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> + Ohio Company: see <i>Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Ohio Indians: <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + Ohio Valley: + <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Old Abraham: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Old Chillicothe: <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + Old Southwest: <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, + <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, + <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>; + pioneers of, <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>; + pioneer democracy of, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, + <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_104">104</a>;—planter + aristocracy of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;—Mimic republics of, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;—colonizers of, + <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.<br /> + Ormond, Duke of: to Leoline Jenkins, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> + Oroloswa, Catawba Chief: <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + see <i>King Heygler</i>.<br /> + Osborne, Captain Alexander: leads Rowan militia, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.<br /> + Otari towns: <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Ouasioto Gap: + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, + see <i>Cumberland Gap</i>.<br /> + Outassitus, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + Overton, Samuel: <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Owen, William: <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.<br /> + Oxford: <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>P</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Pacific Ocean: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Page, John: <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> + Paintsville: <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + Paris: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Path Deed: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Paxtang: <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /> + Pearis, Capt. Richard: <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.<br /> + Peck, John M.: <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.<br /> + Penn, William: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Pennsylvania: + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>; + population of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + lands, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + immigrants into, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;—Synod, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;—Proprietaries of, + <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;—traders, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> + Pensacola: + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + Perkins, John: defeats Indians by strategy, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>-<a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br /> + Phifer, Martin: leads frontier rangers, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Philadelphia: <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, + <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Pilot Knob: <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Pilot Mountain: <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Piomingo, Chickasaw chief: <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.<br /> + Pioneer: farmer, <a href="#chap09">ch. IX</a>; + promoter, <a href="#chap11">ch. XI</a>.<br /> + Pittsburgh: <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + "Pocahontas of the West": <a href="#Page_262">262</a>; + see <i>Nancy Ward</i>.<br /> + Point Pleasant: <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.<br /> + Polk, Thomas: <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + Ponce de Leon: <a href="#chap12">ch. XII</a>.<br /> + Portwood, age: <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Post St. Vincent: <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + Pound Gap: <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /> + Powell's Mountain: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Powell's Valley: + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>; + lands in, granted to Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>-<a href="#Page_288">288</a>.<br /> + Presbyterians: in Ireland, + <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;—Scotch-Irish, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.<br /> + Preston, Col. William: <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + to Lord Dunmore on Henderson's offers of land, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a>; + to George Washington on Transylvania, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_243">243</a>;—supports + Judge Henderson, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.<br /> + Price, Thomas, Indian trader: + guides Henderson at Hart to Otari towns, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>; + testifies regarding Great Treaty, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> + Price's Meadow: <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.<br /> + Privy Council: <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + "Proposals for the encouragement of settling the lands, etc.": + issued by Transylvania Company, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /> + Puritan: <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>Q</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Quaker Meadows: <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.<br /> + Quakers: <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /> + Quebec: <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + Quindre, Dagniaux de: commands at siege of Transylvania Fort, + <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>R</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Rains, John: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> + Randolph, Col. Peter: treaty commissioner, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /> + Recall of Judges: early example, + <a href="#Page_286">286</a>-<a href="#Page_287">287</a>.<br /> + Red Lick Fork: <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span> + Regulation: <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, + <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> + Regulators: <a href="#chap11">ch. XI</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, + <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, + <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, + <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, + <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> + Reid, Capt. Mayne: <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.<br /> + Revere, Paul: <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + Richard Henderson & Company: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + organized, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + despatch Boone on exploring expedition, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + granted land by Virginia, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>; + see <i>Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Richter: <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rivers</span>: + Big Sandy, west fork of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + Broad, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>; + Catawba, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;—South fork of, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>; + Chattahoochee, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; + Cherokee, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; + Clinch, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + Cumberland, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, + <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, + <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>; + Dick's, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; + Great Kanawha, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + Green, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, + <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>; + Hiwassee, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>; + Holston, + <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + Illinois, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>; + James, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>; + Licking, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>; + Little Tennessee, + <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>; + Louisa, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + Meho, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>; + Miami, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + Mississippi, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + Muskingum, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + New, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>; + Nonachunheh, Nolichucky, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>; + Ohio, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, + <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, + <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, + <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;—falls of the, + <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, + <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;—forks of the, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + Opeckon, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>; + Pacolet, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + Potomac, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + Red, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>; + Reedy, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + Roanoke, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + Rockcastle, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; + Scioto, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + Shenandoah, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + Stone's, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; + Swannanoa, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>; + Tellico, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + Tennessee, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>; + Trinity, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; + Tugaloo, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; + Twelve Mile, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + Wabash, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>; + Washita, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + Watauga, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, + <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.<br /> + Robertson, Charles: <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Robertson, James: <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, + <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, + <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>; + leads scouting party for Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a>-<a href="#Page_281">281</a>; + guides party to French Lick, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + joined by Donelson and party, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>; + names Miró District, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + desires union with Spain, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>; + seeks separation of Cumberland from North Carolina, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>; + to Miró on separatist movement, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.<br /> + Robinson, John: <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Rochelle: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Rocky Mountains: <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Rogers, Sergt.: <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.<br /> + Rogersville: <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.<br /> + Roan Mountain: <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Round-O, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + Rowan, Matthew: + <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> + Rowan rangers: <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + described, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Rowan: settlers murdered, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + Rucker, Capt.: <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + Rutherford, Gen. Griffith: + leads Rowan rangers, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + leads rescuing force, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + leads army against Cherokees, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + Russell, Capt. William: <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>S</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Saint Augustine: <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> + Saint Lusson, Daumont de: + <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + Salem: <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Salisbury: <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, + <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, + <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, + <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.<br /> + Salling, John Peter: <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + San Salvador: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Sandy Creek Association: + <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> + Sandy River expedition: <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.<br /> + Sapona Town: <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + Sault Ste. Marie: <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> + Savannah: <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> + Savannah Indians: <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.<br /> + Scaggs, Charles: <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Scaggs, Henry: <a href="#Page_282">282</a>; + meets Daniel Boone, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + agent for Richard Henderson & Co., + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + explores Cumberland region, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; + leads Long Hunters into Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + Scaggs' Ridge: <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Schnell, Leonard: pilgrimage of, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>.<br /> + Scotch Lowlands: <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.<br /> + Scotch-Irish: <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, + <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; + in Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;—immigration of, + <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + settlers, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.<br /> + Scotchman: <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.<br /> + Scotland: <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Scovil: <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.<br /> + Searcy: connection, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>; + Reuben, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; + Valentine, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Settiquo: <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.<br /> + Sevier, James: emissary of Franklin to Miró, + <a href="#Page_337">337</a>-<a href="#Page_338">338</a>.<br /> + Sevier, John: + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_313">313</a>-<a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, + <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>; + early life, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + defends Watauga Fort, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>; + rescues Bonny Kate Sherrill, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + with Shelly plans King's Mountain campaign, + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>; + defeats Indians, + <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_308">308</a>; + disavows revolutionary intent, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>; + elected Governor of Franklin, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>; + writes defiant letter to Caswell, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>-<a href="#Page_324">324</a>; + appeals to Benjamin Franklin, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>; + besieges Tipton, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>; + attacks Indians, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>-<a href="#Page_332">332</a>; + writes Gardoqui, offering to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, + <a href="#Page_333">333</a>-<a href="#Page_335">335</a>; + arrested for high treason, imprisoned, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>; + rescued, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>; + restored to office by North Carolina, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>; + elected first governor of Tennessee, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Shawanoes, Shawnese: <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;—chief of, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> + Shelby, Col. Evan: leads force +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span> + against Chickamaugas, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>; + appointed brigadier-general, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + Shelby, Isaac: <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>; + at Battle of Great Kanawha, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + initiates King's Mountain campaign, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>; + at King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>; + elected first governor of Kentucky, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Shelby, Capt. James: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Shenandoah Valley: + <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.<br /> + Sherrill, Katherine: rescued by John Sevier, + <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + Silonee, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + checks Montgomerie, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + see <i>Young Warrior of Estatoe</i>.<br /> + Sims, George: + writes <i>A Serious Address</i>, etc., <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, + <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> + Simms, William Gilmore: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Six Nations: + <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Slaughter: <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> + Slaughter, Col. Thomas: <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> + Smith, Capt. John: <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Smith, Gen. Daniel: + <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.<br /> + Smith, James: <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.<br /> + Smith, John, Jr.: <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Smith, William Bailey: <a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + carries corn to French Lick, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.<br /> + Smith's Bridge: <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + Smyth, J. F. D.: describes North Carolina backwoodsmen, + <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> + South Carolina: + <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, + <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, + <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, + <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, + <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>; + rangers, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + traders, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + South Fork of Catawba River, + <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;—Boys, + <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.<br /> + South Sea: <a href="#chap11">ch. XI</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + South Sea Islands: <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.<br /> + Southwest: see <i>Old Southwest</i>.<br /> + Southwest Territory: <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Southern Department: + <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /> + Spach: <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.<br /> + Spain: <a href="#chap20">ch. XX</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, + <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.<br /> + Spangenberg, Bishop Augustus Gottlieb: + makes exploring tour, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>; + preaches at Bethania, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Spaniards: + <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.<br /> + Spanish: authorities, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + charged affairs, + <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;—conspiracy in Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;—conspiracy in Tennessee, + <a href="#chap20">ch. XX</a>, + <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;—court, + <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;—domain, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;—government, + <a href="#Page_346">346</a>;—minister, + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;—traders, + <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /> + Spotswood, Gov. Alexander: + <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> + St. Asaph's: <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + St. Clair, Sir John: <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.<br /> + St. Clair, Gen. Arthur: <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /> + Stalnaker, Samuel: + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Stanford: <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + Steep Rock: <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.<br /> + Stephen, Col. Adam: + <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + Stewart, John: <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, + <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, + <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, + <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.<br /> + Stone, Uriah: + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> + Stoner, Michael: + <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> + Stuart, Capt. John: + <a href="#Page_91">91</a>-<a href="#Page_92">92</a>.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> + Stuart, John: <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Stuart, pioneer: <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.<br /> + Superintendent of Indian Affairs: + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /> + Swan, David L.: <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> + Switzerland: <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Sycamore Shoals of Watauga River: + <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, + <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.<br /> + Synge, Archbishop: <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>T</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Tate, Samuel: <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + Taylor: Hancock, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;—Richard, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + Zachary, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.<br /> + Tennessee: + <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, + <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, + <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; + countries, + <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;—riflemen, + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;—settlements, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, + <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /> + Terre Haute: <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.<br /> + Thompson: <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.<br /> + Thompson, James: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Tiftoe, Cherokee Chief: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.<br /> + Tipton, Col. John: + <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, + <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.<br /> + Tipton, Jonathan: <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.<br /> + Tonti, Henry de: <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.<br /> + Tories: + <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.<br /> + Town Fork: <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Trabue, Daniel: diary of, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> + Tracey, John: <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Trade: British, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.<br /> + Traders: with Indians, + <a href="#chap07">ch. VII</a>-<a href="#chap09">ch. IX</a>, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> + Trading Ford: <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + Trading House: British, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> + Trans-Alleghany: + <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, + <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, + <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, + <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, + <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.<br /> + Transylvania: + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, + <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, + <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>; + colony of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; + president of, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>; + proprietors of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, + <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.<br /> + Transylvania Company: <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#chap12">ch. XII</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, + <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, + <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, + <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>; + compact of, with Cumberland settlers, + <a href="#Page_285">285</a>-<a href="#Page_286">286</a>; + organized, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + permanent contribution of, to colonization of West, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> + Transylvania Legislature: <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.<br /> + Transylvania Purchase: <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.<br /> + Transylvania Trail: + <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> + Treaty: with Indians, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + at Charleston, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; + at Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + at Hard Labor, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + at Lochaber, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>; + at Sycamore Shoals, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> + Trent, Capt. William: <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> + Tryon, Gov. William: <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, + <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Tryon Mountain: <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Tryon's Line: <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> + Tuckasegee: <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Tuscarora Indians: <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>U</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> + Ulster: <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + Ulster Scots: characterization of, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> + Unakas: <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Union: <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, + <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; + see <i>American Union</i>.<br /> + United States: <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, + <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, + <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.<br /> + United States Congress: + <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.<br /> + Untoola: <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.<br /> + Upper Towns: <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + Utopia: <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>V</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Valley of Mexico: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Vandalia: + <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Vasco Nuñez: <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<br /> + Venango: <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /> + Versailles: <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.<br /> + Villiers, Coulon de: <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> + Virginia: pioneers of, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, + <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;—traders, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;—troops, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, + <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;—frontier, + <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + <i>Gazette</i>, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, + <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;—backwoods, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>;—Valley of, + <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, + <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;—Convention, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, + <a href="#Page_257">257</a>;—Land Office, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;—Assembly, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_278">278</a>;—Militia, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;—House of Delegates, + <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;—Governor of, + <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;—Path, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, + <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;—Remonstrance, + <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#chap15">ch. XV</a>, + <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, + <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, + <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, + <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, + <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, + <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, + <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, + <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, + <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, + <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, + <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, + <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.<br /> + Virginians: <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, + <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, + <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>W</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company: see <i>Land Companies</i>.<br /> + Wachau: <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Wachovia: <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;—community diary, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.<br /> + Wade, Capt. Robert: <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.<br /> + Waddell, Gen. Hugh: <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, + <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-<a href="#Page_56">56</a>, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + appointed Indian commissioner, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + begins erection of Catawba Fort, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + discontinues work on fort, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + in Fort Duquesne campaign, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + hastens to Rowan's defence, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + marches to aid South Carolina, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + report of, on defeat of Indians at Fort Dobbs, + <a href="#Page_81">81</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>; + rescues captives, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + leads North Carolina troops, + <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + Walden, Elisha: <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Walden's Mountain: + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>.<br /> + Walker, Dr. Thomas: + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, + <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + makes exploration for Loyal Land Company, + <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + sells land to Joseph Martin, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> + Walker, Felix: <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>; + describes Kentucky, + <a href="#Page_233">233</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>.<br /> + Walpole, Thomas, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + Ward, James: <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /> + Ward, Nancy: <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, + <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + Washington District: + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.<br /> + Washington, George: + <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, + <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>; + opinion of royal proclamation, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + purchases Western lands, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>; + makes charges against Dunmore, + <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">207</a>; + secures military grants for Western lands, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>; + Preston to, on Henderson purchase and Transylvania Company, + <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + Watauga: <a href="#chap12">ch. XII</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a>-<a href="#Page_282">282</a>;—commonwealth, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + valley of, + <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;—country, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + settlers, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, + <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;—Articles of Association, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;—Association, + <a href="#Page_224">224</a>; + settlement, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + "Watauga Plan": commission form of government, + <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.<br /> + Waxhaws: <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> + Webster: <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.<br /> + Welsh: immigration of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;—stock, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + West: + <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, + <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, + <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + West Virginia: + <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + Western: leaders, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;—people, + <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;—settlers, + <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>; + territory, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, + <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;—waters, + <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.<br /> + Wharton: Samuel, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;—Thomas, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + White, Dr. James: + <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, + <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>; + emissary of Franklin, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /> + Whitehall: <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + Wilderness Trail: <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.<br /> + Wilkinson, General James: + <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.<br /> + Williams, Brigadier-General James: + <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>; + killed at King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.<br /> + Williams, Col. John: + <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>; + elected delegate from Transylvania to Continental Congress, + <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + Williams, John: <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.<br /> + Williams and Henderson, law firm: <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, + <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.<br /> + Williamsborough: <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.<br /> + Williamsburg: <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.<br /> + Williamson, Col. Andrew: <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> + Williamson, Dr. Hugh: <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, + <a href="#Page_312">312</a>-<a href="#Page_313">313</a>.<br /> + Wilmington: <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.<br /> + Winchester, Kentucky: <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.<br /> + Winchester, Virginia: <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + Winston, Major Joseph: leads North Carolina troops against Cherokees, + <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; + leads Surry riflemen at King's Mountain, + <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, + <a href="#Page_303">303</a>-<a href="#Page_304">304</a>.<br /> + Wolf Hills (Abingdon): <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Wood, Col. Abraham: <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.<br /> + Wormley, Ralph: <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Wytheville: <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>Y</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Yadkin: country, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> + <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, + <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, + <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;—Forks of the, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, + <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, + <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;—valley, + <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, + <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> + York, Pennsylvania: <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.<br /> + Yorke, Charles: renders legal opinion, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Young Warrior of Estatoe, Cherokee chief: <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + see <i>Silonee</i>.<br /> + <p><br /></p> + </div> + <h3>Z</h3> + <div class="indexfont"> + Zinzendorf, Count: <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.<br /> + </div> + +<p> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> + +<h2><a href="#contents">Transcriber's Notes</a></h2> +<p><br /></p> +<h3>Introduction:</h3> + +<p> +We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but +not in the index. Obvious errors were corrected--and all of +these changes can be found in the <i>Detailed Notes Section</i> of these +notes. The <i>Detailed Notes Section</i> also includes issues that have +come up during transcription. One common issue is that words are sometimes +split into two lines for spacing purposes. These words are hyphenated in +the physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the +hyphen should be retained in transcription. The reasons behind some of +these decisions are itemized. +</p> +<p> +There were numerous errors in the index. Places like the Ouasioto Gap and +the Green River, which were spelled consistently and correctly throughout +the text, ended up as "Onasioto" and "Guen" in the index. Such errors +detract from the index. Therefore, corrections were made to the index and +listed in the Detailed Notes Section. +</p> + +<h3>Detailed Notes Section:</h3> + +<div class="notes"> + +<h4>Introduction</h4> + +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_viii">Page viii</a>:<br /> + In his letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Dunmore wrote the clause + "Should for ever immagine the Lands further off..." This is a direct + quote; the spelling is correct. +</p> + +<h4>Preface</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_xvii">Page xvii</a>:<br /> + Home-builder is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, + giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. The word was not + used again in the book. However, "home-makers" was used on Page 17, and the + word included a hyphen and was in the middle of the line. We believe that + the author's use of home-makers signals the author's intent to keep the + hyphen in "home-builder." So we kept the hyphen. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter III</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_39">Page 39</a>:<br /> + Powder-horn is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, + giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. On Page 213, + powder-horns with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. That was the + only other occurrence of the word in the book. Therefore, we kept the hyphen. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter VI</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_68">Page 68</a>:<br /> + The author used the original spelling of the fort on page 68 in the clause + "To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord Loudoun," but changed + the spelling to modern usage (Fort Loudon) on pages 76, 88, and 90. We + made no modifications and retained the spelling from the text. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter VII</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_98">Page 98</a>:<br /> + Céloron de Bienville is spelled with a grave accent despite the + correct spelling (according to Wikipedia) of Céloron on + <a href="#Page_46">Page 46</a>. The spelling in the book was retained. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter VIII</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_127">Page 127</a>:<br /> + Half-breed is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, + giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. On Page 141, + half-breed with the hyphen appears in the middle of a line. That was the + only other occurrence of the word in the book. Therefore, we kept the hyphen. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter IX</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_133">Page 133</a>:<br /> + Life-time is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, + giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. There was no other + occurrence of life-time or lifetime in the book. We kept the hyphen. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XII</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_181">Page 181</a>:<br /> + Court-room is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing + in the clause "the Regulators took possession of the court-room." + On page 180, court-room is spelled with a hyphen in the middle of + a sentence, so we retained the hyphen here. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_194">Page 194</a>:<br /> + There is a printer's mistake on page 194: the first line of page 194 is + actually the last line of page 194. The line "ston River, south and east + of Long Island;" which is on the top line of page 194 in the printed book, + should be on the bottom line, below "however, to the settlement north of + the Hol-." We have transcribed the book making this adjustment to the text. + <br /> + • <a href="#Page_195">Page 195</a>: + We have removed (See map for settlement and treaty lines.) because our + transcription does not have images scanned. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XIV</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_224">Page 224</a>:<br /> + (Compare map.) after "including the Nolichucky Valley." was removed + because maps and images have not been scanned and included in our + transcription of the book. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XVI</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_266">Page 266</a>:<br /> + Rendez-voused was hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines + in the clause "Colonel William Christian rendez-voused." Rendezvous is + written without the hyphen on pages 59, 203, 226, and 292. Therefore, + the hyphen was omitted in transcribing rendezvoused. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XVII</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_270">Page 270</a>:<br /> + Far-flung is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in the + clause "along the farflung frontier of Kentucky." There are no other + occurrences of the word. Far-away, far-visioned, and far-reaching were + used in the book. Far west, far north, and far faint were used in the + book, but replacing the hyphen with a space is not an option in + transcribing hyphenated words. There weren't any options with far being + part of a conjoined word. The hyphen was retained in far-flung. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_283">Page 283</a>:<br /> + Flat-boats is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in + the clause: "about thirty flatboats, dugouts." On Page 285, flatboats + is not hyphenated, so the hyphen was not kept in transcribing the same + word on page 283.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_286">Page 286</a>:<br /> + Co-partners is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in + the clause: "contract between the copartners." There were no other + occurrences of the word. We did not use the hyphen here.<br /> + • <a href="#Page_287">Page 287</a>:<br /> + Entry-taker is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in + the clause: "the entry-taker being appointed by Judge Henderson." + On Page 220, "entry-Taker" was used in a quote from Joseph Martin. + There were no other occurrences of the word. We retained the hyphen. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XVII</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_293">Page 293</a>:<br /> + Over-mountain men is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in + the clause: "the over-mountain men gathered on September 25th." This word was + used other times in the book, on pages 295, 306, and 316. Each time it was + spelled with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. <br /> + • <a href="#Page_303">Page 303</a>:<br /> + Battle-field is hyphenated for spacing and split between two lines in + the clause: "His frenzied efforts on the battle-field ..." This word was + used three other times, on pages 54, 214, and 306. Each time it was spelled + with a hyphen, so we have kept the hyphen here, too. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Chapter XIX</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_315">Page 315</a>:<br /> + In Sevier's quote, "we shall pursue no furtheir measures as to a new State," + the spelling of furtheir matches that of Henderson's book. Because this + is a quote, no change was made, although Sevier meant further. + +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Index</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + • <a href="#Page_393">Page 393</a>:<br /> + In the book, the clause "begins erection of Catawba" is embedded between "see + <i>Land Companies</i>" in the Index entry for Wabash Land Companies. + That clause belongs before "Fort, 70;" in the entry under Hugh Waddell. + We have made the correction. +</p> +<p><br /></p> +<h4>Spelling Errors in the Index</h4> +<p class="noindent"> + As described in the Introduction to the Transcriber Notes, the book has + numerous spelling errors in the index. Here is a list of changes made + <em>only</em> to the Index, and <em>only</em> because a new, incorrect + variation of the word was introduced in the index.</p> +<ul> + <li>Changed "Bieville, Jean Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de: 42." to Bienville.</li> + <li>Changed "Bathama" to Bethania in preaches index under Bishop Spangenberg.</li> + <li>Changed "corn sent from to French Lick" to corn sent to, from French + Lick, in index entry under Boonesborough.</li> + <li>Changed "Black Fish, Schawano chief" to Shawanoe.</li> + <li>Changed "Celoron de Blainville" to Céloron.</li> + <li>Changed "Charleville; Charles" to Charleville, Charles.</li> + <li>Changed "Conewagoes" to Coghnawagas.</li> + <li>Changed "Cullodan" to Culloden.</li> + <li>Changed "Onasioto" to Ouasioto in entry under Cumberland Gap.</li> + <li>Changed "Laudown" to Loudon in entry under Captain Demere.</li> + <li>Changed "Dugger, Julius Caesar" to Dugger, Julius Cæsar.</li> + <li>Changed "Es-Kippa-Ki-Thi-Ki" to Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki. </li> + <li>Changed "Etchowee" to Et-chow-ee.</li> + <li>Changed "Gnadenhutten" to Gnadenhütten.</li> + <li>Changed "Greathouse, Darmel" to Daniel.</li> + <li>Changed "Howell, Rednup" to Howell, Rednap.</li> + <li>Changed "Onabache" to Ouabache in the entry for Land Companies, under + the subtopic Wabash.</li> + <li>Changed "Lockaber" to Lochaber.</li> + <li>Changed "Lorbulgrud" to Lorbrulgrud. Also added index entry for + Lulbegrud. Lulbegrud is the name of the creek in Kentucky; Lorbrulgrud is the + capital metropolis of Brobdingnag in Swift's Gulliver's Travels.</li> + <li>Changed "Miro, District of:" to Miró.</li> + <li>Changed "Monbrenn" to Monbreun under Timothé de Montbreun. </li> + <li>Changed "Paxtong" to Paxtang.</li> + <li>Changed "Guen" under <span class="smcap">Rivers</span> to Green.</li> + <li>Changed "Nonachunbreh" and "Nolichuetry" under + <span class="smcap">Rivers</span> to Nonachunheh and Nolichucky.</li> + <li>Changed "Trabum, Damie" to Trabue, Daniel. </li> + <li>Changed "Tascarora Indians" to Tuscarora Indians. Moved index entry + from the top of the T's to the bottom to reflect the proper alphabetical + order with the changed spelling.</li> + <li>Changed "Vasco Nunez" to Vasco Nuñez.</li> + <li>Moved "begins erection of Catawba," misplaced under index entry Wabash + Land Company to Waddell, Gen. Hugh. The sub-entry is "begins erection + of Catawba Fort, 70;" which is after "Indian commissioner, 59."</li> + <li>Changed "Wachan" to Wachau. </li> + <li>Changed "Wachonia" to Wachovia.</li> + <li>Changed "Young Warrior of Estaloe" to Estatoe.</li> + </ul> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Conquest of the Old Southwest + The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers into Virginia, + the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 1740-1790 + +Author: Archibald Henderson + +Posting Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #2390] +Release Date: November, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST: +</H1> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> + THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA,<BR> + THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND KENTUCKY 1740-1790<BR> +</H4> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Some to endure and many to fail,<BR> + Some to conquer and many to quail<BR> + Toiling over the Wilderness Trail.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK +<BR> +THE CENTURY CO. +<BR> +1920 +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> + TO THE HISTORIAN OF<BR> + OLD WEST AND NEW WEST<BR> + FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER<BR> + WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD<BR> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P> +The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the +pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add +the rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the +world offer for the loss of so glorious a prospect?—Richard +Henderson. +</P> + +<P> +The established Authority of any government in America, and the +policy of Government at home, are both insufficient to restrain +the Americans.... They acquire no attachment to Place: But +wandering about Seems engrafted in their Nature; and it is a +weakness incident to it, that they Should for ever imagine the +Lands further off, are Still better than those upon which they +are already settled.—Lord Dunmore, to the Earl of Dartmouth. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="introduction"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION +</H3> + +<P> +The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward +migration of successive waves of transplanted European peoples +throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the +history of the growth and evolution of American democracy. Upon +the American continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman +daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the +formation of a new society. The European rudely confronted with +the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered that +his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned upon his +individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting himself +to his environment. The very history of the human race, from the +age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened +civilization, is traversed in the Old Southwest throughout the +course of half a century. +</P> + +<P> +A series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing +the successive episodes in the history of a single family as it +wended its way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely +repulsed the sudden attack of the Indians, toiled painfully up +the granite slopes of the Appalachians, and pitched down into the +transmontane wilderness upon the western waters, would give to +the spectator a vivid conception, in miniature, of the westward +movement. But certain basic elements in the grand procession, +revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would perhaps +escape his scrutiny. Back of the individual, back of the family, +even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, +expansion, and government. In the recognition of these social and +economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the +group into the community; the community into a new society. In +this clear perspective of historic development the spectacular +hero at first sight seems to diminish; but the mass, the +movement, the social force which he epitomizes and interprets, +gain in impressiveness and dignity. +</P> + +<P> +As the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever +southward and westward, seeking room for expansion and economic +independence, a series of frontiers was gradually thrust out +toward the wilderness in successive waves of irregular +indentation. The true leader in this westward advance, to whom +less than his deserts has been accorded by the historian, is the +drab and mercenary trader with the Indians. The story of his +enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of +European civilization upon American soil. In the mind of the +aborigines he created the passion for the fruits, both good and +evil, of the white man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the +Indian because he also brought the means for repelling the +further advance of that civilization. The trader was of +incalculable service to the pioneer in first spying out the land +and charting the trackless wilderness. The trail rudely marked by +the buffalo became in time the Indian path and the trader's +"trace"; and the pioneers upon the westward march, following the +line of least resistance, cut out their roads along these very +routes. It is not too much to say that had it not been for the +trader—brave, hardy, and adventurous however often crafty, +unscrupulous, and immoral—the expansionist movement upon the +American continent would have been greatly retarded. +</P> + +<P> +So scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of +the traders with the Indians that the frontier which they +established was at best both shifting and unstable. Following far +in the wake of these advance agents of the civilization which +they so often disgraced, came the cattle-herder or rancher, who +took advantage of the extensive pastures and ranges along the +uplands and foot-hills to raise immense herds of cattle. Thus was +formed what might be called a rancher's frontier, thrust out in +advance of the ordinary farming settlements and serving as the +first serious barrier against the Indian invasion. The westward +movement of population is in this respect a direct advance from +the coast. Years before the influx into the Old Southwest of the +tides of settlement from the northeast, the more adventurous +struck straight westward in the wake of the fur-trader, and here +and there erected the cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier +of the piedmont region. The wild horses and cattle which roamed +at will through the upland barrens and pea-vine pastures were +herded in and driven for sale to the city markets of the East. +</P> + +<P> +The farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real +backbone of western settlement. The pioneering farmers, with the +adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged +deeper and ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the +prospect of free and still richer lands in the dim interior. +Settlements quickly sprang up in the neighborhood of military +posts or rude forts established to serve as safeguards against +hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between these +settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the +trader and the more beaten paths of emigration. The bolder +settlers who ventured farthest to the westward were held in +communication with the East through their dependence upon salt +and other necessities of life; and the search for salt-springs in +the virgin wilderness was an inevitable consequence of the desire +of the pioneer to shake off his dependence upon the coast. +</P> + +<P> +The prime determinative principle of the progressive American +civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the +acquisition of land. The struggle for economic independence +developed the germ of American liberty and became the +differentiating principle of American character. Here was a vast +unappropriated region in the interior of the continent to be had +for the seeking, which served as lure and inspiration to the man +daring enough to risk his all in its acquisition. It was in +accordance with human nature and the principles of political +economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited transmontane +land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, should +excite grandiose dreams in the minds of English and Colonials +alike. England was said to be "New Land mad and everybody there +has his eye fixed on this country." Groups of wealthy or +well-to-do individuals organized themselves into land companies +for the colonization and exploitation of the West. The pioneer +promoter was a powerful creative force in westward expansion; and +the activities of the early land companies were decisive factors +in the colonization of the wilderness. Whether acting under the +authority of a crown grant or proceeding on their own authority, +the land companies tended to give stability and permanence to +settlements otherwise hazardous and insecure. +</P> + +<P> +The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was +wanderlust—the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, +the traveler, and the explorer. This restless class of nomadic +wanderers was responsible in part for the royal proclamation of +1763, a secondary object of which, according to Edmund Burke, was +the limitation of the colonies on the West, as "the charters of +many of our old colonies give them, with few exceptions, no +bounds to the westward but the South Sea." The Long Hunters, +taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth to a fabled +hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they were +driven by the irresistible desire of a Ponce de Leon or a De Soto +to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. +</P> + +<P> +But the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the +chase and of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the +furs and skins of wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in +the centers of trade. He was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and +to assert "corn rights" as he spied out the rich virgin land for +future location and cultivation. Free land and no taxes appealed +to the backwoodsman, tired of paying quit-rents to the agents of +wealthy lords across the sea. Thus the settler speedily followed +in the hunter's wake. In his wake also went many rude and lawless +characters of the border, horse thieves and criminals of +different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in the +merciful liberality of the wilderness. For the most part, +however, it was the salutary instinct of the homebuilder—the man +with the ax, who made a little clearing in the forest and built +there a rude cabin that he bravely defended at all risks against +continued assaults—which, in defiance of every restraint, +irresistibly thrust westward the thin and jagged line of the +frontier. The ax and the surveyor's chain, along with the rifle +and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial bearings of the +pioneer. With individual as with corporation, with explorer as +with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the era. +</P> + +<P> +The various desires which stimulated and promoted westward +expansion were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. +The trader sought to exploit the Indian for his own advantage, +selling him whisky, trinkets, and firearms in return for rich +furs and costly peltries; yet he was often a hunter himself and +collected great stores of peltries as the result of his solitary +and protracted hunting-expeditions. The rancher and the herder +sought to exploit the natural vegetation of marsh and upland, the +cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring need for +fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer to +the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward +advance. The small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new +region, the alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for +the cultivation of his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet +in the intervals between the tasks of farm life he scoured the +wilderness in search of game "and spied out new lands for future +settlement". +</P> + +<P> +This restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant Francis +Baily, "delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can +enjoy undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the +blessings which nature has bestowed upon them." Independence of +spirit, impatience of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the +nomadic temperament—these are the strains in the American +character of the eighteenth century which ultimately blended to +create a typical democracy. The rolling of wave after wave of +settlement westward across the American continent, with a +reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest +frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each +successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the +eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the +American people during two centuries. This era, constituting the +first stage in our national existence, and productive of a +buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil, +closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free +land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent +death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid inauguration of the period, +in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and +Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is +the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old Southwest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#introduction">INTRODUCTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE MIGRATION OF THE PEOPLES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE CRADLE OF WESTWARD EXPANSION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE BACK COUNTRY AND THE BORDER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE INDIAN WAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">IN DEFENSE OF CIVILIZATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">CRUSHING THE CHEROKEES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE LAND COMPANIES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE LONG HUNTERS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">DANIEL BOONE AND WILDERNESS EXPLORATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">DANIEL BOONE IN KENTUCKY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE REGULATORS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">WATAUGA—HAVEN OF LIBERTY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">OPENING THE GATEWAY—DUNMORE'S WAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">RICHARD HENDERSON AND THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">TRANSYLVANIA—A WILDERNESS COMMONWEALTH</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">THE REPULSE OF THE RED MEN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE COLONIZATION OF THE CUMBERLAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">KING'S MOUNTAIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE STATE OF FRANKLIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE LURE OF SPAIN—THE HAVEN OF STATEHOOD</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST +</H1> + +<BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. The Migration of the Peoples +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and +other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and Mike +directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the +West, and have got near the mountains.—Gabriel Johnston, +Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the Board of +Trade, February 15, 1751. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population +had swept inland to the "fall line", the westward boundary of the +established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by +the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue +Ridge. So rapid was the settlement in North Carolina that in the +interval 1717-32 the population quadrupled in numbers. A map of +the colonial settlements in 1725 reveals a narrow strip of +populated land along the Atlantic coast, of irregular +indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of settlements +further in the interior. The civilization thus established +continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with +England and the Continent. As long as the settlers, for economic +reasons, clung to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the +transforming influences of the frontier.. Within a triangle of +continental altitude with its apex in New England, bounded on the +east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Appalachian range, +lay the settlements, divided into two zones—tidewater and +piedmont. As no break occurred in the great mountain system south +of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, the difficulties of cutting a +passage through the towering wall of living green long proved an +effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain barrier. +</P> + +<P> +In the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from +the coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form +around such natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile +soil, frontier posts, mines, salt-springs, and stretches of +upland favorable for grazing. After a time a second advance of +settlement was begun in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, +running in a southwesterly direction along the broad terraces to +the east of the Appalachian Range, which in North Carolina lies +as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The Blue +Ridge in Virginia and a belt of pine barrens in North Carolina +were hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. +This second streaming of the population thrust into the long, +narrow wedge of the piedmont zone a class of people differing in +spirit and in tendency from their more aristocratic and +complacent neighbors to the east. +</P> + +<P> +These settlers of the Valley of Virginia and the North Carolina +piedmont region—English, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scotch, Irish, +Welsh, and a few French—were the first pioneers of the Old +Southwest. From the joint efforts of two strata of population, +geographically, socially, and economically distinct—tidewater +and piedmont, Old South and New South—originated and flowered +the third and greatest movement of westward expansion, opening +with the surmounting of the mountain barrier and ending in the +occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of the +continent. +</P> + +<P> +Synchronous with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, +significantly enough, was the first planting of Ulster with the +English and Scotch. Emigrants from the Scotch Lowlands, sometimes +as many as four thousand a year (1625), continued throughout the +century to pour into Ulster. "Those of the North of Ireland...," +as pungently described in 1679 by the Secretary of State, +Leoline Jenkins, to the Duke of Ormond, "are most Scotch and +Scotch breed and are the Northern Presbyterians and phanatiques, +lusty, able bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see three +or four hundred at every meeting-house on Sunday, and all the +North of Ireland is inhabited by these, which is the popular +place of all Ireland by far. They are very numerous and greedy +after land." During the quarter of a century after the English +Revolution of 1688 and the Jacobite uprising in Ireland, which +ended in 1691 with the complete submission of Ireland to William +and Mary, not less than fifty thousand Scotch, according to +Archbishop Synge, settled in Ulster. Until the beginning of the +eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration to +America; and it was first set up as a consequence of English +interference with trade and religion. Repressive measures passed +by the English parliament (1665 1699), prohibiting the +exportation from Ire land to England and Scotland of cattle, +beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and to any country whatever of +manufactured wool, had aroused deep resentment among the +Scotch-Irish, who had built up a great commerce. This discontent +was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious +disabilities upon the Presbyterians, who, in addition to having +to pay tithes for the support of the established church, were +excluded from all civil and military office (1704), while their +ministers were made liable to penalties for celebrating +marriages. +</P> + +<P> +This pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in +an exodus to the New World. The principal ports by which the +Ulsterites entered America were Lewes and Newcastle (Delaware), +Philadelphia and Boston. The streams of immigration steadily +flowed up the Delaware Valley; and by 1720 the Scotch-Irish began +to arrive in Bucks County. So rapid was the rate of increase in +immigration that the number of arrivals soon mounted from a few +hundred to upward of six thousand, in a single year (1729); and +within a few years this number was doubled. According to the +meticulous Franklin, the proportion increased from a very small +element of the population of Pennsylvania in 1700 to one fourth +of the whole in 1749, and to one third of the whole (350,000) in +1774. Writing to the Penns in 1724, James Logan, Secretary of the +Province, caustically refers to the Ulster settlers on the +disputed Maryland line as "these bold and indigent strangers, +saying as their excuse when challenged for titles, that we had +solicited for colonists and they had come accordingly." The +spirit of these defiant squatters is succinctly expressed in +their statement to Logan that it "was against the laws of God and +nature that so much land should be idle while so many Christians +wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." +</P> + +<P> +The rising scale of prices for Pennsylvania lands, changing from +ten pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in 1719 +to fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a +quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre in 1732, soon turned the eyes +of the thrifty Scotch-Irish settlers southward and southwestward. +In Maryland in 1738 lands were offered at five pounds sterling +per hundred acres. Simultaneously, in the Valley of Virginia free +grants of a thousand acres per family were being made. In the +North Carolina piedmont region the proprietary, Lord Granville, +through his agents was disposing of the most desirable lands to +settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for +six hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was +also making large free grants on the condition of seating a +certain proportion of settlers. "Lord Carteret's land in +Carolina," says North Carolina's first American historian, "where +the soil was cheap, presented a tempting residence to people of +every denomination. Emigrants from the north of Ireland, by the +way of Pennsylvania, flocked to that country; and a considerable +part of North Carolina ... is inhabited by those people or +their descendants." From 1740 onward, attracted by the rich lure +of cheap and even free lands in Virginia and North Carolina, a +tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the +Shenandoah, the Yadkin, and the Catawba. The immensity of this +mobile, drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than 400 +families with horse waggons and cattle" into North Carolina in a +single year (1752-3), is attested by the fact that from 1732 to +1754, mainly as the result of the Scotch-Irish inundation, the +population of North Carolina more than doubled. +</P> + +<P> +The second important racial stream of population in the +settlement of the same region was composed of Germans, attracted +to this country from the Palatinate. Lured on by the highly +colored stories of the commercial agents for promoting +immigration—the "newlanders," who were thoroughly unscrupulous +in their methods and extravagant in their representations—a +migration from Germany began in the second decade of the +eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. +Although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great +number were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order +to pay for their transportation were compelled to pledge +themselves to several years of servitude. This economic condition +caused the German immigrant, wherever he went, to become a +settler of the back country, necessity compelling him to pass by +the more expensive lands near the coast. +</P> + +<P> +For well-nigh sixty years the influx of German immigrants of +various sects was very great, averaging something like fifteen +hundred a year into Pennsylvania alone from 1727 to 1775. Indeed, +Pennsylvania, one third of whose population at the beginning of +the Revolution was German, early became the great distributing +center for the Germans as well as for the Scotch-Irish. Certainly +by 1727 Adam Miller and his fellow Germans had established the +first permanent white settlement in the Valley of Virginia. By +1732 Jost Heydt, accompanied by sixteen families, came from York, +Pennsylvania, and settled on the Opeckon River, in the +neighborhood of the present Winchester. There is no longer any +doubt that "the portion of the Shenandoah Valley sloping to the +north was almost entirely settled by Germans." +</P> + +<P> +It was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the +Old Southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty Pennsylvania +Germans (who came to be generally called "Pennsylvania Dutch" +from the incorrect translation of Pennsylvanische Deutsche), +began to pour into the piedmont region of North Carolina. In the +autumn, after the harvest was in, these ambitious Pennsylvania +pioneers would pack up their belongings in wagons and on beasts +of burden and head for the southwest, trekking down in the manner +of the Boers of South Africa. This movement into the fertile +valley lands of the Yadkin and the Catawba continued unabated +throughout the entire third quarter of the century. Owing to +their unfamiliarity with the English language and the solidarity +of their instincts, the German settlers at first had little share +in government. But they devotedly played their part in the +defense of the exposed settlements and often bore the brunt of +Indian attack. +</P> + +<P> +The bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries +sent out by the Pennsylvania Synod under the direction of Count +Zinzendorf (1742-8), and by the Moravian Church (1748-53), are +mirrored in the numerous diaries, written in German, happily +preserved to posterity in religious archives of Pennsylvania and +North Carolina. These simple, earnest crusaders, animated by pure +and unselfish motives, would visit on a single tour of a thousand +miles the principal German settlements in Maryland and Virginia +(including the present West Virginia). Sometimes they would make +an extended circuit through North Carolina, South Carolina, and +even Georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of the +gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the +Christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive +frontiersmen marooned along the outer fringe of white +settlements. These arduous journeys in the cause of piety place +this type of pioneer of the Old Southwest in alleviating contrast +to the often relentless and bloodthirsty figure of the rude +borderer. +</P> + +<P> +Noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the Virginia journey +of Brothers Leonhard Schnell and John Brandmuller (October 12 to +December 12, 1749). At the last outpost of civilization, the +scattered settlements in Bath and Alleghany counties, these +courageous missionaries—feasting the while solely on bear meat, +for there was no bread—encountered conditions of almost +primitive savagery, of which they give this graphic picture: +"Then we came to a house, where we had to lie on bear skins +around the fire like the rest.... The clothes of the people +consist of deer skins, their food of Johnny cakes, deer and bear +meat. A kind of white people are found here, who live like +savages. Hunting is their chief occupation." Into the valley of +the Yadkin in December, 1752, came Bishop Spangenberg and a party +of Moravians, accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the +purpose of locating the one hundred thousand acres of land which +had been offered them on easy terms the preceding year by Lord +Granville. This journey was remarkable as an illustration of +sacrifices willingly made and extreme hardships uncomplainingly +endured for the sake of the Moravian brotherhood. In the back +country of North Carolina near the Mulberry Fields they found the +whole woods full of Cherokee Indians engaged in hunting. A +beautiful site for the projected settlement met their delighted +gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that it +had already been "taken up" by Daniel Boone's future +father-in-law, Morgan Bryan. +</P> + +<P> +On October 8, 1753, a party of twelve single men headed by the +Rev. Bernhard Adam Grube, set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, +to trek down to the new-found haven in the Carolina +hinterland—"a corner which the Lord has reserved for the +Brethren"—in Anson County. Following for the most part the great +highway extending from Philadelphia to the Yadkin, over which +passed the great throng sweeping into the back country of North +Carolina—through the Valley of Virginia and past Robert Luhny's +mill on the James River—they encountered many hardships along +the way. Because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty +in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience Brother +Grube, with a touch of modest pride, observes: "People had told +us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely +be able to cross it, for Morgan Bryan, the first to travel this +way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and carry it piecemeal +to the top, and had been three months on the journey from the +Shanidore [Shenandoah] to the Etkin [Yadkin]." +</P> + +<P> +These men were the highest type of the pioneers of the Old +Southwest, inspired with the instinct of homemakers in a land +where, if idle rumor were to be credited, "the people lived like +wild men never hearing of God or His Word." In one hand they bore +the implement of agriculture, in the other the book of the gospel +of Jesus Christ. True faith shines forth in the simply eloquent +words: "We thanked our Saviour that he had so graciously led us +hither, and had helped us through all the hard places, for no +matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how we +could win through, everything always went better than seemed +possible." The promise of a new day—the dawn of the heroic +age—rings out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their +journey's end: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + We hold arrival Lovefeast here,<BR> + In Carolina land,<BR> + A company of Brethren true,<BR> + A little Pilgrim-Band,<BR> + Called by the Lord to be of those<BR> + Who through the whole world go,<BR> + To bear Him witness everywhere,<BR> + And nought but Jesus know.<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. The Cradle of Westward Expansion +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, +Orange and Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred +fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most +part Irish Protestants and Germans and dailey increasing.—Matthew +Rowan, President of the North Carolina Council, to the +Board of Trade, June 28, 1753. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The conquest of the West is usually attributed to the ready +initiative, the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinct +of the expert backwoodsmen. These bold, nomadic spirits were +animated by an unquenchable desire to plunge into the wilderness +in search of an El Dorado at the outer verge of civilization, +free of taxation, quit-rents, and the law's restraint. They +longed to build homes for themselves and their descendants in a +limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper and deeper into +the trackless forests in search of adventure. Yet one must not +overlook the fact that behind Boone and pioneers of his stamp +were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive +in purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best +gifts to actual conquest and colonization. These men of large +intellectual mold-themselves surveyors, hunters, and +pioneers—were inspired with the larger vision of the +expansionist. Whether colonizers, soldiers, or speculators on the +grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke the vast +trans-Alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. +</P> + +<P> +Two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from +each other in North Carolina and later in Virginia—the pioneer +democracy of the back country and the upland, and the planter +aristocracy of the lowland and the tide-water region. From the +frontier came the pioneer explorers whose individual enterprise +and initiative were such potent factors in the exploitation of +the wilderness. From the border counties still in contact with +the East came a number of leaders. Thus in the heart of the Old +Southwest the two determinative principles already referred to, +the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a fortunate +conjunction. The exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed in +the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the +great westward migration. The warlike disposition of the hardy +backwoodsman, controlled by the exercise of military strategy, +accomplished the conquest of the trans-Alleghany country. +</P> + +<P> +Fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in +England and Europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, +from religious persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of +society in the first quarter of the eighteenth century sought a +haven of refuge in the "Quackerthal" of William Penn, with its +trustworthy guarantees of free tolerance in religious faith and +the benefits of representative self-government. From East +Devonshire in England came George Boone, the grandfather of the +great pioneer, and from Wales came Edward Morgan, whose daughter +Sarah became the wife of Squire Boone, Daniel's father. These +were conspicuous representatives of the Society of Friends, drawn +thither by the roseate representations of the great Quaker, +William Penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and +religious toleration. Hither, too, from Ireland, whither he had +gone from Denmark, came Morgan Bryan, settling in Chester County, +prior to 1719; and his children, William, Joseph, James, and +Morgan, who more than half a century later gave the name to +Bryan's Station in Kentucky, were destined to play important +roles in the drama of westward migration. In September, 1734, +Michael Finley from County Armagh, Ireland, presumably +accompanied by his brother Archibald Finley, settled in Bucks +County, Pennsylvania. According to the best authorities, +Archibald Finley was the father of John Finley, or Findlay as he +signed himself, Boone's guide and companion in his exploration of +Kentucky in 1769-71. To Pennsylvania also came Mordecai Lincoln, +great grandson of Samuel Lincoln, who had emigrated from England +to Hingham, Massachusetts, as early as 1637. This Mordecai +Lincoln, who in 1720 settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the +great-great-grandfather of President Lincoln, was the father of +Sarah Lincoln, who was wedded to William Boone, and of Abraham +Lincoln, who married Anne Boone, William's first cousin. Early +settlers in Pennsylvania were members of the Hanks family, one of +whom was the maternal grandfather of President Lincoln. +</P> + +<P> +No one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for +leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the +West. Yet one particular stock of people, the Ulster Scots, +exhibited with most completeness and picturesqueness a group of +conspicuous qualities and attitudes which we now recognize to be +typical of the American character as molded by the conditions of +frontier life. Cautious, wary, and reserved, these Scots +concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a relentlessness +in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which glowed +and burned with almost fanatical ardor. Strict in religious +observance and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of +the main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of +devotion. It has been happily said of them that they kept the +Sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on. In the +polity of these men religion and education went hand in hand; and +they habitually settled together in communities in order that +they might have teachers and preachers of their own choice and +persuasion. +</P> + +<P> +In little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant +ministers may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful +characterizations of the frontier settlers in their habits of +life and of the scenes amidst which they labored. In a letter to +Edmund Fanning, the cultured Robin Jones, agent of Lord Granville +and Attorney-General of North Carolina, summons to view a piquant +image of the western border and borderers: "The inhabitants are +hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, are stout, of +great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private conversation, +bold, impertinent, and vain. In the art of war (after the Indian +manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of +strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the +ancient Romans. The Shawnese acknowledge them their superiors +even in their own way of fighting.... [The land] may be truly +called the land of the mountains, for they are so numerous that +when you have reached the summit of one of them, you may see +thousands of every shape that the imagination can suggest, +seeming to vie with each other which should raise his lofty head +to touch the clouds.... It seems to me that nature has been +wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." +</P> + +<P> +An excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions +in the backwoods of North Carolina, by one of the early settlers +in the middle of the century, exhibits in all their barren +cheerlessness the hardships and limitations of life in the +wilderness. The father of William Few, the narrator, had trekked +down from Maryland and settled in Orange County, some miles east +of the little hamlet of Hillsborough. "In that country at that +time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or doctors or +lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do I recollect +during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or +military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or +three itinerant preachers.... These people had few wants, and +fewer temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined +society, though ignorant. They were more virtuous and more happy.... +A schoolmaster appeared and offered his services to teach +the children of the neighborhood for twenty shillings each per +year.... In that simple state of society money was but little +known; the schoolmaster was the welcome guest of his pupil, fed +at the bountiful table and clothed from the domestic loom.... +In that country at that time there was great scarcity of books." +</P> + +<P> +The journals of itinerant ministers through the Valley of +Virginia and the Carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes +of the people, their longing after the things of the spirit, and +their pitiful isolation from the regular preaching of the gospel. +These missionaries were true pioneers in this Old Southwest, +ardent, dauntless, and heroic—carrying the word into remote +places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees of the forest. +In his journal (1755-6), the Rev. Hugh McAden, born in +Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish parentage, a graduate of Nassau Hall +(1753), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that +wherever he found Presbyterians he found people who "seemed +highly pleased, and very desirous to hear the word"; whilst +elsewhere he found either dissension and defection to Baptist +principles, or "no appearance of the life of religion." In the +Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlements in what is now Mecklenburg +County, the cradle of American liberty, he found "pretty serious, +judicious people" of the stamp of Moses, William, and James +Alexander. While traveling in the upper country of South +Carolina, he relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman +who said to the Governor of South Carolina, when he was in those +parts, in treaty with the Cherokee Indians that 'he had never +seen a shirt, been in a fair, heard a sermon, or seen a minister +in all his life.' Upon which the governor promised to send him up +a minister, that he might hear one sermon before he died." The +minister came and preached; and this was all the preaching that +had been heard in the upper part of South Carolina before Mr. +McAden's visit. +</P> + +<P> +Such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country +of the Old Southwest—the deliberate and self-controlled English, +the aggressive, landmongering Scotch-Irish, the buoyant Welsh, +the thrifty Germans, the debonair French, the impetuous Irish, +and the calculating Scotch. The lives they led were marked by +independence of spirit, democratic instincts, and a forthright +simplicity. In describing the condition of the English settlers +in the backwoods of Virginia, one of their number, Doddridge, +says: "Most of the articles were of domestic manufacture. There +might have been incidentally a few things brought to the country +for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for general +supply. The table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, +either turned or coopered. Iron forks, tin cups, etc., were +articles of rare and delicate luxury. The food was of the most +wholesome and primitive kind. The richest meat, the finest +butter, and best meal that ever delighted man's palate were here +eaten with a relish which health and labor only know. The +hospitality of the people was profuse and proverbial." +</P> + +<P> +The circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become +self-sustaining. Every immigrant was an adept at many trades. He +built his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own +clothes. At a very early date rifles were manufactured at the +High Shoals of the Yadkin; Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, was an +expert gunsmith. The difficulty of securing food for the +settlements forced every man to become a hunter and to scour the +forest for wild game. Thus the pioneer, through force of sheer +necessity, became a dead shot—which stood him in good stead in +the days of Indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. +Primitive in their games, recreations, and amusements, which not +infrequently degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the +pioneers always set the highest premium upon personal bravery, +physical prowess, and skill in manly sports. At all public +gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or auctions, and even +funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. It is worthy +of record that among the effects of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, +the famous teacher and organizer of Presbyterianism in +Mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the Revolution, +were found a punch bowl and glasses. +</P> + +<P> +The frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, +bred in these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the +basis of the American character. The single-handed and successful +struggle with nature in the tense solitude of the forest +developed a spirit of individualism, restive under control. On +the other hand, the sense of sharing with others the arduous +tasks and dangers of conquering the wilderness gave birth to a +strong sense of solidarity arid of human sympathy. With the lure +of free lands ever before them, the pioneers developed a +restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy of +spirit, which are fundamentally American. Yet this same +untrammeled freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance +of established government which have exhibited themselves +throughout the entire course of our history. Initiative, +self-reliance, boldness in conception, fertility in resource, +readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, inventive genius, +appreciation of material advantages—these, shot through with a +certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high romantic +strain—are the traits of the American national type as it +emerged from the Old Southwest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. The Back Country and the Border +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most +delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are +everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; +lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich +valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an +infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape +surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally +robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want +and acquainted with but few vices. Their inexperience of the +elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the +means of enjoying them, but they possess what many princes would +give half their dominion for, health, content, and tranquillity +of mind.—Andrew Burnaby: Travels Through North America. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The two streams of Ulstermen, the greater through Philadelphia, +the lesser through Charleston, which poured into the Carolinas +toward the middle of the century, quickly flooded the back +country. The former occupied the Yadkin Valley and the region to +the westward, the latter the Waxhaws and the Anson County region +to the northwest. The first settlers were known as the +"Pennsylvania Irish," because they had first settled in +Pennsylvania after migrating from the north of Ireland; while +those who came by way of Charleston were known as the +"Scotch-Irish." The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long +enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements +along the rivers and creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less +experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks +and water courses. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight +children, together with other families of Quakers from +Pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest +side of the Opeckon River near Winchester. A few years later they +removed up the Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present +Roanoke County, intent upon pushing westward to the very +outskirts of civilization. In the autumn of 1748, leaving behind +his brother William, who had followed him to Roanoke County, +Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of the Yadkin +River. The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who emigrated +to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over +Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln +families found homes in Virginia—Mordecai Lincoln's son, John, +the great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks +to the Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone, +his wife Sarah (Morgan), and their eleven children—a veritable +caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old—started south; and +tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on Linville +Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 they removed to the Forks +of the Yadkin, and the following year received from Lord +Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County. +About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven +or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly +gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality, +sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the +Bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and +immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of +the county. Upon the organization of the county court Squire +Boone was chosen justice of the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon +appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements. +</P> + +<P> +The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the +Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the +Trading Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above +Sapona Town near the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which, +according to constant and picturesque tradition, was the spot +where the traders stopped to take a solemn oath never to reveal +any unlawful proceedings that might occur during their sojourn +among the Indians. In his divertingly satirical "History of the +Dividing Line" William Byrd in 1728 thus speaks of this locality: +"The Soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the Yadkin, abounding +in rank Grass and prodigiously large Trees; and for plenty of +Fish, Fowl and Venison, is inferior to No Part of the Northern +Continent. There the Traders commonly lie Still for some days, to +recruit their Horses' Flesh as well as to recover their own +spirits." In this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement +by Squire Boone—who erected his cabin on the east side of the +Yadkin about a mile and a quarter from Alleman's, now Boone's, +Ford—wild game abounded. Buffaloes were encountered in eastern +North Carolina by Byrd while running the dividing line; and in +the upper country of South Carolina three or four men with their +dogs could kill fourteen to twenty buffaloes in a single day." +Deer and bears fell an easy prey to the hunter; wild turkeys +filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with beaver, otter, +and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious fish. +Panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the +veracious Brother Joseph, while near the present Wilkesboro, +amusingly records: "The wolves wh. are not like those in Germany, +Poland and Lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come +near) give us such music of six different cornets the like of wh. +I have never heard in my life." So plentiful was the game that +the wild deer mingled with the cattle grazing over the wide +stretches of luxuriant grass. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up Squire Boone's son, +Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker +persuasion, and Baptist proclivities. Seen through a glorifying +halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises +before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, +benign—as naive and shy as some wild thing of the primeval +forest—five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and +shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair +eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, +and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this +restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would +exchange the plow and the grubbing hoe for the long rifle and +keen-edged hunting knife. In a single day during the autumn +season he would kill four or five deer; or as many bears as would +snake from two to three thousand pounds weight of bear-bacon. +Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as +pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he +sold his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles +away, sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George +Hartman, on the Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the +Moravian town sixty odd miles distant. Skins were in such demand +that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly +scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. Upon one +occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, +upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to +Charleston. So immense was this trade that the year after Boone's +arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were +exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think +that the young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother +Joseph, while in camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) +wrote: "There are many hunters about here, who live like Indians, +they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without +much work." +</P> + +<P> +In this very class of professional hunters, living like Indians, +was thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous +leadership in the great westward expansionist movement of the +coming decade. An English traveler gives the following minute +picture of the dress and accoutrement of the Carolina +backwoodsman. +</P> + +<P> +"Their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially +different from that of the Indians; being a hunting shirt, +somewhat resembling a waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great +many fringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much +decorated also, in which is fastened a tomahawk, an instrument +that serves every purpose of defence and convenience; being a +hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the other; the shot bag +and powderhorn, carved with a variety of whimsical figures and +devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on their +heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the +intensely hot beams of the sun. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of Indian dressed elk, +or deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. +</P> + +<P> +On their legs they have Indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse +woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied +with garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better +than half-way up the thigh. +</P> + +<P> +On their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, +but generally Indian moccossons, of their own construction also, +which are made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as +for gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the +toe, and lacing from thence round to the fore part of the middle +of the ancle, without a seam in them, yet fitting close to the +feet, and are indeed perfectly easy and pliant. +</P> + +<P> +Their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety +of colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear +them quite white." +</P> + +<P> +No less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the +dress of the women of the region—in particular of Surry County, +North Carolina, as described by General William Lenoir: +</P> + +<P> +"The women wore linses [flax] petticoats and 'bedgowns' [like a +dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. Some +had bonnets and bedgowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; +and some of them wore men's hats. Their hair was commonly +clubbed. Once, at a large meeting, I noticed there but two women +that had on long gowns. One of these was laced genteelly, and the +body of the other was open, and the tail thereof drawn up and +tucked in her apron or coat-string." +</P> + +<P> +While Daniel Boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits +of the chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed +was rapidly approaching a crisis. For three quarters of a century +this titanic contest between France and England for the interior +of the continent had been waged with slowly accumulating force. +The irrepressible conflict had been formally inaugurated at Sault +Ste. Marie in 1671, when Daumont de Saint Lusson, swinging aloft +his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of France over "all +countries, rivers, lakes, and streams ... both those which have +been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in +all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas +of the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea." +Just three months later, three hardy pioneers of Virginia, +despatched upon their arduous mission by Colonel Abraham Wood in +behalf of the English crown, had crossed the Appalachian divide; +and upon the banks of a stream whose waters slipped into the Ohio +to join the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, had carved the +royal insignia upon the blazed trunk of a giant of the forest, +the while crying: "Long live Charles the Second, by the grace of +God, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Virginia and +of the territories thereunto belonging." +</P> + +<P> +La Salle's dream of a New France in the heart of America was +blotted out in his tragic death upon the banks of the River +Trinity (1687). Yet his mantle was to fall in turn upon the +square shoulders of Le Moyne d'Iberville and of his brother—the +good, the constant Bienville, who after countless and arduous +struggles laid firm the foundations of New Orleans. In the +precious treasury of Margry we learn that on reaching Rochelle +after his first voyage in 1699 Iberville in these prophetic words +voices his faith: "If France does not immediately seize this part +of America which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony +which is strong enough to resist any which England may have, the +English colonies (already considerable in Carolina) will so +thrive that in less than a hundred years they will be strong +enough to seize all America." But the world-weary Louis Quatorze, +nearing his end, quickly tired of that remote and unproductive +colony upon the shores of the gulf, so industriously described in +Paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the "paternal providence +of Versailles" willingly yielded place to the monumental +speculation of the great financier Antoine Crozat. In this Paris +of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal +scheme of Law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the +Mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, +half-satiric panegyrics upon the new Utopia, this Mississippi +Land of Cockayne: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +It's to-day no contribution<BR> +To discuss the Constitution<BR> +And the Spanish war's forgot<BR> +For a new Utopian spot;<BR> +And the very latest phase<BR> +Is the Mississippi craze.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Interest in the new colony led to a great development of +southwesterly trade from New France. Already the French coureurs +de bois were following the water route from the Illinois to South +Carolina. Jean Couture, a deserter from the service in New +France, journeyed over the Ohio and Tennessee rivers to that +colony, and was known as "the greatest Trader and Traveller +amongst the Indians for more than Twenty years." In 1714 young +Charles Charleville accompanied an old trader from Crozat's +colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the Cumberland, +where a post for trading with the Shawanoes had already been +established by the French. But the British were preparing to +capture this trade as early as 1694, when Tonti warned Villermont +that Carolinians were already established on a branch of the +Ohio. Four years later, Nicholson, Governor of Maryland, was +urging trade with the Indians of the interior in the effort to +displace the French. At an early date the coast colonies began to +trade with the Indian tribes of the back country: the Catawbas of +the Yadkin Valley; the Cherokees, whose towns were scattered +through Tennessee; the Chickasaws, to the westward in northern +Mississippi; and the Choctaws farther to the southward. Even +before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the South +Carolina settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the +coast, English traders had established posts among the Indian +tribes four hundred miles to the west of Charleston. Following +the sporadic trading of individuals from Virginia with the inland +Indians, the heavily laden caravans of William Byrd were soon +regularly passing along the Great Trading Path from Virginia to +the towns of the Catawbas and other interior tribes of the +Carolinas, delighting the easily captivated fancy and provoking +the cupidity of the red men with "Guns, Powder, Shot, Hatchets +(which the Indians call Tomahawks), Kettles, red and blue Planes, +Duffields, Stroudwater blankets, and some Cutlary Wares, Brass +Rings and other Trinkets." In Pennsylvania, George Croghan, the +guileful diplomat, who was emissary from the Council to the Ohio +Indians (1748), had induced "all-most all the Ingans in the +Woods" to declare against the French; and was described by +Christopher Gist as a "meer idol among his countrymen, the Irish +traders." +</P> + +<P> +Against these advances of British trade and civilization, the +French for four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours +of exploration into the vast medial valley of the continent and +constructing a chain of forts and trading-posts designed to +establish their claims to the country and to hold in check the +threatened English thrust from the east. Soon the wilderness +ambassador of empire, Celoron de Bienville, was despatched by the +far-visioned Galissoniere at Quebec to sow broadcast with +ceremonial pomp in the heart of America the seeds of empire, +grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile +symbol of the asserted sovereignty of France. Thus threatened in +the vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea +charters, the English threw off the lethargy with which they had +failed to protect their traders, and in grants to the Ohio and +Loyal land companies began resolutely to form plans looking to +the occupation of the interior. But the French seized the English +trading-house at Venango which they converted into a fort; and +Virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and judicious young man, a +surveyor, George Washington, availed not to prevent the French +from seizing Captain Trent's hastily erected military post at the +forks of the Ohio and constructing there a formidable work, named +Fort Duquesne. Washington, with his expeditionary force sent to +garrison Captain Trent's fort, defeated Jumonville and his small +force near Great Meadows (May, 1754); but soon after he was +forced to surrender Fort Necessity to Coulon de Villiers. +</P> + +<P> +The titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of +the Old Southwest, was now on—a struggle in which the resolute +pioneers of these backwoods first seriously measured their +strength with the French and their copper-hued allies, and +learned to surpass the latter in their own mode of warfare. The +portentous conflict, destined to assure the eastern half of the +continent to Great Britain, is a grim, prophetic harbinger of the +mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into the +twilight zone of the trans-Alleghany territory: +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. The Indian War +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about +building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such +barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let +loose upon them at pleasure.—The Reverend Hugh McAden—Diary, +July, 1755. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Long before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces +were gradually converging to produce a clash between the +aggressive colonials and the crafty Indians. As the settlers +pressed farther westward into the domain of the red men, +arrogantly grazing their stock over the cherished hunting-grounds +of the Cherokees, the savages, who were already well disposed +toward the French, began to manifest a deep indignation against +the British colonists because of this callous encroachment upon +their territory. During the sporadic forays by scattered bands of +Northern Indians upon the Catawbas and other tribes friendly to +the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of the +Carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. In the summer +of 1753 a party of northern Indians warring in the French +interest made their appearance in Rowan County, which had just +been organized, and committed various depredations upon the +scattered settlements. To repel these attacks a band of the +Catawbas sallied forth, encountered a detached party of the +enemy, and slew five of their number. Among the spoils, +significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, +looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of +French manufacture. +</P> + +<P> +Intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes +existed between Virginia and South Carolina. In strong +remonstrance against the alleged attempt of Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia to alienate the Cherokees, Catawbas, Muscogees, and +Chickasaws from South Carolina and to attach them to Virginia, +Governor Glen of South Carolina made pungent observations to +Dinwiddie: "South Carolina is a weak frontier colony, and in case +of invasion by the French would be their first object of attack. +We have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection +of the Indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any +mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the +French, we are in a miserable situation. The Cherokees alone have +several thousand gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the +province ... their country is the key to Carolina." By a treaty +concluded at Saluda (November 24, 1753), Glen promised to build +the Cherokees a fort near the lower towns, for the protection of +themselves and their allies; and the Cherokees on their part +agreed to become the subjects of the King of Great Britain and +hold their lands under him. This fort, erected this same year on +the headwaters of the Savannah, within gunshot distance of the +important Indian town of Keowee, was named Fort Prince George. +"It is a square," says the founder of the fort (Governor Glen to +the Board of Trade, August 26, 1754), "with regular Bastions and +four Ravelins it is near Two hundred foot from Salient Angle to +Salient Angle and is made of Earth taken out of the Ditch, +secured with fachines and well rammed with a banquet on the +Inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, the +Ravelins are made of Posts of Lightwood which is very durable, +they are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half +in the ground." The dire need for such a fort in the back country +was tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the +"House of John Gutry & James Anshers" in York County by a party +of sixty French Indians (December 16, 1754), who brutally +murdered sixteen of the twenty-one persons present, and carried +off as captives the remaining five." +</P> + +<P> +At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 North +Carolina voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops +and several thousand pounds additional for the construction of +forts—a sum considerably larger than that voted by Virginia. A +regiment of two hundred and fifty men was placed under the +command of Colonel James Innes of the Cape Fear section; and the +ablest officer under him was the young Irishman from the same +section, Lieutenant Hugh Waddell. On June 3, 1754, Dinwiddie +appointed Innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief of all the +forces against the French; and immediately after the disaster at +Great Meadows (July, 1754), Innes took command. Within two months +the supplies for the North Carolina troops were exhausted; and as +Virginia then failed to furnish additional supplies, Colonel +Innes had no recourse but to disband his troops and permit them +to return home. Appointed governor of Fort Cumberland by General +Braddock, he was in command there while Braddock advanced on his +disastrous march. +</P> + +<P> +The lesson of Braddock's defeat (July 9, 1755) was memorable in +the history of the Old Southwest. Well might Braddock exclaim +with his last breath: "Who would have thought it? ... We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Led on by the +reckless and fiery Beaujeu, wearing an Indian gorget about his +neck, the savages from the protection of trees and rough +defenses, a pre pared ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the +compact divisions of the English, whose scarlet coats furnished +ideal targets. The obstinacy of the British commanders in +refusing to permit their troops to fight Indian fashion was +suicidal; for as Herman Alriclis wrote Governor Morris of +Pennsylvania (July 22, 1755): "... the French and Indians had +cast an Intrenchment across the road before our Army which they +Discovered not Untill they came Close up to it, from thence and +both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on them, +our Army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would +not be admitted by the Genl or Sir John St. Clair, to break thro' +their Ranks and Take behind trees." Daniel Boone, who went from +North Carolina as a wagoner in the company commanded by Edward +Brice Dobbs, was on the battle-field; but Dobbs's company at the +time was scouting in the woods. When the fierce attack fell upon +the baggage a train, Boone succeeded in effecting his escape only +by cutting the traces of his team and fleeing on one of the +horses. To his dying day Boone continued to censure Braddock's +conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect to employ +strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of Provincial scouts +thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and +strategies of savage warfare. +</P> + +<P> +For a number of months following Braddock's defeat there was a +great rush of the frightened people southward. In a letter to +Dinwiddie, Washington expresses the apprehension that Augusta, +Frederick, and Hampshire County will soon be depopulated, as the +whole back country is in motion toward the southern colonies. +During this same summer Governor Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina +made a tour of exploration through the western part of the +colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the frontier. The +frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison the projected +fort was placed under the command of Hugh Waddell, now promoted +to the rank of captain, though only twenty-one years old. In +addition to Waddell's company, armed patrols were required for +the protection of the Rowan County frontier; and during the +summer Indian alarms were frequent at the Moravian village of +Bethabara, whose inhabitants had heard with distress on March +31st of the slaughter of eleven Moravians on the Mahoni and of +the ruin of Gnadenhutten. Many of the settlers in the outlying +districts of Rowan fled for safety to the refuge of the little +village; and frequently every available house, every place of +temporary abode was filled with panic stricken refugees. So +persistent were the depredations of the Indians and so alarmed +were the scattered Rowan settlers by the news of the murders and +the destruction of Vaul's Fort in Virginia (June 25, 1756) that +at a conference on July 5th the Moravians "decided to protect our +houses with palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should +in vade our tract or attack us, for if the people were all going +to retreat we would be the last left on the frontier and the +first point of attack." By July 23d, they had constructed a +strong defense for their settlement, afterward called the "Dutch +Fort" by the Indians. The principal structure was a stockade, +triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on a side, enclosing +the principal buildings of the settlement; and the gateway was +guarded by an observation tower. The other defense was a stockade +embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around +which a small settlement had sprung up. +</P> + +<P> +During the same year the fort planned by Dobbs was erected upon +the site he had chosen—between Third and Fourth creeks; and the +commissioners Richard Caswell and Francis Brown, sent out to +inspect the fort, made the following picturesque report to the +Assembly (December 21, 1756): +</P> + +<P> +"That they had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs, and found +it to be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions +following (that is to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by +forty, the opposite Angles Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In +Height Twenty four and a half feet as by the Plan annexed +Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made of Oak Logs +regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains +three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one +and the same time about one hundred Musketts the same is +beautifully scituated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the +Yadkin River. And that they also found under Command of Cap' Hugh +Waddel Forty six Effective men Officers and Soldiers, the said +Officers and Soldiers Appearing well and in good Spirits." +</P> + +<P> +As to the erection of a fort on the Tennessee, promised the +Cherokees by South Carolina, difficulties between the governor of +that province and of Virginia in regard to matters of policy and +the proportionate share of expenses made effective cooperation +between the two colonies well-nigh impossible. Glen, as we have +seen, had resented Dinwiddie's efforts to win the South Carolina +Indians over to Virginia's interest. And Dinwiddie had been very +indignant when the force promised him by the Indians to aid +General Braddock did not arrive, attributing this defection in +part to Glen's negotiations for a meeting with the chieftains and +in part to the influence of the South Carolina traders, who kept +the Indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs and +skinns. But there was no such contention between Virginia and +North Carolina. Dinwiddie and Dobbs arranged (November 6, 1755) +to send a commission from these colonies to treat with the +Cherokees and the Catawbas. Virginia sent two commissioners, +Colonel William Byrd, third of that name, and Colonel Peter +Randolph; while North Carolina sent one, Captain Hugh Waddell. +Salisbury, North Carolina, was the place of rendezvous. The +treaty with the Catawbas was made at the Catawba Town, presumably +the village opposite the mouth of Sugaw Creek, in York County, +South Carolina, on February 20-21, 1756; that with the Cherokees +on Broad River, North Carolina, March 13-17. As a result of the +negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the +Catawbas agreed to send forty warriors to aid Virginia within +forty days; and the Cherokees, in return for presents and +Virginia's promise to contribute her proportion toward the +erection of a strong fort, undertook to send four hundred +warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall be +built." Virginia and North Carolina thus wisely cooperated to +"straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white +and the red men, in important treaties which Have largely escaped +the attention of historians." +</P> + +<P> +On May 25, 1756, a conference was held at Salisbury between King +Heygler and warriors of the Catawba nation on the one side and +Chief Justice Henley, doubtless attended by Captain Waddell and +his frontier company, on the other. King Heygler, following the +lead set by the Cherokees, petitioned the Governor of North +Carolina to send the Catawbas some ammunition and to "build us a +fort for securing our old men, women and children when we turn +out to fight the Enemy on their coming." The chief justice +assured the King that the Catawbas would receive a necessary +supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of gunpowder and four +hundred pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge +with the governor their request to have a fort built as soon as +possible. Pathos not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent +appeal of good old King Heygler, ever the loyal friend of the +whites, at this conference: +</P> + +<P> +"I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by +the White people to my people especially near the Indian nation. +IF THE WHITE PEOPLE MAKE STRONG DRINK, LET THEM. SELL IT TO ONE +ANOTHER, OR DRINK IT IN THEIR OWN FAMILIES. This will avoid a +great deal of mischief which otherwise will, happen from my +people getting drunk and quarrelling with the White people. I +have no strong prisons like you to confine them for it. Our only +way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing proudly +to his Warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall +deserve it." +</P> + +<P> +In response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was +appropriated by the North Carolina Assembly for the erection of +"a Fort on our western frontier to protect and secure the +Catawbas" and for the support of two companies of fifty men each +to garrison this and another fort building on the sea coast. The +commissioners appointed for the purpose recommended (December 21, +1756) a site for the fort "near the 'Catawba nation"; and on +January 20, 1757, Governor Dobbs reported; "We are now building +a Fort in the midst of their towns at their own Request." The +fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the South +Fork of the Catawba River, as Dobbs says it was in the "midst" of +their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of +38 degrees" and might properly be included within a circle of +thirty miles radius." +</P> + +<P> +During the succeeding months many depredations were committed by +the Indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. Had it +not been for the protection afforded by all these forts, by the +militia companies under Alexander Osborne of Rowan and Nathaniel +Alexander of Anson, and by a special company of patrollers under +Green and Moore, the back settlers who had been so outrageously +"pilfered" by the Indians would have "retired from the Frontier +into the inner settlements." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. In Defense of Civilization +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us +by our Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our +neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, +came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our +congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more +than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a +day at a time and being fed by us.—Wachovia Community Diary, +1757 +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +With commendable energy and expedition Dinwiddie and Dobbs, +acting in concert, initiated steps for keeping the engagements +conjointly made by the two colonies with the Cherokees and the +Catawbas in the spring and summer of 1756. Enlisting sixty men, +"most of them Artificers, with Tools and Provisions," Major +Andrew Lewis proceeded in the late spring to Echota in the +Cherokee country. Here during the hot summer months they erected +the Virginia Fort on the path from Virginia, upon the northern +bank of the Little Tennessee, nearly opposite the Indian town of +Echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville." While +the fort was in process of construction, the Cherokees were +incessantly tampered with by emissaries from the Nuntewees and +the Savannahs in the French interest, and from the French +themselves at the Alibamu Fort. So effective were these +machinations, supported by extravagant promises and doubtless +rich bribes, that the Cherokees soon were outspokenly expressing +their desire for a French fort at Great Tellico. +</P> + +<P> +Dinwiddie welcomed the departure from America of Governor Glen of +South Carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to +the king's interest. From the new governor, William Henry +Lyttelton, who arrived in Charleston on June 1, 1756, he hoped to +secure effective cooperation in dealing with the Cherokees and +the Catawbas. This hope was based upon Lyttelton's recognition, +as stated in Dinwiddie's words, of the "Necessity of strict Union +between the whole Colonies, with't any of them considering their +particular Interest separate from the general Good of the whole." +After constructing the fort "with't the least assistance from +South Carolina," Major Lewis happened by accident upon a grand +council being held in Echota in September. At that time he +discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the French +had already produced the greatest imaginable change in the +sentiment of the Cherokees. Captain Raymond Demere of the +Provincials, with two hundred English troops, had arrived to +garrison the fort; but the head men of all the Upper Towns were +secretly influenced to agree to write a letter to Captain Demere, +ordering him to return immediately to Charleston with all the +troops under his command. At the grand council, Atta-kulla-kulla, +the great Cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to the head +men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of +Captain Demere that was there, he would take their Guns, and give +them to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they +would soon be worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of +the same colour as theirs, and that they should live among them +as slaves." With impressive dignity Major Lewis rose and +earnestly pleaded for the observance of the terms of the treaty +solemnly negotiated the preceding March. In response, the crafty +and treacherous chieftains desired Lewis to tell the Governor of +Virginia that "they had taken up the Hatchet against all Nations +that were Enemies to the English"; but Lewis, an astute student +of Indian Psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib +professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a +gloss on their knavery." So it proved; for instead of the four +hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in +Virginia, the Cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by +three women. Al though the Cherokees petitioned Virginia for a +number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, Dinwiddie postponed +sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia Assembly until +he could reassure himself in regard to the "Behaviour and +Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a +prudent decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia +fort was destroyed by the Indians. +</P> + +<P> +Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the +Cherokees over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a +recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected +by Virginia with troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina +immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern +bank of the Tennessee at the mouth of Tellico River, some seven +miles from the site of the Virginia fort; and here were posted +twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the +wilderness. To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord +Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces in +America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and +during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up +there. +</P> + +<P> +The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of +hostile Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755. +In July, the Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in +Virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of +the wars and many murders, committed by the savage Indians on the +back inhabitants." On July 30th a large party of Shawano Indians +fell upon the New River settlement and wiped it out of existence. +William Ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and Mrs. +Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. The +following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters of +the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was +captured by about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the +fort, killed John Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and +John Ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men, +women, and children. Among the captured was the famous Mrs. Mary +Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, was killed; but after being +"carried away into Captivity, amongst whom she was barbarously +treated," according to her own statement, she finally escaped and +returned to Virginia." The frontier continued to be infested by +marauding bands of French and Indians; and Dinwiddie gloomily +confessed to Dobbs (July 22d): "I apprehend that we shall always +be harrass'd with fly'g Parties of these Banditti unless we form +an Expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r Towns." Such an +expedition, known as the Sandy River Expedition, had been sent +out in February to avenge the massacre of the New River settlers; +but the enterprise engaged in by about four hundred Virginians +and Cherokees under Major Andrew Lewis and Captain Richard +Pearis, proved a disastrous failure. Not a single Indian was +seen; and the party suffered extraordinary hardships and narrowly +escaped starvation. +</P> + +<P> +In conformity with his treaty obligations with the Catawbas, +Governor Dobbs commissioned Captain Hugh Waddell to erect the +fort promised the Catawbas at the spot chosen by the +commissioners near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba +River. This fort, for which four thousand pounds had been +appropriated, was for the most part completed by midsummer, 1757. +But owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the French and +to the intermeddling of the South Carolina traders, who desired +to retain the trade of the Catawbas for that province, Oroloswa, +the Catawba King Heygler, sent a "talk" to Governor Lyttelton, +requesting that North Carolina desist from the work of +construction and that no fort be built except by South Carolina. +Accordingly, Governor Dobbs ordered Captain Waddell to discharge +the workmen (August 11, 1757); and every effort was made for many +months thereafter to conciliate the Catawbas, erstwhile friends +of North Carolina. The Catawba fort erected by North Carolina was +never fully completed; and several years later South Carolina, +having succeeded in alienating the Catawbas from North Carolina, +which colony had given them the best possible treatment, built +for them a fort at the mouth of Line Creek on the east bank of +the Catawba River. +</P> + +<P> +In the spring and summer of 1758 the long expected Indian allies +arrived in Virginia, as many as four hundred by May—Cherokees, +Catawbas, Tuscaroras, and Nottaways. But Dinwiddie was wholly +unable to use them effectively; and in order to provide amusement +for them, he directed that they should go "a scalping" with the +whites—"a barbarous method of war," frankly acknowledged the +governor, "introduced by the French, which we are oblidged to +follow in our own defense." Most of the Indian allies +discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the +remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the +campaign against Fort Duquesne. Three North Carolina companies, +composed of trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through +this campaign under the command of Major Hugh Waddell, the +"Washington of North Carolina." Long of limb and broad of chest, +powerful, lithe, and active, Waddell was an ideal leader for this +arduous service, being fertile in expedient and skilful in the +employment of Indian tactics. With true provincial pride Governor +Dobbs records that Waddell "had great honor done him, being +employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as +an Indian; and his sergeant, Rogers, took the only Indian +prisoner, who gave Mr. Forbes certain intelligence of the forces +in Fort Duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." This +apparently trivial incident is remarkable, in that it proved to +be the decisive factor in a campaign that was about to be +abandoned. The information in regard to the state of the garrison +at Fort Duquesne, secured from the Indian, for the capture of +whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two hundred and +fifty pounds, emboldened Forbes to advance rather than to retire. +Upon reaching the fort (November 25th), he found it abandoned by +the enemy. Sergeant Rogers never received the reward promised by +General Forbes and the other English officer; but some time +afterward he was compensated by a modest sum from the colony of +North Carolina. +</P> + +<P> +A series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly the fault of the +whites, soon resulted in the precipitation of a terrible Indian +outbreak. A party of Cherokees, returning home in May, 1758, +seized some stray horses on the frontier of Virginia—never +dreaming of any wrong, says an old historian, as they saw it +frequently done by the whites. The owners of the horses, hastily +forming a party, went in pursuit of the Indians and killed twelve +or fourteen of the number. The relatives of the slain Indians, +greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. Nor was the +tactless conduct of Forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; +for when Atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in +disgust at the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by +Forbes's orders, apprehended and disarmed. This rude treatment, +coupled with the brutal and wanton murder of some Cherokee +hunters a little earlier, by an irresponsible band of Virginians +under Captain Robert Wade, still further aggravated the Indians. +</P> + +<P> +Incited by the French, who had fled to the southward after the +fall of Fort Duquesne, parties of bloodthirsty young Indians +rushed down upon the settlements and left in their path death and +desolation along the frontiers of the Carolinas. On the upper +branch of the Yadkin and below the South Yadkin near Fort Dobbs +twenty-two whites fell in swift succession before the secret +onslaughts of the savages from the lower Cherokee towns. Many of +the settlers along the Yadkin fled to the Carolina Fort at +Bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff of Rowan +County suffered siege by the Cherokees, in his home, until +rescued by a detachment under Brother Loesch from Bethabara. +While many families took refuge in Fort Dobbs, frontiersmen under +Captain Morgan Bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of +Salisbury and guarded the settlements from the hostile incursions +of the savages. So gravely alarmed were the Rowan settlers, +compelled by the Indians to desert their planting and crops, that +Colonel Harris was despatched post-haste for aid to Cape Fear, +arriving there on July 1st. With strenuous energy Captain +Waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies of +thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six +swivel guns and ammunition on before him; and these +reinforcements brought relief at last to the harassed Rowan +frontiers." During the remainder of the year, the borders were +kept clear by bold and tireless rangers-under the leadership of +expert Indian fighters of the stamp of Grifth Rutherford and +Morgan Bryan. +</P> + +<P> +When the Cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the North +Carolina border in April arrived at their town of Settiquo, they +proudly displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain Rowan +settlers. Upon the demand for these scalps by Captain Demere at +Fort Loudon and under direction of Atta-kulla-kulla, the Settiquo +warriors surrendered eleven of the scalps to Captain Demere who, +according to custom in time of peace, buried them. New murders on +Pacolet and along the Virginia Path, which occurred shortly +afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it was plain, says a +contemporary gazette, that "the lower Cherokees were not +satisfied with the murder of the Rowan settlers, but intended +further mischief". On October 1st and again on October 31st, +Governor Dobbs received urgent requests from Governor Lyttelton, +asking that the North Carolina provincials and militia cooperate +to bring him assistance. Although there was no law requiring the +troops to march out of the province and the exposed frontiers of +North Carolina sorely needed protection, Waddell, now +commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five small companies +and marched to the aid of Governor Lyttelton. But early in +January, 1760, while on the march, Waddell received a letter from +Lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and +that a treaty of peace had been negotiated with the Cherokees. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. Crushing the Cherokees +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling +strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America.—Hewatt: +An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the +Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. 1779. +</P> + +<P> +Governor Lyttelton's treaty of "peace", negotiated with the +Cherokees at the close of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a +crass and hideous blunder. His domineering attitude and +tyrannical treatment of these Indians had aroused the bitterest +animosity. Yet he did not realize that it was no longer safe to +trust their word. No sooner did the governor withdraw his army +from the borders than the cunning Cherokees, whose passions had +been inflamed by what may fairly be called the treacherous +conduct of Lyttelton, rushed down with merciless ferocity upon +the innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. On +February 1, 1760, while a large party (including the family of +Patrick Calhoun), numbering in all about one hundred and fifty +persons, were removing from the Long Cane settlement to Augusta, +they were suddenly attacked by a hundred mounted Cherokees, who +slaughtered about fifty of them. After the massacre, many of the +children were found helplessly wandering in the woods. One man +alone carried to Augusta no less than nine of the pitiful +innocents, some horribly mutilated with the tomahawk, others +scalped, and all yet alive. +</P> + +<P> +Atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and +many people were slain. The Cherokees, under the leadership of +Si-lou-ee, or the Young Warrior of Estatoe, the Round O, Tiftoe, +and others, were baffled in their persistent efforts to capture +Fort Prince George. On February 16th the crafty Oconostota +appeared before the fort and under the pretext of desiring some +White man to accompany him on a visit to the governor on urgent +business, lured the commander, Lieutenant Coytomore, and two +attendants to a conference outside the gates. At a preconceived +signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were +wounded, and Lieutenant Coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell +dead. Enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death +the Indian hostages within. During the abortive attack upon the +fort, Oconostota, unaware of the murder of the hostages, was +heard shouting above the din of battle: "Fight strong, and you +shall be relieved." +</P> + +<P> +Now began the dark days along the Rowan border, which were so +sorely to test human endurance. Many refugees fortified +themselves in the different stockades; and Colonel Hugh Waddell +with his redoubtable frontier company of Indian-fighters awaited +the onslaught of the savages, who were reported to have passed +through the mountain defiles and to be approaching along the +foot-hills. The story of the investment of Fort Dobbs and the +splendidly daring sortie of Waddell and Bailey is best told in +Waddell's report to Governor Dobbs (February 29, 1760): +</P> + +<P> +"For several Days I observed a small party of Indians were +constantly about the fort, I sent out several parties after them +to no purpose, the Evening before last between 8 & 9 o'clock I +found by the Dogs making an uncommon Noise there must be a party +nigh a Spring which we sometimes use. As my Garrison is but +small, and I was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out +the Garrison, I took our Capt. Bailie who with myself and party +made up ten: We had not marched 300 yds. from the fort when we +were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party +Orders not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually +observed: We rec'd the Indians' fire: When I perceived they had +almost all fired, I ordered my party to fire which We did not +further than 12 steps each loaded with a Bullet and 7 Buck Shot, +they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to +tomahawk us or make us Prisoners: They found the fire very hot +from so small a Number which a good deal confused them: I then +ordered my party to retreat, as I found the Instant our skirmish +began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing +the garrison the Indians were soon repulsed with I am sure a +considerable Loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can +confide in they cou'd not have less than 10 or 12 killed and +wounded; The next Morning we found a great deal of Blood and one +dead whom I suppose they cou'd not find in the night. On my side +I had 2 Men wounded one of whom I am afraid will die as he is +scalped, the other is in way of Recovery, and one boy killed near +the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I expected they +would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all +Fortifications by Night, but find they did not like their +Reception." +</P> + +<P> +Alarmed by Waddell's "offensive-defensive," the Indians abandoned +the siege. Robert Campbell, Waddell's ranger, who was scalped in +this engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was +recompensed by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. +</P> + +<P> +In addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies +were now placed under Waddell's command. Companies of volunteers +scoured the woods in search of the lurking Indian foe. These +rangers, who were clad in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, +and who employed Indian tactics in fighting, were captained by +such hardy leaders as the veteran Morgan Bryan, the intrepid +Griffith Ruthe ford, the German partisan, Martin Phifer +(Pfeiffer), and Anthony Hampton, the father of General Wade +Hampton. They visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" +erected by the settlers—extending all the way from Fort Dobbs +and the Moravian fortifications in the Wachau to Samuel +Stalnaker's stockade on the Middle Fork of the Holston in +Virginia. About the middle of March, thirty volunteer Rowan +County rangers encountered a band of forty Cherokees, who +fortified themselves in a deserted house near the Catawba River. +The famous scout and hunter, John Perkins, assisted by one of his +bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted +torches upon the roof. One of the Indians, as the smoke became +suffocating and the flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "Better for +one to die bravely than for all to perish miserably in the +flames," and darting forth, dashed rapidly hither and thither, in +order to draw as many shots as possible. This act of superb +self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles of the +whites, who riddled the brave Indian with balls, were empty, the +other savages made a wild dash for liberty. Seven fell thus under +the deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. Ten of the Indians, +all told, lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were +subsequently paid one hundred pounds by the colony of North +Carolina. +</P> + +<P> +Beaten back from Fort Dobbs, sorely defeated along the Catawba, +hotly pursued by the rangers, the Cherokees continued to lurk in +the shadows of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to +fall suddenly upon way faring settlers and isolated cabins remote +from any stronghold. On March 8th William Fish, his son, and +Thompson, a companion, were riding along the "trace," in search +of provisions for a group of families fortified on the Yadkin, +when a flight of arrows hurtled from the cane-brake, and Fish and +his son fell dead. Although pierced with two arrows, one in the +hip and one clean through his body, Thompson escaped upon his +fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally +reached the Carolina Fort at Bethabara. The good Dr. Bonn, by +skilfully extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved +Thompson's life. The pious Moravians rejoiced over the recovery +of the brave messenger, whose sensational arrival gave them +timely warning of the close proximity of the Indians. While +feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush by the +lurking foe; and on March 11th, a family barricaded within a +burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, +were rescued in the nick of time by the militia. No episode from +Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales surpasses in melancholy +interest Harry Hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on Bean +Island Creek. Surrounded by the Indians, Hicks and his family +took refuge within the small outer palisade around his humble +home. Fighting desperately against terrific odds, he was finally +driven from his yard into his log cabin, which he continued to +defend with dauntless courage. With every shot he tried to send a +redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was only after his +powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, beneath +the deadly tomahawk. So impressed were the Indians by his bravery +that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and +these were afterward rescued by Waddell when he marched to the +Cherokee towns in 1761. +</P> + +<P> +The kindly Moravians had always entertained with generous +hospitality the roving bands of Cherokees, who accordingly held +them in much esteem and spoke of Bethabara as "the Dutch Fort, +where there are good people and much bread." But now, in these +dread days, the truth of their daily text was brought forcibly +home to the Moravians: "Neither Nehemiah nor his brethren put off +their clothes, but prayed as they watched." With Bible in one +hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of Wachovia sternly +marched to religious worship. No Puritan of bleak New England +ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the +hard-won outpost of civilization than did the pious Moravian of +the Wachau. At the new settlement of Bethania on Easter Day, more +than four hundred souls, including sixty rangers, listened +devoutly to the eloquent sermon of Bishop Spangenberg concerning +the way of salvation—the while their arms, stacked without the +Gemein Haus, were guarded by the watchful sentinel. On March 14th +the watchmen at Bethania with well-aimed shots repelled the +Indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down the +wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves". Religion was no +protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to +the present site of Salem were set upon by the red men—one +escaping, another suffering capture, and the third, a Baptist, +losing his life. A little later word came to Fort Dobbs that John +Long and Robert Gillespie of Salisbury had been shot from ambush +and scalped—Long having been pierced with eight bullets and +Gillespie with seven. +</P> + +<P> +There is one beautiful incident recorded by the Moravians, which +has a truly symbolic significance. While the war was at its +height, a strong party of Cherokees, who had lost their chief, +planned in retaliation to attack Bethabara. "When they went +home," sets forth the Moravian Diary, "they said they had been to +a great town, where there were a great many people, where the +bells rang often, and during the night, time after time, a horn +was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had taken +no prisoners." The trumpet of the watchman, announcing the +passing of the hour, had convinced the Indians that their plans +for attack were discovered; and the regular evening bell, +summoning the pious to prayer, rang in the stricken ears of the +red men like the clamant call to arms. +</P> + +<P> +Following the retirement from office of Governor Lyttelton, +Lieutenant-Governor Bull proceeded to prosecute the war with +vigor. On April 1, 1760, twelve hundred men under Colonel +Archibald Montgomerie arrived at Charleston, with instructions to +strike an immediate blow and to relieve Fort Loudon, then +invested by the Cherokees. With his own force, two hundred and +ninety-five South Carolina Rangers, forty picked men of the new +"levies," and "a good number of guides," Montgomerie moved from +Fort Ninety-Six on May 28th. On the first of June, crossing +Twelve-Mile River, Montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, +devastating and burning every Indian village in the Valley of +Keowee, killing and capturing more than a hundred of the +Cherokees, and destroying immense stores of corn. Receiving no +reply to his summons to the Cherokees of the Middle and Upper +Towns to make peace or suffer like treatment, Montgomerie took up +his march from Fort Prince George on June 24th, resolved to carry +out his threat. On the morning of the 27th, he was drawn into an +ambuscade within six miles of Et-chow-ee, eight miles south of +the present Franklin, North Carolina, a mile and a half below +Smith's Bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by +some six hundred and thirty warriors led by Si-lou-ee. Fighting +with Indian tactics, the Provincial Rangers under Patrick Calhoun +particularly distinguished themselves; and the bloodcurdling +yells of the painted savages were responded to by the wild huzzas +of the kilted Highlanders who, waving their Scotch bonnets, +impetuously charged the redskins and drove them again and again +from their lurking-places. Nevertheless Montgomerie lost from +eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while the loss of +the Indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the whites. +Unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing +his baggage, Montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. In so +doing, he acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon +his original intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of +Fort London. +</P> + +<P> +Captain Demere and his devoted little band, who had been +resolutely holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. After +the bread was exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the +necessity of eating dogs and horses; and the loyal aid of the +Indian wives of some of the garrison, who secretly brought them +supplies of food daily, enabled them to hold out still longer. +Realizing at last the futility of prolonging the hopeless +contest, Captain Demere surrendered the fort on August 8, 1760. +At daylight the next morning, while on the march to Fort Prince +George, the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous Cherokees, +who at the first onset killed Captain Demere and twenty-nine +others. A humane chieftain, Outassitus, says one of the gazettes +of the day, "went around the field calling upon the Indians to +desist, and making such representations to them as stopped the +further progress and effects of their barbarous and brutal rage," +which expressed itself in scalping and hacking off the arms and +legs of the defenseless whites. Atta-kulla-kulla, who was +friendly to the whites, claimed Captain Stuart, the second +officer, as his captive, and bore him away by stealth. After nine +days' journey through the wilderness they encountered an advance +party under Major Andrew Lewis, sent out by Colonel Byrd, head of +a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the garrison who +might effect their escape. Thus Stuart was restored to his +friends. This abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory +lay conclusively with the Indians, ended when Byrd disbanded his +new levies and Montgomerie sailed from Charleston for the north +(August, 1760). +</P> + +<P> +During the remainder of the year, the province of North Carolina +remained free of further alarms from the Indians. But the view +was generally entertained that one more joint Effort of North +Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia would have to be made in +order to humble the Cherokees. At the sessions of the North +Carolina Assembly in November and again in December, matters in +dispute between Governor Dobbs and the representatives of the +people made impossible the passage of a proposed aid bill, +providing for five hundred men to cooperate with Virginia and +South Carolina. Nevertheless volunteers in large numbers +patriotically marched from North Carolina to Charleston and the +Congaree (December, 1760, to April, 1761), to enlist in the +famous regiment being organized by Colonel Thomas Middleton. On +March 31, 1761, Governor Dobbs called together the Assembly to +act upon a letter received from General Amherst, outlining a more +vigorous plan of campaign appropriate to the succession of a +young and vigorous sovereign, George III. An aid bill was passed, +providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; and one +regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the +command of Colonel Hugh Waddell, was mustered into service for +seven months' duty, beginning May 1, 1761. +</P> + +<P> +On July 7, 1761, Colonel James Grant, detached from the main army +in command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his +march from Fort Prince George. Attacked on June 10th two miles +south of the spot where Montgomerie was engaged the preceding +year, Grant's army, after a vigorous engagement lasting several +hours, drove off the Indians. The army then proceeded at leisure +to lay waste the fifteen towns of the Middle Settlements; and, +after this work of systematic devastation was over, returned to +Fort Prince George. Peace was concluded in September as the +result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was +pushed seventy miles farther to the west. +</P> + +<P> +Meantime, Colonel Waddell with his force of five hundred North +Carolinians had acted in concert with Colonel William Byrd, +commanding the Virginia detachment. The combined forces went into +camp at Captain Samuel Stalnaker's old place on the Middle Fork +of Holston. Because of his deliberately dilatory policy, Byrd was +superseded in the command by Colonel Adam Stephen. Marching their +forces to the Long Island of Holston, Stephen and Waddell erected +there Fort Robinson, in compliance with the instructions of +Governor Fauquier, of Virginia. The Cherokees, heartily tired of +the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, independent of +the treaty at Charleston, on November 19, 1761. +</P> + +<P> +The successful termination of this campaign had an effect of +signal importance in the development of the expansionist spirit. +The rich and beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the +North Carolina and Virginia pioneers under Waddell, Byrd, and +Stephen, lured them irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune +and bolder explorations into the unknown, beckoning West. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. The Land Companies +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as +possible, and that the granting them to men of the first +consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large +bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of +effecting the end proposed.—Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia +to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Although for several decades the Virginia traders had been +passing over the Great Trading Path to the towns of the Cherokees +and the Catawbas, it was not until the early years of the +eighteenth century that Virginians of imaginative vision directed +their eyes to the westward, intent upon crossing the mountains +and locating settlements as a firm barrier against the +imperialistic designs of France. Acting upon his oft-expressed +conviction that once the English settlers had established +themselves at the source of the James River "it would not be in +the power of the French to dislodge them," Governor Alexander +Spotswood in 1716, animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led +an expedition of fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the +mountains, arduously ascended to the summit of the Blue Ridge, +and claimed the country by right of discovery in behalf of his +sovereign. In the journal of John Fontaine this vivacious account +is given of the historic episode: "I graved my name on a tree by +the river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper +enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of this place +in the name and for King George the First of England. We had a +good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all +their arms and we drank the King's health in Burgundy and fired a +volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family in claret and a +volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired another volley." +</P> + +<P> +By this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated +by presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him a +golden horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, Sic juvat +transcendere montes, Alexander Spotswood anticipated by a third +of a century the more ambitious expedition on behalf of France by +Celoron de Bienville (see Chapter III), and gave a memorable +object-lesson in the true spirit of westward expansion. During +the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the minds of men of the +stamp of William Byrd and Joshua Gee that there was imperative +need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the +trans-Alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing +wave of French influence and occupation. By the fifth decade of +the century, as we have seen, the Virginia settlers, with their +squatter's claims and tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the +mountains; and great pressure was brought to bear upon the +council to issue grants for vast tracts of land in the uncharted +wilderness of the interior. +</P> + +<P> +At this period the English ministry adopted the aggressive policy +already mentioned in connection with the French and Indian war, +indicative of a determination to contest with France the right to +occupy the interior of the continent. This policy had been +inaugurated by Virginia with the express purpose of stimulating +the adoption of a similar policy by North Carolina and +Pennsylvania. Two land companies, organized almost +simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries necessary to +settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to +discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best +land in the trans-Alleghany. +</P> + +<P> +In June, 1749, a great corporation, the Loyal Land Company of +Virginia, received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above +the North Carolina line and west of the mountains. Dr. Thomas +Walker, an expert surveyor, who in company with several other +gentlemen had made a tour of exploration through eastern +Tennessee and the Holston region in 1748, was chosen as the agent +of this company. Starting from his home in Albemarle County, +Virginia, March 6, 1750, accompanied by five stalwart pioneers, +Walker made a tour of exploration to the westward, being absent +four months and one week. On this journey, which carried the +party as far west as the Rockcastle River (May 11th) and as far +north as the present Paintsville, Kentucky, they named many +natural objects, such as mountains and rivers, after members of +the party. Their two principal achievements were the erection of +the first house built by white men between the Cumberland +Mountains and the Ohio River a feat, however, which led to no +important developments; and the discovery of the wonderful gap in +the Alleghanies to which Walker gave the name Cumberland, in +honor of the ruthless conqueror at Culloden, the "bloody duke." +</P> + +<P> +In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized by Colonel Thomas Lee, +president of the Virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of +Virginia and Maryland. In their petition for five hundred +thousand acres, one of the declared objects of the company was +"to anticipate the French by taking possession of that country +southward of the Lakes to which the French had no right...." +By the royal order of May 19, 1749, the company was awarded two +hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and the +promise was made of an additional award of the remainder +petitioned for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon +the original grant and the building and maintaining of a fort. +Christopher Gist, summoned from his remote home on the Yadkin in +North Carolina, was instructed "to search out and discover the +Lands upon the river Ohio & other adjoining branches of the +Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof." In this +journey, which began at Colonel Thomas Cresap's, in Maryland, in +October, 1750, and ended at Gist's home on May 18, 1751, Gist +visited the Lower Shawnee Town and the Lower Blue Licks, ascended +Pilot Knob almost two decades before Find lay and Boone, from the +same eminence, "saw with pleasure the beautiful level of +Kentucky," intersected Walker's route at two points, and crossed +Cumberland Mountain at Pound Gap on the return journey. This was +a far more extended journey than Walker's, enabling Gist to +explore the fertile valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Miami +rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of Kentucky. +</P> + +<P> +It is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was +inaugurating an era of land hunger unparalleled in American +history, that the first authentic records of the trans-Alleghany +were made by surveyors who visited the country as the agents of +great land companies. The outbreak of the French and Indian War +so soon afterward delayed for a decade and more any important +colonization of the West. Indeed, the explorations and findings +of Walker and Gist were almost unknown, even to the companies +they represented. But the conclusion of peace in 1763, which gave +all the region between the mountains and the Mississippi to the +British, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist +movement in the Old Southwest, and inaugurated the constructive +leadership of North Carolina in f he occupation and colonization +of the imperial domain of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. +</P> + +<P> +In the middle years of the century many families of Virginia +gentry removed to the back country of North Carolina in the +fertile region ranging from Williamsborough on the east to +Hillsborough on the west. There soon arose in this section of the +colony a society marked by intellectual distinction, social +graces, and the leisured dignity of the landlord and the large +planter. So conspicuous for means, intellect, culture, and +refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance of +wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that Governor Josiah Martin, +in passing through this region some years later, significantly +observes: "They have great preeminence, as well with respect to +soil and cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the +inhabitants, in which last respect the difference is so great +that one would be led to think them people of another region." +This new wealthy class which was now turning its gaze toward the +unoccupied lands along the frontier was "dominated by the +democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the aristocratic +tendencies of slave-holding planters." From the cross-fertilization +of the ideas of two social groups—this back-country +gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic +instincts, economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and +the primitive pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, +responsive to leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in +execution—there evolved the militant American expansion in the Old +Southwest. +</P> + +<P> +A conspicuous figure in this society of Virginia emigrants was a +young man named Richard Henderson, whose father had removed with +his family from Hanover County, Virginia, to Bute, afterward +Granville County, North Carolina, in 1742. Educated at home by a +private tutor, he began his career as assistant of his father, +Samuel Henderson, the High Sheriff of Granville County; and after +receiving a law-license, quickly acquired an extensive practice. +"Even in the superior courts where oratory and eloquence are as +brilliant and powerful as in Westminster hall," records an +English acquaintance, "he soon became distinguished and eminent, +and his superior genius shone forth with great splendour, and +universal applause." This young attorney, wedded to the daughter +of an Irish lord, often visited Salisbury on his legal circuit; +and here he became well acquainted with Squire Boone, one of the +"Worshipfull Justices," and often appeared in suits before him. +By his son, the nomadic Daniel Boone, conspicuous already for his +solitary wanderings across the dark green mountains to the +sun-lit valleys and boundless hunting-grounds beyond, Henderson +was from time to time regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales +of western exploration; and Boone, in his dark hour of poverty +and distress, when he was heavily involved financially, turned +for aid to this friend and his partner, who composed the law-firm +of Williams and Henderson. +</P> + +<P> +Boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the West stimulated +Henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the +rich possibilities of unoccupied lands there. While the Board of +Trade in drafting the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, +forbade the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was +specifically reserved to the Indians, it was clearly not their +intention to set permanent western limits to the colonies. The +prevailing opinion among the shrewdest men of the period was well +expressed by George Washington, who wrote his agent for +preempting western lands: "I can never look upon that +proclamation in any other light (but I say this between +ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of +the Indians." And again in 1767: "It (the proclamation of 1763) +must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those +Indians consent to our occupying the lands. Any person, +therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out +good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing +them for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, +will never regain it." Washington had added greatly to his +holdings of bounty lands in the West by purchasing at trivial +prices the claims of many of the officers and soldiers. Three +years later we find him surveying extensive tracts along the Ohio +and the Great Kanawha, and, with the vision of the expansionist, +making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be seated +upon his own lands. Henderson, too, recognized the importance of +the great country west of the Appalachians. He agreed with the +opinion of Benjamin Franklin, who in 1756 called it "one of the +finest in North America for the extreme richness and fertility of +the land, the healthy temperature of the air and the mildness of +the climate, the plenty of hunting, fishing and fowling, the +facility of trade with the Indians and the vast convenience of +inland navigation or water carriage." Henderson therefore +proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose of acquiring +and colonizing a large domain in the West. This partnership, +which was entitled Richard Henderson and Company, was composed of +a few associates, including Richard Henderson, his uncle and +law-partner, John Williams, and, in all probability, their close +friends Thomas and Nathaniel Hart of Orange County, North +Carolina, immigrants from Hanover County, Virginia. +</P> + +<P> +Seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of +peace, the company engaged Daniel Boone as scout and surveyor. He +was instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to +examine, with respect to their location and fertility, the lands +which he visited, and to report his findings upon his return. The +secret expedition must have been transacted with commendable +circumspection; for although in after years it became common +knowledge among his friends that he had acted as the company's +agent, Boone himself consistently refrained from betraying the +confidence of his employers. Upon a similar mission, Gist had +carefully concealed from the suspicious Indians the fact that he +carried a compass, which they wittily termed "land stealer"; and +Washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land agent Crawford, +insisting that the operation be carried on under the guise of +hunting game." The discreet Boone, taciturn and given to keeping +his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous +to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well +known to him, in order to secure the results of their information +in regard to the best lands they had encountered in the course of +their hunting expedition. Boone came among the hunters, known as +the "Blevens connection," at one of their Tennessee station camps +on their return from a long hunt in Kentucky, in order, as +expressed in the quaint phraseology of the period, to be +"informed of the geography and locography of these woods, saying +that he was employed to explore them by Henderson & Company." The +acquaintance which Boone on this occasion formed with a member of +the party, Henry Scaggs, the skilled hunter and explorer, was +soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward Scaggs was employed as +prospector by the same land company. In 1764 Scaggs had passed +through Cumberland Gap and hunted for the season on the +Cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of +Richard Henderson and Company, he was despatched on an extended +exploration to the lower Cumberland, fixing his station at the +salt lick afterward known as Mansker's Lick. +</P> + +<P> +Richard Henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the Harts and +others in an enterprise which his own genius planned," says Peck, +the personal acquaintance and biographer of Boone, "and then +encouraged several hunters to explore the country and learn where +the best lands lay." Just why Henderson and his associates did +not act sooner upon the reports brought back by the +hunters—Boone and Scaggs and Callaway, who accompanied Boone in +1764 in the interest of the land company "is not known; but in +all probability the fragmentary nature of these reports, however +glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause for the delay of +five years before the land company, through the agency of Boone +and Findlay, succeeded in having a thorough exploration inside of +the Kentucky region. Delay was also caused by rival claims to the +territory. In the Virginia Gazette of December 1, 1768, Henderson +must have read with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that +"the Six Nations and all their tributaries have granted a vast +extent of country to his majesty, and the Proprietaries of +Pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous boundary line between +their hunting country and this, and the other colonies to the +Southward as far as the Cherokee River, for which they received +the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever +given at any conference since the settlement of America." The +news was now bruited about through the colony of North Carolina, +that the Cherokees were hot in their resentment because the +Northern Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees and the +perpetual disputants for the vast Middle Ground of Kentucky, had +received at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, November 5, 1768, an +immense compensation from the crown for the territory which they, +the Cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. Only three weeks +before, John Stuart, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the +Southern Department, had negotiated with the Cherokees the Treaty +of Hard Labor, South Carolina (October 14th), by which Governor +Tryon's line of 1767, from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, was +continued direct to Colonel Chiswell's mine, the present +Wytheville, Virginia, and thence in a straight Brie to the mouth +of the Great Kanawha. Thus at the close of the year 1768 the +crown through both royal governor and superintendent of Indian +affairs acknowledged in fair and open treaty the right of the +Cherokees, whose Tennessee villages guarded the gateway, to the +valley lands east of the mountain barrier as well as to the dim +mid-region of Kentucky. In the very act of negotiating the Treaty +of Fort Stanwix, Sir William Johnson privately acknowledged that +possession of the trans-Alleghany could be legally obtained only +by extinguishing the title of the Cherokees. +</P> + +<P> +These conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the +Indians and the company's settlers. In the spring of 1769 +occurred one of those incidents in the westward advance which, +though slight in itself, was to have a definite bearing upon the +course of events in later years. In pursuance of his policy, as +agent of the Loyal Land Company, of promoting settlement upon the +company's lands, Dr. Thomas Walker, who had visited Powell's +Valley the preceding year and come into possession of a very +large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party of +men including the Kirtleys, Captain Rucker, and others, and to +another party led by Joseph Martin, trader of Orange County, +Virginia, afterward a striking figure in the Old Southwest. The +fevered race by these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for +possession of an early "Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter +band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that +when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly handed them "a letter +from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got to the valley +first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were not to +interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with +the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat +and destroyed 23 deer—15 bears—2 buffaloes and a great quantity +of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland +who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The +company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees, +who, fortified by the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this +country within the Indian reservation, were determined to drive +Martin and his company out. While hunting on the Cumberland +River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, Martin and his company were +surrounded and disarmed by a party of Cherokees who said they had +orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men +hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived at +their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and +their goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse +but to return to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until +six years later that Martin, under the stable influence of the +Transylvania Company, was enabled to return to this spot and +erect there the station which was to play an integral part in the +progress of westward expansion. +</P> + +<P> +Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under +the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn +back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and +explorers who visited that territory between the time of its +discovery by Walker and Gist and the advent of Boone. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of +Virginia & North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when +they intended to make a long Hunt (as they calls it) they +Collected near the head of Holston near whare Abingdon now +stands....—General William Hall. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Before the coming of Walker and Gist in 1750 and 1751 +respectively, the region now called Kentucky had, as far as we +know, been twice visited by the French, once in 1729 when +Chaussegros de Lery and his party visited the Big Bone Lick, and +again in the summer of 1749 when the Baron de Longueuil with four +hundred and fifty-two Frenchmen and Indians, going to join +Bienville in an expedition against "the Cherickees and other +Indians lying at the back of Carolina and Georgia," doubtless +encamped on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio. Kentucky was also +traversed by John Peter Salling with his three adventurous +companions in their journey through the Middle West in 1742. But +all these early visits, including the memorable expeditions of +Walker and Gist, were so little known to the general public that +when John Filson wrote the history of Kentucky in 1784 he +attributed its discovery to James McBride in 1754. More +influential upon the course of westward expansion was an +adventure which occurred in 1752, the very year in which the +Boones settled down in their Vadkin home. +</P> + +<P> +In the autumn of 1752, a Pennsylvania trader, John Findlay, with +three or four companions, descended the Ohio River in a canoe as +far as the falls at the present Louisville, Kentucky, and +accompanied a party of Shawnees to their town of +Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of what is now Winchester. +</P> + +<P> +This was the site of the "Indian Old Corn Field," the Iroquois +name for which ("the place of many fields," or "prairie") was +Ken-take, whence came the name of the state. +</P> + +<P> +Five miles east of this spot, where still may be seen a mound and +an ellipse showing the outline of the stockade, is the famous +Pilot Knob, from the summit of which the fields surrounding the +town lie visible in their smooth expanse. During Findlay's stay +at the Indian town other traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia, +who reported that they were "on their return from trading with +the Cuttawas (Catawbas), a nation who live in the Territories of +Carolina," assembled in the vicinity in January, 1753. Here, as +the result of disputes arising from their barter, they were set +upon and captured by a large party of straggling Indians +(Coghnawagas from Montreal) on January 26th; but Findlay and +another trader named James Lowry were so fortunate as to escape +and return through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania +settlements." The incident is of important historic significance; +for it was from these traders, who must have followed the Great +Warriors' Path to the country of the Catawbas, that Findlay +learned of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Gap traversed by the Indian +path. His reminiscences of this gateway to Kentucky, of the site +of the old Indian town on Lulbegrud Creek, a tributary of the Red +River, and of the Pilot Knobwere sixteen years later to fire +Boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the +Transylvania Company. +</P> + +<P> +During the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of +the savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east +ranged through the trans-Alleghany. But in 1761, a party of +hunters led by a rough frontiersman, Elisha Walden, penetrated +into Powell's Valley, followed the Indian trail through +Cumberland Gap, explored the Cumberland River, and finally +reached the Laurel Mountain where, encountering a party of +Indians, they deemed it expedient to return. With Walden went +Henry Scaggs, afterward explorer for the Henderson Land Company, +William Elevens and Charles Cox, the famous Virginia hunters, one +Newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. Their itinerary +may be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of +members of the party—Walden's Mountain and Walden's Creek, +Scaggs' Ridge and Newman's Ridge. Following the peace of 1763, +which made travel in this region moderately safe once more, the +English proceeded to occupy the territory which they had won. In +1765 George Croghan with a small party, on the way to prepare the +inhabitants of the Illinois country for transfer to English +sovereignty, visited the Great Bone Licks of Kentucky (May 30th, +31st); and a year later Captain Harry Gordon, chief engineer in +the Western Department in North America, visited and minutely +described the same licks and the falls. But these, and numerous +other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were +kept, though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing +upon the larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. +</P> + +<P> +The decade opening with the year 1765 is the epoch of bold and +ever bolder exploration—the more adventurous frontiersmen of the +border pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured +on by the excitements of the chase and the profit to be derived +from the sale of peltries. In midsummer, 1766, Captain James +Smith, Joshua Horton, Uriah Stone, William Baker, and a young +mulatto slave passed through Cumberland Gap, hunted through the +country south of the Cherokee and along the Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers, and as Smith reports "found no vestige of any +white man." During the same year a party of five hunters from +South Carolina, led by Isaac Lindsey, penetrated the Kentucky +wilderness to the tributary of the Cumberland, named Stone's +River by the former party, for one of their number. Here they +encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western +pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic +association with the early settlement of Kentucky, James Harrod +and Michael Stoner, a German, both of whom had descended the Ohio +from Fort Pitt. With the year 1769 began those longer and more +extended excursions into the interior which were to result in +conveying at last to the outside world graphic and detailed +information concerning "the wonderful new country of Cantucky." +In the late spring of this year Hancock and Richard Taylor (the +latter the father of President Zachary Taylor), Abraham +Hempinstall, and one Barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left +their homes in Orange County, Virginia, and hunted extensively in +Kentucky and Arkansas. Two of the party traveled through Georgia +and East and West Florida; while the other two hunted on the +Washita during the winter of 1770-1. Explorations of this type +became increasingly hazardous as the animosity of the Indians +increased; and from this time onward for a number of years almost +all the parties of roving hunters suffered capture or attack by +the crafty red men. In this same year Major John McCulloch, +living on the south branch of the Potomac, set out accompanied by +a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western country. +While passing down the Ohio from Pittsburgh McCulloch was +captured by the Indians near the mouth of the Wabash and carried +to the present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. Set free after four +or five months, he journeyed in company with some French +voyageurs first to Natchez and then to New Orleans, whence he +made the sea voyage to Philadelphia. Somewhat later, Benjamin +Cleveland (afterward famous in the Revolution), attended by four +companions, set out from his home on the upper Yadkin to explore +the Kentucky wilderness. After passing through Cumberland Gap, +they encountered a band of Cherokees who plundered them of +everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and ordered +them to leave the Indian hunting-grounds. On their return journey +they almost starved, and Cleveland, who was reluctantly forced to +kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in +after years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. +</P> + +<P> +Fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by Uriah +Stone, a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto +ventured westward—including Uriah Stone as pilot, Gasper +Mansker, John Rains, Isaac Bledsoe, and a dozen others—assembled +in June, 1769, in the New River region. "Each Man carried two +horses," says an early pioneer in describing one of these +parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and led, and a small +hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the purpose of +fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." Passing +through Cumberland Gap, they continued their long journey until +they reached Price's Meadow, in the present Wayne County, +Kentucky, where they established their encampment. In the course +of their explorations, during which they gave various names to +prominent natural features, they established their "station camp" +on a creek in Sumner County, Tennessee, whence originated the +name of Station Camp Creek. Isaac Bledsoe and Gasper Mansker, +agreeing to travel from here in opposite directions along a +buffalo trace passing near the camp, each succeeded in +discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his name—namely +Bledsoe's Lick and Mansker's Lick. The flat surrounding the lick, +about one hundred acres in extent, discovered by Bledsoe, +according to his own statement "was principally Covered with +buffelows in every direction—not hundreds but thousands." As he +sat on his horse, he shot down two deer in the lick; but the +buffaloes blindly trod them in the mud. They did not mind him and +his horse except when the wind blew the scent in their nostrils, +when they would break and run in droves. Indians often lurked in +the neighbourhood of these hunters—plundering their camp, +robbing them, and even shooting down one of their number, Robert +Crockett, from ambush. After many trials and vicissitudes, which +included a journey to the Spanish Natchez and the loss of a great +mass of peltries when they were plundered by Piomingo and a war +party of Chickasaws, they finilly reached home in the late spring +of 1770." +</P> + +<P> +The most notable expedition of this period, projected under the +auspices of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in +woodcraft, Joseph Drake and Henry Scaggs, was organized in the +early autumn of 1770. This imposing band of stalwart hunters from +the New River and Holston country, some forty in number, garbed +in hunting shirts, leggings, and moccasins, with three +pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, +blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through Cumberland Gap into the +heart of what was later justly named the "Dark and Bloody Ground" +(see Chapter XIV)—"not doubting," says an old border chronicler, +"that they were to be encountered by Indians, and to subsist on +game." From the duration of their absence from home, they +received the name of the Long Hunters—the romantic appellation +by which they are known in the pioneer history of the Old +Southwest. Many natural objects were named by this party—in +particular Dick's River, after the noted Cherokee hunter, Captain +Dick, who, pleased to be recognized by Charles Scaggs, told the +Long Hunters that on HIS river, pointing it out, they would find +meat plenty—adding with laconic signifigance: "Kill it and go +home." From the Knob Lick, in Lincoln County, as reported by a +member of the party, "they beheld largely over a thousand +animals, including buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild +turkies scattered among them; all quite restless, some playing, +and others busily employed in licking the earth.... The +buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away the soil, that they +could, in places, go entirely underground." Upon the return of a +detachment to Virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to +remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon +a long exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling +party of Indians under Will Emery, a halfbreed Cherokee. Two of +the hunters were carried into captivity and never heard of again; +a third managed to escape. In embittered commemoration of the +plunder of the camp and the destruction of the peltries, they +inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, this emphatic +record, followed by their names: +</P> + +<P> +2300 Deer Skins lost Ruination by God +</P> + +<P> +Undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued +their hunt in the direction of the lick which Bledsoe had +discovered the preceding year. Shortly after this discovery, a +French voyageur from the Illinois who had hunted and traded in +this region for a decade, Timothe de Monbreun, subsequently +famous in the history of Tennessee, had visited the lick and +killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their tallow and +tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat and +descended the Cumberland. An early pioneer, William Hall, learned +from Isaac Bledsoe that when "the long hunters Crossed the ridge +and came down on Bledsoe's Creek in four or five miles of the +Lick the Cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they +thought they had mistaken the place until they Came to the Lick +and saw what had been done.... One could walk for several +hundred yards a round the Lick and in the lick on buffellows +Skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the Lick was bleached +with buffellows bones, and they found out the Cause of the Canes +growing up so suddenly a few miles around the Lick which was in +Consequence of so many buffellows being killed." +</P> + +<P> +This expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of +the frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing +many to settle subsequently in the West, some in Tennessee, some +in Kentucky. The elaborate and detailed information brought back +by Henry Scaggs exerted an appreciable influence, no doubt, in +accelerating the plans of Richard Henderson and Company for the +acquisition and colonization of the trans-Alleghany. But while +the "Long Hunters" were in Tennessee and Kentucky the same region +was being more extensively and systematically explored by Daniel +Boone. To his life, character, and attainments, as the typical +"long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now turn +our particular attention. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; +where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the +distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and +adorations of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the +miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities +laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the +greatest upon earth.—Daniel Boone, 1781. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The wandering life of a border Nimrod in a surpassingly beautiful +country teeming with game was the ideal of the frontiersman of +the eighteenth century. AS early as 1728, while running the +dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia, William Byrd +encountered along the North Carolina frontier the typical figure +of the professional hunter: "a famous Woodsman, call'd +Epaphroditus Bainton. This Forester Spends all his time in +ranging the Woods, and is said to make great Havock among the +Deer, and other Inhabitants of the Forest, not much wilder than +himself." By the middle of the century, as he was threading his +way through the Carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of +the Yadkin and Catawba country, Bishop Spangenberg found ranging +there many hunters, living like Indians, who killed thousands of +deer each year and sold the skins in the local markets or to the +fur-traders from Virginia whose heavy pack-trains with their +tinkling bells constantly traversed the course of the Great +Trading Path. The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both +as woodsman and marksman, was proverbial along the border. The +name of Daniel Boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship +and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. The bottoms of the +creek near the Boone home, three miles west of present +Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped +large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by +bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because +Daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine +bears in a single hunting-season. After living for a time with +his young wife, Rebecca Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, +Daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased +from his father on October 12, 1759, and lying on Sugar Tree, a +tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for the next five +years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal +to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of +his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in +wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the +mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of +1760 he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain +region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine +hunting-grounds, in what is now Washington County in east +Tennessee. Of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his +hunting-feats, which Boone with pardonable pride was accustomed +throughout his life time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon +trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon a leaning beech +tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which +since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and +enduring record in the history of American exploration +</P> + +<PRE> + D. Boon + CillED A. BAR On + Tree + in The + yEAR + 1760 +</PRE> + +<P> +Late in the summer of the following year Boone marched under the +command of the noted Indian-fighter of the border, Colonel Hugh +Waddell, in his campaign against the Cherokees. From the lips of +Waddell, who was outspoken in his condemnation of Byrd's futile +delays in road-cutting and fort-building, Boone learned the true +secret of success in Indian warfare, which was lost upon +Braddock, Forbes, and later St. Clair: that the art of defeating +red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected blow, before +they had time either to learn the strength of the force employed +against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful ambuscade. +</P> + +<P> +In the late autumn of 1761, Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Gist, the +son of Washington's famous guide, who were both serving under +Waddell, temporarily detached themselves from his command and led +a small party on a "long hunt" in the Valley of the Holston, +While encamping near the site of Black's Fort, subsequently +built, they were violently assailed by a pack of fierce wolves +which they had considerable difficulty in beating off; and from +this incident the locality became known as Wolf Hills (now +Abingdon, Virginia). +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +From this time forward Boone's roving instincts had full sway. +For many months each year he threaded his way through that +marvelously beautiful country of western North Carolina +felicitously described as the Switzerland of America. Boone's +love of solitude and the murmuring forest was surely inspired by +the phenomenal beauties of the country' through which he roamed +at will. Blowing Rock on one arm of a great horseshoe of +mountains and Tryon Mountain upon the other arm, overlooked an +enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad +eminences. There was the Pilot Mountain, the towering and +isolated pile which from time immemorial had served the +aborigines as a guide in their forest wanderings; there was the +dizzy height of the Roan on the border; there was Mt. Mitchell, +portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on the continent +east of the Rockies; and there was the Grandfather, the oldest +mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been +written: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Oldest of all terrestrial things—still holding<BR> +Thy wrinkled forehead high;<BR> +Whose every scam, earth's history enfolding,<BR> +Grim science doth defy!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Thou caught'st the far faint ray from Sirius rising,<BR> +When through space first was hurled<BR> +The primal gloom of ancient voids surprising,<BR> +This atom, called the World!<BR> +</P> + +<P> +What more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the +luxuriant vegetation and lavish profusion of the gorgeous flowers +upon the mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and +laurel, and the azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of +the water—the cataract of Linville, taking its shimmering leap +into the gorge, and that romantic river poetically celebrated in +the lines: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Swannanoa, nymph of beauty,<BR> +I would woo thee in my rhyme,<BR> +Wildest, brightest, loveliest river<BR> +Of our sunny Southern clime.<BR> + * * *<BR> +Gone forever from the borders<BR> +But immortal in thy name,<BR> +Are the Red Men of the forest<BR> +Be thou keeper of their fame!<BR> +Paler races dwell beside thee,<BR> +Celt and Saxon till thy lands<BR> +Wedding use unto thy beauty<BR> +Linking over thee their hands.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The long rambling excursions which Boone made through western +North Carolina and eastern Tennessee enabled him to explore every +nook and corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. +Among the companions and contemporaries with whom he hunted and +explored the country were his little son James and his brother +Jesse; the Linville who gave the name to the beautiful falls; +Julius Caesar Dugger, whose rock house stood near the head of Elk +Creek; and Nathaniel Gist, who described for him the lofty +gateway to Kentucky, through which Christopher Gist had passed in +1751. Boone had already heard of this gateway, from Findlay, and +it was one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to +scale the mountain wall of the Appalachians and to reach that +high portal of the Cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious +new Eden beyond. Although hunting was an endless delight to Boone +he was haunted in the midst of this pleasure, as was Kipling's +Explorer, by the lure of the undiscovered: +</P> + +<P> +Till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes +On one everlasting whisper day and night repeated—so: +'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the +ranges—'Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go.' +</P> + +<P> +Of Boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as +Richard Henderson and Company, an account has already been given; +and the delay in following them up has been touched on and in +part explained. Meanwhile Boone transferred his efforts for a +time to another field. Toward the close of the summer of 1765 a +party consisting of Major John Field, William Hill, one +Slaughter, and two others, all from Culpeper County, Virginia, +visited Boone and induced him to accompany them on the "long +Journey" to Florida, whither they were attracted by the liberal +offer of Colonel James Grant, governor of the eastern section, +the Florida of to-day. On this long and arduous expedition they +suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little +game, and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. They +explored Florida from St. Augustine to Pensacola; and Boone, who +relished fresh scenes and a new environment, purchased a house +and lot in Pensacola in anticipation of removal thither. But upon +his return home, finding his wife unwilling to go, Boone once +more turned his eager eye toward the West, that mysterious and +alluring region beyond the great range, the fabled paradise of +Kentucky. +</P> + +<P> +The following year four young men from the Yadkin, Benjamin +Cutbird, John Stewart (Boone's brother-in-law who afterwards +accompanied him to Kentucky), John Baker, and James Ward made a +remarkable journey to the westward, crossing the Appalachian +mountain chain over some unknown route, and finally reaching the +Mississippi. The significance of the journey, in its bearing upon +westward expansion, inheres in the fact that while for more than +half a century the English traders from South Carolina had been +winning their way to the Mississippi along the lower routes and +Indian trails, this was the first party from either of the +Carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the Mississippi +by crossing the great mountain barrier. When Cutbird, a superb +woodsman and veritable Leather stocking, narrated to Boone the +story of his adventures, it only confirmed Boone in his +determination to find the passage through the mountain chain +leading to the Mesopotamia of Kentucky. +</P> + +<P> +Such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. During 1766 +and 1767 the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the +ancestral domain which the Indians reserved for their imperial +hunting-preserve aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the +red men. Bloody reprisal was often the sequel to such +encroachment. The vast region of Tennessee and the +trans-Alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages +roamed at will. From time to time war parties of northern +Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees, scouted through +this no-man's land and even penetrated into the western region of +North Carolina, committing murders and depredations upon the +Cherokees and the whites indiscriminately. During the summer of +1766, while Boone's friend and close connection, Captain William +Linville, his son John, and another young man, named John +Williams, were in camp some ten miles below Linville Falls, they +were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of Northern +Indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second volley +killed both the Linvilles and severely wounded Williams, who +after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements." +In May, 1767, four traders and a half-breed child of one of them +were killed in the Cherokee country. In the summer of this year +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina laid out the boundary +line of the Cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation +forbidding any purchase of land from the Indians and any issuance +of grants for land within one mile of the boundary line. Despite +this wise precaution, seven North Carolina hunters who during the +following September had lawlessly ventured into the mountain +region some sixty miles beyond the boundary were fired upon, and +several of them killed, by the resentful Cherokees Undismayed by +these signs of impending danger, undeterred even by the tragic +fate of the Linvilles, Daniel Boone, with the determination of +the indomitable pioneer, never dreamed of relinquishing his +long-cherished design. Discouraged by the steady disappearance of +game under the ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, Boone +continued to direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring +the fair region of Kentucky. The adventurous William Hill, to +whom Boone communicated his purpose, readily consented to go with +him; and in the autumn of 1768 Boone and Hill, accompanied, it is +believed, by Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, set forth upon their +almost inconceivably hazardous expedition. They crossed the Blue +Ridge and the Alleghanies, the Holston and Clinch rivers near +their sources, and finally reached the head waters of the West +Fork of the Big Sand. Surmising from its course that this stream +must flow into the Ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the +westward and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a +salt-spring in what is now Floyd County, in the extreme eastern +section of Kentucky. Here Boone beheld great droves of buffalo +that visited the salt-spring to drink the water or lick the +brackish soil. After spending the winter in hunting and trapping, +the Boones and Hill, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the +hill-country which with its dense growth of laurel was +exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding +Kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the +Yadkin. +</P> + +<P> +The account of Boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose +must be postponed to the next chapter. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. Daniel Boone in Kentucky +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San +Salvador; as Cortes, looking down, from the crest of Ahualco, on +the Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nunez, standing alone on the peak +of Darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered +waters of the Pacific.—-William Gilmore Simms: Views and +Reviews. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A chance acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, during the French +and Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, John Findlay, +was the origin of Boone's cherished longing to reach the El +Dorado of the West. In this slight incident we may discern the +initial inspiration for the epochal movement of westward +expansion. Findlay was a trader and horse peddler, who had early +migrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had been licensed a trader +with the Indians in 1747. During the same year he was married to +Elizabeth Harris, daughter of John Harris, the Indian-trader at +Harris's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, after whom Harrisburg +was named. During the next eight years Findlay carried on his +business of trading in the interior. Upon the opening of the +French and Indian War he was probably among "the young men about +Paxtang who enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in +Braddock's expedition. Over the campfires, during the ensuing +campaign in 1765, young Boone was an eager listener to Findlay's +stirring narrative of his adventures in the Ohio Valley and on +the wonderfully beautiful levels of Kentucky in 1752. The fancies +aroused in his brooding mind by Findlay's moving recital and his +description of an ancient passage through the Ouasioto or +Cumberland Gap and along the course of the Warrior's Path, +inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring +promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's +paradise. +</P> + +<P> +Thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, +thread, and Irish linens in the Yadkin country, Findlay learned +from the Pennsylvania settlers at Salisbury or at the Forks of +the Yadkin of Boone's removal to the waters of the upper Yadkin. +At Boone's rustic home, in the winter of 1768-9, Findlay visited +his old comrade-in-arms of Braddock's campaign. On learning of +Boone's failure during the preceding year to reach the Kentucky +levels by way of the inhospitable Sandy region, Findlay again +described to him the route through the Ouasioto Gap traversed +sixteen years before by Pennsylvania traders in their traffic +with the Catawbas. Boone, as we have seen, knew that Christopher +Gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper Yadkin, had +found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had +never been able to discover the passage. Findlay's renewed +descriptions of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in +Kentucky, the great salt-licks where they congregated, the +abundance of bears, deer, and elk with which the country teemed, +the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks, aroused +in Boone the hunter's passion for the chase; while the beauty of +the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the Irishman, +inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country +which had, as John Filson records, "greatly engaged Mr. Findlay's +attention." +</P> + +<P> +In the comprehensive designs of Henderson, now a judge, for +securing a "graphic report of the trans-Alleghany region in +behalf of his land company", Boone divined the means of securing +the financial backing for an expedition of considerable size and +ample equipment. In numerous suits for debt, aggregating hundreds +of dollars, which had been instituted against Boone by some of +the leading citizens of Rowan, Williams and Henderson had acted +as Boone's attorneys. In order to collect their legal fees, they +likewise brought suit against Boone; but not wishing to press the +action against the kindly scout who had hitherto acted as their +agent in western exploration, they continued the litigation from +court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions performed" on +behalf of Boone, during his unbroken absence, by his attorney in +this suit, Alexander Martin. Summoned to appear in 1769 at the +March term of court at Salisbury, Boone seized upon the occasion +to lay before Judge Henderson the designs for a renewed and +extended exploration of Kentucky suggested by the golden +opportunity of securing the services of Findlay as guide. Shortly +after March 6th, when Judge Henderson reached Salisbury, the +conference, doubtless attended by John Stewart, Boone's +brother-in-law, John Findlay, and Boone, who were all present at +this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of +devising ways and means for the expedition. Peck, the only +reliable contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many +facts from Boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws +the conclusion (1847): "Daniel Boone was engaged as the master +spirit of this exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity +entire confidence could be reposed.... He was known to +Henderson and encouraged by him to make the exploration, and to +examine particularly the whole country south of the Kentucky—or +as then called the Louisa River." As confidential agent of the +land company, Boone carried with him letters and instructions for +his guidance upon this extended tour of exploration." +</P> + +<P> +On May 1, 1769, with Findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of +his neighbors, John Stewart, a skilled woodsman, Joseph Holden, +James Mooney, and William Cooley, Boone left his "peaceable +habitation" on the upper Yadkin and began his historic journey +"in quest of the country of Kentucky." Already heavily burdened +with debts, Boone must have incurred considerable further +financial obligations to Judge Henderson and Colonel Williams, +acting for the land company, in order to obtain the large amount +of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. Each of the +adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and +behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, +and cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the +wilderness. In Powell's Valley they doubtless encountered the +party led thither by Joseph Martin (see Chapter VII), and there +fell into the "Hunter's Trail" commented on in a letter written +by Martin only a fortnight before the passing of Boone's +cavalcade. Crossing the mountain at the Ouasioto Gap, they made +their first "station camp" in Kentucky on the creek, still named +after that circumstance, on the Red Lick Fork. After a +preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, Findlay +led the party to his old trading-camp at Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, +where then (June 7, 1769) remained but charred embers of the +Indian huts, with some of the stockading and the gate-posts still +standing. In Boone's own words, he and Findlay at once "proceeded +to take a more thorough survey of the country;" and during the +autumn and early winter, encountering on every hand apparently +inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the ever-changing +beauties of the country, the various members of the party made +many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as +base. On December 22, 1769, while engaged in a hunt, Boone and +Stewart were surprised and captured by a large party of +Shawanoes, led by Captain Will, who were returning from the +autumn hunt on Green River to their villages north of the Ohio. +Boone and Stewart were forced to pilot the Indians to their main +camp, where the savages, after robbing them of all their peltries +and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and little +ammunition, set off to the northward. They left, on parting, this +menacing admonition to the white intruders: "Now, brothers, go +home and stay there. Don't come here any more, for this is the +Indians' hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are +ours. If you are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be +sure the wasps and yellow jackets will sting you severely." +</P> + +<P> +Chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, Boone and +Stewart for two days pursued the Indians in hot haste. Finally +approaching the Indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, +they secured two of the horses, upon which they fled at top +speed. In turn they were immediately pursued by a detachment of +the Indians, mounted upon their fleetest horses; and suffered the +humiliation of recapture two days later. Indulging in wild +hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, the Indians +took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about +Boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished +tomahawks to caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the +while with the derisive query, uttered in broken English: "Steal +horse, eh?" With as good grace as they could summon—wry smiles +at best—Boone and Stewart patiently endured these humiliations, +following the Indians as captives. Some days later (about January +4, 1770), while the vigilance of the Indians was momentarily +relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a dense canebrake and +in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting their escape. +Finding their camp deserted upon their return, Boone and Stewart +hastened on and finally overtook their companions. Here Boone was +both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother Squire, +loaded down with supplies. Having heard nothing from Boone, the +partners of the land company had surmised that he and his party +must have run short of ammunition, flour, salt, and other things +sorely needed in the wilderness; and because of their desire that +the party should remain, in order to make an exhaustive +exploration of the country, Squire Boone had been sent to him +with supplies. Findlay, Holden, Mooney, and Cooley returned to +the settlements; but Stewart, Squire Boone, and Alexander Neely, +who had accompanied Squire, threw in their lot with the intrepid +Daniel, and fared forth once more to the stirring and bracing +adventures of the Kentucky wilderness. In Daniel Boone's own +words, he expected "from the furs and peltries they had an +opportunity of taking ... to recruit his shattered +circumstances; discharge the debts he had contracted by the +adventure; and shortly return under better auspices, to settle +the newly discovered country." +</P> + +<P> +Boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of +the Red River, and soon provided themselves, against the hard. +ships of the long winter, with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, +dried buffalo tongues, fresh meat, and marrow-bones as food, and +buffalo robes and bearskins as shelter from the inclement +weather. Neely had brought with him, to while away dull hours, a +copy of "Gulliver's Travels"; and in describing Neely's +successful hunt for buffalo one day, Boone in after years +amusingly deposed: "In the year 1770 I encamped on Red River with +five other men, and we had with us for our amusement the History +of Samuel Gulliver's Travels, wherein he gave an account of his +young master, Glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to +a town called Lulbegrud. A young man of our company called +Alexander Neely came to camp and told us he had been that day to +Lulbegrud, and had killed two Brobdignags in their capital." Far +from unlettered were pioneers who indulged together in such +literary chat and gave to the near-by creek the name (after Dean +Swift's Lorbrugrud) of Lulbegrud which name, first seen on +Filson's map of Kentucky (1784), it bears to this day. From one +of his long, solitary hunts Stewart never returned; and it was +not until five years later, while cutting out the Transylvania +Trail, that Boone and his companions discovered, near the old +crossing at Rockcastle, Stewart's remains in a standing hollow +sycamore. The wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. +</P> + +<P> +The close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the +Boones, after Neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, +hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport Daniel +particularly excelled. Owing to the drain upon their ammunition, +Squire was at length compelled to return to the settlements for +supplies; and Daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to +complete his explorations for the land company, must often have +shared the feelings of Balboa as, from lofty knob or towering +ridge, he gazed over the waste of forest which spread from the +dim out lines of the Alleghanies to the distant waters of the +Mississippi. He now proceeded to make those remarkable solitary +explorations of Kentucky which have given him immortality—through +the valley of the Kentucky and the Licking, and along the +"Belle Riviere" (Ohio) as low as the falls. He visited the Big +Bone Lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the +mammoth found there. Along the great buffalo roads, worn several +feet below the surface of the ground, which led to the Blue +Licks, he saw with amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy +buffalo gamboling, bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath +the trampling of their hooves. One day, while upon a cliff near +the junction of the Kentucky and Dick's Rivers, he suddenly found +himself hemmed in by a party of Indians. Seizing his only chance +of escape, he leaped into the top of a maple tree growing beneath +the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty feet below, made his +escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of guttural "Ughs" from +the dumbfounded savages. +</P> + +<P> +Finally making his way back to the old camp, Daniel was rejoined +there by Squire on July 27, 1770. During the succeeding months, +much of their time was spent in hunting and prospecting in +Jessamine County, where two caves are still known as Boone's +caves. Eventually, when ammunition and supplies had once more run +low, Squire was compelled a second time to return to the +settlements. Perturbed after a time by Squire's failure to rejoin +him at the appointed time, Daniel started toward the settlements, +in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him +along the trail. Overjoyed at this meeting (December, 1770) the +indomitable Boones once more plunged into the wilderness, +determined to conclude their explorations by examining the +regions watered by the Green and Cumberland rivers and their +tributaries. In after years, Gasper Mansker, the old German +scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the +consternation created among the Long Hunters, while hunting one +day on Green River, by a singular noise which they could not +explain. Stealthily slipping from tree to tree, Mansker finally +beheld with mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bareheaded, +stretched flat upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, +singing merrily at the top of his voice! It was Daniel Boone, +joyously whiling away the solitary hours in singing one of his +favorite songs of the border. In March, 1771, after spending some +time in company with the Long Hunters, the Boones, their horses +laden with furs, set their faces homeward. On their return +journey, near Cumberland Gap, they had the misfortune to be +surrounded by a party of Indians who robbed them of their guns +and all their peltries. With this humiliating conclusion to his +memorable tour of exploration, Daniel Boone, as he himself says, +"once more reached home after experiencing hardships which would +defy credulity in the recital." +</P> + +<P> +Despite the hardships and the losses, Boone had achieved the +ambition of years: he had seen Kentucky, which he "esteemed a +second paradise." The reports of his extended explorations, which +he made to Judge Henderson, were soon communicated to the other +partners of the land company; and their letters of this period, +to one another, bristle with glowing and minute descriptions of +the country, as detailed by their agent. Boone was immediately +engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the Cherokees +confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or sell +the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-Alleghany. The high +hopes of Henderson and his associates at last gave promise of +brilliant realization. Daniel Boone's glowing descriptions of +Kentucky excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, +the "spirit of an enterprise which in point of magnitude and +peril, as well as constancy and heroism displayed in its +execution, has never been paralleled in the history of America." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. The Regulators +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but +if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one +cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to +raise money which is not to be had. And lastly if his personal +estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his +lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) +must go the same way to satisfy, these cursed hungry +caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our +Commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a +very short time.—George Sims: A Serious Address to the +Inhabitants of Granville County, containing an Account of our +deplorable Situation we suffer .... and some necessary Hints with +Respect to a Reformation. June 6, 1765. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It is highly probable that even at the time of his earlier +explorations in behalf of Richard Henderson and Company, Daniel +Boone anticipated speedy removal to the West. Indeed, in the very +year of his first tour in their interest, Daniel and his wife +Rebeckah sold all their property in North Carolina, consisting of +their home and six hundred and forty acres of land, and after +several removals established themselves upon the upper Yadkin. +This removal and the later western explorations just outlined +were due not merely to the spirit of adventure and discovery. +Three other causes also were at work. In the first place there +was the scarcity of game. For fifteen years the shipments of +deerskins from Bethabara to Charleston steadily increased; and +the number of skins bought by Gammern, the Moravian storekeeper, +ran so high that in spite of the large purchases made at the +store by the hunters he would sometimes run entirely out of +money. Tireless in the chase, the far roaming Boone was among +"the hunters, who brought in their skins from as far away as the +Indian lands"; and the beautiful upland pastures and mountain +forests, still teeming with deer and bear, doubtless lured him to +the upper Yadkin, where for a time in the immediate neighborhood +of his home abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. +Certainly the deer and other game, which were being killed in +enormous numbers to satisfy the insatiable demand of the traders +at Salisbury, the Forks, and Bethabara, became scarcer and +scarcer; and the wild game that was left gradually fled to the +westward. Terrible indeed was the havoc wrought among the elk; +and it was reported that the last elk was killed in western North +Carolina as early as 1781. +</P> + +<P> +Another grave evil of the time with which Boone had to cope in +the back country of North Carolina was the growth of undisguised +outlawry, similar to that found on the western plains of a later +era. This ruthless brigand age arose as the result of the +unsettled state of the country and the exposed condition of the +settlements due to the Indian alarms. When rude borderers, +demoralized by the enforced idleness attendant upon fort life +during the dark days of Indian invasion, sallied forth upon +forays against the Indians, they found much valuable +property—horses, cattle, and stock—left by their owners when +hurriedly fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. +The temptations thus afforded were too great to resist; and the +wilder spirits of the backwoods, with hazy notions of private +rights, seized the property which they found, slaughtered the +cattle, sold the horses, and appropriated to their own use the +temporarily abandoned household goods and plantation tools. The +stealing of horses, which were needed for the cultivation of the +soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves beyond the +reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and was +carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and +acting in collusive concert. +</P> + +<P> +Toward the end of July, 1755, when the Indian outrages upon the +New River settlements in Virginia had frightened away all the +families at the Town Fork in the Yadkin country, William Owen, a +man of Welsh stock, who had settled in the spring of 1752 in the +upper Yadkin near the Mulberry Fields, was suspected of having +robbed the storekeeper on the Meho. Not long afterward a band of +outlaws who plundered the exposed cabins in their owners' +absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain region in the rear +of the Yadkin settlements, where they stored their ill-gotten +plunder and made themselves secure from attack. Other members of +the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their +robber friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious +projects of theft and rapine. +</P> + +<P> +The entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations +of the outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the Yadkin +country organized under the name of Regulators to break up the +outlaw band. When it was discovered that Owen, who was well known +at Bethabara, had allied himself with the highwaymen, one of the +justices summoned one hundred men; and seventy, who answered the +call, set forth on December 26, 1755, to seek out the outlaws and +to destroy their fortress. Emboldened by their success, the +latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl of the +settlements. Daniel Boone placed himself at the head of one of +the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her +rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release +of the frightened maiden. One of the robbers was apprehended and +brought to Salisbury, where he was thrown into prison for his +crimes. Meanwhile a large amount of plunder had been discovered +at the house of one Cornelius Howard; and the evidences of his +guilt so multiplied against him that he finally confessed his +connection with the outlaw band and agreed to point out their +fort in the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +Daniel Boone and George Boone joined the party of seventy men, +sent out by the colonial authorities under the guidance of +Howard, to attack the stronghold of the bandits. Boone afterward +related that the robbers' fort was situated in the most fitly +chosen place for such a purpose that he could imagine—beneath an +overhanging cliff of rock, with a large natural chimney, and a +considerable area in front well stockaded. The frontiersmen +surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven children, and +then burned the fort to the ground. Owen and his wife, +Cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; +but Harman and the remainder of the band escaped by flight. Owen +and his fellow captives were then borne to Salisbury, +incarcerated in the prison there, and finally (May, 1756) +condemned to the gallows. Owen sent word to the Moravians, +petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to apprentice one to a +tailor, the other to a carpenter. But so infuriated was Owen's +wife by Howard's treachery that she branded him as a second +Judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "Judas" +Howard-a sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year +later he was ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of +a stream. He thus paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw +band. For a number of years, the Regulators continued to wage war +against the remaining outlaws, who from time to time committed +murders as well as thefts. As late as January, 1768, the +Regulators caught a horse thief in the Hollows of Surry County +and brought him to Bethabara, whence Richter and Spach took him +to the jail at Salisbury. After this year, the outlaws were heard +of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. +</P> + +<P> +Colonel Edmund Fanning—of whom more anon—declared that the +Regulation began in Anson County which bordered upon South +Carolina. Certain it is that the upper country of that province +was kept in an uproar by civil disturbances during this early +period. Owing to the absence of courts in this section, so remote +from Charleston, the inhabitants found it necessary, for the +protection of property and the punishment of outlaws, to form an +association called, like the North Carolina society, the +Regulation. Against this association the horse thieves and other +criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from +certain more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of +the Regulators." The Regulation which had been thus organized in +upper South Carolina as early as 1764 led to tumultuous risings +of the settlers; and finally in the effort to suppress these +disorders, the governor, Lord Charles Montagu, appointed one +Scovil, an utterly unworthy representative, to carry out his +commands. After various disorders, which became ever more +unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a crisis (1769) +as the result of the high-handed proceedings of Scovil, who +promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the Regulators he +could lay hands on. In the month of March the back country rose +in revolt against Scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on +the point of attacking the force under his command when an +eleventh-hour letter arrived from Montagu, dismissing Scovil from +office. Thus was happily averted, by the narrowest of margins, a +threatened precursor of the fight at Alamance in 1771 (see +Chapter XII). As the result of the petition of the Calhouns and +others, courts were established in 1760, though not opened until +four years later. Many horse thieves were apprehended, tried, and +punished. Justice once more held full sway. +</P> + +<P> +Another important cause for Boone's removal from the neighborhood +of Salisbury into the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive +administration of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and +tax-gatherers, and the dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters +with the owners of the soil. At the close of the year 1764 +reports reached the town of Wilmington, after the adjournment of +the assembly in November, of serious disturbances in Orange +County, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant exactions of the +clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. As a result of this +disturbing news, Governor Dobbs issued a proclamation forbidding +any officer to take illegal fees. Troubles had been brewing in +the adjacent county of Granville ever since the outbreak of the +citizens against Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent (January +24, 1759), and the issuance of the petition of Reuben Searcy and +others (March 23d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees +taken and injustices practised by Robert (Robin) Jones, the +famous lawyer. These disturbances were cumulative in their +effect; and the people at last (1765 ) found in George Sims, of +Granville, a fit spokesman of their cause and a doughty champion +of popular rights. In his "Serious Address to the Inhabitants of +Granville County, containing an Account of our deplorable +Situation we suffer ... and some necessary Hints with Respect +to a Reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a +crushing indictment of the clerk of the county court, Samuel +Benton, the grandfather of Thomas Hart Benton. After describing +in detail the system of semi-peonage created by the merciless +exactions of lawyers and petty court officials, and the +insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry caterpillars," Sims with +rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull them down from their +nests for the salvation of the Commonwealth. +</P> + +<P> +Other abuses were also recorded. So exorbitant was the charge for +a marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler +records "The consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the +head-waters of the Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other +for better or for worse; and considered themselves as married +without further ceremony." The extraordinary scarcity of currency +throughout the colony, especially in the back country, was +another great hardship and a perpetual source of vexation. All +these conditions gradually became intolerable to the uncultured +but free spirited men of the back country. Events were slowly +converging toward a crisis in government and society. Independent +in spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not +only against excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and +extortionate fees, but also against the rapacious practices of +the agents of Lord Granville. These agents industriously picked +flaws in the titles to the lands in Granville's proprietary upon +which the poorer settlers were seated; and compelled them to pay +for the land if they had not already done so, or else to pay the +fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only remedy of +the alleged defect in their titles. In Mecklenburg County the +spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the +proprietary agents. Acting under instructions to survey and close +bargains for the lands or else to eject those who held them, +Henry Eustace McCulloh, in February, 1765, went into the county +to call a reckoning. The settlers, many of whom had located +without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering to buy only at +their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out the +holdings when this smaller price was declined. They not only +terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to +pay the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared +that they would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment +proceedings. On May 7th an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by +Thomas Polk, set upon John Frohock, Abraham Alexander, and +others, as they were about to survey a parcel of land, and gave +them a severe thrashing, even threatening the young McCulloh with +death. +</P> + +<P> +The choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with +Francis Bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. +Especial objects of their animosity were the brothers Frohock, +John and Thomas, the latter clerk of the court at Salisbury, and +Edmund Fanning, a cultured gentleman-adventurer, associate +justice of the superior court. So rapacious and extortionate were +these vultures of the courts who preyed upon the vitals of the +common people, that they were savagely lampooned by Rednap +Howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the Regulation. The temper +of the back country is well caught in Howell's lines anent this +early American "grafter", the favorite of the royal governor: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +When Fanning first to Orange came,<BR> +He looked both pale and wan;<BR> +An old patched coat was on his back,<BR> +An old mare he rode on.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Both man and mare wan't worth five pounds,<BR> +As I've been often told;<BR> +But by his civil robberies,<BR> +He's laced his coat with gold.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade +were thus working among the people of the back country. If the +tense nervous energy of the American people is the transmitted +characteristic of the border settlers, who often slept with +loaded rifle in hand in grim expectation of being awakened by the +hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, and the lurid firebrand of +the savage, the very buoyancy of the national character is in +equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded on a +freehold inheritance of land." The desire for free land was the +fundamental factor in the development of the American democracy. +No colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did North +Carolina in the turbulent days of the Regulation. The North +Carolina frontiersmen resented the obligation to pay quit-rents +and firmly believed that the first occupant of the soil had an +indefeasible right to the land which he had won with his rifle +and rendered productive by the implements of toil. Preferring the +dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of tribute to +absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial +government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle +rather than in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his +obligations to the owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. Watauga—Haven of Liberty +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore +quitted the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle +of Alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only +waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow +them.—Reverend Morgan Edwards, 1772. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The five years (1766-1771) which saw the rise, development, and +ultimate defeat of the popular movement known as the Regulation, +constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance in +North Carolina but also of fruitful consequences in the larger +movements of westward expansion. With the resolute intention of +having their rulers "give account of their stewardship," to +employ their own words, the Sandy Creek Association of Baptists +(organized in 1758), in a series of papers known as Regulators' +Advertisements (1766-8) proceeded to mature, through popular +gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. At length, +discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to +bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this +association ceased actively to function. It was the precursor of +a movement of much more drastic character and formidable +proportions, chiefly directed against Colonel Edmund Fanning and +his associates. This movement doubtless took its name, "the +Regulation," from the bands of men already described who were +organized first in North Carolina and later in South Carolina, to +put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back +country, such as the tyrannies of Scovil and his henchmen. +Failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal +channels, the Regulators finally made such a powerful +demonstration in support of their refusal to pay taxes that +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina, in 1768, called out the +provincial militia, and by marching with great show of force +through the disaffected regions, succeeded temporarily in +overawing the people and thus inducing them to pay their +assessments. +</P> + +<P> +The suits which had been brought by the Regulators against Edmund +Fanning, register, and Francis Nash, clerk, of Orange County, +resulted in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." +Fanning immediately resigned his commission as register; while +Nash, who in conjunction with Fanning had fairly offered in 1766 +to refund to any one aggrieved any fee charged by him which the +Superior Court might hold excessive, gave bond for his appearance +at the next court. Similar suits for extortion against the three +Froliocks in Rowan County in 1769 met with failure, however; and +this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of the Regulators, as +recorded by Herman Husband in his "Impartial Relation." During +this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the people, who +felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their inability +to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices from +the bench and threatening court officials with violence. +</P> + +<P> +At the session of the Superior Court at Hillsborough, September +22, 1770, an elaborate petition prepared by the Regulators, +demanding unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes +by the sheriffs, was handed to the presiding justice by James +Hunter, a leading Regulator. This justice was our acquaintance, +Judge Richard Henderson, of Granville County, the sole high +officer in the provincial government from the entire western +section of the colony. In this petition occur these trenchant +words: "As we are serious and in good earnest and the cause +respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to +enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a +few men who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has +a feeling and knows when he has justice done him as well as the +most learned." On the following Monday (September 24th), upon +convening of court, some one hundred and fifty Regulators, led by +James Hunter, Herman Husband, Rednap Howell, and others, armed +with clubs, whips, and cudgels, surged into the court-room and +through their spokesman, Jeremiah Fields, presented a statement +of their grievances. "I found myself," says Judge Henderson, +"under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the fury +of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such +could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve +the little remaining dignity of the court." +</P> + +<P> +During an interim, in which the Regulators retired for +consultation, they fell without warning upon Fanning and gave him +such rough treatment that he narrowly escaped with his life. The +mob, now past control, horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers +and citizens gathered there at court, and treated others, notably +the courtly Mr. Hooper of Boston, "with every mark of contempt +and insult." Judge Henderson was assured by Fields that no harm +should come to him provided he would conduct the court in +accordance with the behest of the Regulators: namely, that no +lawyer, save the King's Attorney, should be admitted to the +court, and that the Regulators' cases should be tried with new +jurors chosen by the Regulators. With the entire little village +terrorized by this campaign of "frightfulness," and the court +wholly unprotected, Judge Henderson reluctantly acknowledged to +himself that "the power of the judiciary was exhausted." +Nevertheless, he says, "I made every effort in my power +consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to +claim to preserve peace and good order." Agreeing under duress to +resume the session the following day, the judge ordered an +adjournment. But being unwilling, on mature reflection, to permit +a mockery of the court and a travesty of justice to be staged +under threat and intimidation, he returned that night to his home +in Granville and left the court adjourned in course. Enraged by +the judge's escape, the Regulators took possession of the court +room the following morning, called over the cases, and in futile +protest against the conditions they were powerless to remedy, +made profane entries which may still be seen on the record: +"Damned rogues," "Fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "Negroes +not worth a damn, Cost exceeds the whole," "Hogan pays and be +damned," and, in a case of slander, "Nonsense, let them argue for +Ferrell has gone hellward." +</P> + +<P> +The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly +educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to +secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest +lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and +secret incendiarism. In the dead of night, November 12th and +14th, Judge Henderson's barn, stables, and dwelling house were +fired by the Regulators and went up in flames. Glowing with a +sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by fanatical +agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only upon +their op pressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring +them—men of the stamp of William Hooper, afterward signer of the +Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, afterward governor +and United States Senator, and Richard Henderson, popular +representative of the back country and a firm champion of due +process of law. It is perhaps not surprising in view of these +events that Governor Tryon and the ruling class, lacking a +sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to the oppressed people, +seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that a widespread +insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and +property, but also civil government itself. The governor called +out the militia of the province and led an army of well nigh one +thousand men and officers against the Regulators, who had +assembled at Alamance to the number of two thousand. Tryon stood +firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government +and disperse at a designated hour. The Regulators, on their side, +hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the +governor with a great display of force. The battle was a tragic +fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without +adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this +desultory action, a fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), +the power of the Regulators was completely broken." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element, an element +whose influence upon the course of American history has been but +imperfectly understood which now looms into prominence as the +vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of +the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were +deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and +the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin +Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman +Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then +rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the +inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, +referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each +neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of +investigating the question "whether the free men of this country +labor under any abuses of power or not." The close connection +between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply +demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in +connection with the "stamp law" are praised: for "redeeming us +from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament +in behalf of true liberty." Upon the records of the Dutchman's +Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, +to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this +memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a +year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At +the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American +Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the +liberty to do it without being called to an account by the +church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used +with brotherly love. +</P> + +<P> +The fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward +hegira are found in the remarkable petition of the Regulators of +An son County (October 9, 1769), who request that "Benjamin +Franklin or some other known PATRIOT" be appointed agent of the +province in London to seek redress at the source. They exposed +the basic evil in the situation by pointing out that, in +violation of the law restricting the amount of land that might be +granted to each person to six hundred and forty acres, much of +the most fertile territory in the province had been distributed +in large tracts to wealthy landlords. In consequence "great +numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the +cultivation of the bad Lands whereon they hardly can subsist." It +was these poor people, "thereby deprived of His Majesties +liberality and Bounty," who soon turned their gaze to the +westward and crossed the mountains in search of the rich, free +lands of the trans-Alleghany region. +</P> + +<P> +This feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the +economic pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually +entering North Carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across +the mountains in 1769. Long before Alamance, many of the true +Americans, distraught by apparently irremediable injustices, +plunged fearlessly into the wilderness, seeking beyond the +mountains a new birth of liberty, lands of their own selection +free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of their own +choosing and control."' The glad news of the rich valleys beyond +the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as Andrew +Greer and Julius Caesar Dugger to the Watauga country. The +glowing stories, told by Boone, and disseminated in the back +country by Henderson, Williams, and the Harts, seemed to give +promise to men of this stamp that the West afforded relief from +oppressions suffered in North Carolina. During the winter of +1768-9 there was also a great rush of settlers from Virginia into +the valley of the Holston. A party from Augusta County, led by +men who had been delighted with the country viewed seven years +before when they were serving under Colonel William Byrd against +the Cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on their +outward passage in 1768, was dotted with cabins on every spot +where the grazing was good, upon their return the following year. +Writing to Hillsborough on October 18, 1770, concerning the "many +hundred families" in the region from Green River to the branches +of the Holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation +of 1763, Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia reports that "very +little if any Quit Rents have been received for His Majesty's use +from that Quarter for some time past"—the people claiming that +"His Majesty hath been pleased to withdraw his protection from +them since 1763." +</P> + +<P> +In the spring of 1770, with the express intention of discovering +suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, +who wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, James +Robertson of Orange County, North Carolina, made an arduous +journey to the pleasing valley of the Watauga. Robertson, who was +born in Brunswick County, Virginia, June 28, 1742, of excellent +Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a noteworthy figure of a certain +type—quiet, reflective, conservative, wise, a firm believer in the +basic principles of civil Liberty and the right of local +self-government. Robertson spent some time with a man named +Honeycut in the Watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose +for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. +Lost upon his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by +him on the outward journey, Robertson probably escaped death from +starvation only through the chance passing of two hunters who +succored him and set him upon the right path. On arriving in +Orange he found political and social conditions there much worse +than before, many of the colonists declining to take the +obligatory oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the +Battle of Alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new +homes along the western waters. Some sixteen families of this +stamp, indignant at the injustices and oppressions of British +rule, and stirred by Robertson's description of the richness and +beauty of the western country, accompanied him to Watauga shortly +after the battle. +</P> + +<P> +This vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent +Americans in spirit with a negligible sprinkling of Loyalists, +now swept in a great tide into the northeastern section of +Tennessee. The men of Sandy Creek, actuated by independent +principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic side of the +Regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "After the defeat of +the Regulators," says the historian of the Sandy Creek +Association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of +redress for their grievances, moved into and settled east +Tennessee. A large proportion of these were of the Baptist +population. Sandy Creek Church which some time previous to 1771, +numbered 606, was afterward reduced to fourteen members!" This +movement exerted powerful influence in stimulating westward +expansion. Indeed, it was from men of Regulating principles—Boone, +Robertson, and the Searcys—who vehemently condemned the +anarchy and incendiarism of 1770, that Judge Henderson received +powerful cooperation in the opening up of Kentucky and Tennessee. +</P> + +<P> +The several treaties concerning the western boundary of white +settlement, concluded in close succession by North Carolina, +Virginia, and the Crown with the Southern and Northern Indians, +had an important bearing upon the settlement of Watauga. The +Cherokee boundary line, as fixed by Governor Tryon (1767) and by +John Stuart (1768), ran from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, +thence straight to Chiswell's Mine, and thence direct to the +mouth of the Great Kanawha River. By the treaty at Fort Stanwix +(November 5, 1768), in the negotiation of which Virginia was +represented by Dr. Thomas Walker and Major Andrew Lewis, the Six +Nations sold to the Crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of +western country, including in particular all the land between the +Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers. The news of the cession resulted +in a strong southwestward thrust of population, from the +neighborhood of Abingdon, in the direction of the Holston Valley. +Recognizing that hundreds of these settlers were beyond the line +negotiated by Stuart, but on lands not yet surveyed, Governor +Botetourt instructed the Virginia commissioners to press for +further negotiations, through Stuart, with the Cherokees. +Accordingly, on October 18, 1770, a new treaty was made at +Lochaber, South Carolina, by which a new line back of Virginia +was established, beginning at the intersection of the North +Carolina-Cherokee line (a point some seventy odd miles east of +Long Island), running thence in a west course to a point six +miles east of Long Island, and thence in a direct course to the +confluence of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. At the time of +the treaty, it was agreed that the Holston River, from its +intersection with the North Carolina-Virginia line, and down the +course of the same, should be a temporary southern boundary of +Virginia until the line should be ascertained by actual survey. A +strong influx of population into the immense new triangle thus +released for settlement brought powerful pressure to bear upon +northern Tennessee, the point of least resistance along the +western barrier. Singularly enough, this advance was not opposed +by the Cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme +southeast corner of Tennessee. +</P> + +<P> +When Colonel John Donelson ran the line in the latter part of +1771, The Little Carpenter, who with other Indian chiefs +accompanied the surveying party, urged that the line agreed upon +at Lochaber should break off at the head of the Louisa River, and +should run thence to the mouth thereof, and thence up the Ohio to +the mouth of the Great Kanawha. For this increase in the +territory of Virginia they of course expected additional payment. +As a representative of Virginia, Donelson agreed to the proposed +alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised to send +the Cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to +have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the +additional area. This informal agreement, it is believed, was +never ratified by Virginia; nor was the promised compensation +ever paid the Cherokees. +</P> + +<P> +Under the belief that the land belonged to Virginia, Jacob Brown +with one or two families from North Carolina settled in 1771 upon +a tract of land on the northern bank of the Nonachunheh +(corruption, Nolichucky) River. During the same year, an +experimental line run westward from Steep Rock and Beaver Creek +by Anthony Bledsoe showed that upon the extension of the boundary +line, these settlers would fall within the bounds of North +Carolina. Although thus informally warned of the situation, the +settlers made no move to vacate the lands. But in the following +year, after the running of Donelson's line, Alexander Cameron, +Stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements +beyond the said line to relinquish them." Thus officially warned, +Brown and his companions removed to Watauga. Cameron's order did +not apply, however, to the settlement, to the settlement north of +the Holston River, south and east of Long Island; and the +settlement in Carter's Valley, although lying without the +Virginia boundary, strangely enough remained unmolested. The +order was directed at the Watauga settlers, who were seated south +of the Holston River in the Watauga Valley. +</P> + +<P> +The plight in which the Watauga settlers now found themselves was +truly desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this +apparently insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and +characteristic events in the pre-Revolutionary history of the Old +Southwest. It exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource +of the American character at the margin of desperation. The +momentous influence of the Watauga settlers, inadequately +reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon to make itself +powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward +expansion. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. Opening the Gateway—Dunmore's War +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the +greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their +Charter. They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the +memorable Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet +continued inaccessable.—The Harrodsburg Petition. June 7-15, +1776. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It was fortunate for the Watauga settlers that the Indians and +the whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the +time the Watauga Valley was shown, by the running of the boundary +line, to lie within the Indian reservation. With true American +self reliance, the settlers met together for deliberation and +counsel, and deputed James Robertson and John Been, as stated by +Tennessee's first historian, "to treat with their landlords, and +agree upon articles of accommodation and friendship. The attempt +succeeded. For though the Indians refused to give up the land +gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount of +merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease +all the country on the waters of the Watauga." In addition to the +land thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were +purchased from the Indians by Jacob Brown, who reoccupied his +former location on the Nolichucky. +</P> + +<P> +In taking this daring step, the Watauga settlers moved into the +spotlight of national history. For the inevitable consequence of +leasing the territory was the organization of a form of +government for the infant settlement. Through his familiarity +with the North Carolina type of "association," in which the +settlers had organized for the purpose of "regulating" abuses, +and his acquaintance with the contents of the "Impartial +Relation," in which Husband fully expounded the principles and +practices of this association, Robertson was peculiarly fitted +for leadership in organizing this new government. The convention +at which Articles of Association, unfortunately lost, were drawn +up, is noteworthy as the first governmental assemblage of +free-born American citizens ever held west of the Alleghanies. +The government then established was the first free and +independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in +form, ever organized upon the American continent. In describing +this mimic republic, the royal Governor of Virginia says: "They +appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their present +occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves +into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate State." The most +daring spirit in this little state was the young John Sevier, of +French Huguenot family (originally spelled Xavier), born in +Augusta County, Virginia, on September 23, 1745. It was from +Millerstown in Shenandoah County where he was living the +uneventful life of a small farmer, that he emigrated (December, +1773) to the Watauga region. With his arrival there begins one of +the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded in the varied +arid stirring annals of the Old Southwest. In this daring and +impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, magnetic, +debonair—of powerful build, splendid proportions, and athletic +skill—we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly heroic life of +the border. The story of his life, thrilling in the extreme, is +rich in all the multi-colored elements which impart romance to +the arduous struggle of American civilization in the opening +years of the republic. +</P> + +<P> +The creative impulses in the Watauga commonwealth are hinted at +by Dunmore, who serves, in the letter above quoted, that Watauga +"sets a dangerous example to the people America, of forming +governments distinct from and independent of his Majesty's +authority." +</P> + +<P> +It is true that the experiment was somewhat limited. The +organization of the Watauga association, which constituted a +temporary expedient to meet a crisis in the affairs of a frontier +community cut off by forest wilderness and mountain barriers from +the reach of the arm of royal or provincial government, is not to +be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at Boonesborough, +May 23, 1775, or with the extraordinary demands for inde pendence +in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, during the same month. +Nevertheless the Watauga settlers defied both North Carolina and +the Crown, by adopting the laws of Virginia and by ignoring +Governor Josiah Martin's proclamation (March 26, 1774) "requiring +the said settlers immediately to retire from the Indian +Territories." Moreover, Watauga really was the parent of a series +of mimic republics in the Old Southwest, gradually tending toward +higher forms of organization, with a larger measure of individual +liberty. Watauga, Transylvania, Cumberland, Franklin represent +the evolving political genius of a free people under the creative +leadership of three constructive minds—James Robertson, John +Sevier, and Richard Henderson. Indeed, Watauga furnished to Judge +Henderson precisely the "dangerous example" of which Dunmore +prophetically speaks. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately upon his return in 1771 from the extended exploration +of Kentucky, Daniel Boone as already noted was engaged as secret +agent, to treat with the Cherokees for the lease or purchase of +the trans-Alleghany region, on behalf of Judge Henderson and his +associates. Embroiled in the exciting issues of the Regulation +and absorbed by his confining duties as colonial judge, Henderson +was unable to put his bold design into execution until after the +expiration of the court itself which ceased to exist in 1773. +Disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 and Locke's +Fundamental Constitutions for the Carolinas, which forbade +private parties to purchase lands from the Indians, Judge +Henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in England +to know if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of +lands from the Indian tribes. Lord Mansfield gave Judge Henderson +the "sanction of his great authority in favor of the purchase." +Lord Chancellor Camden and Mr. Yorke had officially advised the +King in 1757, in regard to the petition of the East Indian +Company, "that in respect to such territories as have been, or +shall be acquired by treaty or grant from the Great Mogul, or any +of the Indian princes or governments, your Majesty's letters +patent are NOT NECESSARY; the property of the soil vesting in the +company by the Indian grant subject only to your Majesties right +of sovereignty over the settlements, as English settlements, and +over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry with them +your Majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive your +Majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." This +opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the +Indian tribes of North America by the same two authorities, +certainly as early as 1769; and a true copy, made in London, +April 1, 1772, was transmitted to Judge Henderson. Armed with the +legal opinions received from England, Judge Henderson was fully +persuaded that there was no legal bar whatsoever to his seeking +to acquire by purchase from the Cherokees the vast domain of the +trans-Alleghany. A golden dream of empire, with its promise of an +independent republic in the form of a proprietary colony, casts +him under the spell of its alluring glamour. +</P> + +<P> +In the meantime, the restless Boone, impatient over the delay in +the consummation of Judge Henderson's plans, resolved to +establish himself in Kentucky upon his own responsibility. +Heedless of the question of title and the certain hazards +incident to invading the territory of hostile savages, Boone +designated a rendezvous in Powell's Valley where he and his party +of five families were to be met by a band under the leadership of +his connections, the Bryans, and another company led by Captain +William Russell, a daring pioneer of the Clinch Valley. A small +detachment of Boone's party was fiercely attacked by Shawanoes in +Powell's Valley on October 10, 1773, and almost all were killed, +including sons of Boone and Russell, and young John and Richard +Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. As the result of +this bloody repulse, Boone's attempt to settle in Kentucky at +this time was definitely abandoned. His failure to effect a +settlement in Kentucky was due to that characteristic disregard +of the territorial rights of the Indians which was all too common +among the borderers of that period. +</P> + +<P> +This failure was portentous of the coming storm. The reign of the +Long Hunters was over. Dawning upon the horizon was the day of +stern adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to +invade the trans-Alleghany country and to battle savagely with +the red man for its possession. More successful than Boone was +the McAfee party, five in number, from Botetourt County, +Virginia, who between May 10th and September 1, 1773, safely +accomplished a journey through Kentucky and carefully marked +well-chosen sites for future location." An ominous incident of +the time was the veiled warning which Cornstalk, the great +Shawanoe chieftain, gave to Captain Thomas Bullitt, head of a +party of royal surveyors, sent out by Lord Dunmore, Governor of +Virginia. Cornstalk at Chillicothe, June 7, 1773, warned Bullitt +concerning the encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive +us," he said, "of the hunting of the country, as usual ... the +hunting we stand in need of to buy our clothing." During the +preceding summer, George Rogers Clark, an aggressive young +Virginian, with a small party, had descended the Ohio as low as +Fish Creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for many +months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in +locating and surveying lands covered by military grants. Most +significant of the ruthless determination of the pioneers to +occupy by force the Kentucky area was the action of the large +party from Monongahela, some forty in number, led by Captain +James Harrod, who penetrated to the present Miller County, where +in June, 1774, they made improvements and actually laid out a +town. +</P> + +<P> +A significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians +have taken but little account, was now in progress under the +manipulation of Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. +John Connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony +south of the Ohio; and the design of securing such territory from +the Indians found lodgment in the mind of Lord Dunmore. But this +design was for the moment thwarted when on October 28, 1773, an +order was issued from the Privy Council chamber in Whitehall +granting an immense territory, including all of the present West +Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's +agreement with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including +Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. +This new colony, to be named "Vandalia," seemed assured. A clash +between Dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for +Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle +region of the continent, extending without known limit to west +and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great land +speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating +Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of +surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands +covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain +members of the "Honourable Board," his council, as charged by +Washington, was more than "lukewarm," secretly restricting as +rigorously as he dared the extent and number of the soldiers' +allotments. According to the famous Virginia Remonstrance, he was +in league with "men of great influence in some of the neighboring +states" to secure, under cover of purchases from the Indians, +large tracts of country between the Ohio and the Mississippi." In +shaping his plans Dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of Patrick +Henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private +purchase from the Cherokees. It was Henry's legal opinion that +the Indiana purchase from the Six Nations by the Pennsylvania +traders at Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was valid; and that +purchase by private individuals from the Indians gave full and +ample title. In consequence of these facts, William Murray, in +behalf of himself and his associates of the Illinois Land +Company, and on the strength of the Camden Yorke decision, +purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and Ohio +respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in +order to win the support of Dunmore, who was ambitious to make a +fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the +Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company, with the governor as the chief +share-holder. In response to Murray's petition on behalf of the +Illinois Land Company, Dunmore (May, 1774) recommended it to Lord +Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and urged that it +be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed +any personal interest in the Illinois speculation. +</P> + +<P> +The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel +William Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading +eastern men, in 1774 located lands covered by military grants on +the Ohio and in the Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, +including Washington, Patrick Henry, William Byrd, William +Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, and Andrew Lewis, +among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. Certain of +these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply +(September 10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly +censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white +settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, +the war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door +of Dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore +personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's +charter rights, but actually in order to further his own +speculative designs." Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a +party posing as Virginia militia, fired without provocation upon +a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs assembled at Fort Pitt (January, +1774). Taking advantage of the alarming situation created by the +conflict of the claims of Virginia and Pennsylvania, Connolly, +inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary +circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to exist. +Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick +Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: +</P> + +<P> +"that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D. when Dr. Conolly first +came there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed +Ld. Dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on +both sides of the Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had +been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or +Vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite +shore, and that as his Lordship was determined to settle his +family in America he was really pursueing this war, in order to +obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of +territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced +from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the +natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that +they had Lord Camden and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which +opinion with some others that Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with +the knowledge Conolly had given him of the quality of the country +and his determined resolution to settle his family on this +continent, were the real motives or springs of the present +expedition." +</P> + +<P> +At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William +Byrd 3d and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of +lands from the Cherokees; and when Wharton, after answering +Henry's inquiry as to where he might buy Indian goods, remarked: +"It's not possible you mean to enter the Indian trade at this +period," Henry laughingly replied: "The wish-world is my hobby +horse." "From whence I conclude," adds Wharton, "he has some +prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where I know +not." +</P> + +<P> +The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret +instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came +on apace. After the inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the +Indian chieftain, by one Greathouse and his drunken companions +(April 30th), Logan, who contrary to romantic views was a +blackhearted and vengeful savage, harried the Tennessee and +Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to arouse the +Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan as +late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: "The Indians +are not angry, only myself," and not until then did Dunmore begin +to give full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of +the border, Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, +having been despatched on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to +warn the surveyors of the trans-Alleghany, made a remarkable +journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. +Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at +Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the surveyors +at Mann's Lick, this warned, hurried in to the settlements and +were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia +forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal +proclamation of 1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of +Quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous +campaign, and fortified Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillicothe. +Andrew Lewis, however, in charge of the other division of +Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and +burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from the very +flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most +representative body of borderers of this region that up to this +time had assembled to measure strength with the red men. It was +an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed +leggings and hunting-capes, rifles and powder-horns, +hunting-knives and tomahawks. +</P> + +<P> +The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant, was fought on +October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, +and the Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. +It was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in +very brushy country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. +Throughout the long day, the Indians fought with rare craft and +stubborn bravery—loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking +off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, in regard to the +absence of the fifes: "Where are your whistles now?" Slowly +retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and +at a favorable moment to "drive the Long Knives like bullocks +into the river." No marked success was achieved on either side +until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young Isaac +Shelby alarmed the Indians, who mistook this party for the +expected reinforcement under Christian, and retired across the +Ohio. In the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the +Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing +call of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!", had quit the +battlefield and left the victory with the whites. +</P> + +<P> +The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had +accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and +vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic +satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to +him and avowing their allegiance to George III, at the close of +the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert +all their powers "for the defense of American liberty, and for +the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any +precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly +called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." Dunmore's +War is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of +peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge +Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and, through his +establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the +ultimate acquisition by the American Confederation of the +imperial domain of the trans-Alleghany. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company +</H3> + + +<P CLASS="intro"> +I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of +conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary +persons and excentric geniuses in America, and perhaps in the +world. His name is Richard Henderson.—J. F. D. Smyth: A Tour in +the United States of America. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Early in 1774, chastened by his own disastrous failure the +preceding autumn, Boone advised Judge Henderson that the time was +auspicious for opening negotiations with the Cherokees for +purchasing the trans-Alleghany region." In organizing a company +for this purpose, Henderson chose men of action and resource, +leaders in the colony, ready for any hazard of life and fortune +in this gigantic scheme of colonization and promotion. The new +men included, in addition to the partners in the organization +known as Richard Henderson and Company, were Colonel John +Luttrell, destined to win laurels in the Revolution, and William +Johnston, a native of Scotland, the leading merchant of +Hillsborough. +</P> + +<P> +Meeting in Hillsborough on August 27, 1774, these men organized +the new company under the name of the Louisa Company. In the +articles then drawn up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract +of land from the Indian owners of the soil for the express +purpose of "settling the country." Each partner obligated himself +to "furnish his Quota of Expenses necessary towards procuring the +grant." In full anticipation of the grave dangers to be +encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as "equal sharers in +the property," to "support each other with our lives and +fortunes." Negotiations with the Indians were begun at once. +Accompanied by Colonel Nathaniel Hart and guided by the +experienced Indian-trader, Thomas Price, Judge Henderson visited +the Cherokee chieftains at the Otari towns. After elaborate +consultations, the latter deputed the old chieftain, +Atta-kulla-kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, "to attend the said +Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there examine the Goods +and Merchandize which had been by them offered as the +Consideration of the purchase." The goods purchased at Cross +Creek (now Fayetteville, North Carolina), in which the Louisa +Company "had embarked a large amount," met the entire approval of +the Indians—the squaw in particular shrewdly examining the goods +in the interest of the women of the tribe. +</P> + +<P> +On January 6, 1775, the company was again enlarged, and given the +name of the Transylvania Company-the three new partners being +David Hart, brother to Thomas and Nathaniel, Leonard Henley +Bullock, a prominent citizen of Granville, and James Hogg, of +Hillsborough, a native Scotchman and one of the most influential +men in the colony. In the elaborate agreement drawn up reference +is explicitly made to the contingency of "settling and voting as +a proprietor and giving Rules and Regulations for the Inhabitants +etc." Hillsborough was the actual starting-point for the westward +movement, the first emigrants, traveling thence to the Sycamore +Shoals of the Watauga. In speaking of the departure of the +settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent westward +migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "At this place +[Hillsborough] I saw the first party of emigrant families that +moved to Kentucky under the auspices of Judge Henderson. They +marched out of the town with considerable solemnity, and to many +their destination seemed as remote as if it had been to the South +Sea Islands." Meanwhile, the "Proposals for the encouragement of +settling the lands etc.," issued on Christmas Day, 1774, were +quickly spread broadcast through the colony and along the +border." It was the greatest sensation North Carolina had known +since Alamance; and Archibald Neilson, deputy-auditor and naval +officer of the colony, inquired with quizzical anxiety: "Pray, is +Dick Henderson out of his head?" The most liberal terms, +proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were embodied +in these proposals. Land at twenty shillings per hundred acres +was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and +raising a crop of corn before September 1, 1775, the emigrant +being permitted to take up as much as five hundred acres for him +self and two hundred and fifty acres for each tithable person +under him. In these "Proposals" there was no indication that the +low terms at which the lands were offered would be maintained +after September 1, 1775. In a letter to Governor Dunmore +(January, 1775), Colonel William Preston, county surveyor of +Fincastle County, Virginia, says "The low price he [Henderson] +proposes to sell at, together with some further encouragement he +offers, will I am apprehensive induce a great many families to +remove from this County (Fincastle) & Carolina and settle there." +Joseph Martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-Taker and +agent for the Powell Valley portion" of the Transylvania Purchase +on January 20, 1775; and "he (Joseph Martin) and others went on +in the early part of the year 1775 and made their stand at the +very spot where he had made corn several years before. In +speaking of the startling design, unmasked by Henderson, of +establishing an independent government, Colonel Preston writes to +George Washington of the contemplated "large Purchase by one Col. +Henderson of North Carolina from the Cherokees.... I hear +that Henderson talks with great Freedom & Indecency of the +Governor of Virginia, sets the Government at Defiance & says if +he once had five hundred good Fellows settled in that Country he +would not Value Virginia." +</P> + +<P> +Early in 1775 runners were sent off to the Cherokee towns to +summon the Indians to the treaty ground at the Sycamore Shoals of +the Watauga; and Boone, after his return from a hunt in Kentucky +in January, was summoned by Judge Henderson to aid in the +negotiations preliminary to the actual treaty. The dominating +figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty ground, +consisting of twelve hundred Indians and several hundred whites, +was Richard Henderson, "comely in person, of a benign and social +disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous +action" noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, firm-set +jaw, with kindness and openness of expression." Gathered about +him, picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of +the buckskin-clad leaders of the border—James Robertson, John +Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Bailey Smith, and their +compeers—as well as his Carolina friends John Williams, Thomas +and Nathaniel Hart, Nathaniel Henderson, Jesse Benton, and +Valentine Searcy. +</P> + +<P> +Little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (March +14th); but on the next day, the Cherokees offered to sell the +section bargained for by Donelson acting as agent for Virginia in +1771. Although the Indians pointed out that Virginia had never +paid the promised compensation of five hundred pounds and had +therefore forfeited her rights, Henderson flatly refused to +entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which Virginia had +the prior claim. Angered by Henderson's refusal, The Dragging +Canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, made an +impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination peculiar +to the American Indian. With pathetic eloquence he dwelt upon the +insatiable land-greed of the white men, and predicted the +extinction of his race if they committed the insensate folly of +selling their beloved hunting-grounds. Roused to a high pitch of +oratorical fervor, the savage with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted +his people to resist further encroachments at all hazards—and +left the treaty ground. This incident brought the conference to a +startling and abrupt conclusion. On the following day, however, +the savages proved more tractable, agreeing to sell the land as +far as the Cumberland River. In order to secure the additional +territory watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, Henderson +agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. Upon this +day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of Kentucky +when The Dragging Canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, +declared that a DARK Cloud hung over that land, which was known +as the BLOODY GROUND. +</P> + +<P> +On the last day, March 17th, the negotiations were opened with +the signing of the "Great Grant." The area purchased, some twenty +millions of acres, included almost all the present state of +Kentucky, and an immense tract in Tennessee, comprising all the +territory watered by the Cumberland River and all its +tributaries. For "two thousand weight of leather in goods" +Henderson purchased "the lands lying down Holston and between the +Watauga lease, Colonel Donelson's line and Powell's Mountain" as +a pathway to Kentucky—the deed for which was known as the "Path +Deed." By special arrangement, Carter's Valley in this tract went +to Carter and Lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, +Charles Robertson on behalf of the Watauga Association purchased +a large tract in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and New +Rivers; and eight days later Jacob Brown purchased two large +areas, including the Nolichucky Valley. This historic treaty, +which heralds the opening of the West, was conducted with +absolute justice and fairness by Judge Henderson and his +associates. No liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and +Thomas Price, the ablest of the Cherokee traders, deposed that +"he at that time understood the Cherokee language, so as to +comprehend everything which was said and to know that what was +observed on either side was fairly and truly translated; that the +Cherokees perfectly understood, what Lands were the subject of +the Treaty...." The amount paid by the Transylvania Company +for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds sterling, in +money and in goods. +</P> + +<P> +Although Daniel Boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior +to the negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the +voluminous records of the conference. Indeed, he was not then +present; for a fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he +was commissioned by Judge Henderson to form a party of competent +woodmen to blaze a passage through the wilderness. On March 10th +this party of thirty ax-men, under the leadership of Boone, +started from the rendezvous, the Long Island of Holston, to +engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the Transylvania +Trail. +</P> + +<P> +Henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and +resolution the hazardous task of occupying the purchased +territory and establishing an independent government. No mere +financial promoter of a vast speculative enterprise, he was one +of the heroic figures of the Old Southwest; and it was his +dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in the +face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a +successful conclusion. At Martin's Station, where Henderson and +his party tarried to build a house in which to store their +wagons, as the road could be cleared no further, they were joined +by another party, of five adventurers from Prince William County, +Virginia." In Henderson's party were some forty men and boys, +with forty packhorses and a small amount of powder, lead, salt, +and garden-seeds. The warning freely given by Joseph Martin of +the perils of the path was soon confirmed, as appears from the +following entry in Henderson's diary: +</P> + +<P> +"Friday the 7th. [April] About Brake of Day began to snow. About +11 O'Clock received a letter from Mr. Luttrells camp that were +five persons killd on the road to the Cantuckie by Indians. Capt. +[Nathaniel] Hart, uppon the receipt of this News Retreated back +with his Company, & determined to Settle in the Valley to make +Corn for the Cantucky people. The same Day Received a Letter from +Dan. Boone, that his Company was fired uppon by Indians, Kill'd +Two of his men—tho he kept the ground & saved the Baggage &c." +</P> + +<P> +The following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged +resolution of Boone and his reliance upon Henderson and his +company in this black hour of disaster, addressed "Colonel +Richard Henderson—these with care," is eloquent in its +simplicity +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Dear Colonel: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you +of our misfortunes. On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on +my Company about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty +and his negro, and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he +will recover. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"On March the 28 as we were hunting for provisions, we found +Samuel Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired +on their camp on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and +found two men killed and sculped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah +McFeters. I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in +order to gather them all at the mouth of Otter Creek. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. +Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, +but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you, and now +is the time to flusterate their [the Indians'] intentions, and +keep the country, whilst we are in it. If we give way to them +now, it will ever be the case. This day we start from the battle +ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where we shall immediately +erect a Fort, which will be done before you can come or send, +then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I am, Sir, your most obedient<BR> + Omble Sarvent<BR> +Daniel Boone. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"N.B. We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, +and lost nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck +[Kentucky River] at Otter Creek." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail +and induced some to turn back, but Henderson, the jurist-pioneer, +was made of sterner stuff. At once (April 8th) he despatched an +urgent letter in hot haste to the proprietors of Transylvania, +enclosing Boone's letter, informing them of Boone's plight and +urging them to send him immediately a large quantity of powder +and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon his supply of +saltpeter at Martin's Station. "We are all in high spirits," he +assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to Boone's +assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a +country." +</P> + +<P> +Laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: "Saturday +the 8th. Started abt. 10 oClock Crossed Cumberland Gap about 4 +miles met about 40 persons Returning from the Cantucky, on Acct. +of the Late Murders by the Indians could prevail on one only to +return. Memo Several Virginians who were with us return'd." +</P> + +<P> +There is no more crucial moment in early Western history than +this, in which we see the towering form of Henderson, clad in the +picturesque garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely +pointing forward to the "dark and bloody ground," and in +impassioned but futile eloquence pleading with the pale and +panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to join his company, and +to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer conquest. +Significant indeed are the lines: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Some to endure, and many to fail,<BR> +Some to conquer, and many to quail,<BR> +Toiling over the Wilderness Trail.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires Henderson's +words: "In this situation, some few, of genuine courage and +undaunted resolution, served to inspire the rest; by the help of +whose example, assisted by a little pride and some ostentation, +we made a shift to march on with all the appearance of gallantry, +and, cavalier like, treated every insinuation of danger with the +utmost contempt." +</P> + +<P> +Fearing that Boone, who did not even know that Henderson's +cavalcade was on the road, would be unable to hold out, Henderson +realized the imperative necessity for sending him a message of +encouragement. The bold young Virginian, William Cocke, +volunteered to brave alone the dangers of the murder-haunted +trail to undertake a ride more truly memorable and hazardous than +that of Revere. "This offer, extraordinary as it was, we could by +no means refuse," remarks Henderson, who shed tears of gratitude +as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the brave +messenger's hand. Equipped with "a good Queen Anne's musket, +plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [French, +couteau], a Dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," +Cocke on April 10th rode off "to the Cantuckey to Inform Capt +Boone that we were on the road." The fearful apprehensions felt +for Cocke's safety were later relieved, when along the road were +discovered his letters in forming Henderson of his arrival and of +his having been joined on the way by Page Portwood of Rowan. On +his arrival at Otter Creek, Cocke found Boone and his men, and on +relating his adventures, "came in for his share of applause." +Boone at once despatched the master woodman, Michael Stoner, with +pack-horses to assist Henderson's party, which he met on April +18th at their encampment "in the Eye of the Rich Land." Along +with "Excellent Beef in plenty," Stoner brought the story of +Boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude +little fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist +attack. With laconic significance Henderson pays the following +tribute to Boone which deserves to be perpetuated in national +annals: "It was owing to Boone's confidence in us, and the +people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted in order to wait +for our coming." +</P> + +<P> +In the course of their journey over the mountains and through the +wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the +face of the surpassing beauties of the country. The Cumberlands +were covered with rich undergrowth of the red and white +rhododendron, the delicate laurel, the mountain ivy, the +flameazalea, the spicewood, and the cane; while the white stars +of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the red-bud, strewn +across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in the eager +air of spring. "To enter uppon a detail of the Beuty & Goodness +of our Country," writes Nathaniel Henderson, "would be a task too +arduous.... Let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any +country I ever saw or herd off. I am conscious its out of the +power of any man to make you clearly sensible of the great Beuty +and Richness of Kentucky." Young Felix Walker, endowed with more +vivid powers of description, says with a touch of native +eloquence: +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps no Adventurer Since the days of donquicksotte or before +ever felt So Cheerful & Ilated in prospect, every heart abounded +with Joy & excitement ... & exclusive of the Novelties of the +Journey the advantages & accumalations arising on the Settlement +of a new Country was a dazzling object with many of our Company.... +As the Cain ceased, we began to discover the pleasing & +Rapturous appearance of the plains of Kentucky, a New Sky & +Strange Earth to be presented to our view.... So Rich a Soil +we had never Saw before, Covered with Clover in full Bloom. the +Woods alive abounding in wild Game, turkeys so numerous that it +might be said there appeared but one flock Universally Scattered +in the woods ... it appeared that Nature in the profusion of +her Bounties, had Spread a feast for all that lives, both for the +Animal & Rational World, a Sight so delightful to our View and +grateful to our feelings almost Induced us, in Immitation of +Columbus in Transport to Kiss the Soil of Kentucky, as he haild & +Saluted the sand on his first setting his foot on the Shores of +America." +</P> + +<P> +On the journey Henderson was joined in Powell's Valley by +Benjamin Logan, afterward so famous in Kentucky annals, and a +companion, William Galaspy. At the Crab Orchard they left +Henderson's party; and turning their course westward finally +pitched camp in the present Lincoln County, where Logan +subsequently built a fort. On Sunday, April 16th, on Scaggs's +Creek, Henderson records: "About 12 oClock Met James McAfee with +18 other persons Returning from Cantucky." They advised Henderson +of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the Indians, says Robert +McAfee junior: "but Henderson assured them that he had purchased +the whole country from the Indians, that it belonged to him, and +he had named it Transylvania.... Robt, Samuel, and William +McAfee and 3 others were inclined to return, but James opposed +it, alleging that Henderson had no right to the land, and that +Virginia had previously bought it. The former (6) returned with +Henderson to Boonesborough." Among those who had joined +Henderson's party was Abraham Hanks from Virginia, the maternal +grandfather of Abraham Lincoln; but alarmed by the stories +brought by Stewart and his party of fugitives, Hanks and Drake, +as recorded by William Calk on that day (April 13th), turned +back. +</P> + +<P> +At last the founder of Kentucky with his little band reached the +destined goal of their arduous journeyings. Henderson's record on +his birthday runs: "Thursday the 20th [April] Arrived at Fort +Boone on the Mouth of Oter Creek Cantuckey River where we were +Saluted by a running fire of about 25 Guns; all that was then at +Fort.... The men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced in +our arrival." It is a coincidence of historic interest that just +one day after the embattled farmers at Lexington and Concord +"fired the shots heard round the world," the echoing shots of +Boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce the +arrival of the proprietor of Transylvania and the birth of the +American West. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. Transylvania—A wilderness Commonwealth +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being +of this country in general, in which the interest and security of +each and every individual are inseparably connected .... Our +peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all +sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common +danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in +their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, +consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to the +forming good, wise and wholesome laws.—Judge Richard Henderson: +Address to the Legislature of Transylvania, May 23, 1775. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The independent spirit displayed by the Transylvania Company, and +Henderson's procedure in open defiance of the royal governors of +both North Carolina and Virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm +throughout these colonies and South Carolina. "This in my +Opinion," says Preston in a letter to George Washington (January +31, 1775), "will soon become a serious Affair, & highly deserves +the Attention of the Government. For it is certain that a vast +Number of People are preparing to go out and settle on this +Purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be next to +impossible to remove them or reduce them to Obedience; as they +are so far from the Seat of Government. Indeed it may be the +Cherokees will support them." Governor Martin of North Carolina, +already deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming +revolutionary cataclysm, thundered in what was generally regarded +as a forcible-feeble proclamation (February 19, 1775) against +"Richard Henderson and his Confederates" in their "daring, unjust +and unwarrantable proceedings." In a letter to Dartmouth he +denounces "Henderson the famous invader" and dubs the +Transylvania Company "an infamous Company of land Pyrates." +</P> + +<P> +Officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed +Henderson's plans. Lord Dunmore, who in 1774, as we have seen, +was heavily interested in the Wabash Land Company engineered by +William Murray, took the ground that the Wabash purchase was +valid under the Camden-Yorke decision. This is so stated in the +records of the Illinois Company. Likewise under Murray's control. +But although the "Ouabache Company," of which Dunmore was a +leading member, was initiated as early as May 16, 1774, the +purchase of the territory was not formally effected until October +18, 1775—too late to benefit Dunmore, then deeply embroiled in +the preliminaries to the Revolution. Under the cover of his +agent's name, it is believed, Dunmore, with his "passion for land +and fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating thousands of +acres of land surveyed by the royal surveyors in the summer of +1774 for Dr. John Connolly. Early in this same year, Patrick +Henry, who, as already pointed out, had entered large tracts in +Kentucky in violation of Virginia's treaty obligations with the +Cherokees, united with William Byrd 3d, John Page, Ralph Wormley, +Samuel Overton, and William Christian, in the effort to purchase +from the Cherokees a tract of land west of Donelson's line, being +firmly persuaded of the validity of the Camden-Yorke opinion. +Their agent, William Kenedy, considerably later in the year, went +on a mission to the Cherokee towns, and upon his return reported +that the Indians might be induced to sell. When it became known +that Judge Henderson had organized the Transylvania Company and +anticipated Patrick Henry and his associates, Colonel Arthur +Campbell, as he himself states, applied to several of the +partners of the Transylvania Company on behalf of Patrick Henry, +requesting that Henry be taken in as a partner. It was afterward +stated, as commonly understood among the Transylvania +proprietors, that both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson desired +to become members of the company; but that Colonel Richard +Henderson was instrumental in preventing their admission "lest +they should supplant the Colonel [Henderson] as the guiding +spirit of the company." +</P> + +<P> +Fully informed by Preston's elaborate communication on the +gravity of the situation, Dunmore acted energetically, though +tardily, to prevent the execution of Henderson's designs. On +March 21st Dunmore sent flying through the back country a +proclamation, demanding the immediate relinquishment of the +territory by "one Richard Henderson and other disorderly persons, +his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of violently +detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately fined +and imprisoned. This proclamation, says a peppery old chronicler, +may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and +rebels, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, from the mercy of the +British monarch. In view of Dunmore's confidence in the validity +of the Camden-Yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of +the royal proclamation of 1763 occurs in his broadside; and that +he bases his objection to the Transylvania purchase upon the +king's instructions that all vacant lands "within this colony" be +laid off in tracts, from one hundred to one thousand acres in +extent, and sold at public auction. This proclamation which was +enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of official instructions to +Preston warning him not to survey any lands "beyond the line run +by Colonel Donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. At the same +time, Dunmore despatched a pointed letter to Oconostota, +Atta-kulla-kulla, Judge's Friend, and other Cherokee chieftains, +notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the +Kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's +displeasure if they did not repudiate the sale. +</P> + +<P> +News of the plans which Henderson had already matured for +establishing an independent colony in the trans-Alleghany +wilderness, now ran like wild-fire through Virginia. In a letter +to George Washington (April 9, 1775), Preston ruefully says: +"Henderson I hear has made the Purchase & got a Conveyance of the +great and Valluable Country below the Kentucky from the +Cherokees. He and about 300 adventurers are gone out to take +Possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent +Government & form a Code of Laws for themselves. How this may be +I cant say, but I am affraid the steps taken by the Government +have been too late. Before the Purchase was made had the Governor +interfered it is believed the Indians would not have sold." +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Judge Henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to +erect a large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. +Captain James Harrod with forty-two men was stationed at the +settlement he had made the preceding year, having arrived there +before the McAfees started back to Virginia; and there were small +groups of settlers at Boiling Spring, six miles southeast of +Harrods settlement, and at St. Asaph's, a mile west of the +present Stanford. A representative government for Transylvania +was then planned. When the frank and gallant Floyd arrived at the +Transylvania Fort on May 3d, he "expressed great satisfaction," +says Judge Henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed +for Legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & +every other measure we should adopt for the well Govern'g or good +of the Community in Gen'l." In reference to a conversation with +Captain James Harrod and Colonel Thomas Slaughter of Virginia, +Henderson notes in his diary (May 8th): "Our plan of Legislation, +the evils pointed out—the remedies to be applyed &c &c &c were +Acceeded to without Hesitation. The plann was plain & Simple—'twas +nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago it was +in use, and found by every year's experience since to be +unexceptionable. We were in four distinct settlem'ts. Members or +delegates from every place by free choice of Individuals they +first having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to +obey and carry into Execution Such Laws as representatives should +from time to time make, Concurred with, by A Majority of the +Proprietors present in the Country." +</P> + +<P> +In reply to inquiries of the settlers, Judge Henderson gave as +his reason for this assembling of a Transylvania Legislature that +"all power was derived from the people." Six days before the +prophetic arrival of the news of the Battle of Lexington and +eight days before the revolutionary committee of Mecklenburg +County, North Carolina, promulgated their memorable Resolves +establishing laws for independent government, the pioneers +assembled on the green beneath the mighty plane-tree at the +Transylvania Fort. In his wise and statesmanlike address to this +picturesque convention of free Americans (May 23, 1775), an +address which Felix Walker described as being "considered equal +to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate body in that +day and time," Judge Henderson used these memorable words: +</P> + +<P> +"You, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first +corner stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose +superstructure ... can only become great in proportion to the +excellence of its foundation.... If any doubt remain amongst +you with respect to the force or efficiency of whatever laws you +now, or hereafter make, be pleased to consider that ALL POWER IS +ORIGINALLY IN THE PEOPLE; MAKE AND THEIR INTEREST, THEREFORE, BY +IMPARTIAL AND BENEFICENT LAWS, AND YOU MAY BE SURE OF THEIR +INCLINATION TO SEE THEM ENFORCED." +</P> + +<P> +An early writer, in speaking of the full blooded democracy of +these "advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "If Jeremy +Bentham had been in existence of manhood, he would have sent his +compliments to the President of Transylvania." This, the first +representative body of American freemen which ever convened west +of the Alleghanies, is surely the most unique colonial government +ever set up on this continent. The proceedings of this backwoods +legislature—the democratic leader ship of the principal +proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for protecting +game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the granting +of full religious liberty—all display the acumen and practical +wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. As the result of Henderson's +tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly +democratized in tone, was complacently accepted by the backwoods +men. From one who, though still under royal rule, vehemently +asserted that the source of all political power was the people, +and that "laws derive force and efficiency from our mutual +consent," Western democracy thus born in the wilderness was +"taking its first political lesson." In their answer to +Henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the +pioneers unhesitatingly declared: "That we have an absolute +right, as a political body, without giving umbrage to Great +Britain, or any of the colonies, to form rules for the government +of our little society, cannot be doubted by any sensible mind and +being without the jurisdiction of, and not answerable to any of +his Majesty's courts, the constituting tribunals of justice shall +be a matter of our first contemplation...." In the +establishment of a constitution for the new colony, Henderson +with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal +code based on the laws of England. Out of a sense of +self-protection he reserved for the proprietors only one +prerogative not granted them by the people, the right of veto. He +clearly realized that if this power were given up, the delegates +to any convention that might be held after the first would be +able to assume the claims and rights of the proprietors. +</P> + +<P> +A land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store +was established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, +salt, osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer +existence. Writing to his brother Jonathan from Leestown, the +bold young George Rogers Clark, soon to plot the downfall of +Transylvania, enthusiastically says (July 6, 1775): "A richer and +more Beautifull Cuntry than this I believe has never been seen in +America yet. Col. Henderson is hear and Claims all ye Country +below Kentucke. If his Claim Should be good, land may be got +Reasonable Enough and as good as any in ye World." Those who +settled on the south side of Kentucky River acknowledged the +validity of the Transylvania purchase; and Clark in his Memoir +says: "the Proprietors at first took great pains to Ingratiate +themselves in the fav'r of the people." +</P> + +<P> +In regard to the designs of Lord Dunmore, who, as noted above, +had illegally entered the Connolly grant on the Ohio and sought +to outlaw Henderson, and of Colonel William Byrd 3d, who, after +being balked in Patrick Henry's plan to anticipate the +Transylvania Company in effecting a purchase from the Cherokees, +was supposed to have tried to persuade the Cherokees to repudiate +the "Great Treaty," Henderson defiantly says: "Whether Lord +Dunmore and Colonel Byrd have interfered with the Indians or not, +Richard Henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. The utmost +result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the +futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few +faint-hearted persons, naturally prone to reverence great names +and fancy everything must shrink at the magic of a splendid +title." +</P> + +<P> +Prompted by Henderson's desire to petition the Continental +Congress then in session for recognition as the fourteenth +colony, the Transylvania legislature met again on the first +Thursday in September and elected Richard Henderson and John +Williams, among others, as delegates to the gathering at +Philadelphia. Shortly afterward the Proprietors of Transylvania +held a meeting at Oxford, North Carolina (September 25, 1775), +elected Williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to +proceed to Boonesborough there to reside until April, 1776. James +Hogg, of Hillsborough, chosen as Delegate to represent the Colony +in the Continental Congress, was despatched to Philadelphia, +bearing with him an elaborate memorial prepared by the President, +Judge Henderson, petitioning the Congress "to take the infant +Colony of Transylvania into their protection." +</P> + +<P> +Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia, James Hogg +was presented to "the famous Samuel and John Adams." The latter +warned Hogg, in view of the efforts then making toward +reconciliation between the colonies and the king, that "the +taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in +defiance of the King's proclamation, will be looked on as a +confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily +reproached." Jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all +the use the Virginians should make of their charter would be "to +prevent any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established +within the boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a +free government established at the back of theirs [Virginia's] +properly united with them." He would not consent, however, that +Congress should acknowledge the colony of Transylvania, until it +had the approbation of the Virginia Convention. The quit-rents +imposed by the company were denounced in Congress as a mark of +vassalage; and many advised a law against the employment of +negroes in the colony. "They even threatened us with their +opposition," says Hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act +upon liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to +render ourselves immortal." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. The Repulse of the Red Men +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind +feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the +Cherokees ever afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the +Indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were +they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the +property of our frontier men.—David L. Swain: The Indian War of +1776. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +During the summer of 1775 the proprietors of Transylvania were +confronted with two stupendous tasks—that of winning the favor +and support of the frontiersmen and that of rallying the rapidly +dwindling forces in Kentucky in defense of the settlements. +Recognizing the difficulty of including Martin's Station, because +of its remoteness, with the government provided for Transylvania, +Judge Henderson prepared a plan of government for the group of +settlers located in Powell's Valley. In a letter to Martin (July +30th), in regard to the recent energetic defense of the settlers +at that point against the Indians, Henderson says: "Your spirited +conduct gives me much pleasure.... Keep your men in heart if +possible, NOW IS OUR TIME, THE INDIANS MUST NOT DRIVE US." The +gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete desertion +of the stations at Harrodsburg, the Boiling Spring, and the +Transylvania Fort or Boonesborough was dispelled with the return +of Boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on September 8th, +and of Richard Callaway with a considerable party on September +26th. The crisis was now passed; and the colony began for the +first time really to flourish. The people on the south side of +the Kentucky River universally accepted proprietary rule for the +time being. But the seeds of dissension were soon to be sown +among those who settled north of the river, as well as among men +of the stamp of James Harrod, who, having preceded Henderson in +the establishment of a settlement in Kentucky, naturally resented +holding lands under the Transylvania Company. +</P> + +<P> +The great liberality of this organization toward incoming +settlers had resulted in immense quantities of land being taken +up through their land-office. The ranging, hunting, and +road-building were paid for by the company; and the entire +settlement was furnished with powder, lead, and supplies, wholly +on credit, for this and the succeeding year. "Five hundred and +sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," reports Floyd on +December 1st, "and most of the people waiting to have it run +out." After Dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, +escaped to the protection of a British vessel, the Fowey, Colonel +Preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants within +the Transylvania territory; and his original hostility to Judge +Henderson gave place to friendship and support. On December 1st, +Colonel John Williams, resident agent of the Transylvania +Company, announced at Boonesborough the long-contemplated and +widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to +fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four +dollars for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. At +a meeting of the Transylvania legislature, convened on December +21st, John Floyd was chosen surveyor general of the colony, +Nathaniel Henderson was placed in charge of the Entering Office, +and Richard Harrison given the post of secretary. At this meeting +of the legislature, the first open expression of discontent was +voiced in the "Harrodsburg Remonstrance," questioning the +validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting against any +increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by the +proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the +Falls of the Ohio. Every effort was made to accommodate the +remonstrants, who were led by Abraham Hite. Office fees were +abolished, and the payment of quit-rents was deferred until +January 1, 1780. Despite these efforts at accommodation, grave +doubts were implanted by this Harrodsburg Remonstrance in the +minds of the people; and much discussion and discontent ensued. +</P> + +<P> +By midsummer, 1775, George Rogers Clark, a remarkably +enterprising and independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all +the land he could" in Kentucky. Upon his return to Virginia, as +he relates, he "found there was various oppinions Respecting +Henderson claim. many thought it good, others douted whether or +not Virginia coud with propriety have any pretentions to the +cuntrey." Jefferson displayed a liberal attitude toward the +claims of the Transylvania proprietors; and Patrick Henry openly +stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand good." But +many others, of the stamp of George Mason and George Washington, +vigorously asserted Virginia's charter rights over the Western +territory." This sharp difference of opinion excited in Clark's +mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the country +and making terms with Virginia under threat of secession. With +the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the +title of the Transylvania proprietors, Judge Henderson and +Colonel Williams set off from Boonesborough about May 1st, +intending first to appeal to the Virginia Convention and +ultimately to lay their claims before the Continental Congress. +"Since they have gone," reports Floyd to Preston, "I am told most +of the men about Harrodsburg have re-assumed their former +resolution of not complying with any of the office rules +whatever. Jack Jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & +flourishes away prodigiously." John Gabriel Jones was the mere +figurehead in the revolt. The real leader, the brains of the +conspiracy, was the unscrupulous George Rogers Clark. At Clark's +instance, an eight-day election was held at Harrodsburg (June +7-15), at which time a petition to the Virginia Convention was +drawn up; and Clark and Jones were elected delegates. Clark's +plan, the scheme of a bold revolutionist, was to treat with +Virginia for terms; and if they were not satisfactory, to revolt +and, as he says, "Establish an Independent Government" ... +"giving away great part of the Lands and disposing of the +Remainder." In a second petition, prepared by the self-styled +"Committee of West Fincastle" (June 20th), it was alleged that +"if these pretended Proprietors have leave to continue to act in +their arbitrary manner out the controul of this colony [Virginia] +the end must be evident to every well wisher to American +Liberty." +</P> + +<P> +The contest which now ensued between Richard Henderson and George +Rogers Clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind +the scenes, resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a +moment in American history marked by the signing of the +Declaration of Independence. Virginia, under the leader ship of +her new governor, Patrick Henry, put an end to the proprietary +rule of the Transylvania Company. On December 7th such part of +Transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of Virginia was +erected by the legislature of that colony into the County of +Kentucky. The proprietary form of government with its "marks of +vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, +was unendurable to the independent and lawless pioneers, already +intoxicated with the spirit of freedom swept in on the first +fresh breezes of the Revolution. Yet it is not to be doubted that +the Transylvania Company, through the courage and moral influence +of its leaders, made a permanent contribution to the colonization +of the West, which, in providential timeliness and effective +execution, is without parallel in our early annals. +</P> + +<P> +While events were thus shaping themselves in Kentucky—events +which made possible Clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in +the Northwest and ultimately resulted in the establishment of the +Mississippi instead of the Alleghanies as the western boundary of +the Confederation—the pioneers of Watauga were sagaciously +laying strong the foundations of permanent occupation. In +September, 1775, North Carolina, through her Provincial Congress, +provided for the appointment in each district of a Committee of +Safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. +Following the lead thus set, the Watauga settlers assumed for +their country the name of "Washington District"; and proceeded by +unanimous vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, +which included James Robertson and John Sevier. This district was +organized "shortly after October, 1775, according to Felix +Walker; and the first step taken after the election of the +committee was the organization of a court, consisting of five +members. Felix Walker was elected clerk of the court thus +organized, and held the position for about four years. James +Robertson and John Sevier, it is believed, were also members of +this court. To James Robertson who, with the assistance of his +colleagues, devised this primitive type of frontier rule—a true +commission form of government, on the "Watauga Plan"—is justly +due distinctive recognition for this notable inauguration of the +independent democracy of the Old Southwest. The Watauga +settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest loyalty to the +American cause. In a memorable petition these hardy settlers +requested the Provincial Council of North Carolina not to regard +them as a "lawless mob," but to "annex" them to North Carolina +without delay. "This committee (willing to become a party in the +present unhappy contest)", states the petition, which must have +been drafted about July 15, 1776, "resolved (which is now on our +records), to adhere strictly to the rules and orders of the +Continental Congress, and in open committee acknowledged +themselves indebted to the united colonies their full proportion +of the Continental expense." +</P> + +<P> +While these disputes as to the government of the new communities +were in progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. +For a whole year the British had been plying the various Indian +tribes from the lakes to the gulf with presents, supplies, and +ammunition. In the Northwest bounties had actually been offered +for American scalps. During the spring of 1776 plans were +concerted, chiefly through Stuart and Cameron, British agents +among the Southern Indians, for uniting the Loyalists and the +Indians in a crushing attack upon the Tennessee settlements and +the back country of North Carolina. Already the frontier of South +Carolina had passed through the horrors of Indian uprising; and +warning of the approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the +Holston settlers by Atta-kulla-kulla's niece, Nancy Ward, the +"Pocahontas of the West"—doubtless through the influence of her +daughter, who loved Joseph Martin. The settlers, flocking for +refuge into their small stockaded forts, waited in readiness for +the dreaded Indian attacks, which were made by two forces +totaling some seven hundred warriors. +</P> + +<P> +On July 20th, warned in advance of the approach of the Indians, +the borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two +columns from the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at Eaton's +Station, to meet the Indians, double their own number, led by The +Dragging Canoe. The scouts surprised one party of Indians, +hastily poured in a deadly fire, and rushed upon them with such +impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. Withdrawing now +toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering there a +larger force, the backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves attacked +in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. Extending +their own line under the direction of Captain James Shelby, the +frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the Indians, who, +mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to +retreat, incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, +giving the war-whoop and shouting: "The Unakas are running!" In +the ensuing hot conflict at close quarters, in some places hand +to hand, the Indians were utterly routed—The Dragging Canoe +being shot down, many warriors wounded, and thirteen left dead +upon the field. +</P> + +<P> +On the day after Thompson, Cocke, Shelby, Campbell, Madison, and +their men were thus winning the battle of the Long Island +"flats," Robertson, Sevier, and their little band of forty-two +men were engaged in repelling an attack, begun at sunrise, upon +the Watauga fort near the Sycamore Shoals. This attack, which was +led by Old Abraham, proved abortive; but as the result of the +loose investment of the log fortress, maintained by the Indians +for several weeks, a few rash venturers from the fort were killed +or captured, notably a young boy who was carried to one of the +Indian towns and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer +settler, William Been, who was rescued from a like fate by the +intercession of the humane and noble Nancy Ward. It was during +this siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier +lass, active and graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very +stockade by the fleet-footed savages. Seeing her plight, an +athletic young officer mounted the stockade at a single leap, +shot down the foremost of the pursuers, and leaning over, seized +the maiden by the hands and lifted her over the stockade. The +maiden who sank breathless into the arms of the young officer, +John Sevier, was "Bonnie Kate Sherrill"—who, after the fashion +of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant +rescuer. +</P> + +<P> +While the Tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of +siege and attack, the settlers on the frontiers of Rowan were +falling beneath the tomahawk of the merciless savage. In the +first and second weeks of July large forces of Indians penetrated +to the outlying settlements; and in two days thirty-seven persons +were killed along the Catawba River. On July 13th, the bluff old +soldier of Rowan, General Griffith Rutherford, reported to the +council of North Carolina that "three of our Captains are killed +and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with what +men he could muster to relieve Colonel McDowell, ten men, and one +hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some +kind of a fort." Aroused to extraordinary exertions by these +daring and deadly blows, the governments of North Carolina, South +Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia instituted a joint campaign +against the Cherokees. It was believed that, by delivering a +series of crushing blows to the Indians and so conclusively +demonstrating the overwhelming superiority of the whites, the +state governments in the Old Southwest would convince the savages +of the futility, of any attempt ever again to oppose them +seriously. +</P> + +<P> +Within less than a week after sending his despatches to the +council Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred +men to protect the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm +the foe. Leading the South Carolina army of more than eighteen +hundred men, Colonel Andrew Williamson directed his attack +against the lower Cherokee towns; while Colonel Samuel Jack led +two hundred Georgians against the Indian towns at the heads of +the Chattahoochee and Tugaloo Rivers. Assembling a force of some +sixteen hundred Virginians, Colonel William Christian +rendezvoused in August at the Long Island of Holston, where his +force was strengthened by between three and four hundred North +Carolinians under Colonels Joseph Williams and Love, and Major +Winston. The various expeditions met with little effective +opposition on the whole, succeeding everywhere in their design of +utterly laying waste the towns of the Cherokees. One serious +engagement occurred when the Indians resolutely challenged +Rutherford's advance at the gap of the Nantahala Mountains. +Indian women—heroic Amazons disguised in war-paint and armed +with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair—fought +side by side with the Indian braves in the effort to arrest +Rutherford's progress and compass his defeat. More than forty +frontiersmen fell beneath the deadly shots of this truly Spartan +band before the final repulse of the savages. +</P> + +<P> +The most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful +campaign were the bluff old Indian-fighter, Griffith Rutherford, +wearing "a tow hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white +fringe" as a uniform; Captain Benjamin Cleveland, a rude paladin +of gigantic size, strength, and courage; Lieutenant William +Lenoir (Le Noir), the gallant and recklessly brave French +Huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the Revolution; and +that militant man of God, the Reverend James Hall, graduate of +Nassau Hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his +shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the +savages, preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty +backwoodsmen. Such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign—when +the whites, maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by +the recent ghastly murders, gladly availed themselves of the +South Carolina bounty offered for fresh Indian scalps. At times +they exultantly displayed the reeking patches of hair above the +gates of their stockades; at others, with many a bloody oath, +they compelled their commanders either to sell the Indian +captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. +Twenty years afterward Benjamin Hawkins relates that among Indian +refugees in extreme western Georgia the children had been so +terrorized by their parents' recitals of the atrocities of the +enraged borderers in the campaign of 1776, that they ran +screaming from the face of a white man. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. The Colonization of the Cumberland +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +March 31, 1760. Set out this day, and after running some +distance, met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the +line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were +much rejoiced. He gave us every information we wished, and +further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in +Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of Ohio, for the use of the +Cumberland settlement. We are now without bread, and are +compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life.—John Donelson: +Journal of a Voyage, intended by God's permission, in the good +boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry, on Holston River, to the +French Salt Springs on Cumberland River. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +To the settlements in Tennessee and Kentucky, which they had +seized and occupied, the pioneers held on with a tenacious grip +which never relaxed. From these strongholds, won through sullen +and desperate strokes, they pushed deeper into the wilderness, +once again to meet with undimmed courage the bitter onslaughts of +their resentful foes. The crushing of the Cherokees in 1776 +relieved the pressure upon the Tennessee settlers, enabling them +to strengthen their hold and prepare effectively for future +eventualities; the possession of the gateway to Kentucky kept +free the passage for Western settlement; Watauga and its +defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to British +invasion of the East from Kentucky and the Northwest during the +Revolution; while these Tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon +to set forth again to invade a new wilderness and at frightful +cost to colonize the Cumberland. +</P> + +<P> +The little chain of stockades along the farflung frontier of +Kentucky was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly +resolved that this chain must not break. The Revolution +precipitated against this chain wave after wave of formidable +Indian foes from the Northwest under British leadership. At the +very time when Grifth Rutherford set out for the relief of +McDowell's Fort, a marauding Indian band captured by stealth near +the Transylvania Fort, known as Boone's Fort (Boonesborough), +Elizabeth and Frances Callaway, and Jemima Boone, the daughters +of Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, and rapidly marched them +away toward the Shawanoe towns on the Ohio. A relief party, in +two divisions, headed respectively by the young girls' fathers, +and composed among others of the lovers of the three girls, +Samuel Henderson, John Holder, and Flanders Callaway, pursued +them with almost incredible swiftness. Guided by broken twigs and +bits of cloth surreptitiously dropped by Elizabeth Callaway, they +finally overtook the unsuspecting savages, killed two of them, +and rescued the three maidens unharmed. This romantic +episode—which gave Fenimore Cooper the theme for the most +memorable scene in one of his Leatherstocking Tales had an even +more romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three +pairs of lovers. +</P> + +<P> +This bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously +foiled, was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the +coming neighborhood of the stations; and relief was felt when the +Transylvania Fort, the great stockade planned by Judge Henderson, +was completed by the pioneers (July, 1776). Glad tidings arrived +only a few days later when the Declaration of Independence, read +aloud from the Virginia Gazette, was greeted with wild huzzas by +the patriotic backwoodsmen. During the ensuing months occasional +invasions were made by savage bands; but it was not until April +24, 1777, that Henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, +being invested by a company of some seventy-five savages. The +twenty-two riflemen in the fort drove off the painted warriors, +but not before Michael Stoner, Daniel Boone, and several others +were severely wounded. As he lay helpless upon the ground, his +ankle shattered by a bullet, Boone was lifted by Simon Kenton and +borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of the stockade amid a +veritable shower of balls. The stoical and taciturn Boone clasped +Kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness in the +brief but heartfelt utterance; "You are a fine fellow." On July +4th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when +two hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. +But owing to the vigilance and superb markmanship of the +defenders, as well as to the lack of cannon by the besieging +force, the Indians reluctantly abandoned the siege, after leaving +a number dead upon the field. Soon afterward the arrival of two +strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily summoned +from the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia, once again +made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the West. +</P> + +<P> +Kentucky's terrible year, 1778, opened with a severe disaster to +the white settlers—when Boone with thirty men, while engaged in +making salt at the "Lower Salt Spring," was captured in February +by more than a hundred Indians, sent by Governor Hamilton of +Detroit to drive the white settlers from "Kentucke." Boone +remained in captivity until early summer, when, learning that his +Indian captors were planning an attack in force upon the +Transylvania Fort, he succeeded in effecting his escape. After a +break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which +he ate but one meal, Boone finally arrived at the big fort on +June 20th. The settlers were thus given ample time for +preparation, as the long siege did not begin until September 7th. +The fort was invested by a powerful force flying the English +flag—four hundred and forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion +and ochre of their war-paint, and eleven Frenchmen, the whole +being commanded by the French-Canadian, Captain Dagniaux de +Quindre, and the great Indian Chief, Black-fish who had adopted +Boone as a son. In the effort to gain his end de Quindre resorted +to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to outwit the +settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "They formed +a scheme to deceive us," says Boone, "declaring it was their +orders, from Governor Hamilton, to take us captives, and not to +destroy us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, +they would immediately withdraw their forces from our walls, and +return home peacably." Transparent as the stratagem was, Boone +incautiously agreed to a conference with the enemy; Callaway +alone took the precaution to guard against Indian duplicity. +After a long talk, the Indians proposed to Boone, Callaway, and +the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them that they shake +hands in token of peace and friendship. As picturesquely +described by Daniel Trabue: +</P> + +<P> +"The Indians sayed two Indians must shake hands with one white +man to make a Double or sure peace at this time the Indians had +hold of the white men's hands and held them. Col. Calloway +objected to this but the other Indians laid hold or tryed to lay +hold of the other hand but Colonel Calloway was the first that +jerked away from them but the Indians seized the men two Indians +holt of one man or it was mostly the case and did their best to +hold them but while the man and Indians was a scuffling the men +from the Fort agreeable to Col. Calloway's order fired on them +they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe +and the fire continued on both sides." +</P> + +<P> +During the siege Callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a +wooden cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a +group of Indians "made them scamper perdidiously." The secret +effort of the Indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, +being discovered by the defenders, was frustrated by a +countermine. Unable to outwit, outfight, or outmaneuver the +resourceful Callaway, de Quindre finally withdrew on September +16th, closing the longest and severest attack that any of the +fortified stations of Kentucky had ever been called upon to +withstand. +</P> + +<P> +The successful defense of the Transylvania Fort, made by these +indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the +Continental Congress and left to fight alone their battles in the +forests, was of national significance in its results. Had the +Transylvania Fort fallen, the northern Indians in overwhelming +numbers, directed by Hamilton and led by British officers, might +well have swept Kentucky free of defenders and fallen with +devastating force upon the exposed settlements along the western +frontiers of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, This +defense of Boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of +commemoration in the annals of the Revolution, along with +Lexington and Bunker's Hill. Coupled with Clark's meteoric +campaign in the Northwest and the subsequent struggles in the +defense of Kentucky, it may be regarded as an event basically +responsible for the retention of the trans-Alleghany region by +the United States. The bitter struggles, desperate sieges, and +bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a close with the +expeditions of Clark and Logan in November, 1782, which +appropriately concluded the Revolution in the West by putting a +definite end to all prospect of formidable invasion of Kentucky. +</P> + +<P> +In November, 1777, "Washington District," the delegates of which +had been received in the preceding year by the Provincial +Congress of North Carolina, was formed by the North Carolina +General Assembly into Washington County; and to it were assigned +the boundaries of the whole of the present state of Tennessee. +While this immense territory was thus being definitely included +within the bounds of North Carolina, Judge Henderson on behalf of +the Transylvania Company was making a vigorous effort to secure +the reestablishment of its rights from the Virginia Assembly. By +order of the Virginia legislature, an exhaustive investigation of +the claims of the Transylvania Company was therefore made, +hearings being held at various points in the back country. On +July 18, 1777, Judge Henderson presented to the peace +commissioners for North Carolina and Virginia at the Long Island +treaty ground an elaborate memorial in behalf of the Transylvania +Company, which the commissioners unanimously refused to consider, +as not coming under their jurisdiction. Finally, after a full and +impartial discussion before the Virginia House of Delegates, that +body declared the Transylvania purchase void. But in +consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the +company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said +lands, by which the commonwealth is likely to receive great +advantage, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a +barrier against the Indians," the House of Delegates granted +Richard Henderson and Company two hundred thousand acres of land +situated between the Ohio and Green rivers, where the town of +Henderson, Kentucky, now stands. With this bursting of the +Transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden dreams of +Henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth +American colony in the heart of the trans-Alleghany, a first +romantic chapter in the history of Westward expansion comes to a +close. +</P> + +<P> +But another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. +Undiscouraged by Virginia's confiscation of Transylvania, and +disregarding North Carolina's action in extending her boundaries +over the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered +limits, Henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the +ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking +conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more +solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment of +Transylvania. It was not his purpose, however, to found an +independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the +Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North Carolina, +and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale +of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland +supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the +prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was +necessary to prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to +determine whether or not the Great French Lick, the ideal +location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of North +Carolina. +</P> + +<P> +Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an +extensive colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to +take form in vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project +Henderson had chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North +Carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for +future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing +party the ablest of the Tennessee pioneers, James Robertson. +Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga settlement +and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North +Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to +leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in +this desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight +white men and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth +from the Holston settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a +preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be +prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." After +erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense, +Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long +journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult +with George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the +Virginia Land Office several thousand acres of land at the French +Lick. After perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing +"cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in Virginia, +Robertson returned to Watauga to take command of the migration. +</P> + +<P> +Toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the +other by water, for the wonderful new country on the Cumberland +of which Boone and Scaggs and Mansker had brought back such +glowing descriptions. During the autumn Judge Henderson and other +commissioners from North Carolina, in conjunction with +commissioners from Virginia, had been running out the boundary +line between the two states. On the very day—Christmas, +1779—that Judge Henderson reached the site of the Transylvania +Fort, now called Boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from the +parent hive at Watauga, under Robertson's leadership, reached the +French Lick and on New Year's Day, 1780, crossed the river on the +ice to the present site of Nashville. +</P> + +<P> +The journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, +reads like a chapter from one of Captain Mayne Reid's fascinating +novels of adventure, was written by Colonel John Donelson, the +father-in-law of Andrew Jackson. Setting out from Fort Patrick +Henry on Holston River, December 22, 1779, with a flotilla +consisting of about thirty flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, they +encountered few difficulties until they began to run the gauntlet +of the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee. Here they were +furiously attacked by the Indians, terrible in their red and +black war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with +smallpox on board, was driven to shore by the Indians. The +occupants were massacred; but the Indians at once contracted the +disease and died by the hundreds. This luckless sacrifice of +"poor Stuart, his family and friends," while a ghastly price to +pay, undoubtedly procured for the Cumberland settlements +comparative immunity from Indian forays until the new-comers had +firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. +Eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the +typical American pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for +reunion of families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a +log cabin, is the last entry in Donelson's diary (April 24, +1780): +</P> + +<P> +"This day we arrived at our journey's end at the Big Salt Lick, +where we have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his +company. It is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to +restore to him and others their families and friends, who were +intrusted to our care, and who, some time since, perhaps, +despaired of ever meeting again. Though our prospects at present +are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which have been built +on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and his +company." +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the +"hard winter," Judge Henderson was sorely concerned for the fate +of the new colony which he had projected, and immediately +proceeded to purchase at huge cost a large stock of corn. On +March 5, 1780, this corn, which had been raised by Captain +Nathaniel Hart, was "sent from Boonesborough in perogues +[pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of William Bailey +Smith.... This corn was taken down the Kentucky River, and +over the Falls of Ohio, to the mouth of the Cumberland, and +thence up that river to the fort at the French Lick. It is +believed have been the only bread which the settlers had until it +was raised there in 1781." There is genuine impressiveness in +this heroic triumphing over the obstacles of obdurate nature and +this paternalistic provision for the exposed Cumberland +settlement—the purchase by Judge Henderson, the shipment by +Captain Hart, and the transportation by Colonel Smith, in an +awful winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this +indispensable quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand +dollars in depreciated currency. +</P> + +<P> +Upon his arrival at the French Lick, shortly after the middle of +April, Judge Henderson at once proceeded to organize a government +for the little community. On May 1st articles of association were +drawn up; and important additions thereto were made on May 13th, +when the settlers signed the complete series. The original +document, still preserved, was drafted by Judge Henderson, being +written throughout in his own handwriting; and his name heads the +list of two hundred and fifty and more signatures. The +"Cumberland Compact," as this paper is called, is fundamentally a +mutual contract between the copartners of the Transylvania +Company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the company. +It represents the collective will of the community; and on +account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each +party to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. The +organization of this pure democracy was sound and +admirable—another notable early example of the commission form +of government. The most remarkable feature of this backwoods +constitution marks Judge Henderson as a pioneer in the use of the +political device so prominent to-day, one hundred and forty years +later—the "recall of judges." In the following striking clause +this innovation in government was recognized thus early in +American history as the most effective means of securing and +safeguarding justice in a democracy: +</P> + +<P> +"As often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the +doings of the Judges or Triers so to be chosen, they may call a +new selection in any of the said stations, and elect bothers in +their stead, having due respect to the number now agreed to be +elected at each station, which persons so to be chosen shall have +the same power with those in whose room or place they shall or +may be chosen to act." +</P> + +<P> +A land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by +Judge Henderson, in accordance with the compact; and the lands, +for costs of entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of +ten dollars per thousand acres. But as the Transylvania Company +was never able to secure a "satisfactory and indisputable title," +the clause resulted in perpetual nonpayment. In 1783, following +the lead of Virginia in the case of Transylvania, North Carolina +declared the Transylvania Company's purchase void, but granted +the company in compensation a tract of one hundred and ninety +thousand acres in Powell's Valley. As compensation, the grants of +North Carolina and Virginia were quite inadequate, considering +the value of the service in behalf of permanent western +colonization rendered by the Transylvania company. +</P> + +<P> +James Robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of +twelve commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of +the military forces of the eight little associated settlements on +the Cumberland. Here for the next two years the self-reliant +settlers under Robertson's wise and able leadership successfully +repelled the Indians in their guerrilla warfare, firmly +entrenched themselves in their forest-girt stronghold, and +vindicated their claim to the territory by right of occupation +and conquest. Here sprang up in later times a great and populous +city—named, strangely enough, neither for Henderson, the +founder, nor for Robertson and Donelson, the leaders of the two +colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its +history or origins, the gallant North Carolinian, General Francis +Nash, who was killed at the Battle of Germantown. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. King's Mountain +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden +and favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago +destruction hung over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 +British and Tories waited at Charlotte for the reinforcement of +1000 from Broad River, which reinforcement has been entirely cut +off, 130 killed and the remainder captured. Cornwallis +immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward Charleston, +with part of our army in his rear....—Elizabeth Maxwell +Steel: Salisbury, October 25, 1780. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So thoroughly had the Cherokees been subdued by the devastations +of the campaign of 1776 that for several years thereafter they +were unable to organize for a new campaign against the +backwoodsmen along the frontiers of North Carolina and Tennessee. +During these years the Holston settlers principally busied +themselves in making their position secure, as well as in setting +their house in order by severely punishing the lawless Tory +element among them. In 1779 the Chickamaugas, with whom The +Dragging Canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the +Cherokees had joined hands after the campaign of 1776, grew so +bold in their bloody forays upon small exposed settlements that +North Carolina and Virginia in conjunction despatched a strong +expedition against them. Embarking on April 10th at the mouth of +Big Creek near the present Rogersville, Tennessee, three hundred +and fifty men led by Colonel Evan Shelby descended the Tennessee +to the fastnesses of the Chickamaugas. Meeting with no resistance +from the astonished Indians, who fled to the shelter of the +densely wooded hills, they laid waste the Indian towns and +destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the British +agents for distribution among the red men. The Chickamaugas were +completely quelled; and during the period of great stress through +which the Tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the Cherokees +were restrained through the wise diplomacy of Joseph Martin, +Superintendent of Indian affairs for Virginia. +</P> + +<P> +The great British offensive against the Southern colonies, which +were regarded as the vulnerable point in the American +Confederacy, was fully launched upon the fall of Charleston in +May, 1780. Cornwallis established his headquarters at Camden; and +one of his lieutenants, the persuasive and brilliant Ferguson, +soon rallied thousands of Loyalists in South Carolina to the +British standard. When Cornwallis inaugurated his campaign for +cutting Washington wholly off from the Southern colonies by +invading North Carolina, the men upon the western waters realized +that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and in +protection of their homes. Two hundred Tennessee riflemen from +Sullivan County, under Colonel Isaac Shelby, were engaged in +minor operations in South Carolina conducted by Colonel Charles +McDowell; and conspicuous among these engagements was the affair +at Musgrove's Mill on August 18th when three hundred horsemen led +by Colonel James Williams, a native of Granville County, North +Carolina, Colonel Isaac Shelby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of +Georgia repulsed with heavy loss a British force of between four +and five hundred. +</P> + +<P> +These minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous +defeat of Gates by Cornwallis at Camden on August 16th and the +humiliating blow to Sumter at Rocky Mount on the following day. +Ferguson hotly pursued the frontiersmen, who then retreated over +the mountains; and from his camp at Gilbert Town he despatched a +threatening message to the Western leaders, declaring that if +they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms and +take protection under his standard, he would march his army over +the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and sword. +Stung to action, Shelby hastily rode off to consult with Sevier +at his log castle near Jonesboro; and together they matured a +plan to arouse the mountain men and attack Ferguson by surprise. +In the event of failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to +leave the country and find a home with the Spaniards in +Louisiana. +</P> + +<P> +At the original place of rendezvous, the Sycamore Shoals of the +Watauga, the overmountain men gathered on September 25th. There +an eloquent sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of God, +the Reverend Samuel Doak, who concluded his discourse with a +stirring invocation to the sword of the Lord and of Gideon—a +sentiment greeted with the loud applause of the militant +frontiersmen. Here and at various places along the march they +were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to join +the expedition—Colonel William Campbell, who with some +reluctance had abandoned his own plans in response to Shelby's +urgent and repeated message, in command of four hundred hardy +frontiersmen from Washington County, Virginia; Colonel Benjamin +Cleveland, with the wild fighters of Wilkes known as "Cleveland's +Bulldogs"; Colonel Andrew Hampton, with the stalwart riflemen of +Rutherford; Major Joseph Winston, the cousin of Patrick Henry, +with the flower of the citizenry of Surry; the McDowells, Charles +and Joseph, with the bold borderers of Burke; Colonels Lacy and +Hill, with well-trained soldiers of South Carolina; and +Brigadier-General James Williams, leading the intrepid Rowan +volunteers. +</P> + +<P> +Before breaking camp at Quaker Meadows, the leading officers in +conference chose Colonel William Campbell as temporary officer of +the day, until they could secure a general officer from +headquarters as commander-in-chief. The object of the +mountaineers and big-game hunters was, in their own terms, to +pursue Ferguson, to run him down, and to capture him. In +pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the ford of +Green River chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best +mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on October 6th this force +of picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" +eager to join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the Cowpens. +Here a second selection took place; and Colonel Campbell, was +again elected commander of the detachment, now numbering some +nine hundred and ten horsemen and eighty odd footmen, which +dashed rapidly on in pursuit of Ferguson. +</P> + +<P> +The British commander had been apprised of the coming of the +over-mountain men. Scorning to make a forced march and attempt to +effect a junction with Cornwallis at Charlotte, Ferguson chose to +make a stand and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom +he denounced as mongrels and the dregs of mankind. After +despatching to Cornwallis a message asking for aid, Ferguson took +up his camp on King's Mountain, just south of the North Carolina +border line, in the present York County, South Carolina. Here, +after his pickets had been captured in silence, he was surprised +by his opponents. At three o'clock in the afternoon of October +7th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the heights. +</P> + +<P> +The battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the +character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and +tactics. Each party ran true to form—Ferguson repeating +Braddock's suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the +deadly fusillade of riflemen, who in Indian fashion were +carefully posted behind trees and every shelter afforded by the +natural inequalities of the ground. In the army of the Carolina +and Virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent detachments +recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own +individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its +own leader. Campbell—like Cleveland, Winston, Williams, Lacey, +Shelby, McDowell, Sevier, and Hambright—personally led his own +division; but the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of +the terrain made it impossible for him, though the chosen +commander of the expedition, actually to play that role in the +battle. The plan agreed upon in advance by the frontier leaders +was simple enough—to surround and capture Ferguson's camp on the +high plateau. The more experienced Indian fighters, Sevier and +Shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme which in any +case would doubtless have been employed by the frontiersmen; it +was to give the British "Indian play"—namely to take cover +everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. Cleveland, a +Hercules in strength and courage who had fought the Indians and +recognized the wisdom of Indian tactics, ordered his men, as did +some of the other leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, +but to return to the attack after the charge had spent its force. +</P> + +<P> +"My brave fellows," said Cleveland, "every man must consider +himself an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as quick +as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. When you +can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not +to run quite off. If we are repulsed, let us make a point of +returning and renewing the fight; perhaps we may have better luck +in the second attempt than in the first." +</P> + +<P> +The plateau upon which Ferguson was encamped was the top of an +eminence some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and +fifty yards from one base across to the other; and its shape was +that of an Indian paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty +yards at the blade to sixty yards at the handle in width. +Outcropping boulders upon the outer edge of the plateau afforded +some slight shelter for Ferguson's force; but, unsuspicious of +attack, Ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp from the +assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection +of the timber surrounding it on all sides. As to the disposition +of the attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied +by Cleveland with his "Bulldogs," Hambright with his South Fork +Boys from the Catawba (now Lincoln County, North Carolina), and +Winston with his Surry riflemen; to the south were the divisions +of Joseph McDowell, Sevier, and Campbell; while Lacey's South +Carolinians, the Rowan levies under Williams, and the Watauga +borderers under Shelby were stationed upon the north side. +Ferguson's forces consisted of Provincial Rangers, one hundred +and fifty strong, and other well-drilled Loyalists, between eight +and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously +weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and +two hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. +Shelby's men, before getting into position, received a hot fire, +the opening shots of the engagement. This inspired Campbell, who +now threw off his coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men +posted on the side of the mountain opposite to Shelby's force. +When Campbell's Virginians uttered a series of piercing shouts, +the British officer, De Peyster, second in command, remarked to +his chief: "These things are ominous—these are the damned +yelling boys." +</P> + +<P> +The battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged +with terrific ferocity. The Loyalist militia, whenever possible, +fired from the shelter of the rocks; while the Provincial Corps, +with fixed bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired +at close range and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the +mountain. After each bayonet charge the Provincials coolly +withdrew to the summit, under the accumulating fire of the +returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in their rear. Owing +to their elevated location, the British, although using the +rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by Ferguson himself, +found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, thus +suffering from nature's handicap, refraction. The militia, using +sharpened butcher-knives which Ferguson had taught them to +utilize as bayonets, charged against the mountaineers; but their +fire, in answer to the deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel-shooters, +was belated, owing to the fact that they could not fire +while the crudely improvised bayonets remained inserted in their +pieces. The Americans, continually firing upward, found ready +marks for their aim in the clearly delineated outlines of their +adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which animates the +hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game at +bay. +</P> + +<P> +The leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore +themselves with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the +lines of fire and with native eloquence, interspersed with +profanity, rallying their individual commands again and again to +the attack. The valiant Campbell scaled the rugged heights, +loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. Cleveland, resolutely +facing the foe, urged on is Bulldogs with the inspiriting words: +"Come, boys; let's try 'em again. We'll have better luck next +time." No sooner did Shelby's men reach the bottom of the hill, +in retreating before a charge, than their commander, fiery and +strenuous, ardently shouted: "Now boys, quickly reload your +rifles, and let's advance upon them, and give them another hell +of a fire." The most deadly charge, led by De Peyster himself, +fell upon Hambright's South Fork boys; and one of their gallant +officers, Major Chronicle, waving his military hat, was mortally +wounded, the command, "Face to the hill!", dying on his lips. +These veteran soldiers, unlike the mountaineers, firmly met the +shock of the charge, and a number of their men were shot down or +transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their fire until the +charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a deadly +volley before retiring. The gallant William Lenoir, whose +reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, +received several wounds and emerged from the battle with his hair +and clothes torn by balls. The ranking American officer, +Brigadier General James Williams, was mortally wounded while "on +the very top of the mountain, in the thickest of the fight"; and +as he momentarily revived, his first words were: "For God's sake, +boys, don't give up the hill." Hambright, sorely wounded, his +boot overflowing with blood and his hat riddled with three bullet +holes, declined to dismount, but pressed gallantly forward, +exclaiming in his "Pennsylvania Dutch": "Huzza, my prave poys, +fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" On the +British side, Ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing +from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all +danger. Wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, +there the fighting was hottest and the British resistance the +most stubborn. His officers fought with the characteristic +steadiness of the British soldier; and again and again his men +charged headlong against the wavering and fiery circle of the +frontiersmen. +</P> + +<P> +Ferguson's boast that "he was on King's Mountain, that he was +king of the Mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from +it" was doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the +impregnability of his position, than by a desperate desire to +inspire confidence in his men. His location was admirably chosen +for defense against attack by troops employing regulation +tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of sudden +investment, Ferguson had erected no fortifications for his +encampment. His frenzied efforts on the battlefield seem like a +mad rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the +peculiar tactics of the frontiersmen. While the mountain flamed +like a volcano and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a +steady stricture was in progress. The lines were drawn tighter +and tighter around the trapped and frantically struggling army; +and at last the fall of their commander, riddled with bullets, +proved the tragic futility of further resistance. The game was +caught and bagged to a man. When Winston, with his fox-hunters of +Surry, dashed recklessly through the woods, says a chronicler of +the battle, and the last to come into position, +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, +</P> + +<P> +then +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +From all the circle of the hills death sleeted in upon the +doomed. +</P> + +<P> +The battle was decisive in its effect—shattering the plans of +Cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. The +victory put a full stop to the invasion of North Carolina, which +was then well under way. Cornwallis abandoned his carefully +prepared campaign and immediately left the state. After +ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an action which had an +effectively deterrent effect upon future Tory murders and +depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. The brilliant +initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous energy +of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise—all +reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the +given situation—were the controlling factors in this +overwhelming victory of the Revolution. The pioneers of the Old +Southwest—the independent and aggressive yeomanry of North +Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina—had risen in their might. +Without the aid or authority of blundering state governments, +they had created an army of frontiersmen, Indian-fighters, and +big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the +continent since the Battle of the Great Kanawha. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. The State of Franklin +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare +in the western revolt .... I have thought proper to issue this +manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said +revolt ... that the honour of this State has been particularly +wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, +would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation +would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual +satisfaction of the mother and new State.... Let your +proposals be consistent with the honour of the State to accede +to, which by your allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate +and I make no doubt but her generosity, in time, will meet your +wishes.—Governor Alexander Martin: Manifesto against the State +of Franklin, April 25, 1785. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +To the shrewd diplomacy of Joseph Martin, who held the Cherokees +in check during the period of the King's Mountain campaign, the +settlers in the valleys of the Watauga and the Holston owed their +temporary immunity from Indian attack. But no sooner did Sevier +and his over-mountain men return from the battle-field of King's +Mountain than they were called upon to join in an expedition +against the Cherokees, who had again gone on the war-path at the +instigation of the British. After Sevier with his command had +defeated a small party of Indians at Boyd's Creek in December, +the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command of +Colonel Arthur Campbell, with Major Joseph Martin as subordinate, +penetrated to the heart of the Indian country, burned Echota, +Chilhowee, Settiquo, Hiawassee, and seven other principal +villages, and destroyed an immense amount of property and +supplies. In March, suspecting that the arch-conspirators against +the white settlers were the Cherokees at the head waters of the +Little Tennessee, Sevier led one hundred and fifty horsemen +through the devious mountain defiles and struck the Indians a +swift and unexpected blow at Tuckasegee, near the present +Webster, North Carolina. In this extraordinarily daring raid, one +of his most brilliant feats of arms, Sevier lost only one man +killed and one wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the +loss of thirty killed, took many more prisoners, burned six +Indian towns, and captured many horses and supplies. Once his +deadly work was done, Sevier with his bold cavaliers silently +plunged again into the forest whence he had so suddenly emerged, +and returned in triumph to the settlements. +</P> + +<P> +Disheartened though the Indians were to see the smoke of their +burning towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they +did not keep the treaty made at Long Island in July, 1781. The +Indians suffered from very real grievances at the hands of the +lawless white settlers who persisted in encroaching upon the +Indian lands. When the Indian ravages were resumed, Sevier and +Anderson, the latter from Sullivan County, led a punitive +expedition of two hundred riflemen against the Creeks and the +Chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste +the Indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to +the copper-colored marauders. +</P> + +<P> +During this same period the settlers on the Cumberland were +displaying a grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of +Indian attack forever memorable in the history of the Old +Southwest. On the night of January 15, 1781, the settlers at +Freeland's Station, after a desperate resistance, succeeded in +beating off the savages who attacked in force. At Nashborough on +April 2d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the stockade by +the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after serious +loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of +the fort. Indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the +settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and +attacked the astounded Indians with such ferocity that the +diversion thus created enabled the settlers to escape from the +deadly trap. During the next two years the history of the +Cumberland settlements is but the gruesome recital of murder +after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the lurking +Indian foe. Robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the +abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. The arrival +of the North Carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off +bounty lands and settlers' preemptions, and the treaty of peace +concluded at the French Lick on November 5 and 6, 1783, gave +permanence and stability to the Cumberland settlements. The +lasting friendship of the Chickasaws was won; but the Creeks for +some time continued to harass the Tennessee pioneers. The +frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the Cherokees, stoically, +heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, +syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal +battle. The treaty at Hopewell on November 28, 1785, marks the +end of an era—the Spartan yet hopeless resistance of the +intrepid red men to the relentless and frequently unwarranted +expropriation by the whites of the ancient and immemorial domain +of the savage. +</P> + +<P> +The skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the +mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the +organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on +June 2, 1784, when the legislature of North Carolina ceded to the +Congress of the United States the title which that state +possessed to the land west of the Alleghanies. Among the terms of +the Cession Act were these conditions: that the ceded territory +should be formed into a separate state or states; and that if +Congress should not accept the lands thus ceded and give due +notice within two years, the act should be of no force and the +lands should revert to North Carolina. No sooner did this news +reach the Western settlers than they began to mature plans for +the organization of a government during the intervening twelve +months. Their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed +by the Indians, and North Carolina's delay in sending goods +promised the Indians by a former treaty, both promoted Indian +hostility; and these facts, combined with their remote location +beyond the mountains, rendering them almost inaccessible to +communication with North Carolina—all rendered the decision of +the settlers almost inevitable. Moreover, the allurements of high +office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional +motives sufficiently human in themselves to give driving power to +the movement toward independence. +</P> + +<P> +At a convention assembled at Jonesborough on August 23, 1784, +delegates from the counties of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene +characteristically decided to organize an "Association." They +solemnly declared by resolution: "We have a just and undeniable +right to petition to Congress to accept the session made by North +Carolina, and for that body to countenance us for forming +ourselves into a separate government, and to frame either a +permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a resolve of +Congress...." Meanwhile, Governor Martin, largely as the +result of the prudent advice of North Carolina's representative +in Congress, Dr. Hugh Williamson, was brought to the conclusion +that North Carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted +precipitately. This important step had been taken without the +full consideration of the people of the state. Among the various +arguments advanced by Williamson was the impressive contention +that, in accordance with the procedure in the case of other +states, the whole expense of the huge Indian expeditions in 1776 +and the heavy militia aids to South Carolina and Georgia should +be credited to North Carolina as partial fulfilment of her +continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably +made to the Federal government. Williamson's arguments proved +convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of far +reaching national importance that the assembly of North Carolina +(October 22 to November 25, 1784) repealed the cession act made +the preceding spring. +</P> + +<P> +Before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the +western waters, a second convention met at Jonesborough on +December 17th. Sentiment at this time was much divided, for a +number of the people, expecting the repeal of the cession act, +genuinely desired a continued allegiance to North Carolina. Of +these may well have been John Sevier, who afterward declared to +Joseph Martin that he had been "Draged into the Franklin measures +by a large number of the people of this country." The principal +act of this convention was the adoption of a temporary +constitution for six months and the provision for a convention to +be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this +constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent +constitution of the new state. The scholars on the western +waters, desiring to commemorate their aspirations for freedom, +chose as the name of the projected new state: "Frankland"—the +Land of the Free. The name finally chosen, however, perhaps for +reasons of policy, was "Franklin," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. +Meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for a stable +government along the Tennessee frontier, the North Carolina +assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four +western counties the District of Washington, with John Haywood as +presiding judge and David Campbell as associate, and conferred +upon John Sevier the rank of brigadier general of the new +district. The first week in December Governor Martin sent to +Sevier his military commission; and replying to Joseph Martin's +query (December 31, 1784, prompted by Governor Martin) as to +whether, in view of the repeal of the cession act, he intended to +persist in revolt or await developments, Sevier gave it out +broadcast that "we shall pursue no further measures as to a new +State." +</P> + +<P> +Owing to the remoteness of the Tennessee settlements and the +difficulty of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere +of sentiment in Franklin, Governor Martin realized the necessity +of sending a personal representative to discover the true state +of affairs in the disaffected region beyond the mountains. For +the post of ambassador to the new government, Governor Martin +selected a man distinguished for mentality and diplomatic skill, +a pioneer of Tennessee and Kentucky, Judge Richard Henderson's +brother, Colonel Samuel Henderson. Despite Sevier's disavowal of +any further intention to establish a new state, the governor gave +Colonel Henderson elaborate written instructions, the purport of +which was to learn all that he could about the political +complexion of the Tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the +people, and the agitation for a separate commonwealth. Moreover, +in the hope of placating the leading chieftains of the Cherokees, +who had bitterly protested against the continued aggressions and +encroachments upon their lands by the lawless borderers, he +instructed Colonel Henderson also to learn the temper and +dispositions of the Indians, and to investigate the case of +Colonel James Hubbardt who was charged with the murder of Untoola +of Settiquo, a chief of the Cherokees. +</P> + +<P> +When Colonel Henderson arrived at Jonesborough, he found the +third Franklin legislature in session, and to this body he +presented Governor Martin's letter of February 27, 1785. In +response to the governor's request for an "account of the late +proceedings of the people in the western country," an extended +reply was drafted by the new legislature; and this letter, +conveyed to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson, in setting +forth in detail the reasons for the secession, made the following +significant statement: "We humbly thank North Carolina for every +sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, +that as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent +from the tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause +ceases which is the basis of that affection, we shall lose your +esteem." At the same time (March 22nd), Sevier, who had just been +chosen Governor of the State of Franklin, transmitted to Governor +Martin by Colonel Henderson a long letter, not hitherto published +in any history of the period, in which he outspokenly says: +</P> + +<P> +"It gives me great pain to think there should arise any Disputes +between us and North Carolina, & I flatter myself when North +Carolina states the matter in a fair light she will be fully +convinced that necessity and self preservation have Compelled Us +to the measures we Have taken, and could the people have +discovered that No. Carolina would Have protected and Govern'd +them, They would have remained where they were; but they +perceived a neglect and Coolness, and the Language of Many of +your most leading members Convinced them they were Altogether +Disregarded." +</P> + +<P> +Following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by Martin (April +25th) and Sevier (May 15th), the burden of the problem fell upon +Richard Caswell, who in June succeeded Martin as Governor of +North Carolina. +</P> + +<P> +Meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the +name of Franklin to the new state, although for some time it +continued to be called by many Frankland, and its adherents +Franks. The legislature had also established an academy named +after Governor Martin, and had appointed (March 12th) William +Cocke as a delegate to the Continental Congress, urging its +acceptance of the cession. In the Memorial from the Franklin +legislature to the Continental Congress, dealing in some detail +with North Carolina's failure to send the Cherokees some goods +promised them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: +</P> + +<P> +"She [North Carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had +promised to give the Indians for the said land which so +exasperated them that they begun to commit hostalities on our +frontiers in this situation we were induced to a declaration of +Independence not doubting we should be excused by Congress ... as +North Carolina seemed quite regardless of our interest and the +Indians daily murdering our friends and relations without +distinction of age or sex." +</P> + +<P> +Sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as +well as desiring the cession, Congress urged North Carolina to +amend the repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western +territory to the Union. +</P> + +<P> +Among the noteworthy features of the Franklin movement was the +constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the Reverend +Samuel Houston of Washington County, and presented at the meeting +of the Franklin legislature, Greeneville, November 14, 1785. This +eccentric constitution was based in considerable part upon the +North Carolina model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the +constitution of North Carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. +Under this Houston constitution, the name "Frankland" was chosen +for the new state. The legislature was to consist of but a single +house. In a section excluding from the legislature "ministers of +the gospel, attorneys at law, and doctors of physics," those were +declared ineligible for office who were of immoral character or +guilty of "such flagrant enormities as drunkenness, gaming, +profane swearing, lewdness, Sabbath-breaking and such like," or +who should deny the existence of God, of heaven, and of hell, the +inspiration of the Scriptures, or the existence of the Trinity. +Full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were +assured—but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to +office. No one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar +to do the business." This remarkable document, which provided for +many other curious innovations in government, was the work of +pioneer doctrinaires—Houston, Campbell, Cocke, and Tipton—and +deserves study as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius +of the western frontiersmen. +</P> + +<P> +The liberal policy of Martin, followed by the no less +conciliatory attitude of his successor, Caswell, for the time +proved wholly abortive. However, Martin's appointment of Evan +Shelby in Sevier's place as brigadier, and of Jonathan Tipton as +colonel of his county, produced disaffection among the Franks; +and the influence of Joseph Martin against the new government was +a powerful obstacle to its success. At first the two sets of +military, civil, and judicial officers were able to work amicably +together; and a working-basis drawn up by Shelby and Sevier, +although afterward repudiated by the Franklin legislature, +smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. The +persistent and quiet assertion of authority by North Carolina, +without any overt act of violence against the officers of +Franklin state, revealed great diplomatic skill in Governors +Martin and Caswell. It was doubtless the considerate policy of +the latter, coupled with the defection from Sevier's cause of men +of the stamp of Houston and Tipton, after the blundering and +cavalier rejection of their singular constitution, which +undermined the foundations of Franklin. Sevier himself later +wrote with considerable bitterness: "I have been faithfull, and +my own breast acquits myself that I have acted no part but what +has been Consistent with honor and justice, tempered with +Clemency and mercy. How far our pretended patriots have supported +me as their pretended chiefe magistrate, I leave the world at +large to Judge." Arthur Campbell's plans for the formation of a +greater Franklin, through the union of the people on the western +waters of Virginia with those of North Carolina, came to nought +when Virginia in the autumn of 1785 with stern decisiveness +passed an act making it high treason to erect an independent +government within her limits unless authorized by the assembly. +Sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to +establish a free state, writing to Governor Caswell: "We shall +continue to act independent and would rather suffer death, in all +its various and frightful shapes, than conform to anything that +is disgraceful." North Carolina, now proceeding with vigor +(November, 1786), fully reassumed its sovereignty and +jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed an act of +pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and +conciliatory measures. +</P> + +<P> +Driven to extremities, Cocke and Sevier in turn appealed for aid +and advice to Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor the new state had +been named. In response to Cocke, Franklin wrote (August 12, +1786): "I think you are perfectly right in resolving to submit +them [the Points in Dispute] to the Decision of Congress and to +abide by their Determination." Franklin's views change in the +interim; for when, almost a year later, Sevier asks him for +counsel, Franklin has come to the conclusion that the wisest move +for Sevier was not to appeal to Congress, but to endeavor to +effect some satisfactory compromise with North Carolina (June 30, +1787): +</P> + +<P> +"There are only two Things that Humanity induces me to wish you +may succeed in: The Accomodating your Misunderstanding with the +Government of North Carolina, by amicable Means; and the Avoiding +an Indian war, by preventing Encroaching on their Lands.... +The Inconvenience to your People attending so remote a Seat of +Government, and the difficulty to that Government in ruling well +so remote a People, would I think be powerful Inducements with +it, to accede to any fair & reasonable Proposition it may receive +from you towards an Accommodation." +</P> + +<P> +Despite Sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence—his +treaty with the Indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the +Cherokees into the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt +against others in face of the reality of revolt against himself, +his struggle, equivocal and half-hearted, with the North Carolina +authorities under Tipton—despite all these heroic efforts, the +star of Franklin swiftly declined. The vigorous measures pursued +by General Joseph Martin, and his effective influence focussed +upon a movement already honey-combed with disaffection, finally +turned the scale. To the Franklin leaders he sent the urgent +message: "Nothing will do but a submission to the laws of North +Carolina." Early in April, 1788, Martin wrote to Governor +Randolph of Virginia: "I returned last evening from Green Co. +Washington destrict, North Carolina, after a tower through that +Co'ntry, and am happy to inform your Excellency that the late +unhappy dispute between the State of North Carolina, and the +pretended State of Franklin is subsided." Ever brave, constant, +and loyal to the interest of the pioneers, Sevier had originally +been drawn into the movement against his best judgment. Caught in +the unique trap, created by the passage of the cession act and +the sudden volte-face of its repeal, he struggled desperately to +extricate himself. Alone of all the leaders, the governor of +ill-starred Franklin remained recalcitrant. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. The Lure of Spain—The Haven of Statehood +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what +part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness +and security depend, and they immediately infer that their +interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and +liberality of your government.—John Sevier to Don Diego de +Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. +</P> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent +to the late & more recent settlements on the Kentucky in the Rest +the same difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress +you, but by a series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited +exertions and unconquerable perseverance, they have been +altogether or in great measure subdued.—Governor Samuel Johnston +to James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe, January 29, 1788. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +A strange sham-battle, staged like some scene from opera bouffe, +in the bleak snow-storm of February, 1788, is really the prelude +to a remarkable drama of revolt in which Sevier, Robertson, +Bledsoe, and the Cumberland stalwarts play the leading roles. On +February 27th, incensed beyond measure by the action of Colonel +John Tipton in harboring some of his slaves seized by the sheriff +under an execution issued by one of the North Carolina courts, +Sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents besieged Tipton with +a few of his friends in his home on Sinking Creek. The siege was +raised at daybreak on February 29th by the arrival of +reinforcements under Colonel Maxwell from Sullivan County; and +Sevier, who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his +forces after some desultory firing, in which two men were killed +and several wounded. Soon afterward Sevier sent word to Tipton +that on condition his life be spared he would submit to North +Carolina. On this note of tragi-comedy the State of Franklin +appeared quietly to expire. The usually sanguine Sevier, now +thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant settlements—deeply +despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans and +the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and +supporters The revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies +which he still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret +conspiracy to give over the State of Franklin into the protection +of a foreign power. +</P> + +<P> +The fame of Sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for +independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so +famous an advocate of liberty as Patrick Henry and winning the +sympathy of the Continental Congress. One of the most interested +observers of the progress of affairs in the State of Franklin was +Don Diego de Gardoqui, who had come to America in the spring of +1785, bearing a commission to the American Congress as Spanish +charge d'affaires (Encargados de Negocios) to the United States. +In the course of his negotiations with Jay concerning the right +of navigation of the Mississippi River, which Spain denied to the +Americans, Gardoqui was not long in discovering the violent +resentment of the Western frontiersmen, provoked by Jay's crass +blunder in proposing that the American republic, in return for +reciprocal foreign advantages offered by Spain, should waive for +twenty-five years her right to navigate the Mississippi. The +Cumberland traders had already felt the heavy hand of Spain in +the confiscation of their goods at Natchez; but thus far the +leaders of the Tennessee frontiersmen had prudently restrained +the more turbulent agitators against the Spanish policy, fearing +lest the spirit of retaliation, once aroused, might know no +bounds. Throughout the entire region of the trans-Alleghany, a +feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed—quite as much the +result of dissatisfaction with the central government which +permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment +against the domination of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner had the shrewd and watchful Gardoqui, who was eager to +utilize the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in +the interest of his country, learned of Sevier's armed +insurrection against the authority of North Carolina than he +despatched an emissary to sound the leading men of Franklin and +the Cumberland settlements in regard to an alliance. This secret +emissary was Dr. James White, who had been appointed by the +United States Government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for +the Southern Department on November 29, 1786. Reporting as +instructed to Don Estevan Miro, governor of Louisiana, White, the +corrupt tool of Spain, stated concerning his confidential mission +that the leaders of "Frankland" and "Cumberland district" had +"eagerly accepted the conditions" laid down by Gardoqui: to take +the oath of allegiance to Spain, and to renounce all submission +or allegiance whatever to any other sovereign or power. Satisfied +by the secret advices received, the Spanish minister reported to +the home authorities his confident belief that the Tennessee +backwoodsmen, if diplomatically handled, would readily throw in +their lot with Spain. +</P> + +<P> +After the fiasco of his siege of Tipton's home, Sevier had seized +upon the renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees as a means of +regaining his popularity. This he counted upon doing by rallying +his old comrades-in-arms under his standard and making one of his +meteoric, whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient Indian foe. The +victory of this erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "Nolichucky +Jack of the Border," over the Indians at a town on the Hiwassee +"so raised him in the esteem of the people on the frontier," +reports Colonel Maxwell, "that the people began [once more] to +flock to his standard." Inspirited by this good turn in his +fortunes, Sevier readily responded to Dr. White's overtures. +</P> + +<P> +Alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and +murders by the Indians in several Tennessee counties and on the +Kentucky road, Sevier, Robertson, and Anthony Bledsoe had +persuaded Governor Samuel Johnston of North Carolina to address +Gardoqui and request him to exert his influence to prevent +further acts of savage barbarity. In letters to Governor +Johnston, to Robertson, and to Sevier, all of date April 18th, +Gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely +surprised to know that there is a suspicion that the good +government of Spain is encouraging these acts of barbarity." The +letters to Robertson and Sevier, read between the lines as +suggestive reinforcements of Spain's secret proposals, possess +real significance. The letter to Sevier contains this dexterously +expressed sentiment: "His Majesty is very favorably inclined to +give the inhabitants of that region all the protection that they +ask for and, on my part, I shall take very great pleasure in +contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." +</P> + +<P> +This letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of Dr. +White, furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the +Spaniards; and in July Sevier wrote to Gardoqui indicating his +readiness to accede to their proposals. After secret conferences +with men who had supported him throughout the vicissitudes of his +ill-starred state, Sevier carefully matured his plans. The +remarkable letter of great length which he wrote to Gardoqui on +September 12, 1788, reveals the conspiracy in all its details and +presents in vivid colors the strong separatist sentiment of the +day. Sevier urgently petitions Gardoqui for the loan of a few +thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and +necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan +within a short time "by sending the products of this region to +the lower ports." Upon the vital matter of "delivering" the State +of Franklin to Spain, he forthrightly says: +</P> + +<P> +"Since my last of the 18th of July, upon consulting with the +principal men of this country, I have been particularly happy to +find that they are equally disposed and ready as I am to accept +your propositions and guarantees. You may be sure that the +pleasing hopes and ideas which the people of this country hold +with regard to the probability of an alliance with, and +commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and that we are +unanimously determined on that score. The people of this region +have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon +which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they +immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend +entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government.... +Being the first from this side of the Appalachian Mountains +to resort in this way to your protection and liberality, we feel +encouraged to entertain the greatest hope that we shall be +granted all reasonable aid by him who is so amply able to do it, +and to give the protection and help that is asked of him in this +petition. You know our delicate situation and the difficulties in +which we are in respect to our mother State which is making use +of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity of +this country.... Before I conclude, it may be necessary to +remind you that there will be no more favorable occasion than the +present one to put this plan into execution. North Carolina has +rejected the Constitution and moreover it seems to me that a +considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the +Union, if that event ever happens." +</P> + +<P> +Through Miro, Gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar +correspondence with General James Wilkinson. The object of the +Spanish conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, +was to seduce Kentucky from her allegiance to the United States. +Despite the superficial similarity between the situation of +Franklin and Kentucky, it would be doing Sevier and his adherents +a capital injustice to place them in the category of the corrupt +Wilkinson and the malodorous Sebastian. Moreover, the +secessionists of Franklin, as indicated in the above letter, had +the excuse of being left virtually without a country. On the +preceding August 1st, North Carolina had rejected the +Constitution of the United States; and the leaders of Franklin, +who were sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her +indifference and neglect, now felt themselves more than ever out +of the Union and wholly repudiated by the mother state. Again, +Sevier had the embittered feeling resultant from outlawry. +Because of his course in opposing the laws and government of +North Carolina and in the killing of several good citizens, +including the sheriff of Washington County, by his forces at +Sinking Creek, Sevier, through the action of Governor Johnston of +North Carolina, had been attainted of high treason. Under the +heavy burden of this grave charge, he felt his hold upon Franklin +relax. Further, an atrocity committed in the recent campaign +under Sevier's leadership—Kirk's brutal murder of Corn Tassel, a +noble old Indian, and other chieftains, while under the +protection of a flag of truce—had placed a bar sinister across +the fair fame of this stalwart of the border. Utter desperation +thus prompted Sevier's acceptance of Gardoqui's offer of the +protection of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +John Sevier's son, James, bore the letter of September 12th to +Gardoqui. By a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day +(October 10, 1788) that Gardoqui wrote to Miro, recommending to +the attention of Spain Dr. White and James Sevier, the emissaries +of Franklin, with their plans and proposals, John Sevier was +arrested by Colonel Tipton at the Widow Brown's in Washington +County, on the charge of high treason. He was handcuffed and +borne off, first to Jonesborough and later to Morganton. But his +old friends and former comrades-in-arms, Charles and Joseph +McDowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and Morrison, +the sheriff, who also had fought at King's Mountain, knocked the +irons from his wrists and released him on parole. Soon afterward +a number of Sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, +rode across the mountains to Morganton and silently bore him +away, never to be arrested again. In November an act of pardon +and oblivion with respect to Franklin was passed by the North +Carolina Assembly. Although Sevier was forbidden to hold office +under the state, the passage of this act automatically operated +to clear him of the alleged offense of high treason. With affairs +in Franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder that Gardoqui +and Miro paid no further heed to Sevier's proposal to accept the +protection of Spain. Sevier's continued agitation in behalf of +the independence of Franklin inspired Governor Johnston with the +fear that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last +extremity." But Sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was +pardoned, given a seat in the North Carolina assembly, and with +extraordinary consideration honored with his former rank of +brigadier-general. +</P> + +<P> +When Dr. White reported to Miro that the leaders of "Frankland" +had eagerly accepted Gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with +Spain, he categorically added: "With regard to Cumberland +district, what I have said of Frankland applies to it with equal +force and truth." James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe had but +recently availed themselves of the good offices of Governor +Johnston of North Carolina in the effort to influence Gardoqui to +quiet the Creek Indians. The sagacious and unscrupulous half +breed Alexander McGillivray had placed the Creeks under the +protection of Spain in 1784; and shortly afterward they began to +be regularly supplied with ammunition by the Spanish authorities. +At first Spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these +Indians to resist the encroachments of the Americans, while she +remained on outwardly friendly terms with the United States. +During the period of the Spanish conspiracy, however, there is +reason to believe that Miro endeavored to keep the Indians at +peace with the borderers, as a friendly service, intended to pave +the way for the establishment of intimate relations between Spain +and the dwellers in the trans-Alleghany. Yet his efforts cannot +have been very effective; for the Cumberland settlements +continued to suffer from the ravages and depredations of the +Creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, notwithstanding +they have had no cause of offence"; and Robertson and Bledsoe +reported to Governor Caswell (June 12, 1787): "It is certain, the +Chickasaws inform us, that Spanish traders offer a reward for +scalps of the Americans." The Indian atrocities became so +frequent that Robertson later in the summer headed a party on the +famous Coldwater Expedition, in which he severely chastised the +marauding Indians. Aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and +warriors at the hands of Robertson's men, and instigated, as was +generally believed, by the Spaniards, the Creeks then prosecuted +their attacks with renewed violence against the Cumberland +settlements. +</P> + +<P> +Unprotected either by the mother state or by the national +government, unable to secure free passage to the Gulf for their +products, and sorely pressed to defend their homes, now seriously +endangered by the incessant attacks of the Creeks, the Cumberland +leaders decided to make secret overtures to McGillivray, as well +as to communicate to Miro, through Dr. White, their favorable +inclination toward the proposals of the one country which +promised them protection. In a letter which McGillivray wrote to +Miro (transmitted to Madrid, June 15, 1788) in regard to the +visit of Messrs. Hackett and Ewing, two trusty messengers sent by +Robertson and Bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the +district of Cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of +peace but "had added that they would throw themselves into the +arms of His Majesty as subjects, and that Kentucky and Cumberland +are determined to free themselves from their dependence on +Congress, because that body can not protect either their +property, or favor their commerce, and they therefore believe +that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is incapable +of protecting them." Commenting upon McGillivray's communication, +Miro said in his report to Madrid (June 15, 1788): "I consider as +extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to McGillivray by +the deputies on the fermentation existing in Kentucky, with +regard to a separation from the Union. Concerning the proposition +made to McGillivray by the inhabitants of Cumberland to become +the vassals of His Majesty, I have refrained from returning any +precise answer." +</P> + +<P> +In his long letter of reply to Robertson and Bledsoe, McGillivray +agreed to make peace between his nation, the Creeks, and the +Cumberland settlers. This letter was most favorably received and +given wide circulation throughout the West. In a most +ingratiating reply, offering McGillivray a fine gun and a lot in +Nashville, Robertson throws out the following broad suggestion, +which he obviously wishes McGillivray to convey to Miro: "In all +probability we cannot long remain in our present state, and if +the British or any commercial nation who may be in possession of +the mouth of the Mississippi would furnish us with trade, and +receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the +west side of the Appalachian mountains will open their eyes to +their real interest." Robertson actually had the district erected +out of the counties of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee given the +name of "Miro" by the Assembly of North Carolina in November, +1788—a significant symbol of the desires of the Cumberland +leaders. In a letter (April 23, 1789), Miro, who had just +received letters from Robertson (January 29th) and Daniel Smith +(March 4th) postmarked "District of Miro," observes: "The bearer, +Fagot, a confidential agent of Gen. Smith, informed me that the +inhabitants of Cumberland, or Miro, would ask North Carolina for +an act of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this +should be obtained other delegates would be sent from Cumberland +to New Orleans, with the object of placing that territory under +the domination of His Majesty. I replied to both in general +terms." +</P> + +<P> +Robertson, Bledsoe, and Smith were successful in keeping secret +their correspondence with McGillivray and Miro; and few were in +the secret of Sevier's effort to deliver the State of Franklin to +Spain. Joseph Martin was less successful in his negotiations; and +a great sensation was created throughout the Southern colonies +when a private letter from Joseph Martin to McGillivray (November +8, 1788) was intercepted. In this letter Martin said: "I must beg +that you write me by the first opportunity in answer to what I am +now going to say to you.... I hope to do honor to any part of +the world I settle in, and am determined to leave the United +States, for reasons that I can assign to you when we meet, but +durst not trust it to paper." The general assembly of Georgia +referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor +of North Carolina (January 24, 1789); and the result was a +legislative investigation into Martin's conduct. Eleven months +later, the North Carolina assembly exonerated him. From the +correspondence of Joseph Martin and Patrick Henry, it would +appear that Martin, on Henry's advice, had acted as a spy upon +the Spaniards, in order to discover the views of McGillivray, to +protect the exposed white settlements from the Indians, and to +fathom the designs of the Spaniards against the United States. +</P> + +<P> +The sensational disclosures of Martin's intercepted letter had no +deterrent effect upon James Robertson in the attempted execution +of his plan for detaching the Cumberland settlements from North +Carolina. History has taken no account of the fact that Robertson +and the inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act +of separation from North Carolina. In the event of success, the +next move planned by the Cumberland leaders, as we have already +seen, was to send delegates to New Orleans for the purpose of +placing the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +A hitherto unknown letter, from Robertson to (Miro), dated +Nashville, September 2, 1789, proves that a convention of the +people was actually held—the first overt step looking to an +alliance with Spain. In this letter Robertson says: +</P> + +<P> +"I must beg your Excellency's permission to take this early +opportunity of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing +by Mr. White. +</P> + +<P> +"I still hope that your Government, and these Settlements, are +destined to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are +impressed with the necessity of it. +</P> + +<P> +"We have just held a Convention; which has agreed that our +members shall insist on being Seperated from North Carolina. +</P> + +<P> +"Unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new Congress of the +United States; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting +Connection. +</P> + +<P> +"The United States afford us no protection. The district of Miro +is daily plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the Creeks, +and Cherokees, unprovoked. +</P> + +<P> +"For my own part, I conceive highly of the advantages of your +Government." +</P> + +<P> +A serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of Robertson and +the other leaders of the Cumberland settlements was the prompt +action of North Carolina. In actual conformity with the wishes of +the Western people, as set forth in the petition of Robertson and +Hayes, their representatives, made two years earlier, the +legislature of North Carolina in December passed the second act +of cession, by which the Western territory of North Carolina was +ceded to the United States. Instead of securing an act of +separation from North Carolina as the preparatory step to forming +what Robertson calls "a more interesting connection" with Spain, +Robertson and his associates now found themselves and the +transmontane region which they represented flung bodily into the +arms of the United States. Despite the unequivocal offer of the +calculating and desperate Sevier to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, +and the ingenious efforts of Robertson and his associates to +place the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain, the +Spanish court by its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision +definitely relinquished the ready opportunities thereby afforded, +of utilizing the powerful separatist tendencies of Tennessee for +the purpose of adding the empire upon the Western waters to the +Spanish domain in America. +</P> + +<P> +The year 1790 marks the end of an era the heroic age of the +pioneers of the Old Southwest. Following the acceptance of North +Carolina's deed of cession of her Western lands to the Union +(April 2, 1790) the Southwest Territory was erected on May 26th; +and William Blount, a North Carolina gentleman of eminence and +distinction, was appointed on June 8th to the post of governor of +the territory. Two years later (June 1, 1792) Kentucky was +admitted into the Union. +</P> + +<P> +It is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of +the martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane +people, that the two men to whom the Western country in great +measure owed its preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits +of the King's Mountain campaign, were the unopposed first choice +of the people as leaders in the trying experiment of +Statehood—John Sevier of Tennessee and Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. +Had Franklin possessed the patient will of Kentucky, she might +well have preceded that region into the Union. It was not, +however, until June 1, 1796, that Tennessee, after a romantic and +arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals +into the domain of national statehood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conquest of the Old Southwest, by +Archibald Henderson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + +***** This file should be named 2390-h.htm or 2390-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/9/2390/ + +Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> + + diff --git a/old/20090327-2390-h.zip b/old/20090327-2390-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..406427c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20090327-2390-h.zip diff --git a/old/20090327-2390.txt b/old/20090327-2390.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9997d66 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20090327-2390.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6813 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Conquest of the Old Southwest, by Archibald Henderson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: The Conquest of the Old Southwest + The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers into Virginia, + the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 1740-1790 + +Author: Archibald Henderson + +Posting Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #2390] +Release Date: November, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + + + + +Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST: + + THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA, + THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND KENTUCKY 1740-1790 + + +BY + +ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. + + + Some to endure and many to fail, + Some to conquer and many to quail + Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + + + + +NEW YORK + +THE CENTURY CO. + +1920 + + + + + TO THE HISTORIAN OF + OLD WEST AND NEW WEST + FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER + WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD + + + + +The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the +pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add +the rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the +world offer for the loss of so glorious a prospect?--Richard +Henderson. + +The established Authority of any government in America, and the +policy of Government at home, are both insufficient to restrain +the Americans.... They acquire no attachment to Place: But +wandering about Seems engrafted in their Nature; and it is a +weakness incident to it, that they Should for ever imagine the +Lands further off, are Still better than those upon which they +are already settled.--Lord Dunmore, to the Earl of Dartmouth. + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward +migration of successive waves of transplanted European peoples +throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the +history of the growth and evolution of American democracy. Upon +the American continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman +daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the +formation of a new society. The European rudely confronted with +the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered that +his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned upon his +individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting himself +to his environment. The very history of the human race, from the +age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened +civilization, is traversed in the Old Southwest throughout the +course of half a century. + +A series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing +the successive episodes in the history of a single family as it +wended its way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely +repulsed the sudden attack of the Indians, toiled painfully up +the granite slopes of the Appalachians, and pitched down into the +transmontane wilderness upon the western waters, would give to +the spectator a vivid conception, in miniature, of the westward +movement. But certain basic elements in the grand procession, +revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would perhaps +escape his scrutiny. Back of the individual, back of the family, +even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, +expansion, and government. In the recognition of these social and +economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the +group into the community; the community into a new society. In +this clear perspective of historic development the spectacular +hero at first sight seems to diminish; but the mass, the +movement, the social force which he epitomizes and interprets, +gain in impressiveness and dignity. + +As the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever +southward and westward, seeking room for expansion and economic +independence, a series of frontiers was gradually thrust out +toward the wilderness in successive waves of irregular +indentation. The true leader in this westward advance, to whom +less than his deserts has been accorded by the historian, is the +drab and mercenary trader with the Indians. The story of his +enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of +European civilization upon American soil. In the mind of the +aborigines he created the passion for the fruits, both good and +evil, of the white man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the +Indian because he also brought the means for repelling the +further advance of that civilization. The trader was of +incalculable service to the pioneer in first spying out the land +and charting the trackless wilderness. The trail rudely marked by +the buffalo became in time the Indian path and the trader's +"trace"; and the pioneers upon the westward march, following the +line of least resistance, cut out their roads along these very +routes. It is not too much to say that had it not been for the +trader--brave, hardy, and adventurous however often crafty, +unscrupulous, and immoral--the expansionist movement upon the +American continent would have been greatly retarded. + +So scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of +the traders with the Indians that the frontier which they +established was at best both shifting and unstable. Following far +in the wake of these advance agents of the civilization which +they so often disgraced, came the cattle-herder or rancher, who +took advantage of the extensive pastures and ranges along the +uplands and foot-hills to raise immense herds of cattle. Thus was +formed what might be called a rancher's frontier, thrust out in +advance of the ordinary farming settlements and serving as the +first serious barrier against the Indian invasion. The westward +movement of population is in this respect a direct advance from +the coast. Years before the influx into the Old Southwest of the +tides of settlement from the northeast, the more adventurous +struck straight westward in the wake of the fur-trader, and here +and there erected the cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier +of the piedmont region. The wild horses and cattle which roamed +at will through the upland barrens and pea-vine pastures were +herded in and driven for sale to the city markets of the East. + +The farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real +backbone of western settlement. The pioneering farmers, with the +adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged +deeper and ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the +prospect of free and still richer lands in the dim interior. +Settlements quickly sprang up in the neighborhood of military +posts or rude forts established to serve as safeguards against +hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between these +settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the +trader and the more beaten paths of emigration. The bolder +settlers who ventured farthest to the westward were held in +communication with the East through their dependence upon salt +and other necessities of life; and the search for salt-springs in +the virgin wilderness was an inevitable consequence of the desire +of the pioneer to shake off his dependence upon the coast. + +The prime determinative principle of the progressive American +civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the +acquisition of land. The struggle for economic independence +developed the germ of American liberty and became the +differentiating principle of American character. Here was a vast +unappropriated region in the interior of the continent to be had +for the seeking, which served as lure and inspiration to the man +daring enough to risk his all in its acquisition. It was in +accordance with human nature and the principles of political +economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited transmontane +land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, should +excite grandiose dreams in the minds of English and Colonials +alike. England was said to be "New Land mad and everybody there +has his eye fixed on this country." Groups of wealthy or +well-to-do individuals organized themselves into land companies +for the colonization and exploitation of the West. The pioneer +promoter was a powerful creative force in westward expansion; and +the activities of the early land companies were decisive factors +in the colonization of the wilderness. Whether acting under the +authority of a crown grant or proceeding on their own authority, +the land companies tended to give stability and permanence to +settlements otherwise hazardous and insecure. + +The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was +wanderlust--the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, +the traveler, and the explorer. This restless class of nomadic +wanderers was responsible in part for the royal proclamation of +1763, a secondary object of which, according to Edmund Burke, was +the limitation of the colonies on the West, as "the charters of +many of our old colonies give them, with few exceptions, no +bounds to the westward but the South Sea." The Long Hunters, +taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth to a fabled +hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they were +driven by the irresistible desire of a Ponce de Leon or a De Soto +to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. + +But the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the +chase and of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the +furs and skins of wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in +the centers of trade. He was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and +to assert "corn rights" as he spied out the rich virgin land for +future location and cultivation. Free land and no taxes appealed +to the backwoodsman, tired of paying quit-rents to the agents of +wealthy lords across the sea. Thus the settler speedily followed +in the hunter's wake. In his wake also went many rude and lawless +characters of the border, horse thieves and criminals of +different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in the +merciful liberality of the wilderness. For the most part, +however, it was the salutary instinct of the homebuilder--the man +with the ax, who made a little clearing in the forest and built +there a rude cabin that he bravely defended at all risks against +continued assaults--which, in defiance of every restraint, +irresistibly thrust westward the thin and jagged line of the +frontier. The ax and the surveyor's chain, along with the rifle +and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial bearings of the +pioneer. With individual as with corporation, with explorer as +with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the era. + +The various desires which stimulated and promoted westward +expansion were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. +The trader sought to exploit the Indian for his own advantage, +selling him whisky, trinkets, and firearms in return for rich +furs and costly peltries; yet he was often a hunter himself and +collected great stores of peltries as the result of his solitary +and protracted hunting-expeditions. The rancher and the herder +sought to exploit the natural vegetation of marsh and upland, the +cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring need for +fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer to +the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward +advance. The small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new +region, the alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for +the cultivation of his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet +in the intervals between the tasks of farm life he scoured the +wilderness in search of game "and spied out new lands for future +settlement". + +This restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant Francis +Baily, "delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can +enjoy undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the +blessings which nature has bestowed upon them." Independence of +spirit, impatience of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the +nomadic temperament--these are the strains in the American +character of the eighteenth century which ultimately blended to +create a typical democracy. The rolling of wave after wave of +settlement westward across the American continent, with a +reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest +frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each +successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the +eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the +American people during two centuries. This era, constituting the +first stage in our national existence, and productive of a +buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil, +closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free +land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent +death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid inauguration of the period, +in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and +Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is +the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old Southwest. + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + + I THE MIGRATION OF THE PEOPLES + II THE CRADLE OF WESTWARD EXPANSION + III THE BACK COUNTRY AND THE BORDER + IV THE INDIAN WAR + V IN DEFENSE OF CIVILIZATION + VI CRUSHING THE CHEROKEES + VII THE LAND COMPANIES + VIII THE LONG HUNTERS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE + IX DANIEL BOONE AND WILDERNESS EXPLORATION + X DANIEL BOONE IN KENTUCKY + XI THE REGULATORS + XII WATAUGA--HAVEN OF LIBERTY + XIII OPENING THE GATEWAY--DUNMORE'S WAR + XIV RICHARD HENDERSON AND THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY + XV TRANSYLVANIA--A WILDERNESS COMMONWEALTH + XVI THE REPULSE OF THE RED MEN + XVII THE COLONIZATION OF THE CUMBERLAND + XVIII KING'S MOUNTAIN + XIX THE STATE OF FRANKLIN + XX THE LURE OF SPAIN--THE HAVEN OF STATEHOOD + + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST + + + +CHAPTER I. The Migration of the Peoples + +Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and +other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and Mike +directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the +West, and have got near the mountains.--Gabriel Johnston, +Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the Board of +Trade, February 15, 1751. + + +At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population +had swept inland to the "fall line", the westward boundary of the +established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by +the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue +Ridge. So rapid was the settlement in North Carolina that in the +interval 1717-32 the population quadrupled in numbers. A map of +the colonial settlements in 1725 reveals a narrow strip of +populated land along the Atlantic coast, of irregular +indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of settlements +further in the interior. The civilization thus established +continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with +England and the Continent. As long as the settlers, for economic +reasons, clung to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the +transforming influences of the frontier.. Within a triangle of +continental altitude with its apex in New England, bounded on the +east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Appalachian range, +lay the settlements, divided into two zones--tidewater and +piedmont. As no break occurred in the great mountain system south +of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, the difficulties of cutting a +passage through the towering wall of living green long proved an +effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain barrier. + +In the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from +the coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form +around such natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile +soil, frontier posts, mines, salt-springs, and stretches of +upland favorable for grazing. After a time a second advance of +settlement was begun in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, +running in a southwesterly direction along the broad terraces to +the east of the Appalachian Range, which in North Carolina lies +as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The Blue +Ridge in Virginia and a belt of pine barrens in North Carolina +were hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. +This second streaming of the population thrust into the long, +narrow wedge of the piedmont zone a class of people differing in +spirit and in tendency from their more aristocratic and +complacent neighbors to the east. + +These settlers of the Valley of Virginia and the North Carolina +piedmont region--English, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scotch, Irish, +Welsh, and a few French--were the first pioneers of the Old +Southwest. From the joint efforts of two strata of population, +geographically, socially, and economically distinct--tidewater +and piedmont, Old South and New South--originated and flowered +the third and greatest movement of westward expansion, opening +with the surmounting of the mountain barrier and ending in the +occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of the +continent. + +Synchronous with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, +significantly enough, was the first planting of Ulster with the +English and Scotch. Emigrants from the Scotch Lowlands, sometimes +as many as four thousand a year (1625), continued throughout the +century to pour into Ulster. "Those of the North of Ireland...," +as pungently described in 1679 by the Secretary of State, +Leoline Jenkins, to the Duke of Ormond, "are most Scotch and +Scotch breed and are the Northern Presbyterians and phanatiques, +lusty, able bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see three +or four hundred at every meeting-house on Sunday, and all the +North of Ireland is inhabited by these, which is the popular +place of all Ireland by far. They are very numerous and greedy +after land." During the quarter of a century after the English +Revolution of 1688 and the Jacobite uprising in Ireland, which +ended in 1691 with the complete submission of Ireland to William +and Mary, not less than fifty thousand Scotch, according to +Archbishop Synge, settled in Ulster. Until the beginning of the +eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration to +America; and it was first set up as a consequence of English +interference with trade and religion. Repressive measures passed +by the English parliament (1665 1699), prohibiting the +exportation from Ire land to England and Scotland of cattle, +beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and to any country whatever of +manufactured wool, had aroused deep resentment among the +Scotch-Irish, who had built up a great commerce. This discontent +was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious +disabilities upon the Presbyterians, who, in addition to having +to pay tithes for the support of the established church, were +excluded from all civil and military office (1704), while their +ministers were made liable to penalties for celebrating +marriages. + +This pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in +an exodus to the New World. The principal ports by which the +Ulsterites entered America were Lewes and Newcastle (Delaware), +Philadelphia and Boston. The streams of immigration steadily +flowed up the Delaware Valley; and by 1720 the Scotch-Irish began +to arrive in Bucks County. So rapid was the rate of increase in +immigration that the number of arrivals soon mounted from a few +hundred to upward of six thousand, in a single year (1729); and +within a few years this number was doubled. According to the +meticulous Franklin, the proportion increased from a very small +element of the population of Pennsylvania in 1700 to one fourth +of the whole in 1749, and to one third of the whole (350,000) in +1774. Writing to the Penns in 1724, James Logan, Secretary of the +Province, caustically refers to the Ulster settlers on the +disputed Maryland line as "these bold and indigent strangers, +saying as their excuse when challenged for titles, that we had +solicited for colonists and they had come accordingly." The +spirit of these defiant squatters is succinctly expressed in +their statement to Logan that it "was against the laws of God and +nature that so much land should be idle while so many Christians +wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." + +The rising scale of prices for Pennsylvania lands, changing from +ten pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in 1719 +to fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a +quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre in 1732, soon turned the eyes +of the thrifty Scotch-Irish settlers southward and southwestward. +In Maryland in 1738 lands were offered at five pounds sterling +per hundred acres. Simultaneously, in the Valley of Virginia free +grants of a thousand acres per family were being made. In the +North Carolina piedmont region the proprietary, Lord Granville, +through his agents was disposing of the most desirable lands to +settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for +six hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was +also making large free grants on the condition of seating a +certain proportion of settlers. "Lord Carteret's land in +Carolina," says North Carolina's first American historian, "where +the soil was cheap, presented a tempting residence to people of +every denomination. Emigrants from the north of Ireland, by the +way of Pennsylvania, flocked to that country; and a considerable +part of North Carolina ... is inhabited by those people or +their descendants." From 1740 onward, attracted by the rich lure +of cheap and even free lands in Virginia and North Carolina, a +tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the +Shenandoah, the Yadkin, and the Catawba. The immensity of this +mobile, drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than 400 +families with horse waggons and cattle" into North Carolina in a +single year (1752-3), is attested by the fact that from 1732 to +1754, mainly as the result of the Scotch-Irish inundation, the +population of North Carolina more than doubled. + +The second important racial stream of population in the +settlement of the same region was composed of Germans, attracted +to this country from the Palatinate. Lured on by the highly +colored stories of the commercial agents for promoting +immigration--the "newlanders," who were thoroughly unscrupulous +in their methods and extravagant in their representations--a +migration from Germany began in the second decade of the +eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. +Although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great +number were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order +to pay for their transportation were compelled to pledge +themselves to several years of servitude. This economic condition +caused the German immigrant, wherever he went, to become a +settler of the back country, necessity compelling him to pass by +the more expensive lands near the coast. + +For well-nigh sixty years the influx of German immigrants of +various sects was very great, averaging something like fifteen +hundred a year into Pennsylvania alone from 1727 to 1775. Indeed, +Pennsylvania, one third of whose population at the beginning of +the Revolution was German, early became the great distributing +center for the Germans as well as for the Scotch-Irish. Certainly +by 1727 Adam Miller and his fellow Germans had established the +first permanent white settlement in the Valley of Virginia. By +1732 Jost Heydt, accompanied by sixteen families, came from York, +Pennsylvania, and settled on the Opeckon River, in the +neighborhood of the present Winchester. There is no longer any +doubt that "the portion of the Shenandoah Valley sloping to the +north was almost entirely settled by Germans." + +It was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the +Old Southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty Pennsylvania +Germans (who came to be generally called "Pennsylvania Dutch" +from the incorrect translation of Pennsylvanische Deutsche), +began to pour into the piedmont region of North Carolina. In the +autumn, after the harvest was in, these ambitious Pennsylvania +pioneers would pack up their belongings in wagons and on beasts +of burden and head for the southwest, trekking down in the manner +of the Boers of South Africa. This movement into the fertile +valley lands of the Yadkin and the Catawba continued unabated +throughout the entire third quarter of the century. Owing to +their unfamiliarity with the English language and the solidarity +of their instincts, the German settlers at first had little share +in government. But they devotedly played their part in the +defense of the exposed settlements and often bore the brunt of +Indian attack. + +The bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries +sent out by the Pennsylvania Synod under the direction of Count +Zinzendorf (1742-8), and by the Moravian Church (1748-53), are +mirrored in the numerous diaries, written in German, happily +preserved to posterity in religious archives of Pennsylvania and +North Carolina. These simple, earnest crusaders, animated by pure +and unselfish motives, would visit on a single tour of a thousand +miles the principal German settlements in Maryland and Virginia +(including the present West Virginia). Sometimes they would make +an extended circuit through North Carolina, South Carolina, and +even Georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of the +gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the +Christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive +frontiersmen marooned along the outer fringe of white +settlements. These arduous journeys in the cause of piety place +this type of pioneer of the Old Southwest in alleviating contrast +to the often relentless and bloodthirsty figure of the rude +borderer. + +Noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the Virginia journey +of Brothers Leonhard Schnell and John Brandmuller (October 12 to +December 12, 1749). At the last outpost of civilization, the +scattered settlements in Bath and Alleghany counties, these +courageous missionaries--feasting the while solely on bear meat, +for there was no bread--encountered conditions of almost +primitive savagery, of which they give this graphic picture: +"Then we came to a house, where we had to lie on bear skins +around the fire like the rest.... The clothes of the people +consist of deer skins, their food of Johnny cakes, deer and bear +meat. A kind of white people are found here, who live like +savages. Hunting is their chief occupation." Into the valley of +the Yadkin in December, 1752, came Bishop Spangenberg and a party +of Moravians, accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the +purpose of locating the one hundred thousand acres of land which +had been offered them on easy terms the preceding year by Lord +Granville. This journey was remarkable as an illustration of +sacrifices willingly made and extreme hardships uncomplainingly +endured for the sake of the Moravian brotherhood. In the back +country of North Carolina near the Mulberry Fields they found the +whole woods full of Cherokee Indians engaged in hunting. A +beautiful site for the projected settlement met their delighted +gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that it +had already been "taken up" by Daniel Boone's future +father-in-law, Morgan Bryan. + +On October 8, 1753, a party of twelve single men headed by the +Rev. Bernhard Adam Grube, set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, +to trek down to the new-found haven in the Carolina +hinterland--"a corner which the Lord has reserved for the +Brethren"--in Anson County. Following for the most part the great +highway extending from Philadelphia to the Yadkin, over which +passed the great throng sweeping into the back country of North +Carolina--through the Valley of Virginia and past Robert Luhny's +mill on the James River--they encountered many hardships along +the way. Because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty +in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience Brother +Grube, with a touch of modest pride, observes: "People had told +us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely +be able to cross it, for Morgan Bryan, the first to travel this +way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and carry it piecemeal +to the top, and had been three months on the journey from the +Shanidore [Shenandoah] to the Etkin [Yadkin]." + +These men were the highest type of the pioneers of the Old +Southwest, inspired with the instinct of homemakers in a land +where, if idle rumor were to be credited, "the people lived like +wild men never hearing of God or His Word." In one hand they bore +the implement of agriculture, in the other the book of the gospel +of Jesus Christ. True faith shines forth in the simply eloquent +words: "We thanked our Saviour that he had so graciously led us +hither, and had helped us through all the hard places, for no +matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how we +could win through, everything always went better than seemed +possible." The promise of a new day--the dawn of the heroic +age--rings out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their +journey's end: + + We hold arrival Lovefeast here, + In Carolina land, + A company of Brethren true, + A little Pilgrim-Band, + Called by the Lord to be of those + Who through the whole world go, + To bear Him witness everywhere, + And nought but Jesus know. + + + +CHAPTER II. The Cradle of Westward Expansion + +In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, +Orange and Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred +fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most +part Irish Protestants and Germans and dailey increasing.--Matthew +Rowan, President of the North Carolina Council, to the +Board of Trade, June 28, 1753. + + +The conquest of the West is usually attributed to the ready +initiative, the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinct +of the expert backwoodsmen. These bold, nomadic spirits were +animated by an unquenchable desire to plunge into the wilderness +in search of an El Dorado at the outer verge of civilization, +free of taxation, quit-rents, and the law's restraint. They +longed to build homes for themselves and their descendants in a +limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper and deeper into +the trackless forests in search of adventure. Yet one must not +overlook the fact that behind Boone and pioneers of his stamp +were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive +in purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best +gifts to actual conquest and colonization. These men of large +intellectual mold-themselves surveyors, hunters, and +pioneers--were inspired with the larger vision of the +expansionist. Whether colonizers, soldiers, or speculators on the +grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke the vast +trans-Alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. + +Two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from +each other in North Carolina and later in Virginia--the pioneer +democracy of the back country and the upland, and the planter +aristocracy of the lowland and the tide-water region. From the +frontier came the pioneer explorers whose individual enterprise +and initiative were such potent factors in the exploitation of +the wilderness. From the border counties still in contact with +the East came a number of leaders. Thus in the heart of the Old +Southwest the two determinative principles already referred to, +the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a fortunate +conjunction. The exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed in +the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the +great westward migration. The warlike disposition of the hardy +backwoodsman, controlled by the exercise of military strategy, +accomplished the conquest of the trans-Alleghany country. + +Fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in +England and Europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, +from religious persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of +society in the first quarter of the eighteenth century sought a +haven of refuge in the "Quackerthal" of William Penn, with its +trustworthy guarantees of free tolerance in religious faith and +the benefits of representative self-government. From East +Devonshire in England came George Boone, the grandfather of the +great pioneer, and from Wales came Edward Morgan, whose daughter +Sarah became the wife of Squire Boone, Daniel's father. These +were conspicuous representatives of the Society of Friends, drawn +thither by the roseate representations of the great Quaker, +William Penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and +religious toleration. Hither, too, from Ireland, whither he had +gone from Denmark, came Morgan Bryan, settling in Chester County, +prior to 1719; and his children, William, Joseph, James, and +Morgan, who more than half a century later gave the name to +Bryan's Station in Kentucky, were destined to play important +roles in the drama of westward migration. In September, 1734, +Michael Finley from County Armagh, Ireland, presumably +accompanied by his brother Archibald Finley, settled in Bucks +County, Pennsylvania. According to the best authorities, +Archibald Finley was the father of John Finley, or Findlay as he +signed himself, Boone's guide and companion in his exploration of +Kentucky in 1769-71. To Pennsylvania also came Mordecai Lincoln, +great grandson of Samuel Lincoln, who had emigrated from England +to Hingham, Massachusetts, as early as 1637. This Mordecai +Lincoln, who in 1720 settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the +great-great-grandfather of President Lincoln, was the father of +Sarah Lincoln, who was wedded to William Boone, and of Abraham +Lincoln, who married Anne Boone, William's first cousin. Early +settlers in Pennsylvania were members of the Hanks family, one of +whom was the maternal grandfather of President Lincoln. + +No one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for +leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the +West. Yet one particular stock of people, the Ulster Scots, +exhibited with most completeness and picturesqueness a group of +conspicuous qualities and attitudes which we now recognize to be +typical of the American character as molded by the conditions of +frontier life. Cautious, wary, and reserved, these Scots +concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a relentlessness +in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which glowed +and burned with almost fanatical ardor. Strict in religious +observance and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of +the main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of +devotion. It has been happily said of them that they kept the +Sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on. In the +polity of these men religion and education went hand in hand; and +they habitually settled together in communities in order that +they might have teachers and preachers of their own choice and +persuasion. + +In little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant +ministers may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful +characterizations of the frontier settlers in their habits of +life and of the scenes amidst which they labored. In a letter to +Edmund Fanning, the cultured Robin Jones, agent of Lord Granville +and Attorney-General of North Carolina, summons to view a piquant +image of the western border and borderers: "The inhabitants are +hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, are stout, of +great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private conversation, +bold, impertinent, and vain. In the art of war (after the Indian +manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of +strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the +ancient Romans. The Shawnese acknowledge them their superiors +even in their own way of fighting.... [The land] may be truly +called the land of the mountains, for they are so numerous that +when you have reached the summit of one of them, you may see +thousands of every shape that the imagination can suggest, +seeming to vie with each other which should raise his lofty head +to touch the clouds.... It seems to me that nature has been +wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." + +An excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions +in the backwoods of North Carolina, by one of the early settlers +in the middle of the century, exhibits in all their barren +cheerlessness the hardships and limitations of life in the +wilderness. The father of William Few, the narrator, had trekked +down from Maryland and settled in Orange County, some miles east +of the little hamlet of Hillsborough. "In that country at that +time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or doctors or +lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do I recollect +during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or +military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or +three itinerant preachers.... These people had few wants, and +fewer temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined +society, though ignorant. They were more virtuous and more happy.... +A schoolmaster appeared and offered his services to teach +the children of the neighborhood for twenty shillings each per +year.... In that simple state of society money was but little +known; the schoolmaster was the welcome guest of his pupil, fed +at the bountiful table and clothed from the domestic loom.... +In that country at that time there was great scarcity of books." + +The journals of itinerant ministers through the Valley of +Virginia and the Carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes +of the people, their longing after the things of the spirit, and +their pitiful isolation from the regular preaching of the gospel. +These missionaries were true pioneers in this Old Southwest, +ardent, dauntless, and heroic--carrying the word into remote +places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees of the forest. +In his journal (1755-6), the Rev. Hugh McAden, born in +Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish parentage, a graduate of Nassau Hall +(1753), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that +wherever he found Presbyterians he found people who "seemed +highly pleased, and very desirous to hear the word"; whilst +elsewhere he found either dissension and defection to Baptist +principles, or "no appearance of the life of religion." In the +Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlements in what is now Mecklenburg +County, the cradle of American liberty, he found "pretty serious, +judicious people" of the stamp of Moses, William, and James +Alexander. While traveling in the upper country of South +Carolina, he relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman +who said to the Governor of South Carolina, when he was in those +parts, in treaty with the Cherokee Indians that 'he had never +seen a shirt, been in a fair, heard a sermon, or seen a minister +in all his life.' Upon which the governor promised to send him up +a minister, that he might hear one sermon before he died." The +minister came and preached; and this was all the preaching that +had been heard in the upper part of South Carolina before Mr. +McAden's visit. + +Such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country +of the Old Southwest--the deliberate and self-controlled English, +the aggressive, landmongering Scotch-Irish, the buoyant Welsh, +the thrifty Germans, the debonair French, the impetuous Irish, +and the calculating Scotch. The lives they led were marked by +independence of spirit, democratic instincts, and a forthright +simplicity. In describing the condition of the English settlers +in the backwoods of Virginia, one of their number, Doddridge, +says: "Most of the articles were of domestic manufacture. There +might have been incidentally a few things brought to the country +for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for general +supply. The table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, +either turned or coopered. Iron forks, tin cups, etc., were +articles of rare and delicate luxury. The food was of the most +wholesome and primitive kind. The richest meat, the finest +butter, and best meal that ever delighted man's palate were here +eaten with a relish which health and labor only know. The +hospitality of the people was profuse and proverbial." + +The circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become +self-sustaining. Every immigrant was an adept at many trades. He +built his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own +clothes. At a very early date rifles were manufactured at the +High Shoals of the Yadkin; Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, was an +expert gunsmith. The difficulty of securing food for the +settlements forced every man to become a hunter and to scour the +forest for wild game. Thus the pioneer, through force of sheer +necessity, became a dead shot--which stood him in good stead in +the days of Indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. +Primitive in their games, recreations, and amusements, which not +infrequently degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the +pioneers always set the highest premium upon personal bravery, +physical prowess, and skill in manly sports. At all public +gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or auctions, and even +funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. It is worthy +of record that among the effects of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, +the famous teacher and organizer of Presbyterianism in +Mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the Revolution, +were found a punch bowl and glasses. + +The frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, +bred in these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the +basis of the American character. The single-handed and successful +struggle with nature in the tense solitude of the forest +developed a spirit of individualism, restive under control. On +the other hand, the sense of sharing with others the arduous +tasks and dangers of conquering the wilderness gave birth to a +strong sense of solidarity arid of human sympathy. With the lure +of free lands ever before them, the pioneers developed a +restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy of +spirit, which are fundamentally American. Yet this same +untrammeled freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance +of established government which have exhibited themselves +throughout the entire course of our history. Initiative, +self-reliance, boldness in conception, fertility in resource, +readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, inventive genius, +appreciation of material advantages--these, shot through with a +certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high romantic +strain--are the traits of the American national type as it +emerged from the Old Southwest. + + + +CHAPTER III. The Back Country and the Border + +Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most +delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are +everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; +lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich +valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an +infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape +surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally +robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want +and acquainted with but few vices. Their inexperience of the +elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the +means of enjoying them, but they possess what many princes would +give half their dominion for, health, content, and tranquillity +of mind.--Andrew Burnaby: Travels Through North America. + + +The two streams of Ulstermen, the greater through Philadelphia, +the lesser through Charleston, which poured into the Carolinas +toward the middle of the century, quickly flooded the back +country. The former occupied the Yadkin Valley and the region to +the westward, the latter the Waxhaws and the Anson County region +to the northwest. The first settlers were known as the +"Pennsylvania Irish," because they had first settled in +Pennsylvania after migrating from the north of Ireland; while +those who came by way of Charleston were known as the +"Scotch-Irish." The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long +enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements +along the rivers and creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less +experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks +and water courses. + +Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight +children, together with other families of Quakers from +Pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest +side of the Opeckon River near Winchester. A few years later they +removed up the Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present +Roanoke County, intent upon pushing westward to the very +outskirts of civilization. In the autumn of 1748, leaving behind +his brother William, who had followed him to Roanoke County, +Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of the Yadkin +River. The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who emigrated +to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over +Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln +families found homes in Virginia--Mordecai Lincoln's son, John, +the great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks +to the Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone, +his wife Sarah (Morgan), and their eleven children--a veritable +caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old--started south; and +tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on Linville +Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 they removed to the Forks +of the Yadkin, and the following year received from Lord +Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County. +About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven +or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly +gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality, +sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the +Bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and +immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of +the county. Upon the organization of the county court Squire +Boone was chosen justice of the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon +appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements. + +The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the +Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the +Trading Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above +Sapona Town near the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which, +according to constant and picturesque tradition, was the spot +where the traders stopped to take a solemn oath never to reveal +any unlawful proceedings that might occur during their sojourn +among the Indians. In his divertingly satirical "History of the +Dividing Line" William Byrd in 1728 thus speaks of this locality: +"The Soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the Yadkin, abounding +in rank Grass and prodigiously large Trees; and for plenty of +Fish, Fowl and Venison, is inferior to No Part of the Northern +Continent. There the Traders commonly lie Still for some days, to +recruit their Horses' Flesh as well as to recover their own +spirits." In this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement +by Squire Boone--who erected his cabin on the east side of the +Yadkin about a mile and a quarter from Alleman's, now Boone's, +Ford--wild game abounded. Buffaloes were encountered in eastern +North Carolina by Byrd while running the dividing line; and in +the upper country of South Carolina three or four men with their +dogs could kill fourteen to twenty buffaloes in a single day." +Deer and bears fell an easy prey to the hunter; wild turkeys +filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with beaver, otter, +and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious fish. +Panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the +veracious Brother Joseph, while near the present Wilkesboro, +amusingly records: "The wolves wh. are not like those in Germany, +Poland and Lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come +near) give us such music of six different cornets the like of wh. +I have never heard in my life." So plentiful was the game that +the wild deer mingled with the cattle grazing over the wide +stretches of luxuriant grass. + +In the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up Squire Boone's son, +Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker +persuasion, and Baptist proclivities. Seen through a glorifying +halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises +before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, +benign--as naive and shy as some wild thing of the primeval +forest--five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and +shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair +eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, +and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this +restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would +exchange the plow and the grubbing hoe for the long rifle and +keen-edged hunting knife. In a single day during the autumn +season he would kill four or five deer; or as many bears as would +snake from two to three thousand pounds weight of bear-bacon. +Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as +pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he +sold his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles +away, sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George +Hartman, on the Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the +Moravian town sixty odd miles distant. Skins were in such demand +that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly +scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. Upon one +occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, +upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to +Charleston. So immense was this trade that the year after Boone's +arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were +exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think +that the young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother +Joseph, while in camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) +wrote: "There are many hunters about here, who live like Indians, +they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without +much work." + +In this very class of professional hunters, living like Indians, +was thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous +leadership in the great westward expansionist movement of the +coming decade. An English traveler gives the following minute +picture of the dress and accoutrement of the Carolina +backwoodsman. + +"Their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially +different from that of the Indians; being a hunting shirt, +somewhat resembling a waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great +many fringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much +decorated also, in which is fastened a tomahawk, an instrument +that serves every purpose of defence and convenience; being a +hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the other; the shot bag +and powderhorn, carved with a variety of whimsical figures and +devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on their +heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the +intensely hot beams of the sun. + +Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of Indian dressed elk, +or deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. + +On their legs they have Indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse +woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied +with garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better +than half-way up the thigh. + +On their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, +but generally Indian moccossons, of their own construction also, +which are made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as +for gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the +toe, and lacing from thence round to the fore part of the middle +of the ancle, without a seam in them, yet fitting close to the +feet, and are indeed perfectly easy and pliant. + +Their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety +of colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear +them quite white." + +No less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the +dress of the women of the region--in particular of Surry County, +North Carolina, as described by General William Lenoir: + +"The women wore linses [flax] petticoats and 'bedgowns' [like a +dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. Some +had bonnets and bedgowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; +and some of them wore men's hats. Their hair was commonly +clubbed. Once, at a large meeting, I noticed there but two women +that had on long gowns. One of these was laced genteelly, and the +body of the other was open, and the tail thereof drawn up and +tucked in her apron or coat-string." + +While Daniel Boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits +of the chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed +was rapidly approaching a crisis. For three quarters of a century +this titanic contest between France and England for the interior +of the continent had been waged with slowly accumulating force. +The irrepressible conflict had been formally inaugurated at Sault +Ste. Marie in 1671, when Daumont de Saint Lusson, swinging aloft +his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of France over "all +countries, rivers, lakes, and streams ... both those which have +been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in +all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas +of the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea." +Just three months later, three hardy pioneers of Virginia, +despatched upon their arduous mission by Colonel Abraham Wood in +behalf of the English crown, had crossed the Appalachian divide; +and upon the banks of a stream whose waters slipped into the Ohio +to join the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, had carved the +royal insignia upon the blazed trunk of a giant of the forest, +the while crying: "Long live Charles the Second, by the grace of +God, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Virginia and +of the territories thereunto belonging." + +La Salle's dream of a New France in the heart of America was +blotted out in his tragic death upon the banks of the River +Trinity (1687). Yet his mantle was to fall in turn upon the +square shoulders of Le Moyne d'Iberville and of his brother--the +good, the constant Bienville, who after countless and arduous +struggles laid firm the foundations of New Orleans. In the +precious treasury of Margry we learn that on reaching Rochelle +after his first voyage in 1699 Iberville in these prophetic words +voices his faith: "If France does not immediately seize this part +of America which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony +which is strong enough to resist any which England may have, the +English colonies (already considerable in Carolina) will so +thrive that in less than a hundred years they will be strong +enough to seize all America." But the world-weary Louis Quatorze, +nearing his end, quickly tired of that remote and unproductive +colony upon the shores of the gulf, so industriously described in +Paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the "paternal providence +of Versailles" willingly yielded place to the monumental +speculation of the great financier Antoine Crozat. In this Paris +of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal +scheme of Law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the +Mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, +half-satiric panegyrics upon the new Utopia, this Mississippi +Land of Cockayne: + + It's to-day no contribution + To discuss the Constitution + And the Spanish war's forgot + For a new Utopian spot; + And the very latest phase + Is the Mississippi craze. + +Interest in the new colony led to a great development of +southwesterly trade from New France. Already the French coureurs +de bois were following the water route from the Illinois to South +Carolina. Jean Couture, a deserter from the service in New +France, journeyed over the Ohio and Tennessee rivers to that +colony, and was known as "the greatest Trader and Traveller +amongst the Indians for more than Twenty years." In 1714 young +Charles Charleville accompanied an old trader from Crozat's +colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the Cumberland, +where a post for trading with the Shawanoes had already been +established by the French. But the British were preparing to +capture this trade as early as 1694, when Tonti warned Villermont +that Carolinians were already established on a branch of the +Ohio. Four years later, Nicholson, Governor of Maryland, was +urging trade with the Indians of the interior in the effort to +displace the French. At an early date the coast colonies began to +trade with the Indian tribes of the back country: the Catawbas of +the Yadkin Valley; the Cherokees, whose towns were scattered +through Tennessee; the Chickasaws, to the westward in northern +Mississippi; and the Choctaws farther to the southward. Even +before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the South +Carolina settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the +coast, English traders had established posts among the Indian +tribes four hundred miles to the west of Charleston. Following +the sporadic trading of individuals from Virginia with the inland +Indians, the heavily laden caravans of William Byrd were soon +regularly passing along the Great Trading Path from Virginia to +the towns of the Catawbas and other interior tribes of the +Carolinas, delighting the easily captivated fancy and provoking +the cupidity of the red men with "Guns, Powder, Shot, Hatchets +(which the Indians call Tomahawks), Kettles, red and blue Planes, +Duffields, Stroudwater blankets, and some Cutlary Wares, Brass +Rings and other Trinkets." In Pennsylvania, George Croghan, the +guileful diplomat, who was emissary from the Council to the Ohio +Indians (1748), had induced "all-most all the Ingans in the +Woods" to declare against the French; and was described by +Christopher Gist as a "meer idol among his countrymen, the Irish +traders." + +Against these advances of British trade and civilization, the +French for four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours +of exploration into the vast medial valley of the continent and +constructing a chain of forts and trading-posts designed to +establish their claims to the country and to hold in check the +threatened English thrust from the east. Soon the wilderness +ambassador of empire, Celoron de Bienville, was despatched by the +far-visioned Galissoniere at Quebec to sow broadcast with +ceremonial pomp in the heart of America the seeds of empire, +grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile +symbol of the asserted sovereignty of France. Thus threatened in +the vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea +charters, the English threw off the lethargy with which they had +failed to protect their traders, and in grants to the Ohio and +Loyal land companies began resolutely to form plans looking to +the occupation of the interior. But the French seized the English +trading-house at Venango which they converted into a fort; and +Virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and judicious young man, a +surveyor, George Washington, availed not to prevent the French +from seizing Captain Trent's hastily erected military post at the +forks of the Ohio and constructing there a formidable work, named +Fort Duquesne. Washington, with his expeditionary force sent to +garrison Captain Trent's fort, defeated Jumonville and his small +force near Great Meadows (May, 1754); but soon after he was +forced to surrender Fort Necessity to Coulon de Villiers. + +The titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of +the Old Southwest, was now on--a struggle in which the resolute +pioneers of these backwoods first seriously measured their +strength with the French and their copper-hued allies, and +learned to surpass the latter in their own mode of warfare. The +portentous conflict, destined to assure the eastern half of the +continent to Great Britain, is a grim, prophetic harbinger of the +mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into the +twilight zone of the trans-Alleghany territory: + + + +CHAPTER IV. The Indian War + +All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about +building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such +barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let +loose upon them at pleasure.--The Reverend Hugh McAden--Diary, +July, 1755. + + +Long before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces +were gradually converging to produce a clash between the +aggressive colonials and the crafty Indians. As the settlers +pressed farther westward into the domain of the red men, +arrogantly grazing their stock over the cherished hunting-grounds +of the Cherokees, the savages, who were already well disposed +toward the French, began to manifest a deep indignation against +the British colonists because of this callous encroachment upon +their territory. During the sporadic forays by scattered bands of +Northern Indians upon the Catawbas and other tribes friendly to +the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of the +Carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. In the summer +of 1753 a party of northern Indians warring in the French +interest made their appearance in Rowan County, which had just +been organized, and committed various depredations upon the +scattered settlements. To repel these attacks a band of the +Catawbas sallied forth, encountered a detached party of the +enemy, and slew five of their number. Among the spoils, +significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, +looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of +French manufacture. + +Intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes +existed between Virginia and South Carolina. In strong +remonstrance against the alleged attempt of Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia to alienate the Cherokees, Catawbas, Muscogees, and +Chickasaws from South Carolina and to attach them to Virginia, +Governor Glen of South Carolina made pungent observations to +Dinwiddie: "South Carolina is a weak frontier colony, and in case +of invasion by the French would be their first object of attack. +We have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection +of the Indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any +mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the +French, we are in a miserable situation. The Cherokees alone have +several thousand gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the +province ... their country is the key to Carolina." By a treaty +concluded at Saluda (November 24, 1753), Glen promised to build +the Cherokees a fort near the lower towns, for the protection of +themselves and their allies; and the Cherokees on their part +agreed to become the subjects of the King of Great Britain and +hold their lands under him. This fort, erected this same year on +the headwaters of the Savannah, within gunshot distance of the +important Indian town of Keowee, was named Fort Prince George. +"It is a square," says the founder of the fort (Governor Glen to +the Board of Trade, August 26, 1754), "with regular Bastions and +four Ravelins it is near Two hundred foot from Salient Angle to +Salient Angle and is made of Earth taken out of the Ditch, +secured with fachines and well rammed with a banquet on the +Inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, the +Ravelins are made of Posts of Lightwood which is very durable, +they are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half +in the ground." The dire need for such a fort in the back country +was tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the +"House of John Gutry & James Anshers" in York County by a party +of sixty French Indians (December 16, 1754), who brutally +murdered sixteen of the twenty-one persons present, and carried +off as captives the remaining five." + +At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 North +Carolina voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops +and several thousand pounds additional for the construction of +forts--a sum considerably larger than that voted by Virginia. A +regiment of two hundred and fifty men was placed under the +command of Colonel James Innes of the Cape Fear section; and the +ablest officer under him was the young Irishman from the same +section, Lieutenant Hugh Waddell. On June 3, 1754, Dinwiddie +appointed Innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief of all the +forces against the French; and immediately after the disaster at +Great Meadows (July, 1754), Innes took command. Within two months +the supplies for the North Carolina troops were exhausted; and as +Virginia then failed to furnish additional supplies, Colonel +Innes had no recourse but to disband his troops and permit them +to return home. Appointed governor of Fort Cumberland by General +Braddock, he was in command there while Braddock advanced on his +disastrous march. + +The lesson of Braddock's defeat (July 9, 1755) was memorable in +the history of the Old Southwest. Well might Braddock exclaim +with his last breath: "Who would have thought it? ... We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Led on by the +reckless and fiery Beaujeu, wearing an Indian gorget about his +neck, the savages from the protection of trees and rough +defenses, a pre pared ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the +compact divisions of the English, whose scarlet coats furnished +ideal targets. The obstinacy of the British commanders in +refusing to permit their troops to fight Indian fashion was +suicidal; for as Herman Alriclis wrote Governor Morris of +Pennsylvania (July 22, 1755): "... the French and Indians had +cast an Intrenchment across the road before our Army which they +Discovered not Untill they came Close up to it, from thence and +both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on them, +our Army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would +not be admitted by the Genl or Sir John St. Clair, to break thro' +their Ranks and Take behind trees." Daniel Boone, who went from +North Carolina as a wagoner in the company commanded by Edward +Brice Dobbs, was on the battle-field; but Dobbs's company at the +time was scouting in the woods. When the fierce attack fell upon +the baggage a train, Boone succeeded in effecting his escape only +by cutting the traces of his team and fleeing on one of the +horses. To his dying day Boone continued to censure Braddock's +conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect to employ +strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of Provincial scouts +thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and +strategies of savage warfare. + +For a number of months following Braddock's defeat there was a +great rush of the frightened people southward. In a letter to +Dinwiddie, Washington expresses the apprehension that Augusta, +Frederick, and Hampshire County will soon be depopulated, as the +whole back country is in motion toward the southern colonies. +During this same summer Governor Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina +made a tour of exploration through the western part of the +colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the frontier. The +frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison the projected +fort was placed under the command of Hugh Waddell, now promoted +to the rank of captain, though only twenty-one years old. In +addition to Waddell's company, armed patrols were required for +the protection of the Rowan County frontier; and during the +summer Indian alarms were frequent at the Moravian village of +Bethabara, whose inhabitants had heard with distress on March +31st of the slaughter of eleven Moravians on the Mahoni and of +the ruin of Gnadenhutten. Many of the settlers in the outlying +districts of Rowan fled for safety to the refuge of the little +village; and frequently every available house, every place of +temporary abode was filled with panic stricken refugees. So +persistent were the depredations of the Indians and so alarmed +were the scattered Rowan settlers by the news of the murders and +the destruction of Vaul's Fort in Virginia (June 25, 1756) that +at a conference on July 5th the Moravians "decided to protect our +houses with palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should +in vade our tract or attack us, for if the people were all going +to retreat we would be the last left on the frontier and the +first point of attack." By July 23d, they had constructed a +strong defense for their settlement, afterward called the "Dutch +Fort" by the Indians. The principal structure was a stockade, +triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on a side, enclosing +the principal buildings of the settlement; and the gateway was +guarded by an observation tower. The other defense was a stockade +embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around +which a small settlement had sprung up. + +During the same year the fort planned by Dobbs was erected upon +the site he had chosen--between Third and Fourth creeks; and the +commissioners Richard Caswell and Francis Brown, sent out to +inspect the fort, made the following picturesque report to the +Assembly (December 21, 1756): + +"That they had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs, and found +it to be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions +following (that is to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by +forty, the opposite Angles Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In +Height Twenty four and a half feet as by the Plan annexed +Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made of Oak Logs +regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains +three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one +and the same time about one hundred Musketts the same is +beautifully scituated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the +Yadkin River. And that they also found under Command of Cap' Hugh +Waddel Forty six Effective men Officers and Soldiers, the said +Officers and Soldiers Appearing well and in good Spirits." + +As to the erection of a fort on the Tennessee, promised the +Cherokees by South Carolina, difficulties between the governor of +that province and of Virginia in regard to matters of policy and +the proportionate share of expenses made effective cooperation +between the two colonies well-nigh impossible. Glen, as we have +seen, had resented Dinwiddie's efforts to win the South Carolina +Indians over to Virginia's interest. And Dinwiddie had been very +indignant when the force promised him by the Indians to aid +General Braddock did not arrive, attributing this defection in +part to Glen's negotiations for a meeting with the chieftains and +in part to the influence of the South Carolina traders, who kept +the Indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs and +skinns. But there was no such contention between Virginia and +North Carolina. Dinwiddie and Dobbs arranged (November 6, 1755) +to send a commission from these colonies to treat with the +Cherokees and the Catawbas. Virginia sent two commissioners, +Colonel William Byrd, third of that name, and Colonel Peter +Randolph; while North Carolina sent one, Captain Hugh Waddell. +Salisbury, North Carolina, was the place of rendezvous. The +treaty with the Catawbas was made at the Catawba Town, presumably +the village opposite the mouth of Sugaw Creek, in York County, +South Carolina, on February 20-21, 1756; that with the Cherokees +on Broad River, North Carolina, March 13-17. As a result of the +negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the +Catawbas agreed to send forty warriors to aid Virginia within +forty days; and the Cherokees, in return for presents and +Virginia's promise to contribute her proportion toward the +erection of a strong fort, undertook to send four hundred +warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall be +built." Virginia and North Carolina thus wisely cooperated to +"straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white +and the red men, in important treaties which Have largely escaped +the attention of historians." + +On May 25, 1756, a conference was held at Salisbury between King +Heygler and warriors of the Catawba nation on the one side and +Chief Justice Henley, doubtless attended by Captain Waddell and +his frontier company, on the other. King Heygler, following the +lead set by the Cherokees, petitioned the Governor of North +Carolina to send the Catawbas some ammunition and to "build us a +fort for securing our old men, women and children when we turn +out to fight the Enemy on their coming." The chief justice +assured the King that the Catawbas would receive a necessary +supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of gunpowder and four +hundred pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge +with the governor their request to have a fort built as soon as +possible. Pathos not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent +appeal of good old King Heygler, ever the loyal friend of the +whites, at this conference: + +"I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by +the White people to my people especially near the Indian nation. +IF THE WHITE PEOPLE MAKE STRONG DRINK, LET THEM. SELL IT TO ONE +ANOTHER, OR DRINK IT IN THEIR OWN FAMILIES. This will avoid a +great deal of mischief which otherwise will, happen from my +people getting drunk and quarrelling with the White people. I +have no strong prisons like you to confine them for it. Our only +way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing proudly +to his Warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall +deserve it." + +In response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was +appropriated by the North Carolina Assembly for the erection of +"a Fort on our western frontier to protect and secure the +Catawbas" and for the support of two companies of fifty men each +to garrison this and another fort building on the sea coast. The +commissioners appointed for the purpose recommended (December 21, +1756) a site for the fort "near the 'Catawba nation"; and on +January 20, 1757, Governor Dobbs reported; "We are now building +a Fort in the midst of their towns at their own Request." The +fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the South +Fork of the Catawba River, as Dobbs says it was in the "midst" of +their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of +38 degrees" and might properly be included within a circle of +thirty miles radius." + +During the succeeding months many depredations were committed by +the Indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. Had it +not been for the protection afforded by all these forts, by the +militia companies under Alexander Osborne of Rowan and Nathaniel +Alexander of Anson, and by a special company of patrollers under +Green and Moore, the back settlers who had been so outrageously +"pilfered" by the Indians would have "retired from the Frontier +into the inner settlements." + + + +CHAPTER V. In Defense of Civilization + +We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us +by our Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our +neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, +came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our +congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more +than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a +day at a time and being fed by us.--Wachovia Community Diary, +1757 + + +With commendable energy and expedition Dinwiddie and Dobbs, +acting in concert, initiated steps for keeping the engagements +conjointly made by the two colonies with the Cherokees and the +Catawbas in the spring and summer of 1756. Enlisting sixty men, +"most of them Artificers, with Tools and Provisions," Major +Andrew Lewis proceeded in the late spring to Echota in the +Cherokee country. Here during the hot summer months they erected +the Virginia Fort on the path from Virginia, upon the northern +bank of the Little Tennessee, nearly opposite the Indian town of +Echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville." While +the fort was in process of construction, the Cherokees were +incessantly tampered with by emissaries from the Nuntewees and +the Savannahs in the French interest, and from the French +themselves at the Alibamu Fort. So effective were these +machinations, supported by extravagant promises and doubtless +rich bribes, that the Cherokees soon were outspokenly expressing +their desire for a French fort at Great Tellico. + +Dinwiddie welcomed the departure from America of Governor Glen of +South Carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to +the king's interest. From the new governor, William Henry +Lyttelton, who arrived in Charleston on June 1, 1756, he hoped to +secure effective cooperation in dealing with the Cherokees and +the Catawbas. This hope was based upon Lyttelton's recognition, +as stated in Dinwiddie's words, of the "Necessity of strict Union +between the whole Colonies, with't any of them considering their +particular Interest separate from the general Good of the whole." +After constructing the fort "with't the least assistance from +South Carolina," Major Lewis happened by accident upon a grand +council being held in Echota in September. At that time he +discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the French +had already produced the greatest imaginable change in the +sentiment of the Cherokees. Captain Raymond Demere of the +Provincials, with two hundred English troops, had arrived to +garrison the fort; but the head men of all the Upper Towns were +secretly influenced to agree to write a letter to Captain Demere, +ordering him to return immediately to Charleston with all the +troops under his command. At the grand council, Atta-kulla-kulla, +the great Cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to the head +men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of +Captain Demere that was there, he would take their Guns, and give +them to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they +would soon be worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of +the same colour as theirs, and that they should live among them +as slaves." With impressive dignity Major Lewis rose and +earnestly pleaded for the observance of the terms of the treaty +solemnly negotiated the preceding March. In response, the crafty +and treacherous chieftains desired Lewis to tell the Governor of +Virginia that "they had taken up the Hatchet against all Nations +that were Enemies to the English"; but Lewis, an astute student +of Indian Psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib +professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a +gloss on their knavery." So it proved; for instead of the four +hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in +Virginia, the Cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by +three women. Al though the Cherokees petitioned Virginia for a +number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, Dinwiddie postponed +sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia Assembly until +he could reassure himself in regard to the "Behaviour and +Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a +prudent decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia +fort was destroyed by the Indians. + +Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the +Cherokees over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a +recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected +by Virginia with troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina +immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern +bank of the Tennessee at the mouth of Tellico River, some seven +miles from the site of the Virginia fort; and here were posted +twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the +wilderness. To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord +Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces in +America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and +during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up +there. + +The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of +hostile Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755. +In July, the Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in +Virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of +the wars and many murders, committed by the savage Indians on the +back inhabitants." On July 30th a large party of Shawano Indians +fell upon the New River settlement and wiped it out of existence. +William Ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and Mrs. +Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. The +following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters of +the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was +captured by about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the +fort, killed John Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and +John Ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men, +women, and children. Among the captured was the famous Mrs. Mary +Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, was killed; but after being +"carried away into Captivity, amongst whom she was barbarously +treated," according to her own statement, she finally escaped and +returned to Virginia." The frontier continued to be infested by +marauding bands of French and Indians; and Dinwiddie gloomily +confessed to Dobbs (July 22d): "I apprehend that we shall always +be harrass'd with fly'g Parties of these Banditti unless we form +an Expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r Towns." Such an +expedition, known as the Sandy River Expedition, had been sent +out in February to avenge the massacre of the New River settlers; +but the enterprise engaged in by about four hundred Virginians +and Cherokees under Major Andrew Lewis and Captain Richard +Pearis, proved a disastrous failure. Not a single Indian was +seen; and the party suffered extraordinary hardships and narrowly +escaped starvation. + +In conformity with his treaty obligations with the Catawbas, +Governor Dobbs commissioned Captain Hugh Waddell to erect the +fort promised the Catawbas at the spot chosen by the +commissioners near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba +River. This fort, for which four thousand pounds had been +appropriated, was for the most part completed by midsummer, 1757. +But owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the French and +to the intermeddling of the South Carolina traders, who desired +to retain the trade of the Catawbas for that province, Oroloswa, +the Catawba King Heygler, sent a "talk" to Governor Lyttelton, +requesting that North Carolina desist from the work of +construction and that no fort be built except by South Carolina. +Accordingly, Governor Dobbs ordered Captain Waddell to discharge +the workmen (August 11, 1757); and every effort was made for many +months thereafter to conciliate the Catawbas, erstwhile friends +of North Carolina. The Catawba fort erected by North Carolina was +never fully completed; and several years later South Carolina, +having succeeded in alienating the Catawbas from North Carolina, +which colony had given them the best possible treatment, built +for them a fort at the mouth of Line Creek on the east bank of +the Catawba River. + +In the spring and summer of 1758 the long expected Indian allies +arrived in Virginia, as many as four hundred by May--Cherokees, +Catawbas, Tuscaroras, and Nottaways. But Dinwiddie was wholly +unable to use them effectively; and in order to provide amusement +for them, he directed that they should go "a scalping" with the +whites--"a barbarous method of war," frankly acknowledged the +governor, "introduced by the French, which we are oblidged to +follow in our own defense." Most of the Indian allies +discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the +remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the +campaign against Fort Duquesne. Three North Carolina companies, +composed of trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through +this campaign under the command of Major Hugh Waddell, the +"Washington of North Carolina." Long of limb and broad of chest, +powerful, lithe, and active, Waddell was an ideal leader for this +arduous service, being fertile in expedient and skilful in the +employment of Indian tactics. With true provincial pride Governor +Dobbs records that Waddell "had great honor done him, being +employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as +an Indian; and his sergeant, Rogers, took the only Indian +prisoner, who gave Mr. Forbes certain intelligence of the forces +in Fort Duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." This +apparently trivial incident is remarkable, in that it proved to +be the decisive factor in a campaign that was about to be +abandoned. The information in regard to the state of the garrison +at Fort Duquesne, secured from the Indian, for the capture of +whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two hundred and +fifty pounds, emboldened Forbes to advance rather than to retire. +Upon reaching the fort (November 25th), he found it abandoned by +the enemy. Sergeant Rogers never received the reward promised by +General Forbes and the other English officer; but some time +afterward he was compensated by a modest sum from the colony of +North Carolina. + +A series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly the fault of the +whites, soon resulted in the precipitation of a terrible Indian +outbreak. A party of Cherokees, returning home in May, 1758, +seized some stray horses on the frontier of Virginia--never +dreaming of any wrong, says an old historian, as they saw it +frequently done by the whites. The owners of the horses, hastily +forming a party, went in pursuit of the Indians and killed twelve +or fourteen of the number. The relatives of the slain Indians, +greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. Nor was the +tactless conduct of Forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; +for when Atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in +disgust at the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by +Forbes's orders, apprehended and disarmed. This rude treatment, +coupled with the brutal and wanton murder of some Cherokee +hunters a little earlier, by an irresponsible band of Virginians +under Captain Robert Wade, still further aggravated the Indians. + +Incited by the French, who had fled to the southward after the +fall of Fort Duquesne, parties of bloodthirsty young Indians +rushed down upon the settlements and left in their path death and +desolation along the frontiers of the Carolinas. On the upper +branch of the Yadkin and below the South Yadkin near Fort Dobbs +twenty-two whites fell in swift succession before the secret +onslaughts of the savages from the lower Cherokee towns. Many of +the settlers along the Yadkin fled to the Carolina Fort at +Bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff of Rowan +County suffered siege by the Cherokees, in his home, until +rescued by a detachment under Brother Loesch from Bethabara. +While many families took refuge in Fort Dobbs, frontiersmen under +Captain Morgan Bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of +Salisbury and guarded the settlements from the hostile incursions +of the savages. So gravely alarmed were the Rowan settlers, +compelled by the Indians to desert their planting and crops, that +Colonel Harris was despatched post-haste for aid to Cape Fear, +arriving there on July 1st. With strenuous energy Captain +Waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies of +thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six +swivel guns and ammunition on before him; and these +reinforcements brought relief at last to the harassed Rowan +frontiers." During the remainder of the year, the borders were +kept clear by bold and tireless rangers-under the leadership of +expert Indian fighters of the stamp of Grifth Rutherford and +Morgan Bryan. + +When the Cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the North +Carolina border in April arrived at their town of Settiquo, they +proudly displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain Rowan +settlers. Upon the demand for these scalps by Captain Demere at +Fort Loudon and under direction of Atta-kulla-kulla, the Settiquo +warriors surrendered eleven of the scalps to Captain Demere who, +according to custom in time of peace, buried them. New murders on +Pacolet and along the Virginia Path, which occurred shortly +afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it was plain, says a +contemporary gazette, that "the lower Cherokees were not +satisfied with the murder of the Rowan settlers, but intended +further mischief". On October 1st and again on October 31st, +Governor Dobbs received urgent requests from Governor Lyttelton, +asking that the North Carolina provincials and militia cooperate +to bring him assistance. Although there was no law requiring the +troops to march out of the province and the exposed frontiers of +North Carolina sorely needed protection, Waddell, now +commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five small companies +and marched to the aid of Governor Lyttelton. But early in +January, 1760, while on the march, Waddell received a letter from +Lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and +that a treaty of peace had been negotiated with the Cherokees. + + + +CHAPTER VI. Crushing the Cherokees + +Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling +strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America.--Hewatt: +An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the +Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. 1779. + + +Governor Lyttelton's treaty of "peace", negotiated with the +Cherokees at the close of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a +crass and hideous blunder. His domineering attitude and +tyrannical treatment of these Indians had aroused the bitterest +animosity. Yet he did not realize that it was no longer safe to +trust their word. No sooner did the governor withdraw his army +from the borders than the cunning Cherokees, whose passions had +been inflamed by what may fairly be called the treacherous +conduct of Lyttelton, rushed down with merciless ferocity upon +the innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. On +February 1, 1760, while a large party (including the family of +Patrick Calhoun), numbering in all about one hundred and fifty +persons, were removing from the Long Cane settlement to Augusta, +they were suddenly attacked by a hundred mounted Cherokees, who +slaughtered about fifty of them. After the massacre, many of the +children were found helplessly wandering in the woods. One man +alone carried to Augusta no less than nine of the pitiful +innocents, some horribly mutilated with the tomahawk, others +scalped, and all yet alive. + +Atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and +many people were slain. The Cherokees, under the leadership of +Si-lou-ee, or the Young Warrior of Estatoe, the Round O, Tiftoe, +and others, were baffled in their persistent efforts to capture +Fort Prince George. On February 16th the crafty Oconostota +appeared before the fort and under the pretext of desiring some +White man to accompany him on a visit to the governor on urgent +business, lured the commander, Lieutenant Coytomore, and two +attendants to a conference outside the gates. At a preconceived +signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were +wounded, and Lieutenant Coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell +dead. Enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death +the Indian hostages within. During the abortive attack upon the +fort, Oconostota, unaware of the murder of the hostages, was +heard shouting above the din of battle: "Fight strong, and you +shall be relieved." + +Now began the dark days along the Rowan border, which were so +sorely to test human endurance. Many refugees fortified +themselves in the different stockades; and Colonel Hugh Waddell +with his redoubtable frontier company of Indian-fighters awaited +the onslaught of the savages, who were reported to have passed +through the mountain defiles and to be approaching along the +foot-hills. The story of the investment of Fort Dobbs and the +splendidly daring sortie of Waddell and Bailey is best told in +Waddell's report to Governor Dobbs (February 29, 1760): + +"For several Days I observed a small party of Indians were +constantly about the fort, I sent out several parties after them +to no purpose, the Evening before last between 8 & 9 o'clock I +found by the Dogs making an uncommon Noise there must be a party +nigh a Spring which we sometimes use. As my Garrison is but +small, and I was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out +the Garrison, I took our Capt. Bailie who with myself and party +made up ten: We had not marched 300 yds. from the fort when we +were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party +Orders not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually +observed: We rec'd the Indians' fire: When I perceived they had +almost all fired, I ordered my party to fire which We did not +further than 12 steps each loaded with a Bullet and 7 Buck Shot, +they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to +tomahawk us or make us Prisoners: They found the fire very hot +from so small a Number which a good deal confused them: I then +ordered my party to retreat, as I found the Instant our skirmish +began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing +the garrison the Indians were soon repulsed with I am sure a +considerable Loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can +confide in they cou'd not have less than 10 or 12 killed and +wounded; The next Morning we found a great deal of Blood and one +dead whom I suppose they cou'd not find in the night. On my side +I had 2 Men wounded one of whom I am afraid will die as he is +scalped, the other is in way of Recovery, and one boy killed near +the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I expected they +would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all +Fortifications by Night, but find they did not like their +Reception." + +Alarmed by Waddell's "offensive-defensive," the Indians abandoned +the siege. Robert Campbell, Waddell's ranger, who was scalped in +this engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was +recompensed by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. + +In addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies +were now placed under Waddell's command. Companies of volunteers +scoured the woods in search of the lurking Indian foe. These +rangers, who were clad in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, +and who employed Indian tactics in fighting, were captained by +such hardy leaders as the veteran Morgan Bryan, the intrepid +Griffith Ruthe ford, the German partisan, Martin Phifer +(Pfeiffer), and Anthony Hampton, the father of General Wade +Hampton. They visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" +erected by the settlers--extending all the way from Fort Dobbs +and the Moravian fortifications in the Wachau to Samuel +Stalnaker's stockade on the Middle Fork of the Holston in +Virginia. About the middle of March, thirty volunteer Rowan +County rangers encountered a band of forty Cherokees, who +fortified themselves in a deserted house near the Catawba River. +The famous scout and hunter, John Perkins, assisted by one of his +bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted +torches upon the roof. One of the Indians, as the smoke became +suffocating and the flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "Better for +one to die bravely than for all to perish miserably in the +flames," and darting forth, dashed rapidly hither and thither, in +order to draw as many shots as possible. This act of superb +self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles of the +whites, who riddled the brave Indian with balls, were empty, the +other savages made a wild dash for liberty. Seven fell thus under +the deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. Ten of the Indians, +all told, lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were +subsequently paid one hundred pounds by the colony of North +Carolina. + +Beaten back from Fort Dobbs, sorely defeated along the Catawba, +hotly pursued by the rangers, the Cherokees continued to lurk in +the shadows of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to +fall suddenly upon way faring settlers and isolated cabins remote +from any stronghold. On March 8th William Fish, his son, and +Thompson, a companion, were riding along the "trace," in search +of provisions for a group of families fortified on the Yadkin, +when a flight of arrows hurtled from the cane-brake, and Fish and +his son fell dead. Although pierced with two arrows, one in the +hip and one clean through his body, Thompson escaped upon his +fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally +reached the Carolina Fort at Bethabara. The good Dr. Bonn, by +skilfully extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved +Thompson's life. The pious Moravians rejoiced over the recovery +of the brave messenger, whose sensational arrival gave them +timely warning of the close proximity of the Indians. While +feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush by the +lurking foe; and on March 11th, a family barricaded within a +burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, +were rescued in the nick of time by the militia. No episode from +Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales surpasses in melancholy +interest Harry Hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on Bean +Island Creek. Surrounded by the Indians, Hicks and his family +took refuge within the small outer palisade around his humble +home. Fighting desperately against terrific odds, he was finally +driven from his yard into his log cabin, which he continued to +defend with dauntless courage. With every shot he tried to send a +redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was only after his +powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, beneath +the deadly tomahawk. So impressed were the Indians by his bravery +that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and +these were afterward rescued by Waddell when he marched to the +Cherokee towns in 1761. + +The kindly Moravians had always entertained with generous +hospitality the roving bands of Cherokees, who accordingly held +them in much esteem and spoke of Bethabara as "the Dutch Fort, +where there are good people and much bread." But now, in these +dread days, the truth of their daily text was brought forcibly +home to the Moravians: "Neither Nehemiah nor his brethren put off +their clothes, but prayed as they watched." With Bible in one +hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of Wachovia sternly +marched to religious worship. No Puritan of bleak New England +ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the +hard-won outpost of civilization than did the pious Moravian of +the Wachau. At the new settlement of Bethania on Easter Day, more +than four hundred souls, including sixty rangers, listened +devoutly to the eloquent sermon of Bishop Spangenberg concerning +the way of salvation--the while their arms, stacked without the +Gemein Haus, were guarded by the watchful sentinel. On March 14th +the watchmen at Bethania with well-aimed shots repelled the +Indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down the +wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves". Religion was no +protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to +the present site of Salem were set upon by the red men--one +escaping, another suffering capture, and the third, a Baptist, +losing his life. A little later word came to Fort Dobbs that John +Long and Robert Gillespie of Salisbury had been shot from ambush +and scalped--Long having been pierced with eight bullets and +Gillespie with seven. + +There is one beautiful incident recorded by the Moravians, which +has a truly symbolic significance. While the war was at its +height, a strong party of Cherokees, who had lost their chief, +planned in retaliation to attack Bethabara. "When they went +home," sets forth the Moravian Diary, "they said they had been to +a great town, where there were a great many people, where the +bells rang often, and during the night, time after time, a horn +was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had taken +no prisoners." The trumpet of the watchman, announcing the +passing of the hour, had convinced the Indians that their plans +for attack were discovered; and the regular evening bell, +summoning the pious to prayer, rang in the stricken ears of the +red men like the clamant call to arms. + +Following the retirement from office of Governor Lyttelton, +Lieutenant-Governor Bull proceeded to prosecute the war with +vigor. On April 1, 1760, twelve hundred men under Colonel +Archibald Montgomerie arrived at Charleston, with instructions to +strike an immediate blow and to relieve Fort Loudon, then +invested by the Cherokees. With his own force, two hundred and +ninety-five South Carolina Rangers, forty picked men of the new +"levies," and "a good number of guides," Montgomerie moved from +Fort Ninety-Six on May 28th. On the first of June, crossing +Twelve-Mile River, Montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, +devastating and burning every Indian village in the Valley of +Keowee, killing and capturing more than a hundred of the +Cherokees, and destroying immense stores of corn. Receiving no +reply to his summons to the Cherokees of the Middle and Upper +Towns to make peace or suffer like treatment, Montgomerie took up +his march from Fort Prince George on June 24th, resolved to carry +out his threat. On the morning of the 27th, he was drawn into an +ambuscade within six miles of Et-chow-ee, eight miles south of +the present Franklin, North Carolina, a mile and a half below +Smith's Bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by +some six hundred and thirty warriors led by Si-lou-ee. Fighting +with Indian tactics, the Provincial Rangers under Patrick Calhoun +particularly distinguished themselves; and the bloodcurdling +yells of the painted savages were responded to by the wild huzzas +of the kilted Highlanders who, waving their Scotch bonnets, +impetuously charged the redskins and drove them again and again +from their lurking-places. Nevertheless Montgomerie lost from +eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while the loss of +the Indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the whites. +Unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing +his baggage, Montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. In so +doing, he acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon +his original intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of +Fort London. + +Captain Demere and his devoted little band, who had been +resolutely holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. After +the bread was exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the +necessity of eating dogs and horses; and the loyal aid of the +Indian wives of some of the garrison, who secretly brought them +supplies of food daily, enabled them to hold out still longer. +Realizing at last the futility of prolonging the hopeless +contest, Captain Demere surrendered the fort on August 8, 1760. +At daylight the next morning, while on the march to Fort Prince +George, the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous Cherokees, +who at the first onset killed Captain Demere and twenty-nine +others. A humane chieftain, Outassitus, says one of the gazettes +of the day, "went around the field calling upon the Indians to +desist, and making such representations to them as stopped the +further progress and effects of their barbarous and brutal rage," +which expressed itself in scalping and hacking off the arms and +legs of the defenseless whites. Atta-kulla-kulla, who was +friendly to the whites, claimed Captain Stuart, the second +officer, as his captive, and bore him away by stealth. After nine +days' journey through the wilderness they encountered an advance +party under Major Andrew Lewis, sent out by Colonel Byrd, head of +a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the garrison who +might effect their escape. Thus Stuart was restored to his +friends. This abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory +lay conclusively with the Indians, ended when Byrd disbanded his +new levies and Montgomerie sailed from Charleston for the north +(August, 1760). + +During the remainder of the year, the province of North Carolina +remained free of further alarms from the Indians. But the view +was generally entertained that one more joint Effort of North +Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia would have to be made in +order to humble the Cherokees. At the sessions of the North +Carolina Assembly in November and again in December, matters in +dispute between Governor Dobbs and the representatives of the +people made impossible the passage of a proposed aid bill, +providing for five hundred men to cooperate with Virginia and +South Carolina. Nevertheless volunteers in large numbers +patriotically marched from North Carolina to Charleston and the +Congaree (December, 1760, to April, 1761), to enlist in the +famous regiment being organized by Colonel Thomas Middleton. On +March 31, 1761, Governor Dobbs called together the Assembly to +act upon a letter received from General Amherst, outlining a more +vigorous plan of campaign appropriate to the succession of a +young and vigorous sovereign, George III. An aid bill was passed, +providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; and one +regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the +command of Colonel Hugh Waddell, was mustered into service for +seven months' duty, beginning May 1, 1761. + +On July 7, 1761, Colonel James Grant, detached from the main army +in command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his +march from Fort Prince George. Attacked on June 10th two miles +south of the spot where Montgomerie was engaged the preceding +year, Grant's army, after a vigorous engagement lasting several +hours, drove off the Indians. The army then proceeded at leisure +to lay waste the fifteen towns of the Middle Settlements; and, +after this work of systematic devastation was over, returned to +Fort Prince George. Peace was concluded in September as the +result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was +pushed seventy miles farther to the west. + +Meantime, Colonel Waddell with his force of five hundred North +Carolinians had acted in concert with Colonel William Byrd, +commanding the Virginia detachment. The combined forces went into +camp at Captain Samuel Stalnaker's old place on the Middle Fork +of Holston. Because of his deliberately dilatory policy, Byrd was +superseded in the command by Colonel Adam Stephen. Marching their +forces to the Long Island of Holston, Stephen and Waddell erected +there Fort Robinson, in compliance with the instructions of +Governor Fauquier, of Virginia. The Cherokees, heartily tired of +the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, independent of +the treaty at Charleston, on November 19, 1761. + +The successful termination of this campaign had an effect of +signal importance in the development of the expansionist spirit. +The rich and beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the +North Carolina and Virginia pioneers under Waddell, Byrd, and +Stephen, lured them irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune +and bolder explorations into the unknown, beckoning West. + + + +CHAPTER VII. The Land Companies + +It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as +possible, and that the granting them to men of the first +consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large +bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of +effecting the end proposed.--Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia +to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. + + +Although for several decades the Virginia traders had been +passing over the Great Trading Path to the towns of the Cherokees +and the Catawbas, it was not until the early years of the +eighteenth century that Virginians of imaginative vision directed +their eyes to the westward, intent upon crossing the mountains +and locating settlements as a firm barrier against the +imperialistic designs of France. Acting upon his oft-expressed +conviction that once the English settlers had established +themselves at the source of the James River "it would not be in +the power of the French to dislodge them," Governor Alexander +Spotswood in 1716, animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led +an expedition of fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the +mountains, arduously ascended to the summit of the Blue Ridge, +and claimed the country by right of discovery in behalf of his +sovereign. In the journal of John Fontaine this vivacious account +is given of the historic episode: "I graved my name on a tree by +the river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper +enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of this place +in the name and for King George the First of England. We had a +good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all +their arms and we drank the King's health in Burgundy and fired a +volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family in claret and a +volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired another volley." + +By this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated +by presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him a +golden horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, Sic juvat +transcendere montes, Alexander Spotswood anticipated by a third +of a century the more ambitious expedition on behalf of France by +Celoron de Bienville (see Chapter III), and gave a memorable +object-lesson in the true spirit of westward expansion. During +the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the minds of men of the +stamp of William Byrd and Joshua Gee that there was imperative +need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the +trans-Alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing +wave of French influence and occupation. By the fifth decade of +the century, as we have seen, the Virginia settlers, with their +squatter's claims and tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the +mountains; and great pressure was brought to bear upon the +council to issue grants for vast tracts of land in the uncharted +wilderness of the interior. + +At this period the English ministry adopted the aggressive policy +already mentioned in connection with the French and Indian war, +indicative of a determination to contest with France the right to +occupy the interior of the continent. This policy had been +inaugurated by Virginia with the express purpose of stimulating +the adoption of a similar policy by North Carolina and +Pennsylvania. Two land companies, organized almost +simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries necessary to +settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to +discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best +land in the trans-Alleghany. + +In June, 1749, a great corporation, the Loyal Land Company of +Virginia, received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above +the North Carolina line and west of the mountains. Dr. Thomas +Walker, an expert surveyor, who in company with several other +gentlemen had made a tour of exploration through eastern +Tennessee and the Holston region in 1748, was chosen as the agent +of this company. Starting from his home in Albemarle County, +Virginia, March 6, 1750, accompanied by five stalwart pioneers, +Walker made a tour of exploration to the westward, being absent +four months and one week. On this journey, which carried the +party as far west as the Rockcastle River (May 11th) and as far +north as the present Paintsville, Kentucky, they named many +natural objects, such as mountains and rivers, after members of +the party. Their two principal achievements were the erection of +the first house built by white men between the Cumberland +Mountains and the Ohio River a feat, however, which led to no +important developments; and the discovery of the wonderful gap in +the Alleghanies to which Walker gave the name Cumberland, in +honor of the ruthless conqueror at Culloden, the "bloody duke." + +In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized by Colonel Thomas Lee, +president of the Virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of +Virginia and Maryland. In their petition for five hundred +thousand acres, one of the declared objects of the company was +"to anticipate the French by taking possession of that country +southward of the Lakes to which the French had no right...." +By the royal order of May 19, 1749, the company was awarded two +hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and the +promise was made of an additional award of the remainder +petitioned for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon +the original grant and the building and maintaining of a fort. +Christopher Gist, summoned from his remote home on the Yadkin in +North Carolina, was instructed "to search out and discover the +Lands upon the river Ohio & other adjoining branches of the +Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof." In this +journey, which began at Colonel Thomas Cresap's, in Maryland, in +October, 1750, and ended at Gist's home on May 18, 1751, Gist +visited the Lower Shawnee Town and the Lower Blue Licks, ascended +Pilot Knob almost two decades before Find lay and Boone, from the +same eminence, "saw with pleasure the beautiful level of +Kentucky," intersected Walker's route at two points, and crossed +Cumberland Mountain at Pound Gap on the return journey. This was +a far more extended journey than Walker's, enabling Gist to +explore the fertile valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Miami +rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of Kentucky. + +It is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was +inaugurating an era of land hunger unparalleled in American +history, that the first authentic records of the trans-Alleghany +were made by surveyors who visited the country as the agents of +great land companies. The outbreak of the French and Indian War +so soon afterward delayed for a decade and more any important +colonization of the West. Indeed, the explorations and findings +of Walker and Gist were almost unknown, even to the companies +they represented. But the conclusion of peace in 1763, which gave +all the region between the mountains and the Mississippi to the +British, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist +movement in the Old Southwest, and inaugurated the constructive +leadership of North Carolina in f he occupation and colonization +of the imperial domain of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. + +In the middle years of the century many families of Virginia +gentry removed to the back country of North Carolina in the +fertile region ranging from Williamsborough on the east to +Hillsborough on the west. There soon arose in this section of the +colony a society marked by intellectual distinction, social +graces, and the leisured dignity of the landlord and the large +planter. So conspicuous for means, intellect, culture, and +refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance of +wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that Governor Josiah Martin, +in passing through this region some years later, significantly +observes: "They have great preeminence, as well with respect to +soil and cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the +inhabitants, in which last respect the difference is so great +that one would be led to think them people of another region." +This new wealthy class which was now turning its gaze toward the +unoccupied lands along the frontier was "dominated by the +democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the aristocratic +tendencies of slave-holding planters." From the cross-fertilization +of the ideas of two social groups--this back-country +gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic +instincts, economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and +the primitive pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, +responsive to leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in +execution--there evolved the militant American expansion in the Old +Southwest. + +A conspicuous figure in this society of Virginia emigrants was a +young man named Richard Henderson, whose father had removed with +his family from Hanover County, Virginia, to Bute, afterward +Granville County, North Carolina, in 1742. Educated at home by a +private tutor, he began his career as assistant of his father, +Samuel Henderson, the High Sheriff of Granville County; and after +receiving a law-license, quickly acquired an extensive practice. +"Even in the superior courts where oratory and eloquence are as +brilliant and powerful as in Westminster hall," records an +English acquaintance, "he soon became distinguished and eminent, +and his superior genius shone forth with great splendour, and +universal applause." This young attorney, wedded to the daughter +of an Irish lord, often visited Salisbury on his legal circuit; +and here he became well acquainted with Squire Boone, one of the +"Worshipfull Justices," and often appeared in suits before him. +By his son, the nomadic Daniel Boone, conspicuous already for his +solitary wanderings across the dark green mountains to the +sun-lit valleys and boundless hunting-grounds beyond, Henderson +was from time to time regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales +of western exploration; and Boone, in his dark hour of poverty +and distress, when he was heavily involved financially, turned +for aid to this friend and his partner, who composed the law-firm +of Williams and Henderson. + +Boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the West stimulated +Henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the +rich possibilities of unoccupied lands there. While the Board of +Trade in drafting the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, +forbade the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was +specifically reserved to the Indians, it was clearly not their +intention to set permanent western limits to the colonies. The +prevailing opinion among the shrewdest men of the period was well +expressed by George Washington, who wrote his agent for +preempting western lands: "I can never look upon that +proclamation in any other light (but I say this between +ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of +the Indians." And again in 1767: "It (the proclamation of 1763) +must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those +Indians consent to our occupying the lands. Any person, +therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out +good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing +them for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, +will never regain it." Washington had added greatly to his +holdings of bounty lands in the West by purchasing at trivial +prices the claims of many of the officers and soldiers. Three +years later we find him surveying extensive tracts along the Ohio +and the Great Kanawha, and, with the vision of the expansionist, +making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be seated +upon his own lands. Henderson, too, recognized the importance of +the great country west of the Appalachians. He agreed with the +opinion of Benjamin Franklin, who in 1756 called it "one of the +finest in North America for the extreme richness and fertility of +the land, the healthy temperature of the air and the mildness of +the climate, the plenty of hunting, fishing and fowling, the +facility of trade with the Indians and the vast convenience of +inland navigation or water carriage." Henderson therefore +proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose of acquiring +and colonizing a large domain in the West. This partnership, +which was entitled Richard Henderson and Company, was composed of +a few associates, including Richard Henderson, his uncle and +law-partner, John Williams, and, in all probability, their close +friends Thomas and Nathaniel Hart of Orange County, North +Carolina, immigrants from Hanover County, Virginia. + +Seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of +peace, the company engaged Daniel Boone as scout and surveyor. He +was instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to +examine, with respect to their location and fertility, the lands +which he visited, and to report his findings upon his return. The +secret expedition must have been transacted with commendable +circumspection; for although in after years it became common +knowledge among his friends that he had acted as the company's +agent, Boone himself consistently refrained from betraying the +confidence of his employers. Upon a similar mission, Gist had +carefully concealed from the suspicious Indians the fact that he +carried a compass, which they wittily termed "land stealer"; and +Washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land agent Crawford, +insisting that the operation be carried on under the guise of +hunting game." The discreet Boone, taciturn and given to keeping +his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous +to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well +known to him, in order to secure the results of their information +in regard to the best lands they had encountered in the course of +their hunting expedition. Boone came among the hunters, known as +the "Blevens connection," at one of their Tennessee station camps +on their return from a long hunt in Kentucky, in order, as +expressed in the quaint phraseology of the period, to be +"informed of the geography and locography of these woods, saying +that he was employed to explore them by Henderson & Company." The +acquaintance which Boone on this occasion formed with a member of +the party, Henry Scaggs, the skilled hunter and explorer, was +soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward Scaggs was employed as +prospector by the same land company. In 1764 Scaggs had passed +through Cumberland Gap and hunted for the season on the +Cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of +Richard Henderson and Company, he was despatched on an extended +exploration to the lower Cumberland, fixing his station at the +salt lick afterward known as Mansker's Lick. + +Richard Henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the Harts and +others in an enterprise which his own genius planned," says Peck, +the personal acquaintance and biographer of Boone, "and then +encouraged several hunters to explore the country and learn where +the best lands lay." Just why Henderson and his associates did +not act sooner upon the reports brought back by the +hunters--Boone and Scaggs and Callaway, who accompanied Boone in +1764 in the interest of the land company "is not known; but in +all probability the fragmentary nature of these reports, however +glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause for the delay of +five years before the land company, through the agency of Boone +and Findlay, succeeded in having a thorough exploration inside of +the Kentucky region. Delay was also caused by rival claims to the +territory. In the Virginia Gazette of December 1, 1768, Henderson +must have read with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that +"the Six Nations and all their tributaries have granted a vast +extent of country to his majesty, and the Proprietaries of +Pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous boundary line between +their hunting country and this, and the other colonies to the +Southward as far as the Cherokee River, for which they received +the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever +given at any conference since the settlement of America." The +news was now bruited about through the colony of North Carolina, +that the Cherokees were hot in their resentment because the +Northern Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees and the +perpetual disputants for the vast Middle Ground of Kentucky, had +received at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, November 5, 1768, an +immense compensation from the crown for the territory which they, +the Cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. Only three weeks +before, John Stuart, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the +Southern Department, had negotiated with the Cherokees the Treaty +of Hard Labor, South Carolina (October 14th), by which Governor +Tryon's line of 1767, from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, was +continued direct to Colonel Chiswell's mine, the present +Wytheville, Virginia, and thence in a straight Brie to the mouth +of the Great Kanawha. Thus at the close of the year 1768 the +crown through both royal governor and superintendent of Indian +affairs acknowledged in fair and open treaty the right of the +Cherokees, whose Tennessee villages guarded the gateway, to the +valley lands east of the mountain barrier as well as to the dim +mid-region of Kentucky. In the very act of negotiating the Treaty +of Fort Stanwix, Sir William Johnson privately acknowledged that +possession of the trans-Alleghany could be legally obtained only +by extinguishing the title of the Cherokees. + +These conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the +Indians and the company's settlers. In the spring of 1769 +occurred one of those incidents in the westward advance which, +though slight in itself, was to have a definite bearing upon the +course of events in later years. In pursuance of his policy, as +agent of the Loyal Land Company, of promoting settlement upon the +company's lands, Dr. Thomas Walker, who had visited Powell's +Valley the preceding year and come into possession of a very +large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party of +men including the Kirtleys, Captain Rucker, and others, and to +another party led by Joseph Martin, trader of Orange County, +Virginia, afterward a striking figure in the Old Southwest. The +fevered race by these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for +possession of an early "Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter +band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that +when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly handed them "a letter +from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got to the valley +first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were not to +interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with +the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat +and destroyed 23 deer--15 bears--2 buffaloes and a great quantity +of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland +who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The +company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees, +who, fortified by the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this +country within the Indian reservation, were determined to drive +Martin and his company out. While hunting on the Cumberland +River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, Martin and his company were +surrounded and disarmed by a party of Cherokees who said they had +orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men +hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived at +their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and +their goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse +but to return to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until +six years later that Martin, under the stable influence of the +Transylvania Company, was enabled to return to this spot and +erect there the station which was to play an integral part in the +progress of westward expansion. + +Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under +the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn +back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and +explorers who visited that territory between the time of its +discovery by Walker and Gist and the advent of Boone. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone + +The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of +Virginia & North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when +they intended to make a long Hunt (as they calls it) they +Collected near the head of Holston near whare Abingdon now +stands....--General William Hall. + + +Before the coming of Walker and Gist in 1750 and 1751 +respectively, the region now called Kentucky had, as far as we +know, been twice visited by the French, once in 1729 when +Chaussegros de Lery and his party visited the Big Bone Lick, and +again in the summer of 1749 when the Baron de Longueuil with four +hundred and fifty-two Frenchmen and Indians, going to join +Bienville in an expedition against "the Cherickees and other +Indians lying at the back of Carolina and Georgia," doubtless +encamped on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio. Kentucky was also +traversed by John Peter Salling with his three adventurous +companions in their journey through the Middle West in 1742. But +all these early visits, including the memorable expeditions of +Walker and Gist, were so little known to the general public that +when John Filson wrote the history of Kentucky in 1784 he +attributed its discovery to James McBride in 1754. More +influential upon the course of westward expansion was an +adventure which occurred in 1752, the very year in which the +Boones settled down in their Vadkin home. + +In the autumn of 1752, a Pennsylvania trader, John Findlay, with +three or four companions, descended the Ohio River in a canoe as +far as the falls at the present Louisville, Kentucky, and +accompanied a party of Shawnees to their town of +Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of what is now Winchester. + +This was the site of the "Indian Old Corn Field," the Iroquois +name for which ("the place of many fields," or "prairie") was +Ken-take, whence came the name of the state. + +Five miles east of this spot, where still may be seen a mound and +an ellipse showing the outline of the stockade, is the famous +Pilot Knob, from the summit of which the fields surrounding the +town lie visible in their smooth expanse. During Findlay's stay +at the Indian town other traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia, +who reported that they were "on their return from trading with +the Cuttawas (Catawbas), a nation who live in the Territories of +Carolina," assembled in the vicinity in January, 1753. Here, as +the result of disputes arising from their barter, they were set +upon and captured by a large party of straggling Indians +(Coghnawagas from Montreal) on January 26th; but Findlay and +another trader named James Lowry were so fortunate as to escape +and return through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania +settlements." The incident is of important historic significance; +for it was from these traders, who must have followed the Great +Warriors' Path to the country of the Catawbas, that Findlay +learned of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Gap traversed by the Indian +path. His reminiscences of this gateway to Kentucky, of the site +of the old Indian town on Lulbegrud Creek, a tributary of the Red +River, and of the Pilot Knobwere sixteen years later to fire +Boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the +Transylvania Company. + +During the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of +the savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east +ranged through the trans-Alleghany. But in 1761, a party of +hunters led by a rough frontiersman, Elisha Walden, penetrated +into Powell's Valley, followed the Indian trail through +Cumberland Gap, explored the Cumberland River, and finally +reached the Laurel Mountain where, encountering a party of +Indians, they deemed it expedient to return. With Walden went +Henry Scaggs, afterward explorer for the Henderson Land Company, +William Elevens and Charles Cox, the famous Virginia hunters, one +Newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. Their itinerary +may be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of +members of the party--Walden's Mountain and Walden's Creek, +Scaggs' Ridge and Newman's Ridge. Following the peace of 1763, +which made travel in this region moderately safe once more, the +English proceeded to occupy the territory which they had won. In +1765 George Croghan with a small party, on the way to prepare the +inhabitants of the Illinois country for transfer to English +sovereignty, visited the Great Bone Licks of Kentucky (May 30th, +31st); and a year later Captain Harry Gordon, chief engineer in +the Western Department in North America, visited and minutely +described the same licks and the falls. But these, and numerous +other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were +kept, though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing +upon the larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. + +The decade opening with the year 1765 is the epoch of bold and +ever bolder exploration--the more adventurous frontiersmen of the +border pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured +on by the excitements of the chase and the profit to be derived +from the sale of peltries. In midsummer, 1766, Captain James +Smith, Joshua Horton, Uriah Stone, William Baker, and a young +mulatto slave passed through Cumberland Gap, hunted through the +country south of the Cherokee and along the Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers, and as Smith reports "found no vestige of any +white man." During the same year a party of five hunters from +South Carolina, led by Isaac Lindsey, penetrated the Kentucky +wilderness to the tributary of the Cumberland, named Stone's +River by the former party, for one of their number. Here they +encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western +pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic +association with the early settlement of Kentucky, James Harrod +and Michael Stoner, a German, both of whom had descended the Ohio +from Fort Pitt. With the year 1769 began those longer and more +extended excursions into the interior which were to result in +conveying at last to the outside world graphic and detailed +information concerning "the wonderful new country of Cantucky." +In the late spring of this year Hancock and Richard Taylor (the +latter the father of President Zachary Taylor), Abraham +Hempinstall, and one Barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left +their homes in Orange County, Virginia, and hunted extensively in +Kentucky and Arkansas. Two of the party traveled through Georgia +and East and West Florida; while the other two hunted on the +Washita during the winter of 1770-1. Explorations of this type +became increasingly hazardous as the animosity of the Indians +increased; and from this time onward for a number of years almost +all the parties of roving hunters suffered capture or attack by +the crafty red men. In this same year Major John McCulloch, +living on the south branch of the Potomac, set out accompanied by +a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western country. +While passing down the Ohio from Pittsburgh McCulloch was +captured by the Indians near the mouth of the Wabash and carried +to the present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. Set free after four +or five months, he journeyed in company with some French +voyageurs first to Natchez and then to New Orleans, whence he +made the sea voyage to Philadelphia. Somewhat later, Benjamin +Cleveland (afterward famous in the Revolution), attended by four +companions, set out from his home on the upper Yadkin to explore +the Kentucky wilderness. After passing through Cumberland Gap, +they encountered a band of Cherokees who plundered them of +everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and ordered +them to leave the Indian hunting-grounds. On their return journey +they almost starved, and Cleveland, who was reluctantly forced to +kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in +after years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. + +Fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by Uriah +Stone, a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto +ventured westward--including Uriah Stone as pilot, Gasper +Mansker, John Rains, Isaac Bledsoe, and a dozen others--assembled +in June, 1769, in the New River region. "Each Man carried two +horses," says an early pioneer in describing one of these +parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and led, and a small +hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the purpose of +fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." Passing +through Cumberland Gap, they continued their long journey until +they reached Price's Meadow, in the present Wayne County, +Kentucky, where they established their encampment. In the course +of their explorations, during which they gave various names to +prominent natural features, they established their "station camp" +on a creek in Sumner County, Tennessee, whence originated the +name of Station Camp Creek. Isaac Bledsoe and Gasper Mansker, +agreeing to travel from here in opposite directions along a +buffalo trace passing near the camp, each succeeded in +discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his name--namely +Bledsoe's Lick and Mansker's Lick. The flat surrounding the lick, +about one hundred acres in extent, discovered by Bledsoe, +according to his own statement "was principally Covered with +buffelows in every direction--not hundreds but thousands." As he +sat on his horse, he shot down two deer in the lick; but the +buffaloes blindly trod them in the mud. They did not mind him and +his horse except when the wind blew the scent in their nostrils, +when they would break and run in droves. Indians often lurked in +the neighbourhood of these hunters--plundering their camp, +robbing them, and even shooting down one of their number, Robert +Crockett, from ambush. After many trials and vicissitudes, which +included a journey to the Spanish Natchez and the loss of a great +mass of peltries when they were plundered by Piomingo and a war +party of Chickasaws, they finilly reached home in the late spring +of 1770." + +The most notable expedition of this period, projected under the +auspices of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in +woodcraft, Joseph Drake and Henry Scaggs, was organized in the +early autumn of 1770. This imposing band of stalwart hunters from +the New River and Holston country, some forty in number, garbed +in hunting shirts, leggings, and moccasins, with three +pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, +blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through Cumberland Gap into the +heart of what was later justly named the "Dark and Bloody Ground" +(see Chapter XIV)--"not doubting," says an old border chronicler, +"that they were to be encountered by Indians, and to subsist on +game." From the duration of their absence from home, they +received the name of the Long Hunters--the romantic appellation +by which they are known in the pioneer history of the Old +Southwest. Many natural objects were named by this party--in +particular Dick's River, after the noted Cherokee hunter, Captain +Dick, who, pleased to be recognized by Charles Scaggs, told the +Long Hunters that on HIS river, pointing it out, they would find +meat plenty--adding with laconic signifigance: "Kill it and go +home." From the Knob Lick, in Lincoln County, as reported by a +member of the party, "they beheld largely over a thousand +animals, including buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild +turkies scattered among them; all quite restless, some playing, +and others busily employed in licking the earth.... The +buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away the soil, that they +could, in places, go entirely underground." Upon the return of a +detachment to Virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to +remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon +a long exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling +party of Indians under Will Emery, a halfbreed Cherokee. Two of +the hunters were carried into captivity and never heard of again; +a third managed to escape. In embittered commemoration of the +plunder of the camp and the destruction of the peltries, they +inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, this emphatic +record, followed by their names: + +2300 Deer Skins lost Ruination by God + +Undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued +their hunt in the direction of the lick which Bledsoe had +discovered the preceding year. Shortly after this discovery, a +French voyageur from the Illinois who had hunted and traded in +this region for a decade, Timothe de Monbreun, subsequently +famous in the history of Tennessee, had visited the lick and +killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their tallow and +tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat and +descended the Cumberland. An early pioneer, William Hall, learned +from Isaac Bledsoe that when "the long hunters Crossed the ridge +and came down on Bledsoe's Creek in four or five miles of the +Lick the Cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they +thought they had mistaken the place until they Came to the Lick +and saw what had been done.... One could walk for several +hundred yards a round the Lick and in the lick on buffellows +Skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the Lick was bleached +with buffellows bones, and they found out the Cause of the Canes +growing up so suddenly a few miles around the Lick which was in +Consequence of so many buffellows being killed." + +This expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of +the frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing +many to settle subsequently in the West, some in Tennessee, some +in Kentucky. The elaborate and detailed information brought back +by Henry Scaggs exerted an appreciable influence, no doubt, in +accelerating the plans of Richard Henderson and Company for the +acquisition and colonization of the trans-Alleghany. But while +the "Long Hunters" were in Tennessee and Kentucky the same region +was being more extensively and systematically explored by Daniel +Boone. To his life, character, and attainments, as the typical +"long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now turn +our particular attention. + + + +CHAPTER IX. Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration + +Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; +where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the +distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and +adorations of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the +miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities +laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the +greatest upon earth.--Daniel Boone, 1781. + + +The wandering life of a border Nimrod in a surpassingly beautiful +country teeming with game was the ideal of the frontiersman of +the eighteenth century. AS early as 1728, while running the +dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia, William Byrd +encountered along the North Carolina frontier the typical figure +of the professional hunter: "a famous Woodsman, call'd +Epaphroditus Bainton. This Forester Spends all his time in +ranging the Woods, and is said to make great Havock among the +Deer, and other Inhabitants of the Forest, not much wilder than +himself." By the middle of the century, as he was threading his +way through the Carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of +the Yadkin and Catawba country, Bishop Spangenberg found ranging +there many hunters, living like Indians, who killed thousands of +deer each year and sold the skins in the local markets or to the +fur-traders from Virginia whose heavy pack-trains with their +tinkling bells constantly traversed the course of the Great +Trading Path. The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both +as woodsman and marksman, was proverbial along the border. The +name of Daniel Boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship +and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. The bottoms of the +creek near the Boone home, three miles west of present +Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped +large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by +bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because +Daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine +bears in a single hunting-season. After living for a time with +his young wife, Rebecca Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, +Daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased +from his father on October 12, 1759, and lying on Sugar Tree, a +tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for the next five +years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal +to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of +his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in +wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the +mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of +1760 he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain +region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine +hunting-grounds, in what is now Washington County in east +Tennessee. Of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his +hunting-feats, which Boone with pardonable pride was accustomed +throughout his life time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon +trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon a leaning beech +tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which +since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and +enduring record in the history of American exploration + + D. Boon + CillED A. BAR On + Tree + in The + yEAR + 1760 + +Late in the summer of the following year Boone marched under the +command of the noted Indian-fighter of the border, Colonel Hugh +Waddell, in his campaign against the Cherokees. From the lips of +Waddell, who was outspoken in his condemnation of Byrd's futile +delays in road-cutting and fort-building, Boone learned the true +secret of success in Indian warfare, which was lost upon +Braddock, Forbes, and later St. Clair: that the art of defeating +red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected blow, before +they had time either to learn the strength of the force employed +against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful ambuscade. + +In the late autumn of 1761, Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Gist, the +son of Washington's famous guide, who were both serving under +Waddell, temporarily detached themselves from his command and led +a small party on a "long hunt" in the Valley of the Holston, +While encamping near the site of Black's Fort, subsequently +built, they were violently assailed by a pack of fierce wolves +which they had considerable difficulty in beating off; and from +this incident the locality became known as Wolf Hills (now +Abingdon, Virginia). + + +From this time forward Boone's roving instincts had full sway. +For many months each year he threaded his way through that +marvelously beautiful country of western North Carolina +felicitously described as the Switzerland of America. Boone's +love of solitude and the murmuring forest was surely inspired by +the phenomenal beauties of the country' through which he roamed +at will. Blowing Rock on one arm of a great horseshoe of +mountains and Tryon Mountain upon the other arm, overlooked an +enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad +eminences. There was the Pilot Mountain, the towering and +isolated pile which from time immemorial had served the +aborigines as a guide in their forest wanderings; there was the +dizzy height of the Roan on the border; there was Mt. Mitchell, +portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on the continent +east of the Rockies; and there was the Grandfather, the oldest +mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been +written: + + Oldest of all terrestrial things--still holding + Thy wrinkled forehead high; + Whose every scam, earth's history enfolding, + Grim science doth defy! + + Thou caught'st the far faint ray from Sirius rising, + When through space first was hurled + The primal gloom of ancient voids surprising, + This atom, called the World! + +What more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the +luxuriant vegetation and lavish profusion of the gorgeous flowers +upon the mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and +laurel, and the azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of +the water--the cataract of Linville, taking its shimmering leap +into the gorge, and that romantic river poetically celebrated in +the lines: + + Swannanoa, nymph of beauty, + I would woo thee in my rhyme, + Wildest, brightest, loveliest river + Of our sunny Southern clime. + * * * + Gone forever from the borders + But immortal in thy name, + Are the Red Men of the forest + Be thou keeper of their fame! + Paler races dwell beside thee, + Celt and Saxon till thy lands + Wedding use unto thy beauty + Linking over thee their hands. + +The long rambling excursions which Boone made through western +North Carolina and eastern Tennessee enabled him to explore every +nook and corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. +Among the companions and contemporaries with whom he hunted and +explored the country were his little son James and his brother +Jesse; the Linville who gave the name to the beautiful falls; +Julius Caesar Dugger, whose rock house stood near the head of Elk +Creek; and Nathaniel Gist, who described for him the lofty +gateway to Kentucky, through which Christopher Gist had passed in +1751. Boone had already heard of this gateway, from Findlay, and +it was one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to +scale the mountain wall of the Appalachians and to reach that +high portal of the Cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious +new Eden beyond. Although hunting was an endless delight to Boone +he was haunted in the midst of this pleasure, as was Kipling's +Explorer, by the lure of the undiscovered: + +Till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes +On one everlasting whisper day and night repeated--so: +'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the +ranges--'Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go.' + +Of Boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as +Richard Henderson and Company, an account has already been given; +and the delay in following them up has been touched on and in +part explained. Meanwhile Boone transferred his efforts for a +time to another field. Toward the close of the summer of 1765 a +party consisting of Major John Field, William Hill, one +Slaughter, and two others, all from Culpeper County, Virginia, +visited Boone and induced him to accompany them on the "long +Journey" to Florida, whither they were attracted by the liberal +offer of Colonel James Grant, governor of the eastern section, +the Florida of to-day. On this long and arduous expedition they +suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little +game, and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. They +explored Florida from St. Augustine to Pensacola; and Boone, who +relished fresh scenes and a new environment, purchased a house +and lot in Pensacola in anticipation of removal thither. But upon +his return home, finding his wife unwilling to go, Boone once +more turned his eager eye toward the West, that mysterious and +alluring region beyond the great range, the fabled paradise of +Kentucky. + +The following year four young men from the Yadkin, Benjamin +Cutbird, John Stewart (Boone's brother-in-law who afterwards +accompanied him to Kentucky), John Baker, and James Ward made a +remarkable journey to the westward, crossing the Appalachian +mountain chain over some unknown route, and finally reaching the +Mississippi. The significance of the journey, in its bearing upon +westward expansion, inheres in the fact that while for more than +half a century the English traders from South Carolina had been +winning their way to the Mississippi along the lower routes and +Indian trails, this was the first party from either of the +Carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the Mississippi +by crossing the great mountain barrier. When Cutbird, a superb +woodsman and veritable Leather stocking, narrated to Boone the +story of his adventures, it only confirmed Boone in his +determination to find the passage through the mountain chain +leading to the Mesopotamia of Kentucky. + +Such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. During 1766 +and 1767 the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the +ancestral domain which the Indians reserved for their imperial +hunting-preserve aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the +red men. Bloody reprisal was often the sequel to such +encroachment. The vast region of Tennessee and the +trans-Alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages +roamed at will. From time to time war parties of northern +Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees, scouted through +this no-man's land and even penetrated into the western region of +North Carolina, committing murders and depredations upon the +Cherokees and the whites indiscriminately. During the summer of +1766, while Boone's friend and close connection, Captain William +Linville, his son John, and another young man, named John +Williams, were in camp some ten miles below Linville Falls, they +were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of Northern +Indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second volley +killed both the Linvilles and severely wounded Williams, who +after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements." +In May, 1767, four traders and a half-breed child of one of them +were killed in the Cherokee country. In the summer of this year +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina laid out the boundary +line of the Cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation +forbidding any purchase of land from the Indians and any issuance +of grants for land within one mile of the boundary line. Despite +this wise precaution, seven North Carolina hunters who during the +following September had lawlessly ventured into the mountain +region some sixty miles beyond the boundary were fired upon, and +several of them killed, by the resentful Cherokees Undismayed by +these signs of impending danger, undeterred even by the tragic +fate of the Linvilles, Daniel Boone, with the determination of +the indomitable pioneer, never dreamed of relinquishing his +long-cherished design. Discouraged by the steady disappearance of +game under the ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, Boone +continued to direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring +the fair region of Kentucky. The adventurous William Hill, to +whom Boone communicated his purpose, readily consented to go with +him; and in the autumn of 1768 Boone and Hill, accompanied, it is +believed, by Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, set forth upon their +almost inconceivably hazardous expedition. They crossed the Blue +Ridge and the Alleghanies, the Holston and Clinch rivers near +their sources, and finally reached the head waters of the West +Fork of the Big Sand. Surmising from its course that this stream +must flow into the Ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the +westward and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a +salt-spring in what is now Floyd County, in the extreme eastern +section of Kentucky. Here Boone beheld great droves of buffalo +that visited the salt-spring to drink the water or lick the +brackish soil. After spending the winter in hunting and trapping, +the Boones and Hill, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the +hill-country which with its dense growth of laurel was +exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding +Kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the +Yadkin. + +The account of Boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose +must be postponed to the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER X. Daniel Boone in Kentucky + +He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San +Salvador; as Cortes, looking down, from the crest of Ahualco, on +the Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nunez, standing alone on the peak +of Darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered +waters of the Pacific.---William Gilmore Simms: Views and +Reviews. + + +A chance acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, during the French +and Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, John Findlay, +was the origin of Boone's cherished longing to reach the El +Dorado of the West. In this slight incident we may discern the +initial inspiration for the epochal movement of westward +expansion. Findlay was a trader and horse peddler, who had early +migrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had been licensed a trader +with the Indians in 1747. During the same year he was married to +Elizabeth Harris, daughter of John Harris, the Indian-trader at +Harris's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, after whom Harrisburg +was named. During the next eight years Findlay carried on his +business of trading in the interior. Upon the opening of the +French and Indian War he was probably among "the young men about +Paxtang who enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in +Braddock's expedition. Over the campfires, during the ensuing +campaign in 1765, young Boone was an eager listener to Findlay's +stirring narrative of his adventures in the Ohio Valley and on +the wonderfully beautiful levels of Kentucky in 1752. The fancies +aroused in his brooding mind by Findlay's moving recital and his +description of an ancient passage through the Ouasioto or +Cumberland Gap and along the course of the Warrior's Path, +inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring +promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's +paradise. + +Thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, +thread, and Irish linens in the Yadkin country, Findlay learned +from the Pennsylvania settlers at Salisbury or at the Forks of +the Yadkin of Boone's removal to the waters of the upper Yadkin. +At Boone's rustic home, in the winter of 1768-9, Findlay visited +his old comrade-in-arms of Braddock's campaign. On learning of +Boone's failure during the preceding year to reach the Kentucky +levels by way of the inhospitable Sandy region, Findlay again +described to him the route through the Ouasioto Gap traversed +sixteen years before by Pennsylvania traders in their traffic +with the Catawbas. Boone, as we have seen, knew that Christopher +Gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper Yadkin, had +found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had +never been able to discover the passage. Findlay's renewed +descriptions of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in +Kentucky, the great salt-licks where they congregated, the +abundance of bears, deer, and elk with which the country teemed, +the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks, aroused +in Boone the hunter's passion for the chase; while the beauty of +the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the Irishman, +inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country +which had, as John Filson records, "greatly engaged Mr. Findlay's +attention." + +In the comprehensive designs of Henderson, now a judge, for +securing a "graphic report of the trans-Alleghany region in +behalf of his land company", Boone divined the means of securing +the financial backing for an expedition of considerable size and +ample equipment. In numerous suits for debt, aggregating hundreds +of dollars, which had been instituted against Boone by some of +the leading citizens of Rowan, Williams and Henderson had acted +as Boone's attorneys. In order to collect their legal fees, they +likewise brought suit against Boone; but not wishing to press the +action against the kindly scout who had hitherto acted as their +agent in western exploration, they continued the litigation from +court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions performed" on +behalf of Boone, during his unbroken absence, by his attorney in +this suit, Alexander Martin. Summoned to appear in 1769 at the +March term of court at Salisbury, Boone seized upon the occasion +to lay before Judge Henderson the designs for a renewed and +extended exploration of Kentucky suggested by the golden +opportunity of securing the services of Findlay as guide. Shortly +after March 6th, when Judge Henderson reached Salisbury, the +conference, doubtless attended by John Stewart, Boone's +brother-in-law, John Findlay, and Boone, who were all present at +this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of +devising ways and means for the expedition. Peck, the only +reliable contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many +facts from Boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws +the conclusion (1847): "Daniel Boone was engaged as the master +spirit of this exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity +entire confidence could be reposed.... He was known to +Henderson and encouraged by him to make the exploration, and to +examine particularly the whole country south of the Kentucky--or +as then called the Louisa River." As confidential agent of the +land company, Boone carried with him letters and instructions for +his guidance upon this extended tour of exploration." + +On May 1, 1769, with Findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of +his neighbors, John Stewart, a skilled woodsman, Joseph Holden, +James Mooney, and William Cooley, Boone left his "peaceable +habitation" on the upper Yadkin and began his historic journey +"in quest of the country of Kentucky." Already heavily burdened +with debts, Boone must have incurred considerable further +financial obligations to Judge Henderson and Colonel Williams, +acting for the land company, in order to obtain the large amount +of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. Each of the +adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and +behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, +and cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the +wilderness. In Powell's Valley they doubtless encountered the +party led thither by Joseph Martin (see Chapter VII), and there +fell into the "Hunter's Trail" commented on in a letter written +by Martin only a fortnight before the passing of Boone's +cavalcade. Crossing the mountain at the Ouasioto Gap, they made +their first "station camp" in Kentucky on the creek, still named +after that circumstance, on the Red Lick Fork. After a +preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, Findlay +led the party to his old trading-camp at Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, +where then (June 7, 1769) remained but charred embers of the +Indian huts, with some of the stockading and the gate-posts still +standing. In Boone's own words, he and Findlay at once "proceeded +to take a more thorough survey of the country;" and during the +autumn and early winter, encountering on every hand apparently +inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the ever-changing +beauties of the country, the various members of the party made +many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as +base. On December 22, 1769, while engaged in a hunt, Boone and +Stewart were surprised and captured by a large party of +Shawanoes, led by Captain Will, who were returning from the +autumn hunt on Green River to their villages north of the Ohio. +Boone and Stewart were forced to pilot the Indians to their main +camp, where the savages, after robbing them of all their peltries +and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and little +ammunition, set off to the northward. They left, on parting, this +menacing admonition to the white intruders: "Now, brothers, go +home and stay there. Don't come here any more, for this is the +Indians' hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are +ours. If you are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be +sure the wasps and yellow jackets will sting you severely." + +Chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, Boone and +Stewart for two days pursued the Indians in hot haste. Finally +approaching the Indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, +they secured two of the horses, upon which they fled at top +speed. In turn they were immediately pursued by a detachment of +the Indians, mounted upon their fleetest horses; and suffered the +humiliation of recapture two days later. Indulging in wild +hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, the Indians +took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about +Boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished +tomahawks to caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the +while with the derisive query, uttered in broken English: "Steal +horse, eh?" With as good grace as they could summon--wry smiles +at best--Boone and Stewart patiently endured these humiliations, +following the Indians as captives. Some days later (about January +4, 1770), while the vigilance of the Indians was momentarily +relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a dense canebrake and +in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting their escape. +Finding their camp deserted upon their return, Boone and Stewart +hastened on and finally overtook their companions. Here Boone was +both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother Squire, +loaded down with supplies. Having heard nothing from Boone, the +partners of the land company had surmised that he and his party +must have run short of ammunition, flour, salt, and other things +sorely needed in the wilderness; and because of their desire that +the party should remain, in order to make an exhaustive +exploration of the country, Squire Boone had been sent to him +with supplies. Findlay, Holden, Mooney, and Cooley returned to +the settlements; but Stewart, Squire Boone, and Alexander Neely, +who had accompanied Squire, threw in their lot with the intrepid +Daniel, and fared forth once more to the stirring and bracing +adventures of the Kentucky wilderness. In Daniel Boone's own +words, he expected "from the furs and peltries they had an +opportunity of taking ... to recruit his shattered +circumstances; discharge the debts he had contracted by the +adventure; and shortly return under better auspices, to settle +the newly discovered country." + +Boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of +the Red River, and soon provided themselves, against the hard. +ships of the long winter, with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, +dried buffalo tongues, fresh meat, and marrow-bones as food, and +buffalo robes and bearskins as shelter from the inclement +weather. Neely had brought with him, to while away dull hours, a +copy of "Gulliver's Travels"; and in describing Neely's +successful hunt for buffalo one day, Boone in after years +amusingly deposed: "In the year 1770 I encamped on Red River with +five other men, and we had with us for our amusement the History +of Samuel Gulliver's Travels, wherein he gave an account of his +young master, Glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to +a town called Lulbegrud. A young man of our company called +Alexander Neely came to camp and told us he had been that day to +Lulbegrud, and had killed two Brobdignags in their capital." Far +from unlettered were pioneers who indulged together in such +literary chat and gave to the near-by creek the name (after Dean +Swift's Lorbrugrud) of Lulbegrud which name, first seen on +Filson's map of Kentucky (1784), it bears to this day. From one +of his long, solitary hunts Stewart never returned; and it was +not until five years later, while cutting out the Transylvania +Trail, that Boone and his companions discovered, near the old +crossing at Rockcastle, Stewart's remains in a standing hollow +sycamore. The wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. + +The close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the +Boones, after Neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, +hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport Daniel +particularly excelled. Owing to the drain upon their ammunition, +Squire was at length compelled to return to the settlements for +supplies; and Daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to +complete his explorations for the land company, must often have +shared the feelings of Balboa as, from lofty knob or towering +ridge, he gazed over the waste of forest which spread from the +dim out lines of the Alleghanies to the distant waters of the +Mississippi. He now proceeded to make those remarkable solitary +explorations of Kentucky which have given him immortality--through +the valley of the Kentucky and the Licking, and along the +"Belle Riviere" (Ohio) as low as the falls. He visited the Big +Bone Lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the +mammoth found there. Along the great buffalo roads, worn several +feet below the surface of the ground, which led to the Blue +Licks, he saw with amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy +buffalo gamboling, bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath +the trampling of their hooves. One day, while upon a cliff near +the junction of the Kentucky and Dick's Rivers, he suddenly found +himself hemmed in by a party of Indians. Seizing his only chance +of escape, he leaped into the top of a maple tree growing beneath +the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty feet below, made his +escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of guttural "Ughs" from +the dumbfounded savages. + +Finally making his way back to the old camp, Daniel was rejoined +there by Squire on July 27, 1770. During the succeeding months, +much of their time was spent in hunting and prospecting in +Jessamine County, where two caves are still known as Boone's +caves. Eventually, when ammunition and supplies had once more run +low, Squire was compelled a second time to return to the +settlements. Perturbed after a time by Squire's failure to rejoin +him at the appointed time, Daniel started toward the settlements, +in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him +along the trail. Overjoyed at this meeting (December, 1770) the +indomitable Boones once more plunged into the wilderness, +determined to conclude their explorations by examining the +regions watered by the Green and Cumberland rivers and their +tributaries. In after years, Gasper Mansker, the old German +scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the +consternation created among the Long Hunters, while hunting one +day on Green River, by a singular noise which they could not +explain. Stealthily slipping from tree to tree, Mansker finally +beheld with mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bareheaded, +stretched flat upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, +singing merrily at the top of his voice! It was Daniel Boone, +joyously whiling away the solitary hours in singing one of his +favorite songs of the border. In March, 1771, after spending some +time in company with the Long Hunters, the Boones, their horses +laden with furs, set their faces homeward. On their return +journey, near Cumberland Gap, they had the misfortune to be +surrounded by a party of Indians who robbed them of their guns +and all their peltries. With this humiliating conclusion to his +memorable tour of exploration, Daniel Boone, as he himself says, +"once more reached home after experiencing hardships which would +defy credulity in the recital." + +Despite the hardships and the losses, Boone had achieved the +ambition of years: he had seen Kentucky, which he "esteemed a +second paradise." The reports of his extended explorations, which +he made to Judge Henderson, were soon communicated to the other +partners of the land company; and their letters of this period, +to one another, bristle with glowing and minute descriptions of +the country, as detailed by their agent. Boone was immediately +engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the Cherokees +confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or sell +the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-Alleghany. The high +hopes of Henderson and his associates at last gave promise of +brilliant realization. Daniel Boone's glowing descriptions of +Kentucky excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, +the "spirit of an enterprise which in point of magnitude and +peril, as well as constancy and heroism displayed in its +execution, has never been paralleled in the history of America." + + + +CHAPTER XI. The Regulators + +It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but +if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one +cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to +raise money which is not to be had. And lastly if his personal +estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his +lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) +must go the same way to satisfy, these cursed hungry +caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our +Commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a +very short time.--George Sims: A Serious Address to the +Inhabitants of Granville County, containing an Account of our +deplorable Situation we suffer .... and some necessary Hints with +Respect to a Reformation. June 6, 1765. + + +It is highly probable that even at the time of his earlier +explorations in behalf of Richard Henderson and Company, Daniel +Boone anticipated speedy removal to the West. Indeed, in the very +year of his first tour in their interest, Daniel and his wife +Rebeckah sold all their property in North Carolina, consisting of +their home and six hundred and forty acres of land, and after +several removals established themselves upon the upper Yadkin. +This removal and the later western explorations just outlined +were due not merely to the spirit of adventure and discovery. +Three other causes also were at work. In the first place there +was the scarcity of game. For fifteen years the shipments of +deerskins from Bethabara to Charleston steadily increased; and +the number of skins bought by Gammern, the Moravian storekeeper, +ran so high that in spite of the large purchases made at the +store by the hunters he would sometimes run entirely out of +money. Tireless in the chase, the far roaming Boone was among +"the hunters, who brought in their skins from as far away as the +Indian lands"; and the beautiful upland pastures and mountain +forests, still teeming with deer and bear, doubtless lured him to +the upper Yadkin, where for a time in the immediate neighborhood +of his home abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. +Certainly the deer and other game, which were being killed in +enormous numbers to satisfy the insatiable demand of the traders +at Salisbury, the Forks, and Bethabara, became scarcer and +scarcer; and the wild game that was left gradually fled to the +westward. Terrible indeed was the havoc wrought among the elk; +and it was reported that the last elk was killed in western North +Carolina as early as 1781. + +Another grave evil of the time with which Boone had to cope in +the back country of North Carolina was the growth of undisguised +outlawry, similar to that found on the western plains of a later +era. This ruthless brigand age arose as the result of the +unsettled state of the country and the exposed condition of the +settlements due to the Indian alarms. When rude borderers, +demoralized by the enforced idleness attendant upon fort life +during the dark days of Indian invasion, sallied forth upon +forays against the Indians, they found much valuable +property--horses, cattle, and stock--left by their owners when +hurriedly fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. +The temptations thus afforded were too great to resist; and the +wilder spirits of the backwoods, with hazy notions of private +rights, seized the property which they found, slaughtered the +cattle, sold the horses, and appropriated to their own use the +temporarily abandoned household goods and plantation tools. The +stealing of horses, which were needed for the cultivation of the +soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves beyond the +reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and was +carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and +acting in collusive concert. + +Toward the end of July, 1755, when the Indian outrages upon the +New River settlements in Virginia had frightened away all the +families at the Town Fork in the Yadkin country, William Owen, a +man of Welsh stock, who had settled in the spring of 1752 in the +upper Yadkin near the Mulberry Fields, was suspected of having +robbed the storekeeper on the Meho. Not long afterward a band of +outlaws who plundered the exposed cabins in their owners' +absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain region in the rear +of the Yadkin settlements, where they stored their ill-gotten +plunder and made themselves secure from attack. Other members of +the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their +robber friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious +projects of theft and rapine. + +The entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations +of the outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the Yadkin +country organized under the name of Regulators to break up the +outlaw band. When it was discovered that Owen, who was well known +at Bethabara, had allied himself with the highwaymen, one of the +justices summoned one hundred men; and seventy, who answered the +call, set forth on December 26, 1755, to seek out the outlaws and +to destroy their fortress. Emboldened by their success, the +latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl of the +settlements. Daniel Boone placed himself at the head of one of +the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her +rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release +of the frightened maiden. One of the robbers was apprehended and +brought to Salisbury, where he was thrown into prison for his +crimes. Meanwhile a large amount of plunder had been discovered +at the house of one Cornelius Howard; and the evidences of his +guilt so multiplied against him that he finally confessed his +connection with the outlaw band and agreed to point out their +fort in the mountains. + +Daniel Boone and George Boone joined the party of seventy men, +sent out by the colonial authorities under the guidance of +Howard, to attack the stronghold of the bandits. Boone afterward +related that the robbers' fort was situated in the most fitly +chosen place for such a purpose that he could imagine--beneath an +overhanging cliff of rock, with a large natural chimney, and a +considerable area in front well stockaded. The frontiersmen +surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven children, and +then burned the fort to the ground. Owen and his wife, +Cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; +but Harman and the remainder of the band escaped by flight. Owen +and his fellow captives were then borne to Salisbury, +incarcerated in the prison there, and finally (May, 1756) +condemned to the gallows. Owen sent word to the Moravians, +petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to apprentice one to a +tailor, the other to a carpenter. But so infuriated was Owen's +wife by Howard's treachery that she branded him as a second +Judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "Judas" +Howard-a sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year +later he was ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of +a stream. He thus paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw +band. For a number of years, the Regulators continued to wage war +against the remaining outlaws, who from time to time committed +murders as well as thefts. As late as January, 1768, the +Regulators caught a horse thief in the Hollows of Surry County +and brought him to Bethabara, whence Richter and Spach took him +to the jail at Salisbury. After this year, the outlaws were heard +of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. + +Colonel Edmund Fanning--of whom more anon--declared that the +Regulation began in Anson County which bordered upon South +Carolina. Certain it is that the upper country of that province +was kept in an uproar by civil disturbances during this early +period. Owing to the absence of courts in this section, so remote +from Charleston, the inhabitants found it necessary, for the +protection of property and the punishment of outlaws, to form an +association called, like the North Carolina society, the +Regulation. Against this association the horse thieves and other +criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from +certain more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of +the Regulators." The Regulation which had been thus organized in +upper South Carolina as early as 1764 led to tumultuous risings +of the settlers; and finally in the effort to suppress these +disorders, the governor, Lord Charles Montagu, appointed one +Scovil, an utterly unworthy representative, to carry out his +commands. After various disorders, which became ever more +unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a crisis (1769) +as the result of the high-handed proceedings of Scovil, who +promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the Regulators he +could lay hands on. In the month of March the back country rose +in revolt against Scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on +the point of attacking the force under his command when an +eleventh-hour letter arrived from Montagu, dismissing Scovil from +office. Thus was happily averted, by the narrowest of margins, a +threatened precursor of the fight at Alamance in 1771 (see +Chapter XII). As the result of the petition of the Calhouns and +others, courts were established in 1760, though not opened until +four years later. Many horse thieves were apprehended, tried, and +punished. Justice once more held full sway. + +Another important cause for Boone's removal from the neighborhood +of Salisbury into the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive +administration of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and +tax-gatherers, and the dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters +with the owners of the soil. At the close of the year 1764 +reports reached the town of Wilmington, after the adjournment of +the assembly in November, of serious disturbances in Orange +County, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant exactions of the +clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. As a result of this +disturbing news, Governor Dobbs issued a proclamation forbidding +any officer to take illegal fees. Troubles had been brewing in +the adjacent county of Granville ever since the outbreak of the +citizens against Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent (January +24, 1759), and the issuance of the petition of Reuben Searcy and +others (March 23d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees +taken and injustices practised by Robert (Robin) Jones, the +famous lawyer. These disturbances were cumulative in their +effect; and the people at last (1765 ) found in George Sims, of +Granville, a fit spokesman of their cause and a doughty champion +of popular rights. In his "Serious Address to the Inhabitants of +Granville County, containing an Account of our deplorable +Situation we suffer ... and some necessary Hints with Respect +to a Reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a +crushing indictment of the clerk of the county court, Samuel +Benton, the grandfather of Thomas Hart Benton. After describing +in detail the system of semi-peonage created by the merciless +exactions of lawyers and petty court officials, and the +insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry caterpillars," Sims with +rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull them down from their +nests for the salvation of the Commonwealth. + +Other abuses were also recorded. So exorbitant was the charge for +a marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler +records "The consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the +head-waters of the Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other +for better or for worse; and considered themselves as married +without further ceremony." The extraordinary scarcity of currency +throughout the colony, especially in the back country, was +another great hardship and a perpetual source of vexation. All +these conditions gradually became intolerable to the uncultured +but free spirited men of the back country. Events were slowly +converging toward a crisis in government and society. Independent +in spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not +only against excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and +extortionate fees, but also against the rapacious practices of +the agents of Lord Granville. These agents industriously picked +flaws in the titles to the lands in Granville's proprietary upon +which the poorer settlers were seated; and compelled them to pay +for the land if they had not already done so, or else to pay the +fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only remedy of +the alleged defect in their titles. In Mecklenburg County the +spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the +proprietary agents. Acting under instructions to survey and close +bargains for the lands or else to eject those who held them, +Henry Eustace McCulloh, in February, 1765, went into the county +to call a reckoning. The settlers, many of whom had located +without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering to buy only at +their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out the +holdings when this smaller price was declined. They not only +terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to +pay the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared +that they would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment +proceedings. On May 7th an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by +Thomas Polk, set upon John Frohock, Abraham Alexander, and +others, as they were about to survey a parcel of land, and gave +them a severe thrashing, even threatening the young McCulloh with +death. + +The choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with +Francis Bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. +Especial objects of their animosity were the brothers Frohock, +John and Thomas, the latter clerk of the court at Salisbury, and +Edmund Fanning, a cultured gentleman-adventurer, associate +justice of the superior court. So rapacious and extortionate were +these vultures of the courts who preyed upon the vitals of the +common people, that they were savagely lampooned by Rednap +Howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the Regulation. The temper +of the back country is well caught in Howell's lines anent this +early American "grafter", the favorite of the royal governor: + + When Fanning first to Orange came, + He looked both pale and wan; + An old patched coat was on his back, + An old mare he rode on. + + Both man and mare wan't worth five pounds, + As I've been often told; + But by his civil robberies, + He's laced his coat with gold. + +The germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade +were thus working among the people of the back country. If the +tense nervous energy of the American people is the transmitted +characteristic of the border settlers, who often slept with +loaded rifle in hand in grim expectation of being awakened by the +hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, and the lurid firebrand of +the savage, the very buoyancy of the national character is in +equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded on a +freehold inheritance of land." The desire for free land was the +fundamental factor in the development of the American democracy. +No colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did North +Carolina in the turbulent days of the Regulation. The North +Carolina frontiersmen resented the obligation to pay quit-rents +and firmly believed that the first occupant of the soil had an +indefeasible right to the land which he had won with his rifle +and rendered productive by the implements of toil. Preferring the +dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of tribute to +absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial +government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle +rather than in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his +obligations to the owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. + + + +CHAPTER XII. Watauga--Haven of Liberty + +The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore +quitted the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle +of Alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only +waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow +them.--Reverend Morgan Edwards, 1772. + + +The five years (1766-1771) which saw the rise, development, and +ultimate defeat of the popular movement known as the Regulation, +constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance in +North Carolina but also of fruitful consequences in the larger +movements of westward expansion. With the resolute intention of +having their rulers "give account of their stewardship," to +employ their own words, the Sandy Creek Association of Baptists +(organized in 1758), in a series of papers known as Regulators' +Advertisements (1766-8) proceeded to mature, through popular +gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. At length, +discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to +bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this +association ceased actively to function. It was the precursor of +a movement of much more drastic character and formidable +proportions, chiefly directed against Colonel Edmund Fanning and +his associates. This movement doubtless took its name, "the +Regulation," from the bands of men already described who were +organized first in North Carolina and later in South Carolina, to +put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back +country, such as the tyrannies of Scovil and his henchmen. +Failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal +channels, the Regulators finally made such a powerful +demonstration in support of their refusal to pay taxes that +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina, in 1768, called out the +provincial militia, and by marching with great show of force +through the disaffected regions, succeeded temporarily in +overawing the people and thus inducing them to pay their +assessments. + +The suits which had been brought by the Regulators against Edmund +Fanning, register, and Francis Nash, clerk, of Orange County, +resulted in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." +Fanning immediately resigned his commission as register; while +Nash, who in conjunction with Fanning had fairly offered in 1766 +to refund to any one aggrieved any fee charged by him which the +Superior Court might hold excessive, gave bond for his appearance +at the next court. Similar suits for extortion against the three +Froliocks in Rowan County in 1769 met with failure, however; and +this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of the Regulators, as +recorded by Herman Husband in his "Impartial Relation." During +this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the people, who +felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their inability +to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices from +the bench and threatening court officials with violence. + +At the session of the Superior Court at Hillsborough, September +22, 1770, an elaborate petition prepared by the Regulators, +demanding unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes +by the sheriffs, was handed to the presiding justice by James +Hunter, a leading Regulator. This justice was our acquaintance, +Judge Richard Henderson, of Granville County, the sole high +officer in the provincial government from the entire western +section of the colony. In this petition occur these trenchant +words: "As we are serious and in good earnest and the cause +respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to +enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a +few men who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has +a feeling and knows when he has justice done him as well as the +most learned." On the following Monday (September 24th), upon +convening of court, some one hundred and fifty Regulators, led by +James Hunter, Herman Husband, Rednap Howell, and others, armed +with clubs, whips, and cudgels, surged into the court-room and +through their spokesman, Jeremiah Fields, presented a statement +of their grievances. "I found myself," says Judge Henderson, +"under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the fury +of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such +could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve +the little remaining dignity of the court." + +During an interim, in which the Regulators retired for +consultation, they fell without warning upon Fanning and gave him +such rough treatment that he narrowly escaped with his life. The +mob, now past control, horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers +and citizens gathered there at court, and treated others, notably +the courtly Mr. Hooper of Boston, "with every mark of contempt +and insult." Judge Henderson was assured by Fields that no harm +should come to him provided he would conduct the court in +accordance with the behest of the Regulators: namely, that no +lawyer, save the King's Attorney, should be admitted to the +court, and that the Regulators' cases should be tried with new +jurors chosen by the Regulators. With the entire little village +terrorized by this campaign of "frightfulness," and the court +wholly unprotected, Judge Henderson reluctantly acknowledged to +himself that "the power of the judiciary was exhausted." +Nevertheless, he says, "I made every effort in my power +consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to +claim to preserve peace and good order." Agreeing under duress to +resume the session the following day, the judge ordered an +adjournment. But being unwilling, on mature reflection, to permit +a mockery of the court and a travesty of justice to be staged +under threat and intimidation, he returned that night to his home +in Granville and left the court adjourned in course. Enraged by +the judge's escape, the Regulators took possession of the court +room the following morning, called over the cases, and in futile +protest against the conditions they were powerless to remedy, +made profane entries which may still be seen on the record: +"Damned rogues," "Fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "Negroes +not worth a damn, Cost exceeds the whole," "Hogan pays and be +damned," and, in a case of slander, "Nonsense, let them argue for +Ferrell has gone hellward." + +The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly +educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to +secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest +lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and +secret incendiarism. In the dead of night, November 12th and +14th, Judge Henderson's barn, stables, and dwelling house were +fired by the Regulators and went up in flames. Glowing with a +sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by fanatical +agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only upon +their op pressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring +them--men of the stamp of William Hooper, afterward signer of the +Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, afterward governor +and United States Senator, and Richard Henderson, popular +representative of the back country and a firm champion of due +process of law. It is perhaps not surprising in view of these +events that Governor Tryon and the ruling class, lacking a +sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to the oppressed people, +seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that a widespread +insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and +property, but also civil government itself. The governor called +out the militia of the province and led an army of well nigh one +thousand men and officers against the Regulators, who had +assembled at Alamance to the number of two thousand. Tryon stood +firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government +and disperse at a designated hour. The Regulators, on their side, +hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the +governor with a great display of force. The battle was a tragic +fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without +adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this +desultory action, a fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), +the power of the Regulators was completely broken." + + +Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element, an element +whose influence upon the course of American history has been but +imperfectly understood which now looms into prominence as the +vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of +the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were +deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and +the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin +Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman +Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then +rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the +inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, +referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each +neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of +investigating the question "whether the free men of this country +labor under any abuses of power or not." The close connection +between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply +demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in +connection with the "stamp law" are praised: for "redeeming us +from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament +in behalf of true liberty." Upon the records of the Dutchman's +Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, +to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this +memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a +year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At +the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American +Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the +liberty to do it without being called to an account by the +church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used +with brotherly love. + +The fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward +hegira are found in the remarkable petition of the Regulators of +An son County (October 9, 1769), who request that "Benjamin +Franklin or some other known PATRIOT" be appointed agent of the +province in London to seek redress at the source. They exposed +the basic evil in the situation by pointing out that, in +violation of the law restricting the amount of land that might be +granted to each person to six hundred and forty acres, much of +the most fertile territory in the province had been distributed +in large tracts to wealthy landlords. In consequence "great +numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the +cultivation of the bad Lands whereon they hardly can subsist." It +was these poor people, "thereby deprived of His Majesties +liberality and Bounty," who soon turned their gaze to the +westward and crossed the mountains in search of the rich, free +lands of the trans-Alleghany region. + +This feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the +economic pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually +entering North Carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across +the mountains in 1769. Long before Alamance, many of the true +Americans, distraught by apparently irremediable injustices, +plunged fearlessly into the wilderness, seeking beyond the +mountains a new birth of liberty, lands of their own selection +free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of their own +choosing and control."' The glad news of the rich valleys beyond +the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as Andrew +Greer and Julius Caesar Dugger to the Watauga country. The +glowing stories, told by Boone, and disseminated in the back +country by Henderson, Williams, and the Harts, seemed to give +promise to men of this stamp that the West afforded relief from +oppressions suffered in North Carolina. During the winter of +1768-9 there was also a great rush of settlers from Virginia into +the valley of the Holston. A party from Augusta County, led by +men who had been delighted with the country viewed seven years +before when they were serving under Colonel William Byrd against +the Cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on their +outward passage in 1768, was dotted with cabins on every spot +where the grazing was good, upon their return the following year. +Writing to Hillsborough on October 18, 1770, concerning the "many +hundred families" in the region from Green River to the branches +of the Holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation +of 1763, Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia reports that "very +little if any Quit Rents have been received for His Majesty's use +from that Quarter for some time past"--the people claiming that +"His Majesty hath been pleased to withdraw his protection from +them since 1763." + +In the spring of 1770, with the express intention of discovering +suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, +who wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, James +Robertson of Orange County, North Carolina, made an arduous +journey to the pleasing valley of the Watauga. Robertson, who was +born in Brunswick County, Virginia, June 28, 1742, of excellent +Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a noteworthy figure of a certain +type--quiet, reflective, conservative, wise, a firm believer in the +basic principles of civil Liberty and the right of local +self-government. Robertson spent some time with a man named +Honeycut in the Watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose +for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. +Lost upon his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by +him on the outward journey, Robertson probably escaped death from +starvation only through the chance passing of two hunters who +succored him and set him upon the right path. On arriving in +Orange he found political and social conditions there much worse +than before, many of the colonists declining to take the +obligatory oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the +Battle of Alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new +homes along the western waters. Some sixteen families of this +stamp, indignant at the injustices and oppressions of British +rule, and stirred by Robertson's description of the richness and +beauty of the western country, accompanied him to Watauga shortly +after the battle. + +This vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent +Americans in spirit with a negligible sprinkling of Loyalists, +now swept in a great tide into the northeastern section of +Tennessee. The men of Sandy Creek, actuated by independent +principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic side of the +Regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "After the defeat of +the Regulators," says the historian of the Sandy Creek +Association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of +redress for their grievances, moved into and settled east +Tennessee. A large proportion of these were of the Baptist +population. Sandy Creek Church which some time previous to 1771, +numbered 606, was afterward reduced to fourteen members!" This +movement exerted powerful influence in stimulating westward +expansion. Indeed, it was from men of Regulating principles--Boone, +Robertson, and the Searcys--who vehemently condemned the +anarchy and incendiarism of 1770, that Judge Henderson received +powerful cooperation in the opening up of Kentucky and Tennessee. + +The several treaties concerning the western boundary of white +settlement, concluded in close succession by North Carolina, +Virginia, and the Crown with the Southern and Northern Indians, +had an important bearing upon the settlement of Watauga. The +Cherokee boundary line, as fixed by Governor Tryon (1767) and by +John Stuart (1768), ran from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, +thence straight to Chiswell's Mine, and thence direct to the +mouth of the Great Kanawha River. By the treaty at Fort Stanwix +(November 5, 1768), in the negotiation of which Virginia was +represented by Dr. Thomas Walker and Major Andrew Lewis, the Six +Nations sold to the Crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of +western country, including in particular all the land between the +Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers. The news of the cession resulted +in a strong southwestward thrust of population, from the +neighborhood of Abingdon, in the direction of the Holston Valley. +Recognizing that hundreds of these settlers were beyond the line +negotiated by Stuart, but on lands not yet surveyed, Governor +Botetourt instructed the Virginia commissioners to press for +further negotiations, through Stuart, with the Cherokees. +Accordingly, on October 18, 1770, a new treaty was made at +Lochaber, South Carolina, by which a new line back of Virginia +was established, beginning at the intersection of the North +Carolina-Cherokee line (a point some seventy odd miles east of +Long Island), running thence in a west course to a point six +miles east of Long Island, and thence in a direct course to the +confluence of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. At the time of +the treaty, it was agreed that the Holston River, from its +intersection with the North Carolina-Virginia line, and down the +course of the same, should be a temporary southern boundary of +Virginia until the line should be ascertained by actual survey. A +strong influx of population into the immense new triangle thus +released for settlement brought powerful pressure to bear upon +northern Tennessee, the point of least resistance along the +western barrier. Singularly enough, this advance was not opposed +by the Cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme +southeast corner of Tennessee. + +When Colonel John Donelson ran the line in the latter part of +1771, The Little Carpenter, who with other Indian chiefs +accompanied the surveying party, urged that the line agreed upon +at Lochaber should break off at the head of the Louisa River, and +should run thence to the mouth thereof, and thence up the Ohio to +the mouth of the Great Kanawha. For this increase in the +territory of Virginia they of course expected additional payment. +As a representative of Virginia, Donelson agreed to the proposed +alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised to send +the Cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to +have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the +additional area. This informal agreement, it is believed, was +never ratified by Virginia; nor was the promised compensation +ever paid the Cherokees. + +Under the belief that the land belonged to Virginia, Jacob Brown +with one or two families from North Carolina settled in 1771 upon +a tract of land on the northern bank of the Nonachunheh +(corruption, Nolichucky) River. During the same year, an +experimental line run westward from Steep Rock and Beaver Creek +by Anthony Bledsoe showed that upon the extension of the boundary +line, these settlers would fall within the bounds of North +Carolina. Although thus informally warned of the situation, the +settlers made no move to vacate the lands. But in the following +year, after the running of Donelson's line, Alexander Cameron, +Stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements +beyond the said line to relinquish them." Thus officially warned, +Brown and his companions removed to Watauga. Cameron's order did +not apply, however, to the settlement, to the settlement north of +the Holston River, south and east of Long Island; and the +settlement in Carter's Valley, although lying without the +Virginia boundary, strangely enough remained unmolested. The +order was directed at the Watauga settlers, who were seated south +of the Holston River in the Watauga Valley. + +The plight in which the Watauga settlers now found themselves was +truly desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this +apparently insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and +characteristic events in the pre-Revolutionary history of the Old +Southwest. It exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource +of the American character at the margin of desperation. The +momentous influence of the Watauga settlers, inadequately +reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon to make itself +powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward +expansion. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. Opening the Gateway--Dunmore's War + +Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the +greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their +Charter. They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the +memorable Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet +continued inaccessable.--The Harrodsburg Petition. June 7-15, +1776. + + +It was fortunate for the Watauga settlers that the Indians and +the whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the +time the Watauga Valley was shown, by the running of the boundary +line, to lie within the Indian reservation. With true American +self reliance, the settlers met together for deliberation and +counsel, and deputed James Robertson and John Been, as stated by +Tennessee's first historian, "to treat with their landlords, and +agree upon articles of accommodation and friendship. The attempt +succeeded. For though the Indians refused to give up the land +gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount of +merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease +all the country on the waters of the Watauga." In addition to the +land thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were +purchased from the Indians by Jacob Brown, who reoccupied his +former location on the Nolichucky. + +In taking this daring step, the Watauga settlers moved into the +spotlight of national history. For the inevitable consequence of +leasing the territory was the organization of a form of +government for the infant settlement. Through his familiarity +with the North Carolina type of "association," in which the +settlers had organized for the purpose of "regulating" abuses, +and his acquaintance with the contents of the "Impartial +Relation," in which Husband fully expounded the principles and +practices of this association, Robertson was peculiarly fitted +for leadership in organizing this new government. The convention +at which Articles of Association, unfortunately lost, were drawn +up, is noteworthy as the first governmental assemblage of +free-born American citizens ever held west of the Alleghanies. +The government then established was the first free and +independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in +form, ever organized upon the American continent. In describing +this mimic republic, the royal Governor of Virginia says: "They +appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their present +occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves +into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate State." The most +daring spirit in this little state was the young John Sevier, of +French Huguenot family (originally spelled Xavier), born in +Augusta County, Virginia, on September 23, 1745. It was from +Millerstown in Shenandoah County where he was living the +uneventful life of a small farmer, that he emigrated (December, +1773) to the Watauga region. With his arrival there begins one of +the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded in the varied +arid stirring annals of the Old Southwest. In this daring and +impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, magnetic, +debonair--of powerful build, splendid proportions, and athletic +skill--we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly heroic life of +the border. The story of his life, thrilling in the extreme, is +rich in all the multi-colored elements which impart romance to +the arduous struggle of American civilization in the opening +years of the republic. + +The creative impulses in the Watauga commonwealth are hinted at +by Dunmore, who serves, in the letter above quoted, that Watauga +"sets a dangerous example to the people America, of forming +governments distinct from and independent of his Majesty's +authority." + +It is true that the experiment was somewhat limited. The +organization of the Watauga association, which constituted a +temporary expedient to meet a crisis in the affairs of a frontier +community cut off by forest wilderness and mountain barriers from +the reach of the arm of royal or provincial government, is not to +be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at Boonesborough, +May 23, 1775, or with the extraordinary demands for inde pendence +in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, during the same month. +Nevertheless the Watauga settlers defied both North Carolina and +the Crown, by adopting the laws of Virginia and by ignoring +Governor Josiah Martin's proclamation (March 26, 1774) "requiring +the said settlers immediately to retire from the Indian +Territories." Moreover, Watauga really was the parent of a series +of mimic republics in the Old Southwest, gradually tending toward +higher forms of organization, with a larger measure of individual +liberty. Watauga, Transylvania, Cumberland, Franklin represent +the evolving political genius of a free people under the creative +leadership of three constructive minds--James Robertson, John +Sevier, and Richard Henderson. Indeed, Watauga furnished to Judge +Henderson precisely the "dangerous example" of which Dunmore +prophetically speaks. + +Immediately upon his return in 1771 from the extended exploration +of Kentucky, Daniel Boone as already noted was engaged as secret +agent, to treat with the Cherokees for the lease or purchase of +the trans-Alleghany region, on behalf of Judge Henderson and his +associates. Embroiled in the exciting issues of the Regulation +and absorbed by his confining duties as colonial judge, Henderson +was unable to put his bold design into execution until after the +expiration of the court itself which ceased to exist in 1773. +Disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 and Locke's +Fundamental Constitutions for the Carolinas, which forbade +private parties to purchase lands from the Indians, Judge +Henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in England +to know if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of +lands from the Indian tribes. Lord Mansfield gave Judge Henderson +the "sanction of his great authority in favor of the purchase." +Lord Chancellor Camden and Mr. Yorke had officially advised the +King in 1757, in regard to the petition of the East Indian +Company, "that in respect to such territories as have been, or +shall be acquired by treaty or grant from the Great Mogul, or any +of the Indian princes or governments, your Majesty's letters +patent are NOT NECESSARY; the property of the soil vesting in the +company by the Indian grant subject only to your Majesties right +of sovereignty over the settlements, as English settlements, and +over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry with them +your Majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive your +Majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." This +opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the +Indian tribes of North America by the same two authorities, +certainly as early as 1769; and a true copy, made in London, +April 1, 1772, was transmitted to Judge Henderson. Armed with the +legal opinions received from England, Judge Henderson was fully +persuaded that there was no legal bar whatsoever to his seeking +to acquire by purchase from the Cherokees the vast domain of the +trans-Alleghany. A golden dream of empire, with its promise of an +independent republic in the form of a proprietary colony, casts +him under the spell of its alluring glamour. + +In the meantime, the restless Boone, impatient over the delay in +the consummation of Judge Henderson's plans, resolved to +establish himself in Kentucky upon his own responsibility. +Heedless of the question of title and the certain hazards +incident to invading the territory of hostile savages, Boone +designated a rendezvous in Powell's Valley where he and his party +of five families were to be met by a band under the leadership of +his connections, the Bryans, and another company led by Captain +William Russell, a daring pioneer of the Clinch Valley. A small +detachment of Boone's party was fiercely attacked by Shawanoes in +Powell's Valley on October 10, 1773, and almost all were killed, +including sons of Boone and Russell, and young John and Richard +Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. As the result of +this bloody repulse, Boone's attempt to settle in Kentucky at +this time was definitely abandoned. His failure to effect a +settlement in Kentucky was due to that characteristic disregard +of the territorial rights of the Indians which was all too common +among the borderers of that period. + +This failure was portentous of the coming storm. The reign of the +Long Hunters was over. Dawning upon the horizon was the day of +stern adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to +invade the trans-Alleghany country and to battle savagely with +the red man for its possession. More successful than Boone was +the McAfee party, five in number, from Botetourt County, +Virginia, who between May 10th and September 1, 1773, safely +accomplished a journey through Kentucky and carefully marked +well-chosen sites for future location." An ominous incident of +the time was the veiled warning which Cornstalk, the great +Shawanoe chieftain, gave to Captain Thomas Bullitt, head of a +party of royal surveyors, sent out by Lord Dunmore, Governor of +Virginia. Cornstalk at Chillicothe, June 7, 1773, warned Bullitt +concerning the encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive +us," he said, "of the hunting of the country, as usual ... the +hunting we stand in need of to buy our clothing." During the +preceding summer, George Rogers Clark, an aggressive young +Virginian, with a small party, had descended the Ohio as low as +Fish Creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for many +months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in +locating and surveying lands covered by military grants. Most +significant of the ruthless determination of the pioneers to +occupy by force the Kentucky area was the action of the large +party from Monongahela, some forty in number, led by Captain +James Harrod, who penetrated to the present Miller County, where +in June, 1774, they made improvements and actually laid out a +town. + +A significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians +have taken but little account, was now in progress under the +manipulation of Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. +John Connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony +south of the Ohio; and the design of securing such territory from +the Indians found lodgment in the mind of Lord Dunmore. But this +design was for the moment thwarted when on October 28, 1773, an +order was issued from the Privy Council chamber in Whitehall +granting an immense territory, including all of the present West +Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's +agreement with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including +Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. +This new colony, to be named "Vandalia," seemed assured. A clash +between Dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for +Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle +region of the continent, extending without known limit to west +and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great land +speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating +Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of +surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands +covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain +members of the "Honourable Board," his council, as charged by +Washington, was more than "lukewarm," secretly restricting as +rigorously as he dared the extent and number of the soldiers' +allotments. According to the famous Virginia Remonstrance, he was +in league with "men of great influence in some of the neighboring +states" to secure, under cover of purchases from the Indians, +large tracts of country between the Ohio and the Mississippi." In +shaping his plans Dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of Patrick +Henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private +purchase from the Cherokees. It was Henry's legal opinion that +the Indiana purchase from the Six Nations by the Pennsylvania +traders at Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was valid; and that +purchase by private individuals from the Indians gave full and +ample title. In consequence of these facts, William Murray, in +behalf of himself and his associates of the Illinois Land +Company, and on the strength of the Camden Yorke decision, +purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and Ohio +respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in +order to win the support of Dunmore, who was ambitious to make a +fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the +Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company, with the governor as the chief +share-holder. In response to Murray's petition on behalf of the +Illinois Land Company, Dunmore (May, 1774) recommended it to Lord +Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and urged that it +be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed +any personal interest in the Illinois speculation. + +The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel +William Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading +eastern men, in 1774 located lands covered by military grants on +the Ohio and in the Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, +including Washington, Patrick Henry, William Byrd, William +Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, and Andrew Lewis, +among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. Certain of +these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply +(September 10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly +censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white +settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, +the war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door +of Dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore +personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's +charter rights, but actually in order to further his own +speculative designs." Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a +party posing as Virginia militia, fired without provocation upon +a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs assembled at Fort Pitt (January, +1774). Taking advantage of the alarming situation created by the +conflict of the claims of Virginia and Pennsylvania, Connolly, +inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary +circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to exist. +Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick +Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: + +"that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D. when Dr. Conolly first +came there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed +Ld. Dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on +both sides of the Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had +been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or +Vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite +shore, and that as his Lordship was determined to settle his +family in America he was really pursueing this war, in order to +obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of +territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced +from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the +natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that +they had Lord Camden and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which +opinion with some others that Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with +the knowledge Conolly had given him of the quality of the country +and his determined resolution to settle his family on this +continent, were the real motives or springs of the present +expedition." + +At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William +Byrd 3d and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of +lands from the Cherokees; and when Wharton, after answering +Henry's inquiry as to where he might buy Indian goods, remarked: +"It's not possible you mean to enter the Indian trade at this +period," Henry laughingly replied: "The wish-world is my hobby +horse." "From whence I conclude," adds Wharton, "he has some +prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where I know +not." + +The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret +instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came +on apace. After the inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the +Indian chieftain, by one Greathouse and his drunken companions +(April 30th), Logan, who contrary to romantic views was a +blackhearted and vengeful savage, harried the Tennessee and +Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to arouse the +Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan as +late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: "The Indians +are not angry, only myself," and not until then did Dunmore begin +to give full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of +the border, Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, +having been despatched on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to +warn the surveyors of the trans-Alleghany, made a remarkable +journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. +Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at +Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the surveyors +at Mann's Lick, this warned, hurried in to the settlements and +were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia +forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal +proclamation of 1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of +Quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous +campaign, and fortified Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillicothe. +Andrew Lewis, however, in charge of the other division of +Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and +burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from the very +flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most +representative body of borderers of this region that up to this +time had assembled to measure strength with the red men. It was +an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed +leggings and hunting-capes, rifles and powder-horns, +hunting-knives and tomahawks. + +The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant, was fought on +October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, +and the Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. +It was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in +very brushy country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. +Throughout the long day, the Indians fought with rare craft and +stubborn bravery--loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking +off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, in regard to the +absence of the fifes: "Where are your whistles now?" Slowly +retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and +at a favorable moment to "drive the Long Knives like bullocks +into the river." No marked success was achieved on either side +until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young Isaac +Shelby alarmed the Indians, who mistook this party for the +expected reinforcement under Christian, and retired across the +Ohio. In the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the +Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing +call of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!", had quit the +battlefield and left the victory with the whites. + +The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had +accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and +vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic +satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to +him and avowing their allegiance to George III, at the close of +the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert +all their powers "for the defense of American liberty, and for +the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any +precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly +called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." Dunmore's +War is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of +peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge +Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and, through his +establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the +ultimate acquisition by the American Confederation of the +imperial domain of the trans-Alleghany. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company + +I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of +conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary +persons and excentric geniuses in America, and perhaps in the +world. His name is Richard Henderson.--J. F. D. Smyth: A Tour in +the United States of America. + + +Early in 1774, chastened by his own disastrous failure the +preceding autumn, Boone advised Judge Henderson that the time was +auspicious for opening negotiations with the Cherokees for +purchasing the trans-Alleghany region." In organizing a company +for this purpose, Henderson chose men of action and resource, +leaders in the colony, ready for any hazard of life and fortune +in this gigantic scheme of colonization and promotion. The new +men included, in addition to the partners in the organization +known as Richard Henderson and Company, were Colonel John +Luttrell, destined to win laurels in the Revolution, and William +Johnston, a native of Scotland, the leading merchant of +Hillsborough. + +Meeting in Hillsborough on August 27, 1774, these men organized +the new company under the name of the Louisa Company. In the +articles then drawn up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract +of land from the Indian owners of the soil for the express +purpose of "settling the country." Each partner obligated himself +to "furnish his Quota of Expenses necessary towards procuring the +grant." In full anticipation of the grave dangers to be +encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as "equal sharers in +the property," to "support each other with our lives and +fortunes." Negotiations with the Indians were begun at once. +Accompanied by Colonel Nathaniel Hart and guided by the +experienced Indian-trader, Thomas Price, Judge Henderson visited +the Cherokee chieftains at the Otari towns. After elaborate +consultations, the latter deputed the old chieftain, +Atta-kulla-kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, "to attend the said +Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there examine the Goods +and Merchandize which had been by them offered as the +Consideration of the purchase." The goods purchased at Cross +Creek (now Fayetteville, North Carolina), in which the Louisa +Company "had embarked a large amount," met the entire approval of +the Indians--the squaw in particular shrewdly examining the goods +in the interest of the women of the tribe. + +On January 6, 1775, the company was again enlarged, and given the +name of the Transylvania Company-the three new partners being +David Hart, brother to Thomas and Nathaniel, Leonard Henley +Bullock, a prominent citizen of Granville, and James Hogg, of +Hillsborough, a native Scotchman and one of the most influential +men in the colony. In the elaborate agreement drawn up reference +is explicitly made to the contingency of "settling and voting as +a proprietor and giving Rules and Regulations for the Inhabitants +etc." Hillsborough was the actual starting-point for the westward +movement, the first emigrants, traveling thence to the Sycamore +Shoals of the Watauga. In speaking of the departure of the +settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent westward +migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "At this place +[Hillsborough] I saw the first party of emigrant families that +moved to Kentucky under the auspices of Judge Henderson. They +marched out of the town with considerable solemnity, and to many +their destination seemed as remote as if it had been to the South +Sea Islands." Meanwhile, the "Proposals for the encouragement of +settling the lands etc.," issued on Christmas Day, 1774, were +quickly spread broadcast through the colony and along the +border." It was the greatest sensation North Carolina had known +since Alamance; and Archibald Neilson, deputy-auditor and naval +officer of the colony, inquired with quizzical anxiety: "Pray, is +Dick Henderson out of his head?" The most liberal terms, +proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were embodied +in these proposals. Land at twenty shillings per hundred acres +was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and +raising a crop of corn before September 1, 1775, the emigrant +being permitted to take up as much as five hundred acres for him +self and two hundred and fifty acres for each tithable person +under him. In these "Proposals" there was no indication that the +low terms at which the lands were offered would be maintained +after September 1, 1775. In a letter to Governor Dunmore +(January, 1775), Colonel William Preston, county surveyor of +Fincastle County, Virginia, says "The low price he [Henderson] +proposes to sell at, together with some further encouragement he +offers, will I am apprehensive induce a great many families to +remove from this County (Fincastle) & Carolina and settle there." +Joseph Martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-Taker and +agent for the Powell Valley portion" of the Transylvania Purchase +on January 20, 1775; and "he (Joseph Martin) and others went on +in the early part of the year 1775 and made their stand at the +very spot where he had made corn several years before. In +speaking of the startling design, unmasked by Henderson, of +establishing an independent government, Colonel Preston writes to +George Washington of the contemplated "large Purchase by one Col. +Henderson of North Carolina from the Cherokees.... I hear +that Henderson talks with great Freedom & Indecency of the +Governor of Virginia, sets the Government at Defiance & says if +he once had five hundred good Fellows settled in that Country he +would not Value Virginia." + +Early in 1775 runners were sent off to the Cherokee towns to +summon the Indians to the treaty ground at the Sycamore Shoals of +the Watauga; and Boone, after his return from a hunt in Kentucky +in January, was summoned by Judge Henderson to aid in the +negotiations preliminary to the actual treaty. The dominating +figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty ground, +consisting of twelve hundred Indians and several hundred whites, +was Richard Henderson, "comely in person, of a benign and social +disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous +action" noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, firm-set +jaw, with kindness and openness of expression." Gathered about +him, picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of +the buckskin-clad leaders of the border--James Robertson, John +Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Bailey Smith, and their +compeers--as well as his Carolina friends John Williams, Thomas +and Nathaniel Hart, Nathaniel Henderson, Jesse Benton, and +Valentine Searcy. + +Little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (March +14th); but on the next day, the Cherokees offered to sell the +section bargained for by Donelson acting as agent for Virginia in +1771. Although the Indians pointed out that Virginia had never +paid the promised compensation of five hundred pounds and had +therefore forfeited her rights, Henderson flatly refused to +entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which Virginia had +the prior claim. Angered by Henderson's refusal, The Dragging +Canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, made an +impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination peculiar +to the American Indian. With pathetic eloquence he dwelt upon the +insatiable land-greed of the white men, and predicted the +extinction of his race if they committed the insensate folly of +selling their beloved hunting-grounds. Roused to a high pitch of +oratorical fervor, the savage with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted +his people to resist further encroachments at all hazards--and +left the treaty ground. This incident brought the conference to a +startling and abrupt conclusion. On the following day, however, +the savages proved more tractable, agreeing to sell the land as +far as the Cumberland River. In order to secure the additional +territory watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, Henderson +agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. Upon this +day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of Kentucky +when The Dragging Canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, +declared that a DARK Cloud hung over that land, which was known +as the BLOODY GROUND. + +On the last day, March 17th, the negotiations were opened with +the signing of the "Great Grant." The area purchased, some twenty +millions of acres, included almost all the present state of +Kentucky, and an immense tract in Tennessee, comprising all the +territory watered by the Cumberland River and all its +tributaries. For "two thousand weight of leather in goods" +Henderson purchased "the lands lying down Holston and between the +Watauga lease, Colonel Donelson's line and Powell's Mountain" as +a pathway to Kentucky--the deed for which was known as the "Path +Deed." By special arrangement, Carter's Valley in this tract went +to Carter and Lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, +Charles Robertson on behalf of the Watauga Association purchased +a large tract in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and New +Rivers; and eight days later Jacob Brown purchased two large +areas, including the Nolichucky Valley. This historic treaty, +which heralds the opening of the West, was conducted with +absolute justice and fairness by Judge Henderson and his +associates. No liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and +Thomas Price, the ablest of the Cherokee traders, deposed that +"he at that time understood the Cherokee language, so as to +comprehend everything which was said and to know that what was +observed on either side was fairly and truly translated; that the +Cherokees perfectly understood, what Lands were the subject of +the Treaty...." The amount paid by the Transylvania Company +for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds sterling, in +money and in goods. + +Although Daniel Boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior +to the negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the +voluminous records of the conference. Indeed, he was not then +present; for a fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he +was commissioned by Judge Henderson to form a party of competent +woodmen to blaze a passage through the wilderness. On March 10th +this party of thirty ax-men, under the leadership of Boone, +started from the rendezvous, the Long Island of Holston, to +engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the Transylvania +Trail. + +Henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and +resolution the hazardous task of occupying the purchased +territory and establishing an independent government. No mere +financial promoter of a vast speculative enterprise, he was one +of the heroic figures of the Old Southwest; and it was his +dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in the +face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a +successful conclusion. At Martin's Station, where Henderson and +his party tarried to build a house in which to store their +wagons, as the road could be cleared no further, they were joined +by another party, of five adventurers from Prince William County, +Virginia." In Henderson's party were some forty men and boys, +with forty packhorses and a small amount of powder, lead, salt, +and garden-seeds. The warning freely given by Joseph Martin of +the perils of the path was soon confirmed, as appears from the +following entry in Henderson's diary: + +"Friday the 7th. [April] About Brake of Day began to snow. About +11 O'Clock received a letter from Mr. Luttrells camp that were +five persons killd on the road to the Cantuckie by Indians. Capt. +[Nathaniel] Hart, uppon the receipt of this News Retreated back +with his Company, & determined to Settle in the Valley to make +Corn for the Cantucky people. The same Day Received a Letter from +Dan. Boone, that his Company was fired uppon by Indians, Kill'd +Two of his men--tho he kept the ground & saved the Baggage &c." + +The following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged +resolution of Boone and his reliance upon Henderson and his +company in this black hour of disaster, addressed "Colonel +Richard Henderson--these with care," is eloquent in its +simplicity + + +"Dear Colonel: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you +of our misfortunes. On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on +my Company about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty +and his negro, and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he +will recover. + +"On March the 28 as we were hunting for provisions, we found +Samuel Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired +on their camp on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and +found two men killed and sculped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah +McFeters. I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in +order to gather them all at the mouth of Otter Creek. + +"My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. +Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, +but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you, and now +is the time to flusterate their [the Indians'] intentions, and +keep the country, whilst we are in it. If we give way to them +now, it will ever be the case. This day we start from the battle +ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where we shall immediately +erect a Fort, which will be done before you can come or send, +then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them. + +"I am, Sir, your most obedient + Omble Sarvent +Daniel Boone. + +"N.B. We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, +and lost nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck +[Kentucky River] at Otter Creek." + + +This dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail +and induced some to turn back, but Henderson, the jurist-pioneer, +was made of sterner stuff. At once (April 8th) he despatched an +urgent letter in hot haste to the proprietors of Transylvania, +enclosing Boone's letter, informing them of Boone's plight and +urging them to send him immediately a large quantity of powder +and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon his supply of +saltpeter at Martin's Station. "We are all in high spirits," he +assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to Boone's +assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a +country." + +Laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: "Saturday +the 8th. Started abt. 10 oClock Crossed Cumberland Gap about 4 +miles met about 40 persons Returning from the Cantucky, on Acct. +of the Late Murders by the Indians could prevail on one only to +return. Memo Several Virginians who were with us return'd." + +There is no more crucial moment in early Western history than +this, in which we see the towering form of Henderson, clad in the +picturesque garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely +pointing forward to the "dark and bloody ground," and in +impassioned but futile eloquence pleading with the pale and +panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to join his company, and +to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer conquest. +Significant indeed are the lines: + + Some to endure, and many to fail, + Some to conquer, and many to quail, + Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + +The spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires Henderson's +words: "In this situation, some few, of genuine courage and +undaunted resolution, served to inspire the rest; by the help of +whose example, assisted by a little pride and some ostentation, +we made a shift to march on with all the appearance of gallantry, +and, cavalier like, treated every insinuation of danger with the +utmost contempt." + +Fearing that Boone, who did not even know that Henderson's +cavalcade was on the road, would be unable to hold out, Henderson +realized the imperative necessity for sending him a message of +encouragement. The bold young Virginian, William Cocke, +volunteered to brave alone the dangers of the murder-haunted +trail to undertake a ride more truly memorable and hazardous than +that of Revere. "This offer, extraordinary as it was, we could by +no means refuse," remarks Henderson, who shed tears of gratitude +as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the brave +messenger's hand. Equipped with "a good Queen Anne's musket, +plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [French, +couteau], a Dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," +Cocke on April 10th rode off "to the Cantuckey to Inform Capt +Boone that we were on the road." The fearful apprehensions felt +for Cocke's safety were later relieved, when along the road were +discovered his letters in forming Henderson of his arrival and of +his having been joined on the way by Page Portwood of Rowan. On +his arrival at Otter Creek, Cocke found Boone and his men, and on +relating his adventures, "came in for his share of applause." +Boone at once despatched the master woodman, Michael Stoner, with +pack-horses to assist Henderson's party, which he met on April +18th at their encampment "in the Eye of the Rich Land." Along +with "Excellent Beef in plenty," Stoner brought the story of +Boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude +little fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist +attack. With laconic significance Henderson pays the following +tribute to Boone which deserves to be perpetuated in national +annals: "It was owing to Boone's confidence in us, and the +people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted in order to wait +for our coming." + +In the course of their journey over the mountains and through the +wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the +face of the surpassing beauties of the country. The Cumberlands +were covered with rich undergrowth of the red and white +rhododendron, the delicate laurel, the mountain ivy, the +flameazalea, the spicewood, and the cane; while the white stars +of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the red-bud, strewn +across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in the eager +air of spring. "To enter uppon a detail of the Beuty & Goodness +of our Country," writes Nathaniel Henderson, "would be a task too +arduous.... Let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any +country I ever saw or herd off. I am conscious its out of the +power of any man to make you clearly sensible of the great Beuty +and Richness of Kentucky." Young Felix Walker, endowed with more +vivid powers of description, says with a touch of native +eloquence: + +"Perhaps no Adventurer Since the days of donquicksotte or before +ever felt So Cheerful & Ilated in prospect, every heart abounded +with Joy & excitement ... & exclusive of the Novelties of the +Journey the advantages & accumalations arising on the Settlement +of a new Country was a dazzling object with many of our Company.... +As the Cain ceased, we began to discover the pleasing & +Rapturous appearance of the plains of Kentucky, a New Sky & +Strange Earth to be presented to our view.... So Rich a Soil +we had never Saw before, Covered with Clover in full Bloom. the +Woods alive abounding in wild Game, turkeys so numerous that it +might be said there appeared but one flock Universally Scattered +in the woods ... it appeared that Nature in the profusion of +her Bounties, had Spread a feast for all that lives, both for the +Animal & Rational World, a Sight so delightful to our View and +grateful to our feelings almost Induced us, in Immitation of +Columbus in Transport to Kiss the Soil of Kentucky, as he haild & +Saluted the sand on his first setting his foot on the Shores of +America." + +On the journey Henderson was joined in Powell's Valley by +Benjamin Logan, afterward so famous in Kentucky annals, and a +companion, William Galaspy. At the Crab Orchard they left +Henderson's party; and turning their course westward finally +pitched camp in the present Lincoln County, where Logan +subsequently built a fort. On Sunday, April 16th, on Scaggs's +Creek, Henderson records: "About 12 oClock Met James McAfee with +18 other persons Returning from Cantucky." They advised Henderson +of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the Indians, says Robert +McAfee junior: "but Henderson assured them that he had purchased +the whole country from the Indians, that it belonged to him, and +he had named it Transylvania.... Robt, Samuel, and William +McAfee and 3 others were inclined to return, but James opposed +it, alleging that Henderson had no right to the land, and that +Virginia had previously bought it. The former (6) returned with +Henderson to Boonesborough." Among those who had joined +Henderson's party was Abraham Hanks from Virginia, the maternal +grandfather of Abraham Lincoln; but alarmed by the stories +brought by Stewart and his party of fugitives, Hanks and Drake, +as recorded by William Calk on that day (April 13th), turned +back. + +At last the founder of Kentucky with his little band reached the +destined goal of their arduous journeyings. Henderson's record on +his birthday runs: "Thursday the 20th [April] Arrived at Fort +Boone on the Mouth of Oter Creek Cantuckey River where we were +Saluted by a running fire of about 25 Guns; all that was then at +Fort.... The men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced in +our arrival." It is a coincidence of historic interest that just +one day after the embattled farmers at Lexington and Concord +"fired the shots heard round the world," the echoing shots of +Boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce the +arrival of the proprietor of Transylvania and the birth of the +American West. + + + +CHAPTER XV. Transylvania--A wilderness Commonwealth + +You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being +of this country in general, in which the interest and security of +each and every individual are inseparably connected .... Our +peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all +sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common +danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in +their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, +consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to the +forming good, wise and wholesome laws.--Judge Richard Henderson: +Address to the Legislature of Transylvania, May 23, 1775. + + +The independent spirit displayed by the Transylvania Company, and +Henderson's procedure in open defiance of the royal governors of +both North Carolina and Virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm +throughout these colonies and South Carolina. "This in my +Opinion," says Preston in a letter to George Washington (January +31, 1775), "will soon become a serious Affair, & highly deserves +the Attention of the Government. For it is certain that a vast +Number of People are preparing to go out and settle on this +Purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be next to +impossible to remove them or reduce them to Obedience; as they +are so far from the Seat of Government. Indeed it may be the +Cherokees will support them." Governor Martin of North Carolina, +already deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming +revolutionary cataclysm, thundered in what was generally regarded +as a forcible-feeble proclamation (February 19, 1775) against +"Richard Henderson and his Confederates" in their "daring, unjust +and unwarrantable proceedings." In a letter to Dartmouth he +denounces "Henderson the famous invader" and dubs the +Transylvania Company "an infamous Company of land Pyrates." + +Officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed +Henderson's plans. Lord Dunmore, who in 1774, as we have seen, +was heavily interested in the Wabash Land Company engineered by +William Murray, took the ground that the Wabash purchase was +valid under the Camden-Yorke decision. This is so stated in the +records of the Illinois Company. Likewise under Murray's control. +But although the "Ouabache Company," of which Dunmore was a +leading member, was initiated as early as May 16, 1774, the +purchase of the territory was not formally effected until October +18, 1775--too late to benefit Dunmore, then deeply embroiled in +the preliminaries to the Revolution. Under the cover of his +agent's name, it is believed, Dunmore, with his "passion for land +and fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating thousands of +acres of land surveyed by the royal surveyors in the summer of +1774 for Dr. John Connolly. Early in this same year, Patrick +Henry, who, as already pointed out, had entered large tracts in +Kentucky in violation of Virginia's treaty obligations with the +Cherokees, united with William Byrd 3d, John Page, Ralph Wormley, +Samuel Overton, and William Christian, in the effort to purchase +from the Cherokees a tract of land west of Donelson's line, being +firmly persuaded of the validity of the Camden-Yorke opinion. +Their agent, William Kenedy, considerably later in the year, went +on a mission to the Cherokee towns, and upon his return reported +that the Indians might be induced to sell. When it became known +that Judge Henderson had organized the Transylvania Company and +anticipated Patrick Henry and his associates, Colonel Arthur +Campbell, as he himself states, applied to several of the +partners of the Transylvania Company on behalf of Patrick Henry, +requesting that Henry be taken in as a partner. It was afterward +stated, as commonly understood among the Transylvania +proprietors, that both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson desired +to become members of the company; but that Colonel Richard +Henderson was instrumental in preventing their admission "lest +they should supplant the Colonel [Henderson] as the guiding +spirit of the company." + +Fully informed by Preston's elaborate communication on the +gravity of the situation, Dunmore acted energetically, though +tardily, to prevent the execution of Henderson's designs. On +March 21st Dunmore sent flying through the back country a +proclamation, demanding the immediate relinquishment of the +territory by "one Richard Henderson and other disorderly persons, +his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of violently +detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately fined +and imprisoned. This proclamation, says a peppery old chronicler, +may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and +rebels, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, from the mercy of the +British monarch. In view of Dunmore's confidence in the validity +of the Camden-Yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of +the royal proclamation of 1763 occurs in his broadside; and that +he bases his objection to the Transylvania purchase upon the +king's instructions that all vacant lands "within this colony" be +laid off in tracts, from one hundred to one thousand acres in +extent, and sold at public auction. This proclamation which was +enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of official instructions to +Preston warning him not to survey any lands "beyond the line run +by Colonel Donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. At the same +time, Dunmore despatched a pointed letter to Oconostota, +Atta-kulla-kulla, Judge's Friend, and other Cherokee chieftains, +notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the +Kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's +displeasure if they did not repudiate the sale. + +News of the plans which Henderson had already matured for +establishing an independent colony in the trans-Alleghany +wilderness, now ran like wild-fire through Virginia. In a letter +to George Washington (April 9, 1775), Preston ruefully says: +"Henderson I hear has made the Purchase & got a Conveyance of the +great and Valluable Country below the Kentucky from the +Cherokees. He and about 300 adventurers are gone out to take +Possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent +Government & form a Code of Laws for themselves. How this may be +I cant say, but I am affraid the steps taken by the Government +have been too late. Before the Purchase was made had the Governor +interfered it is believed the Indians would not have sold." + +Meanwhile Judge Henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to +erect a large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. +Captain James Harrod with forty-two men was stationed at the +settlement he had made the preceding year, having arrived there +before the McAfees started back to Virginia; and there were small +groups of settlers at Boiling Spring, six miles southeast of +Harrods settlement, and at St. Asaph's, a mile west of the +present Stanford. A representative government for Transylvania +was then planned. When the frank and gallant Floyd arrived at the +Transylvania Fort on May 3d, he "expressed great satisfaction," +says Judge Henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed +for Legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & +every other measure we should adopt for the well Govern'g or good +of the Community in Gen'l." In reference to a conversation with +Captain James Harrod and Colonel Thomas Slaughter of Virginia, +Henderson notes in his diary (May 8th): "Our plan of Legislation, +the evils pointed out--the remedies to be applyed &c &c &c were +Acceeded to without Hesitation. The plann was plain & Simple--'twas +nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago it was +in use, and found by every year's experience since to be +unexceptionable. We were in four distinct settlem'ts. Members or +delegates from every place by free choice of Individuals they +first having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to +obey and carry into Execution Such Laws as representatives should +from time to time make, Concurred with, by A Majority of the +Proprietors present in the Country." + +In reply to inquiries of the settlers, Judge Henderson gave as +his reason for this assembling of a Transylvania Legislature that +"all power was derived from the people." Six days before the +prophetic arrival of the news of the Battle of Lexington and +eight days before the revolutionary committee of Mecklenburg +County, North Carolina, promulgated their memorable Resolves +establishing laws for independent government, the pioneers +assembled on the green beneath the mighty plane-tree at the +Transylvania Fort. In his wise and statesmanlike address to this +picturesque convention of free Americans (May 23, 1775), an +address which Felix Walker described as being "considered equal +to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate body in that +day and time," Judge Henderson used these memorable words: + +"You, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first +corner stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose +superstructure ... can only become great in proportion to the +excellence of its foundation.... If any doubt remain amongst +you with respect to the force or efficiency of whatever laws you +now, or hereafter make, be pleased to consider that ALL POWER IS +ORIGINALLY IN THE PEOPLE; MAKE AND THEIR INTEREST, THEREFORE, BY +IMPARTIAL AND BENEFICENT LAWS, AND YOU MAY BE SURE OF THEIR +INCLINATION TO SEE THEM ENFORCED." + +An early writer, in speaking of the full blooded democracy of +these "advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "If Jeremy +Bentham had been in existence of manhood, he would have sent his +compliments to the President of Transylvania." This, the first +representative body of American freemen which ever convened west +of the Alleghanies, is surely the most unique colonial government +ever set up on this continent. The proceedings of this backwoods +legislature--the democratic leader ship of the principal +proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for protecting +game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the granting +of full religious liberty--all display the acumen and practical +wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. As the result of Henderson's +tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly +democratized in tone, was complacently accepted by the backwoods +men. From one who, though still under royal rule, vehemently +asserted that the source of all political power was the people, +and that "laws derive force and efficiency from our mutual +consent," Western democracy thus born in the wilderness was +"taking its first political lesson." In their answer to +Henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the +pioneers unhesitatingly declared: "That we have an absolute +right, as a political body, without giving umbrage to Great +Britain, or any of the colonies, to form rules for the government +of our little society, cannot be doubted by any sensible mind and +being without the jurisdiction of, and not answerable to any of +his Majesty's courts, the constituting tribunals of justice shall +be a matter of our first contemplation...." In the +establishment of a constitution for the new colony, Henderson +with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal +code based on the laws of England. Out of a sense of +self-protection he reserved for the proprietors only one +prerogative not granted them by the people, the right of veto. He +clearly realized that if this power were given up, the delegates +to any convention that might be held after the first would be +able to assume the claims and rights of the proprietors. + +A land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store +was established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, +salt, osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer +existence. Writing to his brother Jonathan from Leestown, the +bold young George Rogers Clark, soon to plot the downfall of +Transylvania, enthusiastically says (July 6, 1775): "A richer and +more Beautifull Cuntry than this I believe has never been seen in +America yet. Col. Henderson is hear and Claims all ye Country +below Kentucke. If his Claim Should be good, land may be got +Reasonable Enough and as good as any in ye World." Those who +settled on the south side of Kentucky River acknowledged the +validity of the Transylvania purchase; and Clark in his Memoir +says: "the Proprietors at first took great pains to Ingratiate +themselves in the fav'r of the people." + +In regard to the designs of Lord Dunmore, who, as noted above, +had illegally entered the Connolly grant on the Ohio and sought +to outlaw Henderson, and of Colonel William Byrd 3d, who, after +being balked in Patrick Henry's plan to anticipate the +Transylvania Company in effecting a purchase from the Cherokees, +was supposed to have tried to persuade the Cherokees to repudiate +the "Great Treaty," Henderson defiantly says: "Whether Lord +Dunmore and Colonel Byrd have interfered with the Indians or not, +Richard Henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. The utmost +result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the +futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few +faint-hearted persons, naturally prone to reverence great names +and fancy everything must shrink at the magic of a splendid +title." + +Prompted by Henderson's desire to petition the Continental +Congress then in session for recognition as the fourteenth +colony, the Transylvania legislature met again on the first +Thursday in September and elected Richard Henderson and John +Williams, among others, as delegates to the gathering at +Philadelphia. Shortly afterward the Proprietors of Transylvania +held a meeting at Oxford, North Carolina (September 25, 1775), +elected Williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to +proceed to Boonesborough there to reside until April, 1776. James +Hogg, of Hillsborough, chosen as Delegate to represent the Colony +in the Continental Congress, was despatched to Philadelphia, +bearing with him an elaborate memorial prepared by the President, +Judge Henderson, petitioning the Congress "to take the infant +Colony of Transylvania into their protection." + +Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia, James Hogg +was presented to "the famous Samuel and John Adams." The latter +warned Hogg, in view of the efforts then making toward +reconciliation between the colonies and the king, that "the +taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in +defiance of the King's proclamation, will be looked on as a +confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily +reproached." Jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all +the use the Virginians should make of their charter would be "to +prevent any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established +within the boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a +free government established at the back of theirs [Virginia's] +properly united with them." He would not consent, however, that +Congress should acknowledge the colony of Transylvania, until it +had the approbation of the Virginia Convention. The quit-rents +imposed by the company were denounced in Congress as a mark of +vassalage; and many advised a law against the employment of +negroes in the colony. "They even threatened us with their +opposition," says Hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act +upon liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to +render ourselves immortal." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. The Repulse of the Red Men + +To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind +feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the +Cherokees ever afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the +Indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were +they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the +property of our frontier men.--David L. Swain: The Indian War of +1776. + + +During the summer of 1775 the proprietors of Transylvania were +confronted with two stupendous tasks--that of winning the favor +and support of the frontiersmen and that of rallying the rapidly +dwindling forces in Kentucky in defense of the settlements. +Recognizing the difficulty of including Martin's Station, because +of its remoteness, with the government provided for Transylvania, +Judge Henderson prepared a plan of government for the group of +settlers located in Powell's Valley. In a letter to Martin (July +30th), in regard to the recent energetic defense of the settlers +at that point against the Indians, Henderson says: "Your spirited +conduct gives me much pleasure.... Keep your men in heart if +possible, NOW IS OUR TIME, THE INDIANS MUST NOT DRIVE US." The +gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete desertion +of the stations at Harrodsburg, the Boiling Spring, and the +Transylvania Fort or Boonesborough was dispelled with the return +of Boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on September 8th, +and of Richard Callaway with a considerable party on September +26th. The crisis was now passed; and the colony began for the +first time really to flourish. The people on the south side of +the Kentucky River universally accepted proprietary rule for the +time being. But the seeds of dissension were soon to be sown +among those who settled north of the river, as well as among men +of the stamp of James Harrod, who, having preceded Henderson in +the establishment of a settlement in Kentucky, naturally resented +holding lands under the Transylvania Company. + +The great liberality of this organization toward incoming +settlers had resulted in immense quantities of land being taken +up through their land-office. The ranging, hunting, and +road-building were paid for by the company; and the entire +settlement was furnished with powder, lead, and supplies, wholly +on credit, for this and the succeeding year. "Five hundred and +sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," reports Floyd on +December 1st, "and most of the people waiting to have it run +out." After Dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, +escaped to the protection of a British vessel, the Fowey, Colonel +Preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants within +the Transylvania territory; and his original hostility to Judge +Henderson gave place to friendship and support. On December 1st, +Colonel John Williams, resident agent of the Transylvania +Company, announced at Boonesborough the long-contemplated and +widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to +fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four +dollars for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. At +a meeting of the Transylvania legislature, convened on December +21st, John Floyd was chosen surveyor general of the colony, +Nathaniel Henderson was placed in charge of the Entering Office, +and Richard Harrison given the post of secretary. At this meeting +of the legislature, the first open expression of discontent was +voiced in the "Harrodsburg Remonstrance," questioning the +validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting against any +increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by the +proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the +Falls of the Ohio. Every effort was made to accommodate the +remonstrants, who were led by Abraham Hite. Office fees were +abolished, and the payment of quit-rents was deferred until +January 1, 1780. Despite these efforts at accommodation, grave +doubts were implanted by this Harrodsburg Remonstrance in the +minds of the people; and much discussion and discontent ensued. + +By midsummer, 1775, George Rogers Clark, a remarkably +enterprising and independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all +the land he could" in Kentucky. Upon his return to Virginia, as +he relates, he "found there was various oppinions Respecting +Henderson claim. many thought it good, others douted whether or +not Virginia coud with propriety have any pretentions to the +cuntrey." Jefferson displayed a liberal attitude toward the +claims of the Transylvania proprietors; and Patrick Henry openly +stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand good." But +many others, of the stamp of George Mason and George Washington, +vigorously asserted Virginia's charter rights over the Western +territory." This sharp difference of opinion excited in Clark's +mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the country +and making terms with Virginia under threat of secession. With +the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the +title of the Transylvania proprietors, Judge Henderson and +Colonel Williams set off from Boonesborough about May 1st, +intending first to appeal to the Virginia Convention and +ultimately to lay their claims before the Continental Congress. +"Since they have gone," reports Floyd to Preston, "I am told most +of the men about Harrodsburg have re-assumed their former +resolution of not complying with any of the office rules +whatever. Jack Jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & +flourishes away prodigiously." John Gabriel Jones was the mere +figurehead in the revolt. The real leader, the brains of the +conspiracy, was the unscrupulous George Rogers Clark. At Clark's +instance, an eight-day election was held at Harrodsburg (June +7-15), at which time a petition to the Virginia Convention was +drawn up; and Clark and Jones were elected delegates. Clark's +plan, the scheme of a bold revolutionist, was to treat with +Virginia for terms; and if they were not satisfactory, to revolt +and, as he says, "Establish an Independent Government" ... +"giving away great part of the Lands and disposing of the +Remainder." In a second petition, prepared by the self-styled +"Committee of West Fincastle" (June 20th), it was alleged that +"if these pretended Proprietors have leave to continue to act in +their arbitrary manner out the controul of this colony [Virginia] +the end must be evident to every well wisher to American +Liberty." + +The contest which now ensued between Richard Henderson and George +Rogers Clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind +the scenes, resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a +moment in American history marked by the signing of the +Declaration of Independence. Virginia, under the leader ship of +her new governor, Patrick Henry, put an end to the proprietary +rule of the Transylvania Company. On December 7th such part of +Transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of Virginia was +erected by the legislature of that colony into the County of +Kentucky. The proprietary form of government with its "marks of +vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, +was unendurable to the independent and lawless pioneers, already +intoxicated with the spirit of freedom swept in on the first +fresh breezes of the Revolution. Yet it is not to be doubted that +the Transylvania Company, through the courage and moral influence +of its leaders, made a permanent contribution to the colonization +of the West, which, in providential timeliness and effective +execution, is without parallel in our early annals. + +While events were thus shaping themselves in Kentucky--events +which made possible Clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in +the Northwest and ultimately resulted in the establishment of the +Mississippi instead of the Alleghanies as the western boundary of +the Confederation--the pioneers of Watauga were sagaciously +laying strong the foundations of permanent occupation. In +September, 1775, North Carolina, through her Provincial Congress, +provided for the appointment in each district of a Committee of +Safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. +Following the lead thus set, the Watauga settlers assumed for +their country the name of "Washington District"; and proceeded by +unanimous vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, +which included James Robertson and John Sevier. This district was +organized "shortly after October, 1775, according to Felix +Walker; and the first step taken after the election of the +committee was the organization of a court, consisting of five +members. Felix Walker was elected clerk of the court thus +organized, and held the position for about four years. James +Robertson and John Sevier, it is believed, were also members of +this court. To James Robertson who, with the assistance of his +colleagues, devised this primitive type of frontier rule--a true +commission form of government, on the "Watauga Plan"--is justly +due distinctive recognition for this notable inauguration of the +independent democracy of the Old Southwest. The Watauga +settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest loyalty to the +American cause. In a memorable petition these hardy settlers +requested the Provincial Council of North Carolina not to regard +them as a "lawless mob," but to "annex" them to North Carolina +without delay. "This committee (willing to become a party in the +present unhappy contest)", states the petition, which must have +been drafted about July 15, 1776, "resolved (which is now on our +records), to adhere strictly to the rules and orders of the +Continental Congress, and in open committee acknowledged +themselves indebted to the united colonies their full proportion +of the Continental expense." + +While these disputes as to the government of the new communities +were in progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. +For a whole year the British had been plying the various Indian +tribes from the lakes to the gulf with presents, supplies, and +ammunition. In the Northwest bounties had actually been offered +for American scalps. During the spring of 1776 plans were +concerted, chiefly through Stuart and Cameron, British agents +among the Southern Indians, for uniting the Loyalists and the +Indians in a crushing attack upon the Tennessee settlements and +the back country of North Carolina. Already the frontier of South +Carolina had passed through the horrors of Indian uprising; and +warning of the approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the +Holston settlers by Atta-kulla-kulla's niece, Nancy Ward, the +"Pocahontas of the West"--doubtless through the influence of her +daughter, who loved Joseph Martin. The settlers, flocking for +refuge into their small stockaded forts, waited in readiness for +the dreaded Indian attacks, which were made by two forces +totaling some seven hundred warriors. + +On July 20th, warned in advance of the approach of the Indians, +the borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two +columns from the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at Eaton's +Station, to meet the Indians, double their own number, led by The +Dragging Canoe. The scouts surprised one party of Indians, +hastily poured in a deadly fire, and rushed upon them with such +impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. Withdrawing now +toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering there a +larger force, the backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves attacked +in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. Extending +their own line under the direction of Captain James Shelby, the +frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the Indians, who, +mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to +retreat, incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, +giving the war-whoop and shouting: "The Unakas are running!" In +the ensuing hot conflict at close quarters, in some places hand +to hand, the Indians were utterly routed--The Dragging Canoe +being shot down, many warriors wounded, and thirteen left dead +upon the field. + +On the day after Thompson, Cocke, Shelby, Campbell, Madison, and +their men were thus winning the battle of the Long Island +"flats," Robertson, Sevier, and their little band of forty-two +men were engaged in repelling an attack, begun at sunrise, upon +the Watauga fort near the Sycamore Shoals. This attack, which was +led by Old Abraham, proved abortive; but as the result of the +loose investment of the log fortress, maintained by the Indians +for several weeks, a few rash venturers from the fort were killed +or captured, notably a young boy who was carried to one of the +Indian towns and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer +settler, William Been, who was rescued from a like fate by the +intercession of the humane and noble Nancy Ward. It was during +this siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier +lass, active and graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very +stockade by the fleet-footed savages. Seeing her plight, an +athletic young officer mounted the stockade at a single leap, +shot down the foremost of the pursuers, and leaning over, seized +the maiden by the hands and lifted her over the stockade. The +maiden who sank breathless into the arms of the young officer, +John Sevier, was "Bonnie Kate Sherrill"--who, after the fashion +of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant +rescuer. + +While the Tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of +siege and attack, the settlers on the frontiers of Rowan were +falling beneath the tomahawk of the merciless savage. In the +first and second weeks of July large forces of Indians penetrated +to the outlying settlements; and in two days thirty-seven persons +were killed along the Catawba River. On July 13th, the bluff old +soldier of Rowan, General Griffith Rutherford, reported to the +council of North Carolina that "three of our Captains are killed +and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with what +men he could muster to relieve Colonel McDowell, ten men, and one +hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some +kind of a fort." Aroused to extraordinary exertions by these +daring and deadly blows, the governments of North Carolina, South +Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia instituted a joint campaign +against the Cherokees. It was believed that, by delivering a +series of crushing blows to the Indians and so conclusively +demonstrating the overwhelming superiority of the whites, the +state governments in the Old Southwest would convince the savages +of the futility, of any attempt ever again to oppose them +seriously. + +Within less than a week after sending his despatches to the +council Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred +men to protect the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm +the foe. Leading the South Carolina army of more than eighteen +hundred men, Colonel Andrew Williamson directed his attack +against the lower Cherokee towns; while Colonel Samuel Jack led +two hundred Georgians against the Indian towns at the heads of +the Chattahoochee and Tugaloo Rivers. Assembling a force of some +sixteen hundred Virginians, Colonel William Christian +rendezvoused in August at the Long Island of Holston, where his +force was strengthened by between three and four hundred North +Carolinians under Colonels Joseph Williams and Love, and Major +Winston. The various expeditions met with little effective +opposition on the whole, succeeding everywhere in their design of +utterly laying waste the towns of the Cherokees. One serious +engagement occurred when the Indians resolutely challenged +Rutherford's advance at the gap of the Nantahala Mountains. +Indian women--heroic Amazons disguised in war-paint and armed +with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair--fought +side by side with the Indian braves in the effort to arrest +Rutherford's progress and compass his defeat. More than forty +frontiersmen fell beneath the deadly shots of this truly Spartan +band before the final repulse of the savages. + +The most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful +campaign were the bluff old Indian-fighter, Griffith Rutherford, +wearing "a tow hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white +fringe" as a uniform; Captain Benjamin Cleveland, a rude paladin +of gigantic size, strength, and courage; Lieutenant William +Lenoir (Le Noir), the gallant and recklessly brave French +Huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the Revolution; and +that militant man of God, the Reverend James Hall, graduate of +Nassau Hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his +shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the +savages, preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty +backwoodsmen. Such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign--when +the whites, maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by +the recent ghastly murders, gladly availed themselves of the +South Carolina bounty offered for fresh Indian scalps. At times +they exultantly displayed the reeking patches of hair above the +gates of their stockades; at others, with many a bloody oath, +they compelled their commanders either to sell the Indian +captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. +Twenty years afterward Benjamin Hawkins relates that among Indian +refugees in extreme western Georgia the children had been so +terrorized by their parents' recitals of the atrocities of the +enraged borderers in the campaign of 1776, that they ran +screaming from the face of a white man. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. The Colonization of the Cumberland + +March 31, 1760. Set out this day, and after running some +distance, met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the +line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were +much rejoiced. He gave us every information we wished, and +further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in +Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of Ohio, for the use of the +Cumberland settlement. We are now without bread, and are +compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life.--John Donelson: +Journal of a Voyage, intended by God's permission, in the good +boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry, on Holston River, to the +French Salt Springs on Cumberland River. + + +To the settlements in Tennessee and Kentucky, which they had +seized and occupied, the pioneers held on with a tenacious grip +which never relaxed. From these strongholds, won through sullen +and desperate strokes, they pushed deeper into the wilderness, +once again to meet with undimmed courage the bitter onslaughts of +their resentful foes. The crushing of the Cherokees in 1776 +relieved the pressure upon the Tennessee settlers, enabling them +to strengthen their hold and prepare effectively for future +eventualities; the possession of the gateway to Kentucky kept +free the passage for Western settlement; Watauga and its +defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to British +invasion of the East from Kentucky and the Northwest during the +Revolution; while these Tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon +to set forth again to invade a new wilderness and at frightful +cost to colonize the Cumberland. + +The little chain of stockades along the farflung frontier of +Kentucky was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly +resolved that this chain must not break. The Revolution +precipitated against this chain wave after wave of formidable +Indian foes from the Northwest under British leadership. At the +very time when Grifth Rutherford set out for the relief of +McDowell's Fort, a marauding Indian band captured by stealth near +the Transylvania Fort, known as Boone's Fort (Boonesborough), +Elizabeth and Frances Callaway, and Jemima Boone, the daughters +of Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, and rapidly marched them +away toward the Shawanoe towns on the Ohio. A relief party, in +two divisions, headed respectively by the young girls' fathers, +and composed among others of the lovers of the three girls, +Samuel Henderson, John Holder, and Flanders Callaway, pursued +them with almost incredible swiftness. Guided by broken twigs and +bits of cloth surreptitiously dropped by Elizabeth Callaway, they +finally overtook the unsuspecting savages, killed two of them, +and rescued the three maidens unharmed. This romantic +episode--which gave Fenimore Cooper the theme for the most +memorable scene in one of his Leatherstocking Tales had an even +more romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three +pairs of lovers. + +This bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously +foiled, was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the +coming neighborhood of the stations; and relief was felt when the +Transylvania Fort, the great stockade planned by Judge Henderson, +was completed by the pioneers (July, 1776). Glad tidings arrived +only a few days later when the Declaration of Independence, read +aloud from the Virginia Gazette, was greeted with wild huzzas by +the patriotic backwoodsmen. During the ensuing months occasional +invasions were made by savage bands; but it was not until April +24, 1777, that Henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, +being invested by a company of some seventy-five savages. The +twenty-two riflemen in the fort drove off the painted warriors, +but not before Michael Stoner, Daniel Boone, and several others +were severely wounded. As he lay helpless upon the ground, his +ankle shattered by a bullet, Boone was lifted by Simon Kenton and +borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of the stockade amid a +veritable shower of balls. The stoical and taciturn Boone clasped +Kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness in the +brief but heartfelt utterance; "You are a fine fellow." On July +4th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when +two hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. +But owing to the vigilance and superb markmanship of the +defenders, as well as to the lack of cannon by the besieging +force, the Indians reluctantly abandoned the siege, after leaving +a number dead upon the field. Soon afterward the arrival of two +strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily summoned +from the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia, once again +made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the West. + +Kentucky's terrible year, 1778, opened with a severe disaster to +the white settlers--when Boone with thirty men, while engaged in +making salt at the "Lower Salt Spring," was captured in February +by more than a hundred Indians, sent by Governor Hamilton of +Detroit to drive the white settlers from "Kentucke." Boone +remained in captivity until early summer, when, learning that his +Indian captors were planning an attack in force upon the +Transylvania Fort, he succeeded in effecting his escape. After a +break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which +he ate but one meal, Boone finally arrived at the big fort on +June 20th. The settlers were thus given ample time for +preparation, as the long siege did not begin until September 7th. +The fort was invested by a powerful force flying the English +flag--four hundred and forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion +and ochre of their war-paint, and eleven Frenchmen, the whole +being commanded by the French-Canadian, Captain Dagniaux de +Quindre, and the great Indian Chief, Black-fish who had adopted +Boone as a son. In the effort to gain his end de Quindre resorted +to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to outwit the +settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "They formed +a scheme to deceive us," says Boone, "declaring it was their +orders, from Governor Hamilton, to take us captives, and not to +destroy us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, +they would immediately withdraw their forces from our walls, and +return home peacably." Transparent as the stratagem was, Boone +incautiously agreed to a conference with the enemy; Callaway +alone took the precaution to guard against Indian duplicity. +After a long talk, the Indians proposed to Boone, Callaway, and +the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them that they shake +hands in token of peace and friendship. As picturesquely +described by Daniel Trabue: + +"The Indians sayed two Indians must shake hands with one white +man to make a Double or sure peace at this time the Indians had +hold of the white men's hands and held them. Col. Calloway +objected to this but the other Indians laid hold or tryed to lay +hold of the other hand but Colonel Calloway was the first that +jerked away from them but the Indians seized the men two Indians +holt of one man or it was mostly the case and did their best to +hold them but while the man and Indians was a scuffling the men +from the Fort agreeable to Col. Calloway's order fired on them +they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe +and the fire continued on both sides." + +During the siege Callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a +wooden cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a +group of Indians "made them scamper perdidiously." The secret +effort of the Indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, +being discovered by the defenders, was frustrated by a +countermine. Unable to outwit, outfight, or outmaneuver the +resourceful Callaway, de Quindre finally withdrew on September +16th, closing the longest and severest attack that any of the +fortified stations of Kentucky had ever been called upon to +withstand. + +The successful defense of the Transylvania Fort, made by these +indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the +Continental Congress and left to fight alone their battles in the +forests, was of national significance in its results. Had the +Transylvania Fort fallen, the northern Indians in overwhelming +numbers, directed by Hamilton and led by British officers, might +well have swept Kentucky free of defenders and fallen with +devastating force upon the exposed settlements along the western +frontiers of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, This +defense of Boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of +commemoration in the annals of the Revolution, along with +Lexington and Bunker's Hill. Coupled with Clark's meteoric +campaign in the Northwest and the subsequent struggles in the +defense of Kentucky, it may be regarded as an event basically +responsible for the retention of the trans-Alleghany region by +the United States. The bitter struggles, desperate sieges, and +bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a close with the +expeditions of Clark and Logan in November, 1782, which +appropriately concluded the Revolution in the West by putting a +definite end to all prospect of formidable invasion of Kentucky. + +In November, 1777, "Washington District," the delegates of which +had been received in the preceding year by the Provincial +Congress of North Carolina, was formed by the North Carolina +General Assembly into Washington County; and to it were assigned +the boundaries of the whole of the present state of Tennessee. +While this immense territory was thus being definitely included +within the bounds of North Carolina, Judge Henderson on behalf of +the Transylvania Company was making a vigorous effort to secure +the reestablishment of its rights from the Virginia Assembly. By +order of the Virginia legislature, an exhaustive investigation of +the claims of the Transylvania Company was therefore made, +hearings being held at various points in the back country. On +July 18, 1777, Judge Henderson presented to the peace +commissioners for North Carolina and Virginia at the Long Island +treaty ground an elaborate memorial in behalf of the Transylvania +Company, which the commissioners unanimously refused to consider, +as not coming under their jurisdiction. Finally, after a full and +impartial discussion before the Virginia House of Delegates, that +body declared the Transylvania purchase void. But in +consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the +company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said +lands, by which the commonwealth is likely to receive great +advantage, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a +barrier against the Indians," the House of Delegates granted +Richard Henderson and Company two hundred thousand acres of land +situated between the Ohio and Green rivers, where the town of +Henderson, Kentucky, now stands. With this bursting of the +Transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden dreams of +Henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth +American colony in the heart of the trans-Alleghany, a first +romantic chapter in the history of Westward expansion comes to a +close. + +But another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. +Undiscouraged by Virginia's confiscation of Transylvania, and +disregarding North Carolina's action in extending her boundaries +over the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered +limits, Henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the +ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking +conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more +solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment of +Transylvania. It was not his purpose, however, to found an +independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the +Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North Carolina, +and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale +of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland +supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the +prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was +necessary to prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to +determine whether or not the Great French Lick, the ideal +location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of North +Carolina. + +Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an +extensive colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to +take form in vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project +Henderson had chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North +Carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for +future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing +party the ablest of the Tennessee pioneers, James Robertson. +Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga settlement +and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North +Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to +leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in +this desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight +white men and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth +from the Holston settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a +preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be +prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." After +erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense, +Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long +journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult +with George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the +Virginia Land Office several thousand acres of land at the French +Lick. After perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing +"cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in Virginia, +Robertson returned to Watauga to take command of the migration. + +Toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the +other by water, for the wonderful new country on the Cumberland +of which Boone and Scaggs and Mansker had brought back such +glowing descriptions. During the autumn Judge Henderson and other +commissioners from North Carolina, in conjunction with +commissioners from Virginia, had been running out the boundary +line between the two states. On the very day--Christmas, +1779--that Judge Henderson reached the site of the Transylvania +Fort, now called Boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from the +parent hive at Watauga, under Robertson's leadership, reached the +French Lick and on New Year's Day, 1780, crossed the river on the +ice to the present site of Nashville. + +The journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, +reads like a chapter from one of Captain Mayne Reid's fascinating +novels of adventure, was written by Colonel John Donelson, the +father-in-law of Andrew Jackson. Setting out from Fort Patrick +Henry on Holston River, December 22, 1779, with a flotilla +consisting of about thirty flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, they +encountered few difficulties until they began to run the gauntlet +of the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee. Here they were +furiously attacked by the Indians, terrible in their red and +black war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with +smallpox on board, was driven to shore by the Indians. The +occupants were massacred; but the Indians at once contracted the +disease and died by the hundreds. This luckless sacrifice of +"poor Stuart, his family and friends," while a ghastly price to +pay, undoubtedly procured for the Cumberland settlements +comparative immunity from Indian forays until the new-comers had +firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. +Eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the +typical American pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for +reunion of families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a +log cabin, is the last entry in Donelson's diary (April 24, +1780): + +"This day we arrived at our journey's end at the Big Salt Lick, +where we have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his +company. It is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to +restore to him and others their families and friends, who were +intrusted to our care, and who, some time since, perhaps, +despaired of ever meeting again. Though our prospects at present +are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which have been built +on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and his +company." + +In the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the +"hard winter," Judge Henderson was sorely concerned for the fate +of the new colony which he had projected, and immediately +proceeded to purchase at huge cost a large stock of corn. On +March 5, 1780, this corn, which had been raised by Captain +Nathaniel Hart, was "sent from Boonesborough in perogues +[pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of William Bailey +Smith.... This corn was taken down the Kentucky River, and +over the Falls of Ohio, to the mouth of the Cumberland, and +thence up that river to the fort at the French Lick. It is +believed have been the only bread which the settlers had until it +was raised there in 1781." There is genuine impressiveness in +this heroic triumphing over the obstacles of obdurate nature and +this paternalistic provision for the exposed Cumberland +settlement--the purchase by Judge Henderson, the shipment by +Captain Hart, and the transportation by Colonel Smith, in an +awful winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this +indispensable quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand +dollars in depreciated currency. + +Upon his arrival at the French Lick, shortly after the middle of +April, Judge Henderson at once proceeded to organize a government +for the little community. On May 1st articles of association were +drawn up; and important additions thereto were made on May 13th, +when the settlers signed the complete series. The original +document, still preserved, was drafted by Judge Henderson, being +written throughout in his own handwriting; and his name heads the +list of two hundred and fifty and more signatures. The +"Cumberland Compact," as this paper is called, is fundamentally a +mutual contract between the copartners of the Transylvania +Company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the company. +It represents the collective will of the community; and on +account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each +party to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. The +organization of this pure democracy was sound and +admirable--another notable early example of the commission form +of government. The most remarkable feature of this backwoods +constitution marks Judge Henderson as a pioneer in the use of the +political device so prominent to-day, one hundred and forty years +later--the "recall of judges." In the following striking clause +this innovation in government was recognized thus early in +American history as the most effective means of securing and +safeguarding justice in a democracy: + +"As often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the +doings of the Judges or Triers so to be chosen, they may call a +new selection in any of the said stations, and elect bothers in +their stead, having due respect to the number now agreed to be +elected at each station, which persons so to be chosen shall have +the same power with those in whose room or place they shall or +may be chosen to act." + +A land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by +Judge Henderson, in accordance with the compact; and the lands, +for costs of entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of +ten dollars per thousand acres. But as the Transylvania Company +was never able to secure a "satisfactory and indisputable title," +the clause resulted in perpetual nonpayment. In 1783, following +the lead of Virginia in the case of Transylvania, North Carolina +declared the Transylvania Company's purchase void, but granted +the company in compensation a tract of one hundred and ninety +thousand acres in Powell's Valley. As compensation, the grants of +North Carolina and Virginia were quite inadequate, considering +the value of the service in behalf of permanent western +colonization rendered by the Transylvania company. + +James Robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of +twelve commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of +the military forces of the eight little associated settlements on +the Cumberland. Here for the next two years the self-reliant +settlers under Robertson's wise and able leadership successfully +repelled the Indians in their guerrilla warfare, firmly +entrenched themselves in their forest-girt stronghold, and +vindicated their claim to the territory by right of occupation +and conquest. Here sprang up in later times a great and populous +city--named, strangely enough, neither for Henderson, the +founder, nor for Robertson and Donelson, the leaders of the two +colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its +history or origins, the gallant North Carolinian, General Francis +Nash, who was killed at the Battle of Germantown. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. King's Mountain + +With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden +and favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago +destruction hung over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 +British and Tories waited at Charlotte for the reinforcement of +1000 from Broad River, which reinforcement has been entirely cut +off, 130 killed and the remainder captured. Cornwallis +immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward Charleston, +with part of our army in his rear....--Elizabeth Maxwell +Steel: Salisbury, October 25, 1780. + + +So thoroughly had the Cherokees been subdued by the devastations +of the campaign of 1776 that for several years thereafter they +were unable to organize for a new campaign against the +backwoodsmen along the frontiers of North Carolina and Tennessee. +During these years the Holston settlers principally busied +themselves in making their position secure, as well as in setting +their house in order by severely punishing the lawless Tory +element among them. In 1779 the Chickamaugas, with whom The +Dragging Canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the +Cherokees had joined hands after the campaign of 1776, grew so +bold in their bloody forays upon small exposed settlements that +North Carolina and Virginia in conjunction despatched a strong +expedition against them. Embarking on April 10th at the mouth of +Big Creek near the present Rogersville, Tennessee, three hundred +and fifty men led by Colonel Evan Shelby descended the Tennessee +to the fastnesses of the Chickamaugas. Meeting with no resistance +from the astonished Indians, who fled to the shelter of the +densely wooded hills, they laid waste the Indian towns and +destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the British +agents for distribution among the red men. The Chickamaugas were +completely quelled; and during the period of great stress through +which the Tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the Cherokees +were restrained through the wise diplomacy of Joseph Martin, +Superintendent of Indian affairs for Virginia. + +The great British offensive against the Southern colonies, which +were regarded as the vulnerable point in the American +Confederacy, was fully launched upon the fall of Charleston in +May, 1780. Cornwallis established his headquarters at Camden; and +one of his lieutenants, the persuasive and brilliant Ferguson, +soon rallied thousands of Loyalists in South Carolina to the +British standard. When Cornwallis inaugurated his campaign for +cutting Washington wholly off from the Southern colonies by +invading North Carolina, the men upon the western waters realized +that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and in +protection of their homes. Two hundred Tennessee riflemen from +Sullivan County, under Colonel Isaac Shelby, were engaged in +minor operations in South Carolina conducted by Colonel Charles +McDowell; and conspicuous among these engagements was the affair +at Musgrove's Mill on August 18th when three hundred horsemen led +by Colonel James Williams, a native of Granville County, North +Carolina, Colonel Isaac Shelby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of +Georgia repulsed with heavy loss a British force of between four +and five hundred. + +These minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous +defeat of Gates by Cornwallis at Camden on August 16th and the +humiliating blow to Sumter at Rocky Mount on the following day. +Ferguson hotly pursued the frontiersmen, who then retreated over +the mountains; and from his camp at Gilbert Town he despatched a +threatening message to the Western leaders, declaring that if +they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms and +take protection under his standard, he would march his army over +the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and sword. +Stung to action, Shelby hastily rode off to consult with Sevier +at his log castle near Jonesboro; and together they matured a +plan to arouse the mountain men and attack Ferguson by surprise. +In the event of failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to +leave the country and find a home with the Spaniards in +Louisiana. + +At the original place of rendezvous, the Sycamore Shoals of the +Watauga, the overmountain men gathered on September 25th. There +an eloquent sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of God, +the Reverend Samuel Doak, who concluded his discourse with a +stirring invocation to the sword of the Lord and of Gideon--a +sentiment greeted with the loud applause of the militant +frontiersmen. Here and at various places along the march they +were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to join +the expedition--Colonel William Campbell, who with some +reluctance had abandoned his own plans in response to Shelby's +urgent and repeated message, in command of four hundred hardy +frontiersmen from Washington County, Virginia; Colonel Benjamin +Cleveland, with the wild fighters of Wilkes known as "Cleveland's +Bulldogs"; Colonel Andrew Hampton, with the stalwart riflemen of +Rutherford; Major Joseph Winston, the cousin of Patrick Henry, +with the flower of the citizenry of Surry; the McDowells, Charles +and Joseph, with the bold borderers of Burke; Colonels Lacy and +Hill, with well-trained soldiers of South Carolina; and +Brigadier-General James Williams, leading the intrepid Rowan +volunteers. + +Before breaking camp at Quaker Meadows, the leading officers in +conference chose Colonel William Campbell as temporary officer of +the day, until they could secure a general officer from +headquarters as commander-in-chief. The object of the +mountaineers and big-game hunters was, in their own terms, to +pursue Ferguson, to run him down, and to capture him. In +pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the ford of +Green River chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best +mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on October 6th this force +of picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" +eager to join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the Cowpens. +Here a second selection took place; and Colonel Campbell, was +again elected commander of the detachment, now numbering some +nine hundred and ten horsemen and eighty odd footmen, which +dashed rapidly on in pursuit of Ferguson. + +The British commander had been apprised of the coming of the +over-mountain men. Scorning to make a forced march and attempt to +effect a junction with Cornwallis at Charlotte, Ferguson chose to +make a stand and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom +he denounced as mongrels and the dregs of mankind. After +despatching to Cornwallis a message asking for aid, Ferguson took +up his camp on King's Mountain, just south of the North Carolina +border line, in the present York County, South Carolina. Here, +after his pickets had been captured in silence, he was surprised +by his opponents. At three o'clock in the afternoon of October +7th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the heights. + +The battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the +character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and +tactics. Each party ran true to form--Ferguson repeating +Braddock's suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the +deadly fusillade of riflemen, who in Indian fashion were +carefully posted behind trees and every shelter afforded by the +natural inequalities of the ground. In the army of the Carolina +and Virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent detachments +recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own +individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its +own leader. Campbell--like Cleveland, Winston, Williams, Lacey, +Shelby, McDowell, Sevier, and Hambright--personally led his own +division; but the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of +the terrain made it impossible for him, though the chosen +commander of the expedition, actually to play that role in the +battle. The plan agreed upon in advance by the frontier leaders +was simple enough--to surround and capture Ferguson's camp on the +high plateau. The more experienced Indian fighters, Sevier and +Shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme which in any +case would doubtless have been employed by the frontiersmen; it +was to give the British "Indian play"--namely to take cover +everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. Cleveland, a +Hercules in strength and courage who had fought the Indians and +recognized the wisdom of Indian tactics, ordered his men, as did +some of the other leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, +but to return to the attack after the charge had spent its force. + +"My brave fellows," said Cleveland, "every man must consider +himself an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as quick +as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. When you +can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not +to run quite off. If we are repulsed, let us make a point of +returning and renewing the fight; perhaps we may have better luck +in the second attempt than in the first." + +The plateau upon which Ferguson was encamped was the top of an +eminence some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and +fifty yards from one base across to the other; and its shape was +that of an Indian paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty +yards at the blade to sixty yards at the handle in width. +Outcropping boulders upon the outer edge of the plateau afforded +some slight shelter for Ferguson's force; but, unsuspicious of +attack, Ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp from the +assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection +of the timber surrounding it on all sides. As to the disposition +of the attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied +by Cleveland with his "Bulldogs," Hambright with his South Fork +Boys from the Catawba (now Lincoln County, North Carolina), and +Winston with his Surry riflemen; to the south were the divisions +of Joseph McDowell, Sevier, and Campbell; while Lacey's South +Carolinians, the Rowan levies under Williams, and the Watauga +borderers under Shelby were stationed upon the north side. +Ferguson's forces consisted of Provincial Rangers, one hundred +and fifty strong, and other well-drilled Loyalists, between eight +and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously +weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and +two hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. +Shelby's men, before getting into position, received a hot fire, +the opening shots of the engagement. This inspired Campbell, who +now threw off his coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men +posted on the side of the mountain opposite to Shelby's force. +When Campbell's Virginians uttered a series of piercing shouts, +the British officer, De Peyster, second in command, remarked to +his chief: "These things are ominous--these are the damned +yelling boys." + +The battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged +with terrific ferocity. The Loyalist militia, whenever possible, +fired from the shelter of the rocks; while the Provincial Corps, +with fixed bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired +at close range and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the +mountain. After each bayonet charge the Provincials coolly +withdrew to the summit, under the accumulating fire of the +returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in their rear. Owing +to their elevated location, the British, although using the +rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by Ferguson himself, +found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, thus +suffering from nature's handicap, refraction. The militia, using +sharpened butcher-knives which Ferguson had taught them to +utilize as bayonets, charged against the mountaineers; but their +fire, in answer to the deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel-shooters, +was belated, owing to the fact that they could not fire +while the crudely improvised bayonets remained inserted in their +pieces. The Americans, continually firing upward, found ready +marks for their aim in the clearly delineated outlines of their +adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which animates the +hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game at +bay. + +The leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore +themselves with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the +lines of fire and with native eloquence, interspersed with +profanity, rallying their individual commands again and again to +the attack. The valiant Campbell scaled the rugged heights, +loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. Cleveland, resolutely +facing the foe, urged on is Bulldogs with the inspiriting words: +"Come, boys; let's try 'em again. We'll have better luck next +time." No sooner did Shelby's men reach the bottom of the hill, +in retreating before a charge, than their commander, fiery and +strenuous, ardently shouted: "Now boys, quickly reload your +rifles, and let's advance upon them, and give them another hell +of a fire." The most deadly charge, led by De Peyster himself, +fell upon Hambright's South Fork boys; and one of their gallant +officers, Major Chronicle, waving his military hat, was mortally +wounded, the command, "Face to the hill!", dying on his lips. +These veteran soldiers, unlike the mountaineers, firmly met the +shock of the charge, and a number of their men were shot down or +transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their fire until the +charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a deadly +volley before retiring. The gallant William Lenoir, whose +reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, +received several wounds and emerged from the battle with his hair +and clothes torn by balls. The ranking American officer, +Brigadier General James Williams, was mortally wounded while "on +the very top of the mountain, in the thickest of the fight"; and +as he momentarily revived, his first words were: "For God's sake, +boys, don't give up the hill." Hambright, sorely wounded, his +boot overflowing with blood and his hat riddled with three bullet +holes, declined to dismount, but pressed gallantly forward, +exclaiming in his "Pennsylvania Dutch": "Huzza, my prave poys, +fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" On the +British side, Ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing +from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all +danger. Wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, +there the fighting was hottest and the British resistance the +most stubborn. His officers fought with the characteristic +steadiness of the British soldier; and again and again his men +charged headlong against the wavering and fiery circle of the +frontiersmen. + +Ferguson's boast that "he was on King's Mountain, that he was +king of the Mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from +it" was doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the +impregnability of his position, than by a desperate desire to +inspire confidence in his men. His location was admirably chosen +for defense against attack by troops employing regulation +tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of sudden +investment, Ferguson had erected no fortifications for his +encampment. His frenzied efforts on the battlefield seem like a +mad rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the +peculiar tactics of the frontiersmen. While the mountain flamed +like a volcano and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a +steady stricture was in progress. The lines were drawn tighter +and tighter around the trapped and frantically struggling army; +and at last the fall of their commander, riddled with bullets, +proved the tragic futility of further resistance. The game was +caught and bagged to a man. When Winston, with his fox-hunters of +Surry, dashed recklessly through the woods, says a chronicler of +the battle, and the last to come into position, + +Flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, + +then + +From all the circle of the hills death sleeted in upon the +doomed. + +The battle was decisive in its effect--shattering the plans of +Cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. The +victory put a full stop to the invasion of North Carolina, which +was then well under way. Cornwallis abandoned his carefully +prepared campaign and immediately left the state. After +ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an action which had an +effectively deterrent effect upon future Tory murders and +depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. The brilliant +initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous energy +of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise--all +reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the +given situation--were the controlling factors in this +overwhelming victory of the Revolution. The pioneers of the Old +Southwest--the independent and aggressive yeomanry of North +Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina--had risen in their might. +Without the aid or authority of blundering state governments, +they had created an army of frontiersmen, Indian-fighters, and +big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the +continent since the Battle of the Great Kanawha. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. The State of Franklin + +Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare +in the western revolt .... I have thought proper to issue this +manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said +revolt ... that the honour of this State has been particularly +wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, +would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation +would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual +satisfaction of the mother and new State.... Let your +proposals be consistent with the honour of the State to accede +to, which by your allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate +and I make no doubt but her generosity, in time, will meet your +wishes.--Governor Alexander Martin: Manifesto against the State +of Franklin, April 25, 1785. + + +To the shrewd diplomacy of Joseph Martin, who held the Cherokees +in check during the period of the King's Mountain campaign, the +settlers in the valleys of the Watauga and the Holston owed their +temporary immunity from Indian attack. But no sooner did Sevier +and his over-mountain men return from the battle-field of King's +Mountain than they were called upon to join in an expedition +against the Cherokees, who had again gone on the war-path at the +instigation of the British. After Sevier with his command had +defeated a small party of Indians at Boyd's Creek in December, +the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command of +Colonel Arthur Campbell, with Major Joseph Martin as subordinate, +penetrated to the heart of the Indian country, burned Echota, +Chilhowee, Settiquo, Hiawassee, and seven other principal +villages, and destroyed an immense amount of property and +supplies. In March, suspecting that the arch-conspirators against +the white settlers were the Cherokees at the head waters of the +Little Tennessee, Sevier led one hundred and fifty horsemen +through the devious mountain defiles and struck the Indians a +swift and unexpected blow at Tuckasegee, near the present +Webster, North Carolina. In this extraordinarily daring raid, one +of his most brilliant feats of arms, Sevier lost only one man +killed and one wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the +loss of thirty killed, took many more prisoners, burned six +Indian towns, and captured many horses and supplies. Once his +deadly work was done, Sevier with his bold cavaliers silently +plunged again into the forest whence he had so suddenly emerged, +and returned in triumph to the settlements. + +Disheartened though the Indians were to see the smoke of their +burning towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they +did not keep the treaty made at Long Island in July, 1781. The +Indians suffered from very real grievances at the hands of the +lawless white settlers who persisted in encroaching upon the +Indian lands. When the Indian ravages were resumed, Sevier and +Anderson, the latter from Sullivan County, led a punitive +expedition of two hundred riflemen against the Creeks and the +Chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste +the Indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to +the copper-colored marauders. + +During this same period the settlers on the Cumberland were +displaying a grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of +Indian attack forever memorable in the history of the Old +Southwest. On the night of January 15, 1781, the settlers at +Freeland's Station, after a desperate resistance, succeeded in +beating off the savages who attacked in force. At Nashborough on +April 2d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the stockade by +the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after serious +loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of +the fort. Indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the +settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and +attacked the astounded Indians with such ferocity that the +diversion thus created enabled the settlers to escape from the +deadly trap. During the next two years the history of the +Cumberland settlements is but the gruesome recital of murder +after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the lurking +Indian foe. Robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the +abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. The arrival +of the North Carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off +bounty lands and settlers' preemptions, and the treaty of peace +concluded at the French Lick on November 5 and 6, 1783, gave +permanence and stability to the Cumberland settlements. The +lasting friendship of the Chickasaws was won; but the Creeks for +some time continued to harass the Tennessee pioneers. The +frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the Cherokees, stoically, +heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, +syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal +battle. The treaty at Hopewell on November 28, 1785, marks the +end of an era--the Spartan yet hopeless resistance of the +intrepid red men to the relentless and frequently unwarranted +expropriation by the whites of the ancient and immemorial domain +of the savage. + +The skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the +mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the +organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on +June 2, 1784, when the legislature of North Carolina ceded to the +Congress of the United States the title which that state +possessed to the land west of the Alleghanies. Among the terms of +the Cession Act were these conditions: that the ceded territory +should be formed into a separate state or states; and that if +Congress should not accept the lands thus ceded and give due +notice within two years, the act should be of no force and the +lands should revert to North Carolina. No sooner did this news +reach the Western settlers than they began to mature plans for +the organization of a government during the intervening twelve +months. Their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed +by the Indians, and North Carolina's delay in sending goods +promised the Indians by a former treaty, both promoted Indian +hostility; and these facts, combined with their remote location +beyond the mountains, rendering them almost inaccessible to +communication with North Carolina--all rendered the decision of +the settlers almost inevitable. Moreover, the allurements of high +office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional +motives sufficiently human in themselves to give driving power to +the movement toward independence. + +At a convention assembled at Jonesborough on August 23, 1784, +delegates from the counties of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene +characteristically decided to organize an "Association." They +solemnly declared by resolution: "We have a just and undeniable +right to petition to Congress to accept the session made by North +Carolina, and for that body to countenance us for forming +ourselves into a separate government, and to frame either a +permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a resolve of +Congress...." Meanwhile, Governor Martin, largely as the +result of the prudent advice of North Carolina's representative +in Congress, Dr. Hugh Williamson, was brought to the conclusion +that North Carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted +precipitately. This important step had been taken without the +full consideration of the people of the state. Among the various +arguments advanced by Williamson was the impressive contention +that, in accordance with the procedure in the case of other +states, the whole expense of the huge Indian expeditions in 1776 +and the heavy militia aids to South Carolina and Georgia should +be credited to North Carolina as partial fulfilment of her +continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably +made to the Federal government. Williamson's arguments proved +convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of far +reaching national importance that the assembly of North Carolina +(October 22 to November 25, 1784) repealed the cession act made +the preceding spring. + +Before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the +western waters, a second convention met at Jonesborough on +December 17th. Sentiment at this time was much divided, for a +number of the people, expecting the repeal of the cession act, +genuinely desired a continued allegiance to North Carolina. Of +these may well have been John Sevier, who afterward declared to +Joseph Martin that he had been "Draged into the Franklin measures +by a large number of the people of this country." The principal +act of this convention was the adoption of a temporary +constitution for six months and the provision for a convention to +be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this +constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent +constitution of the new state. The scholars on the western +waters, desiring to commemorate their aspirations for freedom, +chose as the name of the projected new state: "Frankland"--the +Land of the Free. The name finally chosen, however, perhaps for +reasons of policy, was "Franklin," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. +Meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for a stable +government along the Tennessee frontier, the North Carolina +assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four +western counties the District of Washington, with John Haywood as +presiding judge and David Campbell as associate, and conferred +upon John Sevier the rank of brigadier general of the new +district. The first week in December Governor Martin sent to +Sevier his military commission; and replying to Joseph Martin's +query (December 31, 1784, prompted by Governor Martin) as to +whether, in view of the repeal of the cession act, he intended to +persist in revolt or await developments, Sevier gave it out +broadcast that "we shall pursue no further measures as to a new +State." + +Owing to the remoteness of the Tennessee settlements and the +difficulty of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere +of sentiment in Franklin, Governor Martin realized the necessity +of sending a personal representative to discover the true state +of affairs in the disaffected region beyond the mountains. For +the post of ambassador to the new government, Governor Martin +selected a man distinguished for mentality and diplomatic skill, +a pioneer of Tennessee and Kentucky, Judge Richard Henderson's +brother, Colonel Samuel Henderson. Despite Sevier's disavowal of +any further intention to establish a new state, the governor gave +Colonel Henderson elaborate written instructions, the purport of +which was to learn all that he could about the political +complexion of the Tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the +people, and the agitation for a separate commonwealth. Moreover, +in the hope of placating the leading chieftains of the Cherokees, +who had bitterly protested against the continued aggressions and +encroachments upon their lands by the lawless borderers, he +instructed Colonel Henderson also to learn the temper and +dispositions of the Indians, and to investigate the case of +Colonel James Hubbardt who was charged with the murder of Untoola +of Settiquo, a chief of the Cherokees. + +When Colonel Henderson arrived at Jonesborough, he found the +third Franklin legislature in session, and to this body he +presented Governor Martin's letter of February 27, 1785. In +response to the governor's request for an "account of the late +proceedings of the people in the western country," an extended +reply was drafted by the new legislature; and this letter, +conveyed to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson, in setting +forth in detail the reasons for the secession, made the following +significant statement: "We humbly thank North Carolina for every +sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, +that as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent +from the tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause +ceases which is the basis of that affection, we shall lose your +esteem." At the same time (March 22nd), Sevier, who had just been +chosen Governor of the State of Franklin, transmitted to Governor +Martin by Colonel Henderson a long letter, not hitherto published +in any history of the period, in which he outspokenly says: + +"It gives me great pain to think there should arise any Disputes +between us and North Carolina, & I flatter myself when North +Carolina states the matter in a fair light she will be fully +convinced that necessity and self preservation have Compelled Us +to the measures we Have taken, and could the people have +discovered that No. Carolina would Have protected and Govern'd +them, They would have remained where they were; but they +perceived a neglect and Coolness, and the Language of Many of +your most leading members Convinced them they were Altogether +Disregarded." + +Following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by Martin (April +25th) and Sevier (May 15th), the burden of the problem fell upon +Richard Caswell, who in June succeeded Martin as Governor of +North Carolina. + +Meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the +name of Franklin to the new state, although for some time it +continued to be called by many Frankland, and its adherents +Franks. The legislature had also established an academy named +after Governor Martin, and had appointed (March 12th) William +Cocke as a delegate to the Continental Congress, urging its +acceptance of the cession. In the Memorial from the Franklin +legislature to the Continental Congress, dealing in some detail +with North Carolina's failure to send the Cherokees some goods +promised them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: + +"She [North Carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had +promised to give the Indians for the said land which so +exasperated them that they begun to commit hostalities on our +frontiers in this situation we were induced to a declaration of +Independence not doubting we should be excused by Congress ... as +North Carolina seemed quite regardless of our interest and the +Indians daily murdering our friends and relations without +distinction of age or sex." + +Sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as +well as desiring the cession, Congress urged North Carolina to +amend the repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western +territory to the Union. + +Among the noteworthy features of the Franklin movement was the +constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the Reverend +Samuel Houston of Washington County, and presented at the meeting +of the Franklin legislature, Greeneville, November 14, 1785. This +eccentric constitution was based in considerable part upon the +North Carolina model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the +constitution of North Carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. +Under this Houston constitution, the name "Frankland" was chosen +for the new state. The legislature was to consist of but a single +house. In a section excluding from the legislature "ministers of +the gospel, attorneys at law, and doctors of physics," those were +declared ineligible for office who were of immoral character or +guilty of "such flagrant enormities as drunkenness, gaming, +profane swearing, lewdness, Sabbath-breaking and such like," or +who should deny the existence of God, of heaven, and of hell, the +inspiration of the Scriptures, or the existence of the Trinity. +Full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were +assured--but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to +office. No one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar +to do the business." This remarkable document, which provided for +many other curious innovations in government, was the work of +pioneer doctrinaires--Houston, Campbell, Cocke, and Tipton--and +deserves study as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius +of the western frontiersmen. + +The liberal policy of Martin, followed by the no less +conciliatory attitude of his successor, Caswell, for the time +proved wholly abortive. However, Martin's appointment of Evan +Shelby in Sevier's place as brigadier, and of Jonathan Tipton as +colonel of his county, produced disaffection among the Franks; +and the influence of Joseph Martin against the new government was +a powerful obstacle to its success. At first the two sets of +military, civil, and judicial officers were able to work amicably +together; and a working-basis drawn up by Shelby and Sevier, +although afterward repudiated by the Franklin legislature, +smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. The +persistent and quiet assertion of authority by North Carolina, +without any overt act of violence against the officers of +Franklin state, revealed great diplomatic skill in Governors +Martin and Caswell. It was doubtless the considerate policy of +the latter, coupled with the defection from Sevier's cause of men +of the stamp of Houston and Tipton, after the blundering and +cavalier rejection of their singular constitution, which +undermined the foundations of Franklin. Sevier himself later +wrote with considerable bitterness: "I have been faithfull, and +my own breast acquits myself that I have acted no part but what +has been Consistent with honor and justice, tempered with +Clemency and mercy. How far our pretended patriots have supported +me as their pretended chiefe magistrate, I leave the world at +large to Judge." Arthur Campbell's plans for the formation of a +greater Franklin, through the union of the people on the western +waters of Virginia with those of North Carolina, came to nought +when Virginia in the autumn of 1785 with stern decisiveness +passed an act making it high treason to erect an independent +government within her limits unless authorized by the assembly. +Sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to +establish a free state, writing to Governor Caswell: "We shall +continue to act independent and would rather suffer death, in all +its various and frightful shapes, than conform to anything that +is disgraceful." North Carolina, now proceeding with vigor +(November, 1786), fully reassumed its sovereignty and +jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed an act of +pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and +conciliatory measures. + +Driven to extremities, Cocke and Sevier in turn appealed for aid +and advice to Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor the new state had +been named. In response to Cocke, Franklin wrote (August 12, +1786): "I think you are perfectly right in resolving to submit +them [the Points in Dispute] to the Decision of Congress and to +abide by their Determination." Franklin's views change in the +interim; for when, almost a year later, Sevier asks him for +counsel, Franklin has come to the conclusion that the wisest move +for Sevier was not to appeal to Congress, but to endeavor to +effect some satisfactory compromise with North Carolina (June 30, +1787): + +"There are only two Things that Humanity induces me to wish you +may succeed in: The Accomodating your Misunderstanding with the +Government of North Carolina, by amicable Means; and the Avoiding +an Indian war, by preventing Encroaching on their Lands.... +The Inconvenience to your People attending so remote a Seat of +Government, and the difficulty to that Government in ruling well +so remote a People, would I think be powerful Inducements with +it, to accede to any fair & reasonable Proposition it may receive +from you towards an Accommodation." + +Despite Sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence--his +treaty with the Indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the +Cherokees into the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt +against others in face of the reality of revolt against himself, +his struggle, equivocal and half-hearted, with the North Carolina +authorities under Tipton--despite all these heroic efforts, the +star of Franklin swiftly declined. The vigorous measures pursued +by General Joseph Martin, and his effective influence focussed +upon a movement already honey-combed with disaffection, finally +turned the scale. To the Franklin leaders he sent the urgent +message: "Nothing will do but a submission to the laws of North +Carolina." Early in April, 1788, Martin wrote to Governor +Randolph of Virginia: "I returned last evening from Green Co. +Washington destrict, North Carolina, after a tower through that +Co'ntry, and am happy to inform your Excellency that the late +unhappy dispute between the State of North Carolina, and the +pretended State of Franklin is subsided." Ever brave, constant, +and loyal to the interest of the pioneers, Sevier had originally +been drawn into the movement against his best judgment. Caught in +the unique trap, created by the passage of the cession act and +the sudden volte-face of its repeal, he struggled desperately to +extricate himself. Alone of all the leaders, the governor of +ill-starred Franklin remained recalcitrant. + + + +CHAPTER XX. The Lure of Spain--The Haven of Statehood + +The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what +part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness +and security depend, and they immediately infer that their +interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and +liberality of your government.--John Sevier to Don Diego de +Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. + +From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent +to the late & more recent settlements on the Kentucky in the Rest +the same difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress +you, but by a series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited +exertions and unconquerable perseverance, they have been +altogether or in great measure subdued.--Governor Samuel Johnston +to James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe, January 29, 1788. + + +A strange sham-battle, staged like some scene from opera bouffe, +in the bleak snow-storm of February, 1788, is really the prelude +to a remarkable drama of revolt in which Sevier, Robertson, +Bledsoe, and the Cumberland stalwarts play the leading roles. On +February 27th, incensed beyond measure by the action of Colonel +John Tipton in harboring some of his slaves seized by the sheriff +under an execution issued by one of the North Carolina courts, +Sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents besieged Tipton with +a few of his friends in his home on Sinking Creek. The siege was +raised at daybreak on February 29th by the arrival of +reinforcements under Colonel Maxwell from Sullivan County; and +Sevier, who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his +forces after some desultory firing, in which two men were killed +and several wounded. Soon afterward Sevier sent word to Tipton +that on condition his life be spared he would submit to North +Carolina. On this note of tragi-comedy the State of Franklin +appeared quietly to expire. The usually sanguine Sevier, now +thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant settlements--deeply +despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans and +the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and +supporters The revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies +which he still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret +conspiracy to give over the State of Franklin into the protection +of a foreign power. + +The fame of Sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for +independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so +famous an advocate of liberty as Patrick Henry and winning the +sympathy of the Continental Congress. One of the most interested +observers of the progress of affairs in the State of Franklin was +Don Diego de Gardoqui, who had come to America in the spring of +1785, bearing a commission to the American Congress as Spanish +charge d'affaires (Encargados de Negocios) to the United States. +In the course of his negotiations with Jay concerning the right +of navigation of the Mississippi River, which Spain denied to the +Americans, Gardoqui was not long in discovering the violent +resentment of the Western frontiersmen, provoked by Jay's crass +blunder in proposing that the American republic, in return for +reciprocal foreign advantages offered by Spain, should waive for +twenty-five years her right to navigate the Mississippi. The +Cumberland traders had already felt the heavy hand of Spain in +the confiscation of their goods at Natchez; but thus far the +leaders of the Tennessee frontiersmen had prudently restrained +the more turbulent agitators against the Spanish policy, fearing +lest the spirit of retaliation, once aroused, might know no +bounds. Throughout the entire region of the trans-Alleghany, a +feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed--quite as much the +result of dissatisfaction with the central government which +permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment +against the domination of Spain. + +No sooner had the shrewd and watchful Gardoqui, who was eager to +utilize the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in +the interest of his country, learned of Sevier's armed +insurrection against the authority of North Carolina than he +despatched an emissary to sound the leading men of Franklin and +the Cumberland settlements in regard to an alliance. This secret +emissary was Dr. James White, who had been appointed by the +United States Government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for +the Southern Department on November 29, 1786. Reporting as +instructed to Don Estevan Miro, governor of Louisiana, White, the +corrupt tool of Spain, stated concerning his confidential mission +that the leaders of "Frankland" and "Cumberland district" had +"eagerly accepted the conditions" laid down by Gardoqui: to take +the oath of allegiance to Spain, and to renounce all submission +or allegiance whatever to any other sovereign or power. Satisfied +by the secret advices received, the Spanish minister reported to +the home authorities his confident belief that the Tennessee +backwoodsmen, if diplomatically handled, would readily throw in +their lot with Spain. + +After the fiasco of his siege of Tipton's home, Sevier had seized +upon the renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees as a means of +regaining his popularity. This he counted upon doing by rallying +his old comrades-in-arms under his standard and making one of his +meteoric, whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient Indian foe. The +victory of this erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "Nolichucky +Jack of the Border," over the Indians at a town on the Hiwassee +"so raised him in the esteem of the people on the frontier," +reports Colonel Maxwell, "that the people began [once more] to +flock to his standard." Inspirited by this good turn in his +fortunes, Sevier readily responded to Dr. White's overtures. + +Alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and +murders by the Indians in several Tennessee counties and on the +Kentucky road, Sevier, Robertson, and Anthony Bledsoe had +persuaded Governor Samuel Johnston of North Carolina to address +Gardoqui and request him to exert his influence to prevent +further acts of savage barbarity. In letters to Governor +Johnston, to Robertson, and to Sevier, all of date April 18th, +Gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely +surprised to know that there is a suspicion that the good +government of Spain is encouraging these acts of barbarity." The +letters to Robertson and Sevier, read between the lines as +suggestive reinforcements of Spain's secret proposals, possess +real significance. The letter to Sevier contains this dexterously +expressed sentiment: "His Majesty is very favorably inclined to +give the inhabitants of that region all the protection that they +ask for and, on my part, I shall take very great pleasure in +contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." + +This letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of Dr. +White, furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the +Spaniards; and in July Sevier wrote to Gardoqui indicating his +readiness to accede to their proposals. After secret conferences +with men who had supported him throughout the vicissitudes of his +ill-starred state, Sevier carefully matured his plans. The +remarkable letter of great length which he wrote to Gardoqui on +September 12, 1788, reveals the conspiracy in all its details and +presents in vivid colors the strong separatist sentiment of the +day. Sevier urgently petitions Gardoqui for the loan of a few +thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and +necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan +within a short time "by sending the products of this region to +the lower ports." Upon the vital matter of "delivering" the State +of Franklin to Spain, he forthrightly says: + +"Since my last of the 18th of July, upon consulting with the +principal men of this country, I have been particularly happy to +find that they are equally disposed and ready as I am to accept +your propositions and guarantees. You may be sure that the +pleasing hopes and ideas which the people of this country hold +with regard to the probability of an alliance with, and +commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and that we are +unanimously determined on that score. The people of this region +have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon +which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they +immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend +entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government.... +Being the first from this side of the Appalachian Mountains +to resort in this way to your protection and liberality, we feel +encouraged to entertain the greatest hope that we shall be +granted all reasonable aid by him who is so amply able to do it, +and to give the protection and help that is asked of him in this +petition. You know our delicate situation and the difficulties in +which we are in respect to our mother State which is making use +of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity of +this country.... Before I conclude, it may be necessary to +remind you that there will be no more favorable occasion than the +present one to put this plan into execution. North Carolina has +rejected the Constitution and moreover it seems to me that a +considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the +Union, if that event ever happens." + +Through Miro, Gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar +correspondence with General James Wilkinson. The object of the +Spanish conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, +was to seduce Kentucky from her allegiance to the United States. +Despite the superficial similarity between the situation of +Franklin and Kentucky, it would be doing Sevier and his adherents +a capital injustice to place them in the category of the corrupt +Wilkinson and the malodorous Sebastian. Moreover, the +secessionists of Franklin, as indicated in the above letter, had +the excuse of being left virtually without a country. On the +preceding August 1st, North Carolina had rejected the +Constitution of the United States; and the leaders of Franklin, +who were sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her +indifference and neglect, now felt themselves more than ever out +of the Union and wholly repudiated by the mother state. Again, +Sevier had the embittered feeling resultant from outlawry. +Because of his course in opposing the laws and government of +North Carolina and in the killing of several good citizens, +including the sheriff of Washington County, by his forces at +Sinking Creek, Sevier, through the action of Governor Johnston of +North Carolina, had been attainted of high treason. Under the +heavy burden of this grave charge, he felt his hold upon Franklin +relax. Further, an atrocity committed in the recent campaign +under Sevier's leadership--Kirk's brutal murder of Corn Tassel, a +noble old Indian, and other chieftains, while under the +protection of a flag of truce--had placed a bar sinister across +the fair fame of this stalwart of the border. Utter desperation +thus prompted Sevier's acceptance of Gardoqui's offer of the +protection of Spain. + +John Sevier's son, James, bore the letter of September 12th to +Gardoqui. By a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day +(October 10, 1788) that Gardoqui wrote to Miro, recommending to +the attention of Spain Dr. White and James Sevier, the emissaries +of Franklin, with their plans and proposals, John Sevier was +arrested by Colonel Tipton at the Widow Brown's in Washington +County, on the charge of high treason. He was handcuffed and +borne off, first to Jonesborough and later to Morganton. But his +old friends and former comrades-in-arms, Charles and Joseph +McDowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and Morrison, +the sheriff, who also had fought at King's Mountain, knocked the +irons from his wrists and released him on parole. Soon afterward +a number of Sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, +rode across the mountains to Morganton and silently bore him +away, never to be arrested again. In November an act of pardon +and oblivion with respect to Franklin was passed by the North +Carolina Assembly. Although Sevier was forbidden to hold office +under the state, the passage of this act automatically operated +to clear him of the alleged offense of high treason. With affairs +in Franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder that Gardoqui +and Miro paid no further heed to Sevier's proposal to accept the +protection of Spain. Sevier's continued agitation in behalf of +the independence of Franklin inspired Governor Johnston with the +fear that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last +extremity." But Sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was +pardoned, given a seat in the North Carolina assembly, and with +extraordinary consideration honored with his former rank of +brigadier-general. + +When Dr. White reported to Miro that the leaders of "Frankland" +had eagerly accepted Gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with +Spain, he categorically added: "With regard to Cumberland +district, what I have said of Frankland applies to it with equal +force and truth." James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe had but +recently availed themselves of the good offices of Governor +Johnston of North Carolina in the effort to influence Gardoqui to +quiet the Creek Indians. The sagacious and unscrupulous half +breed Alexander McGillivray had placed the Creeks under the +protection of Spain in 1784; and shortly afterward they began to +be regularly supplied with ammunition by the Spanish authorities. +At first Spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these +Indians to resist the encroachments of the Americans, while she +remained on outwardly friendly terms with the United States. +During the period of the Spanish conspiracy, however, there is +reason to believe that Miro endeavored to keep the Indians at +peace with the borderers, as a friendly service, intended to pave +the way for the establishment of intimate relations between Spain +and the dwellers in the trans-Alleghany. Yet his efforts cannot +have been very effective; for the Cumberland settlements +continued to suffer from the ravages and depredations of the +Creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, notwithstanding +they have had no cause of offence"; and Robertson and Bledsoe +reported to Governor Caswell (June 12, 1787): "It is certain, the +Chickasaws inform us, that Spanish traders offer a reward for +scalps of the Americans." The Indian atrocities became so +frequent that Robertson later in the summer headed a party on the +famous Coldwater Expedition, in which he severely chastised the +marauding Indians. Aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and +warriors at the hands of Robertson's men, and instigated, as was +generally believed, by the Spaniards, the Creeks then prosecuted +their attacks with renewed violence against the Cumberland +settlements. + +Unprotected either by the mother state or by the national +government, unable to secure free passage to the Gulf for their +products, and sorely pressed to defend their homes, now seriously +endangered by the incessant attacks of the Creeks, the Cumberland +leaders decided to make secret overtures to McGillivray, as well +as to communicate to Miro, through Dr. White, their favorable +inclination toward the proposals of the one country which +promised them protection. In a letter which McGillivray wrote to +Miro (transmitted to Madrid, June 15, 1788) in regard to the +visit of Messrs. Hackett and Ewing, two trusty messengers sent by +Robertson and Bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the +district of Cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of +peace but "had added that they would throw themselves into the +arms of His Majesty as subjects, and that Kentucky and Cumberland +are determined to free themselves from their dependence on +Congress, because that body can not protect either their +property, or favor their commerce, and they therefore believe +that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is incapable +of protecting them." Commenting upon McGillivray's communication, +Miro said in his report to Madrid (June 15, 1788): "I consider as +extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to McGillivray by +the deputies on the fermentation existing in Kentucky, with +regard to a separation from the Union. Concerning the proposition +made to McGillivray by the inhabitants of Cumberland to become +the vassals of His Majesty, I have refrained from returning any +precise answer." + +In his long letter of reply to Robertson and Bledsoe, McGillivray +agreed to make peace between his nation, the Creeks, and the +Cumberland settlers. This letter was most favorably received and +given wide circulation throughout the West. In a most +ingratiating reply, offering McGillivray a fine gun and a lot in +Nashville, Robertson throws out the following broad suggestion, +which he obviously wishes McGillivray to convey to Miro: "In all +probability we cannot long remain in our present state, and if +the British or any commercial nation who may be in possession of +the mouth of the Mississippi would furnish us with trade, and +receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the +west side of the Appalachian mountains will open their eyes to +their real interest." Robertson actually had the district erected +out of the counties of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee given the +name of "Miro" by the Assembly of North Carolina in November, +1788--a significant symbol of the desires of the Cumberland +leaders. In a letter (April 23, 1789), Miro, who had just +received letters from Robertson (January 29th) and Daniel Smith +(March 4th) postmarked "District of Miro," observes: "The bearer, +Fagot, a confidential agent of Gen. Smith, informed me that the +inhabitants of Cumberland, or Miro, would ask North Carolina for +an act of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this +should be obtained other delegates would be sent from Cumberland +to New Orleans, with the object of placing that territory under +the domination of His Majesty. I replied to both in general +terms." + +Robertson, Bledsoe, and Smith were successful in keeping secret +their correspondence with McGillivray and Miro; and few were in +the secret of Sevier's effort to deliver the State of Franklin to +Spain. Joseph Martin was less successful in his negotiations; and +a great sensation was created throughout the Southern colonies +when a private letter from Joseph Martin to McGillivray (November +8, 1788) was intercepted. In this letter Martin said: "I must beg +that you write me by the first opportunity in answer to what I am +now going to say to you.... I hope to do honor to any part of +the world I settle in, and am determined to leave the United +States, for reasons that I can assign to you when we meet, but +durst not trust it to paper." The general assembly of Georgia +referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor +of North Carolina (January 24, 1789); and the result was a +legislative investigation into Martin's conduct. Eleven months +later, the North Carolina assembly exonerated him. From the +correspondence of Joseph Martin and Patrick Henry, it would +appear that Martin, on Henry's advice, had acted as a spy upon +the Spaniards, in order to discover the views of McGillivray, to +protect the exposed white settlements from the Indians, and to +fathom the designs of the Spaniards against the United States. + +The sensational disclosures of Martin's intercepted letter had no +deterrent effect upon James Robertson in the attempted execution +of his plan for detaching the Cumberland settlements from North +Carolina. History has taken no account of the fact that Robertson +and the inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act +of separation from North Carolina. In the event of success, the +next move planned by the Cumberland leaders, as we have already +seen, was to send delegates to New Orleans for the purpose of +placing the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain. + +A hitherto unknown letter, from Robertson to (Miro), dated +Nashville, September 2, 1789, proves that a convention of the +people was actually held--the first overt step looking to an +alliance with Spain. In this letter Robertson says: + +"I must beg your Excellency's permission to take this early +opportunity of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing +by Mr. White. + +"I still hope that your Government, and these Settlements, are +destined to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are +impressed with the necessity of it. + +"We have just held a Convention; which has agreed that our +members shall insist on being Seperated from North Carolina. + +"Unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new Congress of the +United States; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting +Connection. + +"The United States afford us no protection. The district of Miro +is daily plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the Creeks, +and Cherokees, unprovoked. + +"For my own part, I conceive highly of the advantages of your +Government." + +A serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of Robertson and +the other leaders of the Cumberland settlements was the prompt +action of North Carolina. In actual conformity with the wishes of +the Western people, as set forth in the petition of Robertson and +Hayes, their representatives, made two years earlier, the +legislature of North Carolina in December passed the second act +of cession, by which the Western territory of North Carolina was +ceded to the United States. Instead of securing an act of +separation from North Carolina as the preparatory step to forming +what Robertson calls "a more interesting connection" with Spain, +Robertson and his associates now found themselves and the +transmontane region which they represented flung bodily into the +arms of the United States. Despite the unequivocal offer of the +calculating and desperate Sevier to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, +and the ingenious efforts of Robertson and his associates to +place the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain, the +Spanish court by its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision +definitely relinquished the ready opportunities thereby afforded, +of utilizing the powerful separatist tendencies of Tennessee for +the purpose of adding the empire upon the Western waters to the +Spanish domain in America. + +The year 1790 marks the end of an era the heroic age of the +pioneers of the Old Southwest. Following the acceptance of North +Carolina's deed of cession of her Western lands to the Union +(April 2, 1790) the Southwest Territory was erected on May 26th; +and William Blount, a North Carolina gentleman of eminence and +distinction, was appointed on June 8th to the post of governor of +the territory. Two years later (June 1, 1792) Kentucky was +admitted into the Union. + +It is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of +the martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane +people, that the two men to whom the Western country in great +measure owed its preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits +of the King's Mountain campaign, were the unopposed first choice +of the people as leaders in the trying experiment of +Statehood--John Sevier of Tennessee and Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. +Had Franklin possessed the patient will of Kentucky, she might +well have preceded that region into the Union. It was not, +however, until June 1, 1796, that Tennessee, after a romantic and +arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals +into the domain of national statehood. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conquest of the Old Southwest, by +Archibald Henderson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST *** + +***** This file should be named 2390.txt or 2390.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/9/2390/ + +Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST: THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE +EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA, THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND +KENTUCKY 1740-1790 + +BY ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. + +Some to endure and many to fail, +Some to conquer and many to quail +Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + +NEW YORK +THE CENTURY CO. +1920 + +TO THE HISTORIAN OF +OLD WEST AND NEW WEST +FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER +WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD + +The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the +pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add +the rapturous idea of property, and what allurements can the +world offer for the loss of so glorious a prospect?--Richard +Henderson. + +The established Authority of any government in America, and the +policy of Government at home, are both insufficient to restrain +the Americans . . . . They acquire no attachment to Place: But +wandering about Seems engrafted in their Nature; and it is a +weakness incident to it, that they Should for ever imagine the +Lands further off, are Still better than those upon which they +are already settled.--Lord Dunmore, to the Earl of Dartmouth. + + +INTRODUCTION + +The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward +migration of successive waves of transplanted European peoples +throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the +history of the growth and evolution of American democracy. Upon +the American continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman +daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the +formation of a new society. The European rudely confronted with +the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered that +his maintenance, indeed his existence, was conditioned upon his +individual efficiency and his resourcefulness in adapting himself +to his environment. The very history of the human race, from the +age of primitive man to the modern era of enlightened +civilization, is traversed in the Old Southwest throughout the +course of half a century. + +A series of dissolving views thrown upon the screen, picturing +the successive episodes in the history of a single family as it +wended its way southward along the eastern valleys, resolutely +repulsed the sudden attack of the Indians, toiled painfully up +the granite slopes of the Appalachians, and pitched down into the +transmontane wilderness upon the western waters, would give to +the spectator a vivid conception, in miniature, of the westward +movement. But certain basic elements in the grand procession, +revealed to the sociologist and the economist, would perhaps +escape his scrutiny. Back of the individual, back of the family, +even, lurk the creative and formative impulses of colonization, +expansion, and government. In the recognition of these social and +economic tendencies the individual merges into the group; the +group into the community; the community into a new society. In +this clear perspective of historic development the spectacular +hero at first sight seems to diminish; but the mass, the +movement, the social force which he epitomizes and interprets, +gain in impressiveness and dignity. + +As the irresistible tide of migratory peoples swept ever +southward and westward, seeking room for expansion and economic +independence, a series of frontiers was gradually thrust out +toward the wilderness in successive waves of irregular +indentation. The true leader in this westward advance, to whom +less than his deserts has been accorded by the historian, is the +drab and mercenary trader with the Indians. The story of his +enterprise and of his adventures begins with the planting of +European civilization upon American soil. In the mind of the +aborigines he created the passion for the fruits, both good and +evil, of the white man's civilization, and he was welcomed by the +Indian because he also brought the means for repelling the +further advance of that civilization. The trader was of +incalculable service to the pioneer in first spying out the land +and charting the trackless wilderness. The trail rudely marked by +the buffalo became in time the Indian path and the trader's +"trace"; and the pioneers upon the westward march, following the +line of least resistance, cut out their, roads along these very +routes. It is not too much to say that had it not been for the +trader--brave, hardy, and adventurous however often crafty, +unscrupulous, and immoral--the expansionist movement upon the +American continent would have been greatly retarded. + +So scattered and ramified were the enterprises and expeditions of +the traders with the Indians that the frontier which they +established was at best both shifting and unstable. Following far +in the wake of these advance agents of the civilization which +they so often disgraced, came the cattle-herder or rancher, who +took advantage of the extensive pastures and ranges along the +uplands and foot-hills to raise immense herds of cattle. Thus was +formed what might be called a rancher's frontier, thrust out in +advance of the ordinary farming settlements and serving as the +first serious barrier against the Indian invasion. The westward +movement of population is in this respect a direct advance from +the coast. Years before the influx into the Old Southwest of the +tides of settlement from the northeast, the more adventurous +struck straight westward in the wake of the fur-trader, and here +and there erected the cattle-ranges beyond the farming frontier +of the piedmont region. The wild horses and cattle which roamed +at will through the upland barrens and pea-vine pastures were +herded in and driven for sale to the city markets of the East. + +The farming frontier of the piedmont plateau constituted the real +backbone of western settlement. The pioneering farmers, with the +adventurous instincts of the hunter and the explorer, plunged +deeper and ever deeper into the wilderness, lured on by the +prospect of free and still richer lands in the dim interior. +Settlements quickly sprang up in the neighborhood of military +posts or rude forts established to serve as safeguards against +hostile attack; and trade soon flourished between these +settlements and the eastern centers, following the trails of the +trader and the more beaten paths of emigration. The bolder +settlers who ventured farthest to the westward were held in +communication with the East through their dependence upon salt +and other necessities of life; and the search for salt-springs in +the virgin wilderness was an inevitable consequence of the desire +of the pioneer to shake off his dependence upon the coast. + +The prime determinative principle of the progressive American +civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the +acquisition of land. The struggle for economic independence +developed the germ of American liberty and became the +differentiating principle of American character. Here was a vast +unappropriated region in the interior of the continent to be had +for the seeking, which served as lure and inspiration to the man +daring enough to risk his all in its acquisition. It was in +accordance with human nature and the principles of political +economy that this unknown extent of uninhabited transmontane +land, widely renowned for beauty, richness, and fertility, should +excite grandiose dreams in the minds of English and Colonials +alike. England was said to be "New Land mad and everybody there +has his eye fixed on this country." Groups of wealthy or +well-to-do individuals organized themselves into land companies +for the colonization and exploitation of the West. The pioneer +promoter was a powerful creative force in westward expansion; and +the activities of the early land companies were decisive factors +in the colonization of the wilderness. Whether acting under the +authority of a crown grant or proceeding on their own authority, +the land companies tended to give stability and permanence to +settlements otherwise hazardous and insecure. + +The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was +wanderlust--the passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, +the traveler, and the explorer. This restless class of nomadic +wanderers was responsible in part for the royal proclamation of +1763, a secondary object of which, according to Edmund Burke, was +the limitation of the colonies on the West, as "the charters of +many of our old colonies give them, with few exceptions, no +bounds to the westward but the South Sea." The Long Hunters, +taking their lives in their hands, fared boldly forth to a fabled +hunter's paradise in the far-away wilderness, because they were +driven by the irresistible desire of a Ponce de Leon or a De Soto +to find out the truth about the unknown lands beyond. + +But the hunter was not only thrilled with the passion of the +chase and of discovery; he was intent also upon collecting the +furs and skins of wild animals for lucrative barter and sale in +the centers of trade. He was quick to make "tomahawk claims" and +to assert "corn rights" as he spied out the rich virgin land for +future location and cultivation. Free land and no taxes appealed +to the backwoodsman, tired of paying quit-rents to the agents of +wealthy lords across the sea. Thus the settler speedily followed +in the hunter's wake. In his wake also went many rude and lawless +characters of the border, horse thieves and criminals of +different sorts, who sought to hide their delinquencies in the +merciful liberality of the wilderness. For the most part, +however, it was the salutary instinct of the homebuilder--the man +with the ax, who made a little clearing in the forest and built +there a rude cabin that he bravely defended at all risks against +continued assaults--which, in defiance of every restraint, +irresistibly thrust westward the thin and jagged line of the +frontier. The ax and the surveyor's chain, along with the rifle +and the hunting-knife, constituted the armorial bearings of the +pioneer. With individual as with corporation, with explorer as +with landlord, land-hunger was the master impulse of the era. + +The various desires which stimulated and promoted westward +expansion were, to be sure, often found in complete conjunction. +The trader sought to exploit the Indian for his own advantage, +selling him whisky, trinkets, and firearms in return for rich +furs and costly peltries; yet he was often a hunter himself and +collected great stores of peltries as the result of his solitary +and protracted hunting-expeditions. The rancher and the herder +sought to exploit the natural vegetation of marsh and upland, the +cane-brakes and pea-vines; yet the constantly recurring need for +fresh pasturage made him a pioneer also, drove him ever nearer to +the mountains, and furnished the economic motive for his westward +advance. The small farmer needed the virgin soil of the new +region, the alluvial river-bottoms, and the open prairies, for +the cultivation of his crops and the grazing of his cattle; yet +in the intervals between the tasks of farm life he scoured the +wilderness in search of game "and spied out new lands for future +settlement". + +This restless and nomadic race, says the keenly observant Francis +Baily, "delight much to live on the frontiers, where they can +enjoy undisturbed, and free from the control of any laws, the +blessings which nature has bestowed upon them." Independence of +spirit, impatience of restraint, the inquisitive nature, and the +nomadic temperament--these are the strains in the American +character of the eighteenth century which ultimately blended to +create a typical democracy. The rolling of wave after wave of +settlement westward across the American continent, with a +reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest +frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each +successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the +eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the +American people during two centuries. This era, constituting the +first stage in our national existence, and productive of a +buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil, +closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free +land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent +death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid inauguration of the period, +in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and +Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is +the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old Southwest. + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +I THE MIGRATION OF THE PEOPLES + +II THE CRADLE OF WESTWARD EXPANSION + +III THE BACK COUNTRY AND THE BORDER + +IV THE INDIAN WAR + +V IN DEFENSE OF CIVILIZATION + +VI CRUSHING THE CHEROKEES + +VII THE LAND COMPANIES + +VIII THE LONG HUNTERS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE + +IX DANIEL BOONE AND WILDERNESS EXPLORATION + +X DANIEL BOONE IN KENTUCKY + +XI THE REGULATORS + +XII WATAUGA--HAVEN OF LIBERTY + +XIII OPENING THE GATEWAY--DUNMORE'S WAR + +XIV RICHARD HENDERSON AND THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY + +XV TRANSYLVANIA--A WILDERNESS COMMONWEALTH + +XVI THE REPULSE OF THE RED MEN + +XVII THE COLONIZATION OF THE CUMBERLAND + +XVIII KING'S MOUNTAIN + +XIX THE STATE OF FRANKLIN + +XX THE LURE OF SPAIN--THE HAVEN OF STATEHOOD + + + +THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST + +Chapter I. The Migration of the Peoples + +Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and +other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and Mike +directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the +West, and have got near the mountains.--Gabriel Johnston, +Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the Board of +Trade, February 15, 1751. + + +At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population +had swept inland to the "fall line", the westward boundary of the +established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by +the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue +Ridge. So rapid was the settlement in North Carolina that in the +interval 1717-32 the population quadrupled in numbers. A map of +the colonial settlements in 1725 reveals a narrow strip of +populated land along the Atlantic coast, of irregular +indentation, with occasional isolated nuclei of settlements +further in the interior. The civilization thus established +continued to maintain a close and unbroken communication with +England and the Continent. As long as the settlers, for economic +reasons, clung to the coast, they reacted but slowly to the +transforming influences of the frontier.. Within a triangle of +continental altitude with its apex in New England, bounded on the +east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Appalachian range, +lay the settlements, divided into two zones--tidewater and +piedmont. As no break occurred in the great mountain system south +of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, the difficulties of cutting a +passage through the towering wall of living green long proved an +effective obstacle to the crossing of the grim mountain barrier. + +In the beginning the settlements gradually extended westward from +the coast in irregular outline, the indentations taking form +around such natural centers of attraction as areas of fertile +soil, frontier posts, mines, salt-springs, and stretches of +upland favorable for grazing. After a time a second advance of +settlement was begun in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, +running in a southwesterly direction along the broad terraces to +the east of the Appalachian Range, which in North Carolina lies +as far as two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The Blue +Ridge in Virginia and a belt of pine barrens in North Carolina +were hindrances to this advance, but did not entirely check it. +This second streaming of the population thrust into the long, +narrow wedge of the piedmont zone a class of people differing in +spirit and in tendency from their more aristocratic and +complacent neighbors to the east. + +These settlers of the Valley of Virginia and the North Carolina +piedmont region--English, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Scotch, Irish, +Welsh, and a few French--were the first pioneers of the Old +Southwest. From the joint efforts of two strata of population, +geographically, socially, and economically distinct--tidewater +and piedmont, Old South and New South--originated and flowered +the third and greatest movement of westward expansion, opening +with the surmounting of the mountain barrier and ending in the +occupation and assumption of the vast medial valley of the +continent. + +Synchronous with the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, +significantly enough, was the first planting of Ulster with the +English and Scotch. Emigrants from the Scotch Lowlands, sometimes +as many as four thousand a year (1625), continued throughout the +century to pour into Ulster. "Those of the North of Ireland . . +.," as pungently described in 1679 by the Secretary of State, +Leoline Jenkins, to the Duke of Ormond, "are most Scotch and +Scotch breed and are the Northern Presbyterians and phanatiques, +lusty, able bodied, hardy and stout men, where one may see three +or four hundred at every meeting-house on Sunday, and all the +North of Ireland is inhabited by these, which is the popular +place of all Ireland by far. They are very numerous and greedy +after land." During the quarter of a century after the English +Revolution of 1688 and the Jacobite uprising in Ireland, which +ended in 1691 with the complete submission of Ireland to William +and Mary, not less than fifty thousand Scotch, according to +Archbishop Synge, settled in Ulster. Until the beginning of the +eighteenth century there was no considerable emigration to +America; and it was first set up as a consequence of English +interference with trade and religion. Repressive measures passed +by the English parliament (1665 1699), prohibiting the +exportation from Ire land to England and Scotland of cattle, +beef, pork, dairy products, etc., and to any country whatever of +manufactured wool, had aroused deep resentment among the +Scotch-Irish, who had built up a great commerce. This discontent +was greatly aggravated by the imposition of religious +disabilities upon the Presbyterians, who, in addition to having +to pay tithes for the support of the established church, were +excluded from all civil and military office (1704), while their +ministers were made liable to penalties for celebrating +marriages. + +This pressure upon a high-spirited people resulted inevitably in +an exodus to the New World. The principal ports by which the +Ulsterites entered America were Lewes and Newcastle (Delaware), +Philadelphia and Boston. The streams of immigration steadily +flowed up the Delaware Valley; and by 1720 the Scotch-Irish began +to arrive in Bucks County. So rapid was the rate of increase in +immigration that the number of arrivals soon mounted from a few +hundred to upward of six thousand, in a single year (1729); and +within a few years this number was doubled. According to the +meticulous Franklin, the proportion increased from a very small +element of the population of Pennsylvania in 1700 to one fourth +of the whole in 1749, and to one third of the whole (350,000) in +1774. Writing to the Penns in 1724, James Logan, Secretary of the +Province, caustically refers to the Ulster settlers on the +disputed Maryland line as "these bold and indigent strangers, +saying as their excuse when challenged for titles, that we had +solicited for colonists and they had come accordingly." The +spirit of these defiant squatters is succinctly expressed in +their statement to Logan that it "was against the laws of God and +nature that so much land should be idle while so many Christians +wanted it to work on and to raise their bread." + +The rising scale of prices for Pennsylvania lands, changing from +ten pounds and two shillings quit-rents per hundred acres in 1719 +to fifteen pounds ten shillings per hundred acres with a +quit-rent of a halfpenny per acre in 1732, soon turned the eyes +of the thrifty Scotch-Irish settlers southward and southwestward. +In Maryland in 1738 lands were offered at five pounds sterling +per hundred acres. Simultaneously, in the Valley of Virginia free +grants of a thousand acres per family were being made. In the +North Carolina piedmont region the proprietary, Lord Granville, +through his agents was disposing of the most desirable lands to +settlers at the rate of three shillings proclamation money for +six hundred and forty acres, the unit of land-division; and was +also making large free grants on the condition of seating a +certain proportion of settlers. "Lord Carteret's land in +Carolina," says North Carolina's first American historian, "where +the soil was cheap, presented a tempting residence to people of +every denomination. Emigrants from the north of Ireland, by the +way of Pennsylvania, flocked to that country; and a considerable +part of North Carolina . . . is inhabited by those people or +their descendants." From 1740 onward, attracted by the rich lure +of cheap and even free lands in Virginia and North Carolina, a +tide of immigration swept ceaselessly into the valleys of the +Shenandoah, the Yadkin, and the Catawba. The immensity of this +mobile, drifting mass, which sometimes brought "more than 400 +families with horse waggons and cattle" into North Carolina in a +single year (1752-3), is attested by the fact that from 1732 to +1754, mainly as the result of the Scotch-Irish inundation, the +population of North Carolina more than doubled. + +The second important racial stream of population in the +settlement of the same region was composed of Germans, attracted +to this country from the Palatinate. Lured on by the highly +colored stories of the commercial agents for promoting +immigration--the "newlanders," who were thoroughly unscrupulous +in their methods and extravagant in their representations--a +migration from Germany began in the second decade of the +eighteenth century and quickly assumed alarming proportions. +Although certain of the emigrants were well-to-do, a very great +number were "redemptioners" (indentured servants), who in order +to pay for their transportation were compelled to pledge +themselves to several years of servitude. This economic condition +caused the German immigrant, wherever he went, to become a +settler of the back country, necessity compelling him to pass by +the more expensive lands near the coast. + +For well-nigh sixty years the influx of German immigrants of +various sects was very great, averaging something like fifteen +hundred a year into Pennsylvania alone from 1727 to 1775. Indeed, +Pennsylvania, one third of whose population at the beginning of +the Revolution was German, early became the great distributing +center for the Germans as well as for the Scotch-Irish. Certainly +by 1727 Adam Miller and his fellow Germans had established the +first permanent white settlement in the Valley of Virginia. By +1732 Jost Heydt, accompanied by sixteen families, came from York, +Pennsylvania, and settled on the Opeckon River, in the +neighborhood of the present Winchester. There is no longer any +doubt that "the portion of the Shenandoah Valley sloping to the +north was almost entirely settled by Germans." + +It was about the middle of the century that these pioneers of the +Old Southwest, the shrewd, industrious, and thrifty Pennsylvania +Germans (who came to be generally called "Pennsylvania Dutch" +from the incorrect translation of Pennsylvanische Deutsche), +began to pour into the piedmont region of North Carolina. In the +autumn, after the harvest was in, these ambitious Pennsylvania +pioneers would pack up their belongings in wagons and on beasts +of burden and head for the southwest, trekking down in the manner +of the Boers of South Africa. This movement into the fertile +valley lands of the Yadkin and the Catawba continued unabated +throughout the entire third quarter of the century. Owing to +their unfamiliarity with the English language and the solidarity +of their instincts, the German settlers at first had little share +in government. But they devotedly played their part in the +defense of the exposed settlements and often bore the brunt of +Indian attack. + +The bravery and hardihood displayed by the itinerant missionaries +sent out by the Pennsylvania Synod under the direction of Count +Zinzendorf (1742-8), and by the Moravian Church (1748-53), are +mirrored in the numerous diaries, written in German, happily +preserved to posterity in religious archives of Pennsylvania and +North Carolina. These simple, earnest crusaders, animated by pure +and unselfish motives, would visit on a single tour of a thousand +miles the principal German settlements in Maryland and Virginia +(including the present West Virginia). Sometimes they would make +an extended circuit through North Carolina, South Carolina, and +even Georgia, everywhere bearing witness to the truth of the +gospel and seeking to carry the most elemental forms of the +Christian religion, preaching and prayer, to the primitive +frontiersmen marooned along the outer fringe of white +settlements. These arduous journeys in the cause of piety place +this type of pioneer of the Old Southwest in alleviating contrast +to the often relentless and bloodthirsty figure of the rude +borderer. + +Noteworthy among these pious pilgrimages is the Virginia journey +of Brothers Leonhard Schnell and John Brandmuller (October 12 to +December 12, 1749). At the last outpost of civilization, the +scattered settlements in Bath and Alleghany counties, these +courageous missionaries--feasting the while solely on bear meat, +for there was no bread--encountered conditions of almost +primitive savagery, of which they give this graphic picture: +"Then we came to a house, where we had to lie on bear skins +around the fire like the rest . . . . The clothes of the people +consist of deer skins, their food of Johnny cakes, deer and bear +meat. A kind of white people are found here, who live like +savages. Hunting is their chief occupation." Into the valley of +the Yadkin in December, 1752, came Bishop Spangenberg and a party +of Moravians, accompanied by a surveyor and two guides, for the +purpose of locating the one hundred thousand acres of land which +had been offered them on easy terms the preceding year by Lord +Granville. This journey was remarkable as an illustration of +sacrifices willingly made and extreme hardships uncomplainingly +endured for the sake of the Moravian brotherhood. In the back +country of North Carolina near the Mulberry Fields they found the +whole woods full of Cherokee Indians engaged in hunting. A +beautiful site for the projected settlement met their delighted +gaze at this place; but they soon learned to their regret that it +had already been "taken up" by Daniel Boone's future +father-in-law, Morgan Bryan. + +On October 8, 1753, a party of twelve single men headed by the +Rev. Bernhard Adam Grube, set out from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, +to trek down to the new-found haven in the Carolina +hinterland--"a corner which the Lord has reserved for the +Brethren"--in Anson County. Following for the most part the great +highway extending from Philadelphia to the Yadkin, over which +passed the great throng sweeping into the back country of North +Carolina--through the Valley of Virginia and past Robert Luhny's +mill on the James River--they encountered many hardships along +the way. Because of their "long wagon," they had much difficulty +in crossing one steep mountain; and of this experience Brother +Grube, with a touch of modest pride, observes: "People had told +us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we would scarcely +be able to cross it, for Morgan Bryan, the first to travel this +way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and carry it piecemeal +to the top, and had been three months on the journey from the +Shanidore [Shenandoah] to the Etkin [Yadkin]." + +These men were the highest type of the pioneers of the Old +Southwest, inspired with the instinct of homemakers in a land +where, if idle rumor were to be credited, "the people lived like +wild men never hearing of God or His Word." In one hand they bore +the implement of agriculture, in the other the book of the gospel +of Jesus Christ. True faith shines forth in the simply eloquent +words: "We thanked our Saviour that he had so graciously led us +hither, and had helped us through all the hard places, for no +matter how dangerous it looked, nor how little we saw how we +could win through, everything always went better than seemed +possible." The promise of a new day--the dawn of the heroic +age--rings out in the pious carol of camaraderie at their +journey's end: + +We hold arrival Lovefeast here, +In Carolina land, +A company of Brethren true, +A little Pilgrim-Band, +Called by the Lord to be of those +Who through the whole world go, +To bear Him witness everywhere, +And nought but Jesus know. + + + +Chapter II. The Cradle of Westward Expansion + +In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, +Orange and Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred +fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most +part Irish Protestants and Germans and dailey increasing.-- +Matthew Rowan, President of the North Carolina Council, to the +Board of Trade, June 28, 1753. + + +The conquest of the West is usually attributed to the ready +initiative, the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinct +of the expert backwoodsmen. These bold, nomadic spirits were +animated by an unquenchable desire to plunge into the wilderness +in search of an El Dorado at the outer verge of civilization, +free of taxation, quit-rents, and the law's restraint. They +longed to build homes for themselves and their descendants in a +limitless, free domain; or else to fare deeper and deeper into +the trackless forests in search of adventure. Yet one must not +overlook the fact that behind Boone and pioneers of his stamp +were men of conspicuous civil and military genius, constructive +in purpose and creative in imagination, who devoted their best +gifts to actual conquest and colonization. These men of large +intellectual mold-themselves surveyors, hunters, and +pioneers--were inspired with the larger vision of the +expansionist. Whether colonizers, soldiers, or speculators on the +grand scale, they sought to open at one great stroke the vast +trans-Alleghany regions as a peaceful abode for mankind. + +Two distinct classes of society were gradually drawing apart from +each other in North Carolina and later in Virginia--the pioneer +democracy of the back country and the upland, and the planter +aristocracy of the lowland and the tide-water region. From the +frontier came the pioneer explorers whose individual enterprise +and initiative were such potent factors in the exploitation of +the wilderness. From the border counties still in contact with +the East came a number of leaders. Thus in the heart of the Old +Southwest the two determinative principles already referred to, +the inquisitive and the acquisitive instincts, found a fortunate +conjunction. The exploratory passion of the pioneer, directed in +the interest of commercial enterprise, prepared the way for the +great westward migration. The warlike disposition of the hardy +backwoodsman, controlled by the exercise of military strategy, +accomplished the conquest of the trans-Alleghany country. + +Fleeing from the traditional bonds of caste and aristocracy in +England and Europe, from economic boycott and civil oppression, +from religious persecution and favoritism, many worthy members of +society in the first quarter of the eighteenth century sought a +haven of refuge in the "Quackerthal" of William Penn, with its +trustworthy guarantees of free tolerance in religious faith and +the benefits of representative self-government. From East +Devonshire in England came George Boone, the grandfather of the +great pioneer, and from Wales came Edward Morgan, whose daughter +Sarah became the wife of Squire Boone, Daniel's father. These +were conspicuous representatives of the Society of Friends, drawn +thither by the roseate representations of the great Quaker, +William Penn, and by his advanced views on popular government and +religious toleration. Hither, too, from Ireland, whither he had +gone from Denmark, came Morgan Bryan, settling in Chester County, +prior to 1719; and his children, William, Joseph, James, and +Morgan, who more than half a century later gave the name to +Bryan's Station in Kentucky, were destined to play important +roles in the drama of westward migration. In September, 1734, +Michael Finley from County Armagh, Ireland, presumably +accompanied by his brother Archibald Finley, settled in Bucks +County, Pennsylvania. According to the best authorities, +Archibald Finley was the father of John Finley, or Findlay as he +signed himself, Boone's guide and companion in his exploration of +Kentucky in 1769-71. To Pennsylvania also came Mordecai Lincoln, +great grandson of Samuel Lincoln, who had emigrated from England +to Hingham, Massachusetts, as early as 1637. This Mordecai +Lincoln, who in 1720 settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the +great-great-grandfather of President Lincoln, was the father of +Sarah Lincoln, who was wedded to William Boone, and of Abraham +Lincoln, who married Anne Boone, William's first cousin. Early +settlers in Pennsylvania were members of the Hanks family, one of +whom was the maternal grandfather of President Lincoln. + +No one race or breed of men can lay claim to exclusive credit for +leadership in the hinterland movement and the conquest of the +West. Yet one particular stock of people, the Ulster Scots, +exhibited with most completeness and picturesqueness a group of +conspicuous qualities and attitudes which we now recognize to be +typical of the American character as molded by the conditions of +frontier life. Cautious, wary, and reserved, these Scots +concealed beneath a cool and calculating manner a relentlessness +in reasoning power and an intensity of conviction which glowed +and burned with almost fanatical ardor. Strict in religious +observance and deep in spiritual fervor, they never lost sight of +the main chance, combining a shrewd practicality with a wealth of +devotion. It has been happily said of them that they kept the +Sabbath and everything else they could lay their hands on. In the +polity of these men religion and education went hand in hand; and +they habitually settled together in communities in order that +they might have teachers and preachers of their own choice and +persuasion. + +In little-known letters and diaries of travelers and itinerant +ministers may be found many quaint descriptions and faithful +characterizations of the frontier settlers in their habits of +life and of the scenes amidst which they labored. In a letter to +Edmund Fanning, the cultured Robin Jones, agent of Lord Granville +and Attorney-General of North Carolina, summons to view a piquant +image of the western border and borderers: "The inhabitants are +hospitable in their way, live in plenty and dirt, are stout, of +great prowess in manly athletics; and, in private conversation, +bold, impertinent, and vain. In the art of war (after the Indian +manner) they are well-skilled, are enterprising and fruitful of +strategies; and, when in action, are as bold and intrepid as the +ancient Romans. The Shawnese acknowledge them their superiors +even in their own way of fighting . . . . [The land] may be truly +called the land of the mountains, for they are so numerous that +when you have reached the summit of one of them, you may see +thousands of every shape that the imagination can suggest, +seeming to vie with each other which should raise his lofty head +to touch the clouds . . . . It seems to me that nature has been +wanton in bestowing her blessings on that country." + +An excellent pen-picture of educational and cultural conditions +in the backwoods of North Carolina, by one of the early settlers +in the middle of the century, exhibits in all their barren +cheerlessness the hardships and limitations of life in the +wilderness. The father of William Few, the narrator, had trekked +down from Maryland and settled in Orange County, some miles east +of the little hamlet of Hillsborough. "In that country at that +time there were no schools, no churches or parsons, or doctors or +lawyers; no stores, groceries or taverns, nor do I recollect +during the first two years any officer, ecclesiastical, civil or +military, except a justice of the peace, a constable and two or +three itinerant preachers . . . . These people had few wants, and +fewer temptations to vice than those who lived in more refined +society, though ignorant. They were more virtuous and more happy +. . . . A schoolmaster appeared and offered his services to teach +the children of the neighborhood for twenty shillings each per +year . . . . In that simple state of society money was but little +known; the schoolmaster was the welcome guest of his pupil, fed +at the bountiful table and clothed from the domestic loom . . . . +In that country at that time there was great scarcity of books." + +The journals of itinerant ministers through the Valley of +Virginia and the Carolina piedmont zone yield precious mementoes +of the people, their longing after the things of the spirit, and +their pitiful isolation from the regular preaching of the gospel. +These missionaries were true pioneers in this Old Southwest, +ardent, dauntless, and heroic--carrying the word into remote +places and preaching the gospel beneath the trees of the forest. +In his journal (1755-6), the Rev. Hugh McAden, born in +Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish parentage, a graduate of Nassau Hall +(1753), makes the unconsciously humorous observation that +wherever he found Presbyterians he found people who "seemed +highly pleased, and very desirous to hear the word"; whilst +elsewhere he found either dissension and defection to Baptist +principles, or "no appearance of the life of religion." In the +Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlements in what is now Mecklenburg +County, the cradle of American liberty, he found "pretty serious, +judicious people" of the stamp of Moses, William, and James +Alexander. While traveling in the upper country of South +Carolina, he relates with gusto the story of "an old gentleman +who said to the Governor of South Carolina, when he was in those +parts, in treaty with the Cherokee Indians that 'he had never +seen a shirt, been in a fair, heard a sermon, or seen a minister +in all his life.' Upon which the governor promised to send him up +a minister, that he might hear one sermon before he died." The +minister came and preached; and this was all the preaching that +had been heard in the upper part of South Carolina before Mr. +McAden's visit. + +Such, then, were the rude and simple people in the back country +of the Old Southwest--the deliberate and self-controlled English, +the aggressive, landmongering Scotch-Irish, the buoyant Welsh, +the thrifty Germans, the debonair French, the impetuous Irish, +and the calculating Scotch. The lives they led were marked by +independence of spirit, democratic instincts, and a forthright +simplicity. In describing the condition of the English settlers +in the backwoods of Virginia, one of their number, Doddridge, +says: "Most of the articles were of domestic manufacture. There +might have been incidentally a few things brought to the country +for sale in a primitive way, but there was no store for general +supply. The table furniture usually consisted of wooden vessels, +either turned or coopered. Iron forks, tin cups, etc., were +articles of rare and delicate luxury. The food was of the most +wholesome and primitive kind. The richest meat, the finest +butter, and best meal that ever delighted man's palate were here +eaten with a relish which health and labor only know. The +hospitality of the people was profuse and proverbial." + +The circumstances of their lives compelled the pioneers to become +self-sustaining. Every immigrant was an adept at many trades. He +built his own house, forged his own tools, and made his own +clothes. At a very early date rifles were manufactured at the +High Shoals of the Yadkin; Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, was an +expert gunsmith. The difficulty of securing food for the +settlements forced every man to become a hunter and to scour the +forest for wild game. Thus the pioneer, through force of sheer +necessity, became a dead shot--which stood him in good stead in +the days of Indian incursions and bloody retaliatory raids. +Primitive in their games, recreations, and amusements, which not +infrequently degenerated into contests of savage brutality, the +pioneers always set the highest premium upon personal bravery, +physical prowess, and skill in manly sports. At all public +gatherings, general musters, "vendues" or auctions, and even +funerals, whisky flowed with extraordinary freedom. It is worthy +of record that among the effects of the Rev. Alexander Craighead, +the famous teacher and organizer of Presbyterianism in +Mecklenburg and the adjoining region prior to the Revolution, +were found a punch bowl and glasses. + +The frontier life, with its purifying and hardening influence, +bred in these pioneers intellectual traits which constitute the +basis of the American character. The single-handed and successful +struggle with nature in the tense solitude of the forest +developed a spirit of individualism, restive under control. On +the other hand, the sense of sharing with others the arduous +tasks and dangers of conquering the wilderness gave birth to a +strong sense of solidarity arid of human sympathy. With the lure +of free lands ever before them, the pioneers developed a +restlessness and a nervous energy, blended with a buoyancy of +spirit, which are fundamentally American. Yet this same +untrammeled freedom occasioned a disregard for law and a defiance +of established government which have exhibited themselves +throughout the entire course of our history. Initiative, +self-reliance, boldness in conception, fertility in resource, +readiness in execution, acquisitiveness, inventive genius, +appreciation of material advantages--these, shot through with a +certain fine idealism, genial human sympathy, and a high romantic +strain--are the traits of the American national type as it +emerged from the Old Southwest. + + + +CHAPTER III. The Back Country and the Border + +Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most +delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are +everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; +lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich +valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an +infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape +surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally +robust; and live in perfect liberty; they are ignorant of want +and acquainted with but few vices. Their inexperience of the +elegancies of life precludes any regret that they possess not the +means of enjoying them, but they possess what many princes would +give half their dominion for, health, content, and tranquillity +of mind.--Andrew Burnaby: Travels Through North America. + + +The two streams of Ulstermen, the greater through Philadelphia, +the lesser through Charleston, which poured into the Carolinas +toward the middle of the century, quickly flooded the back +country. The former occupied the Yadkin Valley and tile region to +the westward, the latter the Waxhaws and the Anson County region +to the northwest. The first settlers were known as the +"Pennsylvania Irish," because they had first settled in +Pennsylvania after migrating from the north of Ireland; while +those who came by way of Charleston were known as the +"Scotch-Irish." The former, who had resided in Pennsylvania long +enough to be good judges of land, shrewdly made their settlements +along the rivers and creeks. The latter, new arrivals and less +experienced, settled on thinner land toward the heads of creeks +and water courses. + +Shortly prior to 1735, Morgan Bryan, his wife Martha, and eight +children, together with other families of Quakers from +Pennsylvania, settled upon a large tract of land on the northwest +side of the Opeckon River near Winchester. A few years later they +removed up the Virginia Valley to the Big Lick in the present +Roanoke County, intent upon pushing westward to the very +outskirts of civilization. In the autumn of 1748, leaving behind +his brother William, who had followed him to Roanoke County, +Morgan Bryan removed with his family to the Forks of the Yadkin +River. The Morgans, with the exception of Richard, who emigrated +to Virginia, remained in Pennsylvania, spreading over +Philadelphia and Bucks counties; while the Hanks and Lincoln +families found homes in Virginia--Mordecai Lincoln's son, John, +the great-grandfather of President Lincoln, removing from Berks +to the Shenandoah Valley in 1765. On May 1, 1750, Squire Boone, +his wife Sarah (Morgan), and their eleven children--a veritable +caravan, traveling like the patriarchs of old--started south; and +tarried for a space, according to reliable tradition, on Linville +Creek in the Virginia Valley. In 1752 they removed to the Forks +of the Yadkin, and the following year received from Lord +Granville three tracts of land, all situated in Rowan County. +About the hamlet of Salisbury, which in 1755 consisted of seven +or eight log houses and the court house, there now rapidly +gathered a settlement of people marked by strong individuality, +sturdy independence, and virile self-reliance. The Boones and the +Bryans quickly accommodated themselves to frontier conditions and +immediately began to take an active part in the local affairs of +the county. Upon the organization of the county court Squire +Boone was chosen justice of the peace; and Morgan Bryan was soon +appearing as foreman of juries and director in road improvements. + +The Great Trading Path, leading from Virginia to the towns of the +Catawbas and other Southern Indians, crossed the Yadkin at the +Trading Ford and passed a mile southeast of Salisbury. Above +Sapona Town near the Trading Ford was Swearing Creek, which, +according to constant and picturesque tradition, was the spot +where the traders stopped to take a solemn oath never to reveal +any unlawful proceedings that might occur during their sojourn +among the Indians. In his divertingly satirical "History of the +Dividing Line" William Byrd in 1728 thus speaks of this locality: +"The Soil is exceedingly rich on both sides the Yadkin, abounding +in rank Grass and prodigiously large Trees; and for plenty of +Fish, Fowl and Venison, is inferior to No Part of the Northern +Continent. There the Traders commonly lie Still for some days, to +recruit their Horses' Flesh as well as to recover their own +spirits." In this beautiful country happily chosen for settlement +by Squire Boone --who erected his cabin on the east side of the +Yadkin about a mile and a quarter from Alleman's, now Boone's, +Ford--wild game abounded. Buffaloes were encountered in eastern +North Carolina by Byrd while running the dividing line; and in +the upper country of South Carolina three or four men with their +dogs could kill fourteen to twenty buffaloes in a single day." +Deer and bears fell an easy prey to the hunter; wild turkeys +filled every thicket; the watercourses teemed with beaver, otter, +and muskrat, as well as with shad and other delicious fish. +Panthers, wildcats, and wolves overran the country; and the +veracious Brother Joseph, while near the present Wilkesboro, +amusingly records: "The wolves wh. are not like those in Germany, +Poland and Lifland (because they fear men and don't easily come +near) give us such music of six different cornets the like of wh. +I have never heard in my life." So plentiful was the game that +the wild deer mingled with the cattle grazing over the wide +stretches of luxuriant grass. + +In the midst of this sylvan paradise grew up Squire Boone's son, +Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania youth of English stock, Quaker +persuasion, and Baptist proclivities. Seen through a glorifying +halo after the lapse of a century and three quarters, he rises +before us a romantic figure, poised and resolute, simple, +benign--as naive and shy as some wild thing of the primeval +forest--five feet eight inches in height, with broad chest and +shoulders, dark locks, genial blue eyes arched with fair +eyebrows, thin lips and wide mouth, nose of slightly Roman cast, +and fair, ruddy countenance. Farming was irksome to this +restless, nomadic spirit, who on the slightest excuse would +exchange the plow and the grubbing hoe for the long rifle and +keen-edged hunting knife. In a single day during the autumn +season he would kill four or five deer; or as many bears as would +snake from two to three thousand pounds weight of bear-bacon. +Fascinated with the forest, he soon found profit as well as +pleasure in the pursuit of game; and at excellent fixed prices he +sold his peltries, most often at Salisbury, some thirteen miles +away, sometimes at the store of the old "Dutchman," George +Hartman, on the Yadkin, and occasionally at Bethabara, the +Moravian town sixty odd miles distant. Skins were in such demand +that they soon came to replace hard money, which was incredibly +scarce in the back country, as a medium of exchange. Upon one +occasion a caravan from Bethabara hauled three thousand pounds, +upon another four thousand pounds, of dressed deerskins to +Charleston. So immense was this trade that the year after Boone's +arrival at the Forks of Yadkin thirty thousand deerskins were +exported from the province of North Carolina. We like to think +that the young Daniel Boone was one of that band of whom Brother +Joseph, while in camp on the Catawba River (November 12, 1752) +wrote: "There are many hunters about here, who live like Indians, +they kill many deer selling their hides, and thus live without +much work." + +In this very class of professional hunters, living like Indians, +was thus bred the spirit of individual initiative and strenuous +leadership in the great westward expansionist movement of the +coming decade. An English traveler gives the following minute +picture of the dress and accoutrement of the Carolina +backwoodsman. + +"Their whole dress is very singular, and not very materially +different from that of the Indians; being a hunting shirt, +somewhat resembling a waggoner's frock, ornamented with a great +many fringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much +decorated also, in which is fastened a tomahawk, an instrument +that serves every purpose of defence and convenience; being a +hammer at one side and a sharp hatchet at the other; the shot bag +and powderhorn, carved with a variety of whimsical figures and +devices, hang from their necks over one shoulder; and on their +heads a flapped hat, of a reddish hue, proceeding from the +intensely hot beams of the sun. + +Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made of Indian dressed elk, +or deer skins, but more frequently thin trowsers. + +On their legs they have Indian boots, or leggings, made of coarse +woollen cloth, that either are wrapped round loosely and tied +with garters, or laced upon the outside, and always come better +than half-way up the thigh. + +On their feet they sometimes wear pumps of their own manufacture, +but generally Indian moccossons, of their own construction also, +which are made of strong elk's, or buck's skin, dressed soft as +for gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular plaits over the +toe, and lacing from thence round to the fore part of the middle +of the ancle, without a seam in them, yet fitting close to the +feet, and are indeed perfectly easy and pliant. + +Their hunting, or rifle shirts, they have also died in a variety +of colours, some yellow, others red, some brown, and many wear +them quite white." + +No less unique and bizarre, though less picturesque, was the +dress of the women of the region--in particular of Surry County, +North Carolina, as described by General William Lenoir: + +"The women wore linses [flax] petticoats and 'bedgowns' [like a +dressing-sack], and often went without shoes in the summer. Some +had bonnets and bedgowns made of calico, but generally of linsey; +and some of them wore men's hats. Their hair was commonly +clubbed. Once, at a large meeting, I noticed there but two women +that had on long gowns. One of these was laced genteelly, and the +body of the other was open, and the tail thereof drawn up and +tucked in her apron or coat-string." + +While Daniel Boone was quietly engaged in the pleasant pursuits +of the chase, a vast world-struggle of which he little dreamed +was rapidly approaching a crisis. For three quarters of a century +this titanic contest between France and England for the interior +of the continent had been waged with slowly accumulating force. +The irrepressible conflict had been formally inaugurated at Sault +Ste. Marie in 1671, when Daumont de Saint Lusson, swinging aloft +his sword, proclaimed the sovereignty of France over "all +countries, rivers, lakes, and streams . . . both those which have +been discovered and those which may be discovered hereafter, in +all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas +of the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea." +Just three months later, three hardy pioneers of Virginia, +despatched upon their arduous mission by Colonel Abraham Wood in +behalf of the English crown, had crossed the Appalachian divide; +and upon the banks of a stream whose waters slipped into the Ohio +to join the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, had carved the +royal insignia upon the blazed trunk of a giant of the forest, +the while crying: "Long live Charles the Second, by the grace of +God, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Virginia and +of the territories thereunto belonging." + +La Salle's dream of a New France in the heart of America was +blotted out in his tragic death upon the banks of the River +Trinity (1687). Yet his mantle was to fall in turn upon the +square shoulders of Le Moyne d'Iberville and of his brother--the +good, the constant Bienville, who after countless and arduous +struggles laid firm the foundations of New Orleans. In the +precious treasury of Margry we learn that on reaching Rochelle +after his first voyage in 1699 Iberville in these prophetic words +voices his faith: "If France does not immediately seize this part +of America which is the most beautiful, and establish a colony +which is strong enough to resist any which England may have, the +English colonies (already considerable in Carolina) will so +thrive that in less than a hundred years they will be strong +enough to seize all America." But the world-weary Louis Quatorze, +nearing his end, quickly tired of that remote and unproductive +colony upon the shores of the gulf, so industriously described in +Paris as a "terrestrial paradise"; and the "paternal providence +of Versailles" willingly yielded place to the monumental +speculation of the great financier Antoine Crozat. In this Paris +of prolific promotion and amazed credulity, ripe for the colossal +scheme of Law, soon to blow to bursting-point the bubble of the +Mississippi, the very songs in the street echoed flamboyant, +half-satiric panegyrics upon the new Utopia, this Mississippi +Land of Cockayne: + +It's to-day no contribution +To discuss the Constitution +And the Spanish war's forgot +For a new Utopian spot; +And the very latest phase +Is the Mississippi craze. + +Interest in the new colony led to a great development of +southwesterly trade from New France. Already the French coureurs +de bois were following the water route from the Illinois to South +Carolina. Jean Couture, a deserter from the service in New +France, journeyed over the Ohio and Tennessee rivers to that +colony, and was known as "the greatest Trader and Traveller +amongst the Indians for more than Twenty years." In 1714 young +Charles Charleville accompanied an old trader from Crozat's +colony on the gulf to the great salt-springs on the Cumberland, +where a post for trading with the Shawanoes had already been +established by the French. But the British were preparing to +capture this trade as early as 1694, when Tonti warned Villermont +that Carolinians were already established on a branch of the +Ohio. Four years later, Nicholson, Governor of Maryland, was +urging trade with the Indians of the interior in the effort to +displace the French. At an early date the coast colonies began to +trade with the Indian tribes of the back country: the Catawbas of +the Yadkin Valley; the Cherokees, whose towns were scattered +through Tennessee; the Chickasaws, to the westward in northern +Mississippi; and the Choctaws farther to the southward. Even +before the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the South +Carolina settlements extended scarcely twenty miles from the +coast, English traders had established posts among the Indian +tribes four hundred miles to the west of Charleston. Following +the sporadic trading of individuals from Virginia with the inland +Indians, the heavily laden caravans of William Byrd were soon +regularly passing along the Great Trading Path from Virginia to +the towns of the Catawbas and other interior tribes of the +Carolinas, delighting the easily captivated fancy and provoking +the cupidity of the red men with "Guns, Powder, Shot, Hatchets +(which the Indians call Tomahawks), Kettles, red and blue Planes, +Duffields, Stroudwater blankets, and some Cutlary Wares, Brass +Rings and other Trinkets." In Pennsylvania, George Croghan, the +guileful diplomat, who was emissary from the Council to the Ohio +Indians (1748), had induced "all-most all the Ingans in the +Woods" to declare against the French; and was described by +Christopher Gist as a "meer idol among his countrymen, the Irish +traders." + +Against these advances of British trade and civilization, the +French for four decades had artfully struggled, projecting tours +of exploration into the vast medial valley of the continent and +constructing a chain of forts and trading-posts designed to +establish their claims to the country and to hold in check the +threatened English thrust from the east. Soon the wilderness +ambassador of empire, Celoron de Bienville, was despatched by the +far-visioned Galissoniere at Quebec to sow broadcast with +ceremonial pomp in the heart of America the seeds of empire, +grandiosely graven plates of lasting lead, in defiant yet futile +symbol of the asserted sovereignty of France. Thus threatened in +the vindication of the rights of their colonial sea-to-sea +charters, the English threw off the lethargy with which they had +failed to protect their traders, and in grants to the Ohio and +Loyal land companies began resolutely to form plans looking to +the occupation of the interior. But the French seized the English +trading-house at Venango which they converted into a fort; and +Virginia's protest, conveyed by a calm and judicious young man, a +surveyor, George Washington, availed not to prevent the French +from seizing Captain Trent's hastily erected military post at the +forks of the Ohio and constructing there a formidable work, named +Fort Duquesne. Washington, with his expeditionary force sent to +garrison Captain Trent's fort, defeated Jumonville and his small +force near Great Meadows (May, 1754); but soon after he was +forced to surrender Fort Necessity to Coulon de Villiers. + +The titanic struggle, fittingly precipitated in the backwoods of +the Old Southwest, was now on--a struggle in which the resolute +pioneers of these backwoods first seriously measured their +strength with the French and their copper-hued allies, and +learned to surpass the latter in their own mode of warfare. The +portentous conflict, destined to assure the eastern half of the +continent to Great Britain, is a grim, prophetic harbinger of the +mighty movement of the next quarter of a century into the +twilight zone of the trans-Alleghany territory: + + + +CHAPTER IV. The Indian War + +All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about +building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such +barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let +loose upon them at pleasure.--The Reverend Hugh McAden--Diary, +July, 1755. + + +Long before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces +were gradually converging to produce a clash between the +aggressive colonials and the crafty Indians. As the settlers +pressed farther westward into the domain of the red men, +arrogantly grazing their stock over the cherished hunting-grounds +of the Cherokees, the savages, who were already well disposed +toward the French, began to manifest a deep indignation against +the British colonists because of this callous encroachment upon +their territory. During the sporadic forays by scattered bands of +Northern Indians upon the Catawbas and other tribes friendly to +the pioneers the isolated settlements at the back part of the +Carolinas suffered rude and sanguinary onslaughts. In the summer +of 1753 a party of northern Indians warring in the French +interest made their appearance in Rowan County, which had just +been organized, and committed various depredations upon the +scattered settlements. To repel these attacks a band of the +Catawbas sallied forth, encountered a detached party of the +enemy, and slew five of their number. Among the spoils, +significantly enough, were silver crucifixes, beads, +looking-glasses, tomahawks and other implements of war, all of +French manufacture. + +Intense rivalry for the good will of the near-by southern tribes +existed between Virginia and South Carolina. In strong +remonstrance against the alleged attempt of Governor Dinwiddie of +Virginia to alienate the Cherokees, Catawbas, Muscogees, and +Chickasaws from South Carolina and to attach them to Virginia, +Governor Glen of South Carolina made pungent observations to +Dinwiddie: "South Carolina is a weak frontier colony, and in case +of invasion by the French would be their first object of attack. +We have not much to fear, however, while we retain the affection +of the Indians around us; but should we forfeit that by any +mismanagement on our part, or by the superior address of the +French, we are in a miserable situation. The Cherokees alone have +several thousand gunmen well acquainted with every inch of the +province . . . their country is the key to Carolina." By a treaty +concluded at Saluda (November 24, 1753), Glen promised to build +the Cherokees a fort near the lower towns, for the protection of +themselves and their allies; and the Cherokees on their part +agreed to become the subjects of the King of Great Britain and +hold their lands under him. This fort, erected this same year on +the headwaters of the Savannah, within gunshot distance of the +important Indian town of Keowee, was named Fort Prince George. +"It is a square," says the founder of the fort (Governor Glen to +the Board of Trade, August 26, 1754), "with regular Bastions and +four Ravelins it is near Two hundred foot from Salient Angle to +Salient Angle and is made of Earth taken out of the Ditch, +secured with fachines and well rammed with a banquet on the +Inside for the men to stand upon when they fire over, the +Ravelins are made of Posts of Lightwood which is very durable, +they are ten foot in length sharp pointed three foot and a half +in the ground." The dire need for such a fort in the back country +was tragically illustrated by the sudden onslaught upon the +"House of John Gutry & James Anshers" in York County by a party +of sixty French Indians (December 16, 1754), who brutally +murdered sixteen of the twenty-one persons present, and carried +off as captives the remaining five." + +At the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 North +Carolina voted twelve thousand pounds for the raising of troops +and several thousand pounds additional for the construction of +forts--a sum considerably larger than that voted by Virginia. A +regiment of two hundred and fifty men was placed under the +command of Colonel James Innes of the Cape Fear section; and the +ablest officer under him was the young Irishman from the same +section, Lieutenant Hugh Waddell. On June 3, 1754, Dinwiddie +appointed Innes, his close friend, commander-in-chief of all the +forces against the French; and immediately after the disaster at +Great Meadows (July, 1754), Innes took command. Within two months +the supplies for the North Carolina troops were exhausted; and as +Virginia then failed to furnish additional supplies, Colonel +Innes had no recourse but to disband his troops and permit them +to return home. Appointed governor of Fort Cumberland by General +Braddock, he was in command there while Braddock advanced on his +disastrous march. + +The lesson of Braddock's defeat (July 9, 1755) was memorable in +the history of the Old Southwest. Well might Braddock exclaim +with his last breath: "Who would have thought it? . . . We shall +know better how to deal with them another time." Led on by the +reckless and fiery Beaujeu, wearing an Indian gorget about his +neck, the savages from the protection of trees and rough +defenses, a pre pared ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the +compact divisions of the English, whose scarlet coats furnished +ideal targets. The obstinacy of the British commanders in +refusing to permit their troops to fight Indian fashion was +suicidal; for as Herman Alriclis wrote Governor Morris of +Pennsylvania (July 22, 1755): " . . . the French and Indians had +cast an Intrenchment across the road before our Army which they +Discovered not Untill they came Close up to it, from thence and +both sides of the road the enemy kept a constant fireing on them, +our Army being so confused, they could not fight, and they would +not be admitted by the Genl or Sir John St. Clair, to break thro' +their Ranks and Take behind trees." Daniel Boone, who went from +North Carolina as a wagoner in the company commanded by Edward +Brice Dobbs, was on the battle-field; but Dobbs's company at the +time was scouting in the woods. When the fierce attack fell upon +the baggage a train, Boone succeeded in effecting his escape only +by cutting the traces of his team and fleeing on one of the +horses. To his dying day Boone continued to censure Braddock's +conduct, and reprehended especially his fatal neglect to employ +strong flank-guards and a sufficient number of Provincial scouts +thoroughly acquainted with the wilderness and all the wiles and +strategies of savage warfare. + +For a number of months following Braddock's defeat there was a +great rush of the frightened people southward. In a letter to +Dinwiddie, Washington expresses the apprehension that Augusta, +Frederick, and Hampshire County will soon be depopulated, as the +whole back country is in motion toward the southern colonies. +During this same summer Governor Arthur Dobbs of North Carolina +made a tour of exploration through the western part of the +colony, seeking a site for a fort to guard the frontier. The +frontier company of fifty men which was to garrison the projected +fort was placed under the command of Hugh Waddell, now promoted +to the rank of captain, though only twenty-one years old. In +addition to Waddell's company, armed patrols were required for +the protection of the Rowan County frontier; and during the +summer Indian alarms were frequent at the Moravian village of +Bethabara, whose inhabitants had heard with distress on March +31st of the slaughter of eleven Moravians on the Mahoni and of +the ruin of Gnadenhutten. Many of the settlers in the outlying +districts of Rowan fled for safety to the refuge of the little +village; and frequently every available house, every place of +temporary abode was filled with panic stricken refugees. So +persistent were the depredations of the Indians and so alarmed +were the scattered Rowan settlers by the news of the murders and +the destruction of Vaul's Fort in Virginia (June 25, 1756) that +at a conference on July 5th the Moravians "decided to protect our +houses with palisades, and make them safe before the enemy should +in vade our tract or attack us, for if the people were all going +to retreat we would be the last left on the frontier and the +first point of attack." By July 23d, they had constructed a +strong defense for their settlement, afterward called the "Dutch +Fort" by the Indians. The principal structure was a stockade, +triangular in plan, some three hundred feet on a side, enclosing +the principal buildings of the settlement; and the gateway was +guarded by an observation tower. The other defense was a stockade +embracing eight houses at the mill some distance away, around +which a small settlement had sprung up. + +During the same year the fort planned by Dobbs was erected upon +the site he had chosen--between Third and Fourth creeks; and the +commissioners Richard Caswell and Francis Brown, sent out to +inspect the fort, made the following picturesque report to the +Assembly (December 21, 1756): + +"That they had likewise viewed the State of Fort Dobbs, and found +it to be a good and Substantial Building of the Dimentions +following (that is to say) The Oblong Square fifty three feet by +forty, the opposite Angles Twenty four feet and Twenty-Two In +Height Twenty four and a half feet as by the Plan annexed +Appears, The Thickness of the Walls which are made of Oak Logs +regularly Diminished from sixteen Inches to Six, it contains +three floors and there may be discharged from each floor at one +and the same time about one hundred Musketts the same is +beautifully scituated in the fork of Fourth Creek a Branch of the +Yadkin River. And that they also found under Command of Cap' Hugh +Waddel Forty six Effective men Officers and Soldiers, the said +Officers and Soldiers Appearing well and in good Spirits." + +As to the erection of a fort on the Tennessee, promised the +Cherokees by South Carolina, difficulties between the governor of +that province and of Virginia in regard to matters of policy and +the proportionate share of expenses made effective cooperation +between the two colonies well-nigh impossible. Glen, as we have +seen, had resented Dinwiddie's efforts to win the South Carolina +Indians over to Virginia's interest. And Dinwiddie had been very +indignant when the force promised him by the Indians to aid +General Braddock did not arrive, attributing this defection in +part to Glen's negotiations for a meeting with the chieftains and +in part to the influence of the South Carolina traders, who kept +the Indians away by hiring them to go on long hunts for furs and +skinns. But there was no such contention between Virginia and +North Carolina. Dinwiddie and Dobbs arranged (November 6, 1755) +to send a commission from these colonies to treat with the +Cherokees and the Catawbas. Virginia sent two commissioners, +Colonel William Byrd, third of that name, and Colonel Peter +Randolph; while North Carolina sent one, Captain Hugh Waddell. +Salisbury, North Carolina, was the place of rendezvous. The +treaty with the Catawbas was made at the Catawba Town, presumably +the village opposite the mouth of Sugaw Creek, in York County, +South Carolina, on February 20-21, 1756; that with the Cherokees +on Broad River, North Carolina, March 13-17. As a result of the +negotiations and after the receipt of a present of goods, the +Catawbas agreed to send forty warriors to aid Virginia within +forty days; and the Cherokees, in return for presents and +Virginia's promise to contribute her proportion toward the +erection of a strong fort, undertook to send four hundred +warriors within forty days, "as soon as the said fort shall be +built." Virginia and North Carolina thus wisely cooperated to +"straighten the path" and "brighten the chain" between the white +and the red men, in important treaties which Have largely escaped +the attention of historians." + +On May 25, 1756, a conference was held at Salisbury between King +Heygler and warriors of the Catawba nation on the one side and +Chief Justice Henley, doubtless attended by Captain Waddell and +his frontier company, on the other. King Heygler, following the +lead set by the Cherokees, petitioned the Governor of North +Carolina to send the Catawbas some ammunition and to "build us a +fort for securing our old men, women and children when we turn +out to fight the Enemy on their coming." The chief justice +assured the King that the Catawbas would receive a necessary +supply of ammunition (one hundred pounds of gunpowder and four +hundred pounds of lead were later sent them) and promised to urge +with the governor their request to have a fort built as soon as +possible. Pathos not unmixed with dry humor tinges the eloquent +appeal of good old King Heygler, ever the loyal friend of the +whites, at this conference: + +"I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by +the White people to my people especially near the Indian nation. +IF THE WHITE PEOPLE MAKE STRONG DRINK, LET THEM. SELL IT TO ONE +ANOTHER, OR DRINK IT IN THEIR OWN FAMILIES. This will avoid a +great deal of mischief which otherwise will, happen from my +people getting drunk and quarrelling with the White people. I +have no strong prisons like you to confine them for it. Our only +way is to put them under ground and all these (pointing proudly +to his Warriors) will be ready to do that to those who shall +deserve it." + +In response to this request, the sum of four thousand pounds was +appropriated by the North Carolina Assembly for the erection of +"a Fort on our western frontier to protect and secure the +Catawbas" and for the support of two companies of fifty men each +to garrison this and another fort building on the sea coast. The +commissioners appointed for the purpose recommended (December 21, +1756) a site for the fort "near the 'Catawba nation"; and on +January 20, 1757, Governor Dobbs reported; " We are now building +a Fort in the midst of their towns at their own Request." The +fort thereupon begun must have stood near the mouth of the South +Fork of the Catawba River, as Dobbs says it was in the "midst" of +their towns, which are situated a "few miles north and south of +38 degrees" and might properly be included within a circle of +thirty miles radius." + +During the succeeding months many depredations were committed by +the Indians upon the exposed and scattered settlements. Had it +not been for the protection afforded by all these forts, by the +militia companies under Alexander Osborne of Rowan and Nathaniel +Alexander of Anson, and by a special company of patrollers under +Green and Moore, the back settlers who had been so outrageously +"pilfered" by the Indians would have "retired from the Frontier +into the inner settlements." + + + +CHAPTER V. In Defense of Civilization + +We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us +by our Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our +neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, +came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our +congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more +than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a +day at a time and being fed by us.--Wachovia Community Diary, +1757 + + +With commendable energy and expedition Dinwiddie and Dobbs, +acting in concert, initiated steps for keeping the engagements +conjointly made by the two colonies with the Cherokees and the +Catawbas in tile spring and summer of 1756. Enlisting sixty men, +"most of them Artificers, with Tools and Provisions," Major +Andrew Lewis proceeded in the late spring to Echota in the +Cherokee country. Here during the hot summer months they erected +the Virginia Fort on the path from Virginia, upon the northern +bank of the Little Tennessee, nearly opposite the Indian town of +Echota and about twenty-five miles southwest of Knoxville." While +the fort was in process of construction, the Cherokees were +incessantly tampered with by emissaries from the Nuntewees and +the Savannahs in the French interest, and from the French +themselves at the Alibamu Fort. So effective were these +machinations, supported by extravagant promises and doubtless +rich bribes, that the Cherokees soon were outspokenly expressing +their desire for a French fort at Great Tellico. + +Dinwiddie welcomed the departure from America of Governor Glen of +South Carolina, who in his opinion had always acted contrary to +the king's interest. From the new governor, William Henry +Lyttelton, who arrived in Charleston on June 1, 1756, he hoped to +secure effective cooperation in dealing with the Cherokees and +the Catawbas. This hope was based upon Lyttelton's recognition, +as stated in Dinwiddie's words, of the "Necessity of strict Union +between the whole Colonies, with't any of them considering their +particular Interest separate from the general Good of the whole." +After constructing the fort "with't the least assistance from +South Carolina," Major Lewis happened by accident upon a grand +council being held in Echota in September. At that time he +discovered to his great alarm that the machinations of the French +had already produced the greatest imaginable change in the +sentiment of the Cherokees. Captain Raymond Demere of the +Provincials, with two hundred English troops, had arrived to +garrison the fort; but the head men of all the Upper Towns were +secretly influenced to agree to write a letter to Captain Demere, +ordering him to return immediately to Charleston with all the +troops under his command. At the grand council, Atta-kulla-kulla, +the great Cherokee chieftain, passionately declared to the head +men, who listened approvingly, that "as to the few soldiers of +Captain Demere that was there, he would take their Guns, and give +them to his young men to hunt with and as to their clothes they +would soon be worn out and their skins would be tanned, and be of +the same colour as theirs, and that they should live among them +as slaves." With impressive dignity Major Lewis rose and +earnestly pleaded for the observance of the terms of the treaty +solemnly negotiated the preceding March. In response, the crafty +and treacherous chieftains desired Lewis to tell the Governor of +Virginia that "they had taken up the Hatchet against all Nations +that were Enemies to the English"; but Lewis, an astute student +of Indian Psychology, rightly surmised that all their glib +professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a +gloss on their knavery." So it proved; for instead of the four +hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in +Virginia, the Cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by +three women. Al though the Cherokees petitioned Virginia for a +number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, Dinwiddie postponed +sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia Assembly until +he could reassure himself in regard to the "Behaviour and +Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a +prudent decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia +fort was destroyed by the Indians. + +Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the +Cherokees over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a +recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected +by Virginia with troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina +immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern +bank of the Tennessee at the mouth of Tellico River, some seven +miles from the site of the Virginia fort; and here were posted +twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the +wilderness. To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord +Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces in +America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and +during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up +there. + +The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of +hostile Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755. +In July, the Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in +Virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of +the wars and many murders, committed by the savage Indians on the +back inhabitants." On July 30th a large party of Shawano Indians +fell upon the New River settlement and wiped it out of existence. +William Ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and Mrs. +Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. The +following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters of +the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was +captured by about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the +fort, killed John Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and +John Ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men, +women, and children. Among the captured was the famous Mrs. Mary +Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, was killed; but after being +"carried away into Captivity, amongst whom she was barbarously +treated," according to her own statement, she finally escaped and +returned to Virginia." The frontier continued to be infested by +marauding bands of French and Indians; and Dinwiddie gloomily +confessed to Dobbs (July 22d): "I apprehend that we shall always +be harrass'd with fly'g Parties of these Banditti unless we form +an Expedit'n ag'st them, to attack 'em in y'r Towns." Such an +expedition, known as the Sandy River Expedition, had been sent +out in February to avenge the massacre of the New River settlers; +but the enterprise engaged in by about four hundred Virginians +and Cherokees under Major Andrew Lewis and Captain Richard +Pearis, proved a disastrous failure. Not a single Indian was +seen; and the party suffered extraordinary hardships and narrowly +escaped starvation. + +In conformity with his treaty obligations with the Catawbas, +Governor Dobbs commissioned Captain Hugh Waddell to erect the +fort promised the Catawbas at the spot chosen by the +commissioners near the mouth of the South Fork of the Catawba +River. This fort, for which four thousand pounds had been +appropriated, was for the most part completed by midsummer, 1757. +But owing, it appears, both to the machinations of the French and +to the intermeddling of the South Carolina traders, who desired +to retain the trade of the Catawbas for that province, Oroloswa, +the Catawba King Heygler, sent a "talk" to Governor Lyttelton, +requesting that North Carolina desist from the work of +construction and that no fort be built except by South Carolina. +Accordingly, Governor Dobbs ordered Captain Waddell to discharge +the workmen (August 11, 1757); and every effort was made for many +months thereafter to conciliate the Catawbas, erstwhile friends +of North Carolina. The Catawba fort erected by North Carolina was +never fully completed; and several years later South Carolina, +having succeeded in alienating the Catawbas from North Carolina, +which colony had given them the best possible treatment, built +for them a fort at the mouth of Line Creek on the east bank of +the Catawba River. + +In the spring and summer of 1758 the long expected Indian allies +arrived in Virginia, as many as four hundred by May--Cherokees, +Catawbas, Tuscaroras, and Nottaways. But Dinwiddie was wholly +unable to use them effectively; and in order to provide amusement +for them, he directed that they should go "a scalping" with the +whites--"a barbarous method of war," frankly acknowledged the +governor, "introduced by the French, which we are oblidged to +follow in our own defense." Most of the Indian allies +discontentedly returned home before the end of the year, but the +remainder waited until the next year, to take part in the +campaign against Fort Duquesne. Three North Carolina companies, +composed of trained soldiers and hardy frontiersmen, went through +this campaign under the command of Major Hugh Waddell, the +"Washington of North Carolina." Long of limb and broad of chest, +powerful, lithe, and active, Waddell was an ideal leader for this +arduous service, being fertile in expedient and skilful in the +employment of Indian tactics. With true provincial pride Governor +Dobbs records that Waddell "had great honor done him, being +employed in all reconnoitring parties, and dressed and acted as +an Indian; and his sergeant, Rogers, took the only Indian +prisoner, who gave Mr. Forbes certain intelligence of the forces +in Fort Duquesne, upon which they resolved to proceed." This +apparently trivial incident is remarkable, in that it proved to +be the decisive factor in a campaign that was about to be +abandoned. The information in regard to the state of the garrison +at Fort Duquesne, secured from the Indian, for the capture of +whom two leading officers had offered a reward of two hundred and +fifty pounds, emboldened Forbes to advance rather than to retire. +Upon reaching the fort (November 25th), he found it abandoned by +the enemy. Sergeant Rogers never received the reward promised by +General Forbes and the other English officer; but some time +afterward he was compensated by a modest sum from the colony of +North Carolina. + +A series of unfortunate occurrences, chiefly the fault of the +whites, soon resulted in the precipitation of a terrible Indian +outbreak. A party of Cherokees, returning home in May, 1758, +seized some stray horses on the frontier of Virginia--never +dreaming of any wrong, says an old historian, as they saw it +frequently done by the whites. The owners of the horses, hastily +forming a party, went in pursuit of the Indians and killed twelve +or fourteen of the number. The relatives of the slain Indians, +greatly incensed, vowed vengeance upon the whites. Nor was the +tactless conduct of Forbes calculated to quiet this resentment; +for when Atta-kulla-kulla and nine other chieftains deserted in +disgust at the treatment accorded them, they were pursued by +Forbes's orders, apprehended and disarmed. This rude treatment, +coupled with the brutal and wanton murder of some Cherokee +hunters a little earlier, by an irresponsible band of Virginians +under Captain Robert Wade, still further aggravated the Indians. + +Incited by the French, who had fled to the southward after the +fall of Fort Duquesne, parties of bloodthirsty young Indians +rushed down upon the settlements and left in their path death and +desolation along the frontiers of the Carolinas. On the upper +branch of the Yadkin and below the South Yadkin near Fort Dobbs +twenty-two whites fell in swift succession before the secret +onslaughts of the savages from the lower Cherokee towns. Many of +the settlers along the Yadkin fled to the Carolina Fort at +Bethabara and the stockade at the mill; and the sheriff of Rowan +County suffered siege by the Cherokees, in his home, until +rescued by a detachment under Brother Loesch from Bethabara. +While many families took refuge in Fort Dobbs, frontiersmen under +Captain Morgan Bryan ranged through the mountains to the west of +Salisbury and guarded the settlements from the hostile incursions +of the savages. So gravely alarmed were the Rowan settlers, +compelled by the Indians to desert their planting and crops, that +Colonel Harris was despatched post-haste for aid to Cape Fear, +arriving there on July 1st. With strenuous energy Captain +Waddell, then stationed in the east, rushed two companies of +thirty men each to the rescue, sending by water-carriage six +swivel guns and ammunition on before him; and these +reinforcements brought relief at last to the harassed Rowan +frontiers." During the remainder of the year, the borders were +kept clear by bold and tireless rangers-under the leadership of +expert Indian fighters of the stamp of Grifth Rutherford and +Morgan Bryan. + +When the Cherokee warriors who had wrought havoc along the North +Carolina border in April arrived at their town of Settiquo, they +proudly displayed the twenty-two scalps of the slain Rowan +settlers. Upon the demand for these scalps by Captain Demere at +Fort Loudon and under direction of Atta-kulla-kulla, the Settiquo +warriors surrendered eleven of the scalps to Captain Demere who, +according to custom in time of peace, buried them. New murders on +Pacolet and along the Virginia Path, which occurred shortly +afterward, caused gloomy forebodings; and it was plain, says a +contemporary gazette, that "the lower Cherokees were not +satisfied with the murder of the Rowan settlers, but intended +further mischief". On October 1st and again on October 31st, +Governor Dobbs received urgent requests from Governor Lyttelton, +asking that the North Carolina provincials and militia cooperate +to bring him assistance. Although there was no law requiring the +troops to march out of the province and the exposed frontiers of +North Carolina sorely needed protection, Waddell, now +commissioned colonel, assembled a force of five small companies +and marched to the aid of Governor Lyttelton. But early in +January, 1760, while on the march, Waddell received a letter from +Lyttelton, informing him that the assistance was not needed and +that a treaty of peace had been negotiated with the Cherokees. + + + +CHAPTER VI. Crushing the Cherokees + +Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling +strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America.- +-Hewatt: An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the +Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. 1779. + + +Governor Lyttelton's treaty of "peace", negotiated with the +Cherokees at the close of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a +crass and hideous blunder. His domineering attitude and +tyrannical treatment of these Indians had aroused the bitterest +animosity. Yet he did not realize that it was no longer safe to +trust their word. No sooner did the governor withdraw his army +from the borders than the cunning Cherokees, whose passions had +been inflamed by what may fairly be called the treacherous +conduct of Lyttelton, rushed down with merciless ferocity upon +the innocent and defenseless families on the frontier. On +February 1, 1760, while a large party (including the family of +Patrick Calhoun), numbering in all about one hundred and fifty +persons, were removing from the Long Cane settlement to Augusta, +they were suddenly attacked by a hundred mounted Cherokees, who +slaughtered about fifty of them. After the massacre, many of the +children were found helplessly wandering in the woods. One man +alone carried to Augusta no less than nine of the pitiful +innocents, some horribly mutilated with the tomahawk, others +scalped, and all yet alive. + +Atrocities defying description continued to be committed, and +many people were slain. The Cherokees, under the leadership of +Si-lou-ee, or the Young Warrior of Estatoe, the Round O, Tiftoe, +and others, were baffled in their persistent efforts to capture +Fort Prince George. On February 16th the crafty Oconostota +appeared before the fort and under the pretext of desiring some +White man to accompany him on a visit to the governor on urgent +business, lured the commander, Lieutenant Coytomore, and two +attendants to a conference outside the gates. At a preconceived +signal a volley of shots rang out; the two attendants were +wounded, and Lieutenant Coytomore, riddled with bullets, fell +dead. Enraged by this act of treachery, the garrison put to death +the Indian hostages within. During the abortive attack upon the +fort, Oconostota, unaware of the murder of the hostages, was +heard shouting above the din of battle: "Fight strong, and you +shall be relieved." + +Now began the dark days along the Rowan border, which were so +sorely to test human endurance. Many refugees fortified +themselves in the different stockades; and Colonel Hugh Waddell +with his redoubtable frontier company of Indian-fighters awaited +the onslaught of the savages, who were reported to have passed +through the mountain defiles and to be approaching along the +foot-hills. The story of the investment of Fort Dobbs and the +splendidly daring sortie of Waddell and Bailey is best told in +Waddell's report to Governor Dobbs (February 29, 1760): + +"For several Days I observed a small party of Indians were +constantly about the fort, I sent out several parties after them +to no purpose, the Evening before last between 8 & 9 o'clock I +found by the Dogs making an uncommon Noise there must be a party +nigh a Spring which we sometimes use. As my Garrison is but +small, and I was apprehensive it might be a scheme to draw out +the Garrison, I took our Capt. Bailie who with myself and party +made up ten: We had not marched 300 yds. from the fort when we +were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. I had given my party +Orders not to fire until I gave the word, which they punctually +observed: We rec'd the Indians' fire: When I perceived they had +almost all fired, I ordered my party to fire which We did not +further than 12 steps each loaded with a Bullet and 7 Buck Shot, +they had nothing to cover them as they were advancing either to +tomahawk us or make us Prisoners: They found the fire very hot +from so small a Number which a good deal confused them: I then +ordered my party to retreat, as I found the Instant our skirmish +began another party had attacked the fort, upon our reinforcing +the garrison the Indians were soon repulsed with I am sure a +considerable Loss, from what I myself saw as well as those I can +confide in they cou'd not have less than 10 or 12 killed and +wounded; The next Morning we found a great deal of Blood and one +dead whom I suppose they cou'd not find in the night. On my side +I had 2 Men wounded one of whom I am afraid will die as he is +scalped, the other is in way of Recovery, and one boy killed near +the fort whom they durst not advance to scalp. I expected they +would have paid me another visit last night, as they attack all +Fortifications by Night, but find they did not like their +Reception." + +Alarmed by Waddell's "offensive-defensive," the Indians abandoned +the siege. Robert Campbell, Waddell's ranger, who was scalped in +this engagement, subsequently recovered from his wounds and was +recompensed by the colony with the sum of twenty pounds. + +In addition to the frontier militia, four independent companies +were now placed under Waddell's command. Companies of volunteers +scoured the woods in search of the lurking Indian foe. These +rangers, who were clad in hunting-shirts and buckskin leggings, +and who employed Indian tactics in fighting, were captained by +such hardy leaders as the veteran Morgan Bryan, the intrepid +Griffith Ruthe ford, the German partisan, Martin Phifer +(Pfeiffer), and Anthony Hampton, the father of General Wade +Hampton. They visited periodically a chain of "forest castles" +erected by the settlers--extending all the way from Fort Dobbs +and the Moravian fortifications in the Wachau to Samuel +Stalnaker's stockade on the Middle Fork of the Holston in +Virginia. About the middle of March, thirty volunteer Rowan +County rangers encountered a band of forty Cherokees, who +fortified themselves in a deserted house near the Catawba River. +The famous scout and hunter, John Perkins, assisted by one of his +bolder companions, crept up to the house and flung lighted +torches upon the roof. One of the Indians, as the smoke became +suffocating and the flames burned hotter, exclaimed: "Better for +one to die bravely than for all to perish miserably in the +flames," and darting forth, dashed rapidly hither and thither, in +order to draw as many shots as possible. This act of superb +self-sacrifice was successful; and while the rifles of the +whites, who riddled the brave Indian with balls, were empty, the +other savages made a wild dash for liberty. Seven fell thus under +the deadly rain of bullets; but many escaped. Ten of the Indians, +all told, lost their scalps, for which the volunteer rangers were +subsequently paid one hundred pounds by the colony of North +Carolina. + +Beaten back from Fort Dobbs, sorely defeated along the Catawba, +hotly pursued by the rangers, the Cherokees continued to lurk in +the shadows of the dense forests, and at every opportunity to +fall suddenly upon way faring settlers and isolated cabins remote +from any stronghold. On March 8th William Fish, his son, and +Thompson, a companion, were riding along the "trace," in search +of provisions for a group of families fortified on the Yadkin, +when a flight of arrows hurtled from the cane-brake, and Fish and +his son fell dead. Although pierced with two arrows, one in the +hip and one clean through his body, Thompson escaped upon his +fleet horse; and after a night of ghastly suffering finally +reached the Carolina Fort at Bethabara. The good Dr. Bonn, by +skilfully extracting the barbed shafts from his body, saved +Thompson's life. The pious Moravians rejoiced over the recovery +of the brave messenger, whose sensational arrival gave them +timely warning of the close proximity of the Indians. While +feeding their cattle, settlers were shot from ambush by the +lurking foe; and on March 11th, a family barricaded within a +burning house, which they were defending with desperate courage, +were rescued in the nick of time by the militia. No episode from +Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales surpasses in melancholy +interest Harry Hicks's heroic defense of his little fort on Bean +Island Creek. Surrounded by the Indians, Hicks and his family +took refuge within the small outer palisade around his humble +home. Fighting desperately against terrific odds, he was finally +driven from his yard into his log cabin, which he continued to +defend with dauntless courage. With every shot he tried to send a +redskin to the happy hunting-grounds; and it was only after his +powder was exhausted that he fell, fighting to the last, beneath +the deadly tomahawk. So impressed were the Indians by his bravery +that they spared the life of his wife and his little son; and +these were afterward rescued by Waddell when he marched to the +Cherokee towns in 1761. + +The kindly Moravians had always entertained with generous +hospitality the roving bands of Cherokees, who accordingly held +them in much esteem and spoke of Bethabara as "the Dutch Fort, +where there are good people and much bread." But now, in these +dread days, the truth of their daily text was brought forcibly +home to the Moravians: "Neither Nehemiah nor his brethren put off +their clothes, but prayed as they watched." With Bible in one +hand and rifle in the other, the inhabitant of Wachovia sternly +marched to religious worship. No Puritan of bleak New England +ever showed more resolute courage or greater will to defend the +hard-won outpost of civilization than did the pious Moravian of +the Wachau. At the new settlement of Bethania on Easter Day, more +than four hundred souls, including sixty rangers, listened +devoutly to the eloquent sermon of Bishop Spangenberg concerning +the way of salvation--the while their arms, stacked without the +Gemein Haus, were guarded by the watchful sentinel. On March 14th +the watchmen at Bethania with well-aimed shots repelled the +Indians, whose hideous yells of baffled rage sounded down the +wind like "the howling of a hundred wolves". Religion was no +protection against the savages; for three ministers journeying to +the present site of Salem were set upon by the red men--one +escaping, another suffering capture, and the third, a Baptist, +losing his life. A little later word came to Fort Dobbs that John +Long and Robert Gillespie of Salisbury had been shot from ambush +and scalped--Long having been pierced with eight bullets and +Gillespie with seven. + +There is one beautiful incident recorded by the Moravians, which +has a truly symbolic significance. While the war was at its +height, a strong party of Cherokees, who had lost their chief, +planned in retaliation to attack Bethabara. "When they went +home," sets forth the Moravian Diary, "they said they had been to +a great town, where there were a great many people, where the +bells rang often, and during the night, time after time, a horn +was blown, so that they feared to attack the town and had taken +no prisoners." The trumpet of the watchman, announcing the +passing of the hour, had convinced the Indians that their plans +for attack were discovered; and the regular evening bell, +summoning the pious to prayer, rang in the stricken ears of the +red men like the clamant call to arms. + +Following the retirement from office of Governor Lyttelton, +Lieutenant-Governor Bull proceeded to prosecute the war with +vigor. On April 1, 1760, twelve hundred men under Colonel +Archibald Montgomerie arrived at Charleston, with instructions to +strike an immediate blow and to relieve Fort Loudon, then +invested by the Cherokees. With his own force, two hundred and +ninety-five South Carolina Rangers, forty picked men of the new +"levies," and "a good number of guides," Montgomerie moved from +Fort Ninety-Six on May 28th. On the first of June, crossing +Twelve-Mile River, Montgomerie began the campaign in earnest, +devastating and burning every Indian village in the Valley of +Keowee, killing and capturing more than a hundred of the +Cherokees, and destroying immense stores of corn. Receiving no +reply to his summons to the Cherokees of the Middle and Upper +Towns to make peace or suffer like treatment, Montgomerie took up +his march from Fort Prince George on June 24th, resolved to carry +out his threat. On the morning of the 27th, he was drawn into an +ambuscade within six miles of Et-chow-ee, eight miles south of +the present Franklin, North Carolina, a mile and a half below +Smith's Bridge, and was vigorously attacked from dense cover by +some six hundred and thirty warriors led by Si-lou-ee. Fighting +with Indian tactics, the Provincial Rangers under Patrick Calhoun +particularly distinguished themselves; and the bloodcurdling +yells of the painted savages were responded to by the wild huzzas +of the kilted Highlanders who, waving their Scotch bonnets, +impetuously charged the redskins and drove them again and again +from their lurking-places. Nevertheless Montgomerie lost from +eighty to one hundred in killed and wounded, while the loss of +the Indians was supposed to be about half the loss of the whites. +Unable to care for his wounded and lacking the means of removing +his baggage, Montgomerie silently withdrew his forces. In so +doing, he acknowledged defeat, since he was compelled to abandon +his original intention of relieving the beleaguered garrison of +Fort London. + +Captain Demere and his devoted little band, who had been +resolutely holding out, were now left to their tragic fate. After +the bread was exhausted, the garrison was reduced to the +necessity of eating dogs and horses; and the loyal aid of the +Indian wives of some of the garrison, who secretly brought them +supplies of food daily, enabled them to hold out still longer. +Realizing at last the futility of prolonging the hopeless +contest, Captain Demere surrendered the fort on August 8, 1760. +At daylight the next morning, while on the march to Fort Prince +George, the soldiers were set upon by the treacherous Cherokees, +who at the first onset killed Captain Demere and twenty-nine +others. A humane chieftain, Outassitus, says one of the gazettes +of the day, "went around the field calling upon the Indians to +desist, and making such representations to them as stopped the +further progress and effects of their barbarous and brutal rage," +which expressed itself in scalping and hacking off the arms and +legs of the defenseless whites. Atta-kulla-kulla, who was +friendly to the whites, claimed Captain Stuart, the second +officer, as his captive, and bore him away by stealth. After nine +days' journey through the wilderness they encountered an advance +party under Major Andrew Lewis, sent out by Colonel Byrd, head of +a relieving army, to rescue and succor any of the garrison who +might effect their escape. Thus Stuart was restored to his +friends. This abortive and tragic campaign, in which the victory +lay conclusively with the Indians, ended when Byrd disbanded his +new levies and Montgomerie sailed from Charleston for the north +(August, 1760). + +During the remainder of the year, the province of North Carolina +remained free of further alarms from the Indians. But the view +was generally entertained that one more joint Effort of North +Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia would have to be made in +order to humble the Cherokees. At the sessions of the North +Carolina Assembly in November and again in December, matters in +dispute between Governor Dobbs and the representatives of the +people made impossible the passage of a proposed aid bill, +providing for five hundred men to cooperate with Virginia and +South Carolina. Nevertheless volunteers in large numbers +patriotically marched from North Carolina to Charleston and the +Congaree (December, 1760, to April, 1761), to enlist in the +famous regiment being organized by Colonel Thomas Middleton. On +March 31, 1761, Governor Dobbs called together the Assembly to +act upon a letter received from General Amherst, outlining a more +vigorous plan of campaign appropriate to the succession of a +young and vigorous sovereign, George III. An aid bill was passed, +providing twenty thousand pounds for men and supplies; and one +regiment of five companies of one hundred men each, under the +command of Colonel Hugh Waddell, was mustered into service for +seven months' duty, beginning May 1, 1761. + +On July 7, 1761, Colonel James Grant, detached from the main army +in command of a force of twenty-six hundred men, took up his +march from Fort Prince George. Attacked on June l0th two miles +south of the spot where Montgomerie was engaged the preceding +year, Grant's army, after a vigorous engagement lasting several +hours, drove off the Indians. The army then proceeded at leisure +to lay waste the fifteen towns of the Middle Settlements; and, +after this work of systematic devastation was over, returned to +Fort Prince George. Peace was concluded in September as the +result of this campaign; and in consequence the frontier was +pushed seventy miles farther to the west. + +Meantime, Colonel Waddell with his force of five hundred North +Carolinians had acted in concert with Colonel William Byrd, +commanding the Virginia detachment. The combined forces went into +camp at Captain Samuel Stalnaker's old place on the Middle Fork +of Holston. Because of his deliberately dilatory policy, Byrd was +superseded in the command by Colonel Adam Stephen. Marching their +forces to the Long Island of Holston, Stephen and Waddell erected +there Fort Robinson, in compliance with the instructions of +Governor Fauquier, of Virginia. The Cherokees, heartily tired of +the war, now sued for peace, which was concluded, independent of +the treaty at Charleston, on November 19, 1761. + +The successful termination of this campaign had an effect of +signal importance in the development of the expansionist spirit. +The rich and beautiful lands which fell under the eye of the +North Carolina and Virginia pioneers under Waddell, Byrd, and +Stephen, lured them irresistibly on to wider casts for fortune +and bolder explorations into the unknown, beckoning West. + + + +CHAPTER VII. The Land Companies + +It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as +possible, and that the granting them to men of the first +consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large +bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of +effecting the end proposed.--Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia +to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. + + +Although for several decades the Virginia traders had been +passing over the Great Trading Path to the towns of the Cherokees +and the Catawbas, it was not until the early years of the +eighteenth century that Virginians of imaginative vision directed +their eyes to the westward, intent upon crossing the mountains +and locating settlements as a firm barrier against the +imperialistic designs of France. Acting upon his oft-expressed +conviction that once the English settlers had established +themselves at the source of the James River "it would not be in +the power of the French to dislodge them," Governor Alexander +Spotswood in 1716, animated with the spirit of the pioneer, led +an expedition of fifty men and a train of pack-horses to the +mountains, arduously ascended to the summit of the Blue Ridge, +and claimed the country by right of discovery in behalf of his +sovereign. In the journal of John Fontaine this vivacious account +is given of the historic episode: "I graved my name on a tree by +the river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper +enclosed on which he writ that he took possession of this place +in the name and for King George the First of England. We had a +good dinner, and after it we got the men together and loaded all +their arms and we drank the King's health in Burgundy and fired a +volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family in claret and a +volley. We drank the Governor's health and fired another volley." + +By this jovial picnic, which the governor afterward commemorated +by presenting to each of the gentlemen who accompanied him a +golden horseshoe, inscribed with the legend, Sic juvat +transcendere montes, Alexander Spotswood anticipated by a third +of a century the more ambitious expedition on behalf of France by +Celoron de Bienville (see Chapter III), and gave a memorable +object-lesson in the true spirit of westward expansion. During +the ensuing years it began to dawn upon the minds of men of the +stamp of William Byrd and Joshua Gee that there was imperative +need for the establishment of a chain of settlements in the +trans-Alleghany, a great human wall to withstand the advancing +wave of French influence and occupation. By the fifth decade of +the century, as we have seen, the Virginia settlers, with their +squatter's claims and tomahawk rights, had pushed on to the +mountains; and great pressure was brought to bear upon the +council to issue grants for vast tracts of land in the uncharted +wilderness of the interior. + +At this period the English ministry adopted the aggressive policy +already mentioned in connection with the French and Indian war, +indicative of a determination to contest with France the right to +occupy the interior of the continent. This policy had been +inaugurated by Virginia with the express purpose of stimulating +the adoption of a similar policy by North Carolina and +Pennsylvania. Two land companies, organized almost +simultaneously, actively promoted the preliminaries necessary to +settlement, despatching parties under expert leadership to +discover the passes through the mountains and to locate the best +land in the trans-Alleghany. + +In June, 1749, a great corporation, the Loyal Land Company of +Virginia, received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres above +the North Carolina line and west of the mountains. Dr. Thomas +Walker, an expert surveyor, who in company with several other +gentlemen had made a tour of exploration through eastern +Tennessee and the Holston region in 1748, was chosen as the agent +of this company. Starting from his home in Albemarle County, +Virginia, March 6, 1750, accompanied by five stalwart pioneers, +Walker made a tour of exploration to the westward, being absent +four months and one week. On this journey, which carried the +party as far west as the Rockcastle River (May 11th) and as far +north as the present Paintsville, Kentucky, they named many +natural objects, such as mountains and rivers, after members of +the party. Their two principal achievements were the erection of +the first house built by white men between the Cumberland +Mountains and the Ohio River a feat, however, which led to no +important developments; and the discovery of the wonderful gap in +the Alleghanies to which Walker gave the name Cumberland, in +honor of the ruthless conqueror at Culloden, the "bloody duke." + +In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized by Colonel Thomas Lee, +president of the Virginia council, and twelve other gentlemen, of +Virginia and Maryland. In their petition for five hundred +thousand acres, one of the declared objects of the company was +"to anticipate the French by taking possession of that country +southward of the Lakes to which the French had no right . . . ." +By the royal order of May 19, 1749, the company was awarded two +hundred thousand acres, free of quit-rent for ten years; and the +promise was made of an additional award of the remainder +petitioned for, on condition of seating a hundred families upon +the original grant and the building and maintaining of a fort. +Christopher Gist, summoned from his remote home on the Yadkin in +North Carolina, was instructed "to search out and discover the +Lands upon the river Ohio & other adjoining branches of the +Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof." In this +journey, which began at Colonel Thomas Cresap's, in Maryland, in +October, 1750, and ended at Gist's home on May 18, 1751, Gist +visited the Lower Shawnee Town and the Lower Blue Licks, ascended +Pilot Knob almost two decades before Find lay and Boone, from the +same eminence, "saw with pleasure the beautiful level of +Kentucky," intersected Walker's route at two points, and crossed +Cumberland Mountain at Pound Gap on the return journey. This was +a far more extended journey than Walker's, enabling Gist to +explore the fertile valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Miami +rivers and to gain a view of the beautiful meadows of Kentucky. + +It is eminently significant of the spirit of the age, which was +inaugurating an era of land hunger unparalleled in American +history, that the first authentic records of the trans-Alleghany +were made by surveyors who visited the country as the agents of +great land companies. The outbreak of the French and Indian War +so soon afterward delayed for a decade and more any important +colonization of the West. Indeed, the explorations and findings +of Walker and Gist were almost unknown, even to the companies +they represented. But the conclusion of peace in 1763, which gave +all the region between the mountains and the Mississippi to the +British, heralded the true beginning of the westward expansionist +movement in the Old Southwest, and inaugurated the constructive +leadership of North Carolina in f he occupation and colonization +of the imperial domain of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. + +In the middle years of the century many families of Virginia +gentry removed to the back country of North Carolina in the +fertile region ranging from Williamsborough on the east to +Hillsborough on the west. There soon arose in this section of the +colony a society marked by intellectual distinction, social +graces, and the leisured dignity of the landlord and the large +planter. So conspicuous for means, intellect, culture, and +refinement were the people of this group, having "abundance of +wealth and leisure for enjoyment," that Governor Josiah Martin, +in passing through this region some years later, significantly +observes: "They have great preeminence, as well with respect to +soil and cultivation, as to the manners and condition of the +inhabitants, in which last respect the difference is so great +that one would be led to think them people of another region." +This new wealthy class which was now turning its gaze toward the +unoccupied lands along the frontier was "dominated by the +democratic ideals of pioneers rather than by the aristocratic +tendencies of slave-holding planters." From the cross- +fertilization of the ideas of two social groups--this back- +country gentry, of innate qualities of leadership, democratic +instincts, economic independence, and expansive tendencies, and +the primitive pioneer society of the frontier, frugal in taste, +responsive to leadership, bold, ready, and thorough in execution- +-there evolved the militant American expansion in the Old +Southwest. + +A conspicuous figure in this society of Virginia emigrants was a +young man named Richard Henderson, whose father had removed with +his family from Hanover County, Virginia, to Bute, afterward +Granville County, North Carolina, in 1742. Educated at home by a +private tutor, he began his career as assistant of his father, +Samuel Henderson, the High Sheriff of Granville County; and after +receiving a law-license, quickly acquired an extensive practice. +"Even in the superior courts where oratory and eloquence are as +brilliant and powerful as in Westminster hall," records an +English acquaintance, "he soon became distinguished and eminent, +and his superior genius shone forth with great splendour, and +universal applause." This young attorney, wedded to the daughter +of an Irish lord, often visited Salisbury on his legal circuit; +and here he became well acquainted with Squire Boone, one of the +"Worshipfull Justices," and often appeared in suits before him. +By his son, the nomadic Daniel Boone, conspicuous already for his +solitary wanderings across the dark green mountains to the +sun-lit valleys and boundless hunting-grounds beyond, Henderson +was from time to time regaled with bizarre and fascinating tales +of western exploration; and Boone, in his dark hour of poverty +and distress, when he was heavily involved financially, turned +for aid to this friend and his partner, who composed the law-firm +of Williams and Henderson. + +Boone's vivid descriptions of the paradise of the West stimulated +Henderson's imaginative mind and attracted his attention to the +rich possibilities of unoccupied lands there. While the Board of +Trade in drafting the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, +forbade the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was +specifically reserved to the Indians, it was clearly not their +intention to set permanent western limits to the colonies. The +prevailing opinion among the shrewdest men of the period was well +expressed by George Washington, who wrote his agent for +preempting western lands: "I can never look upon that +proclamation in any other light (but I say this between +ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of +the Indians." And again in 1767: "It (the proclamation of 1763) +must fall, of course, in a few years, especially when those +Indians consent to our occupying the lands. Any person, +therefore, who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out +good lands, and in some measure marking out and distinguishing +them for his own, in order to keep others from settling them, +will never regain it." Washington had added greatly to his +holdings of bounty lands in the West by purchasing at trivial +prices the claims of many of the officers and soldiers. Three +years later we find him surveying extensive tracts along the Ohio +and the Great Kanawha, and, with the vision of the expansionist, +making large plans for the establishment of a colony to be seated +upon his own lands. Henderson, too, recognized the importance of +the great country west of the Appalachians. He agreed with the +opinion of Benjamin Franklin, who in 1756 called it "one of the +finest in North America for the extreme richness and fertility of +the land, the healthy temperature of the air and the mildness of +the climate, the plenty of hunting, fishing and fowling, the +facility of trade with the Indians and the vast convenience of +inland navigation or water carriage." Henderson therefore +proceeded to organize a land company for the purpose of acquiring +and colonizing a large domain in the West. This partnership, +which was entitled Richard Henderson and Company, was composed of +a few associates, including Richard Henderson, his uncle and +law-partner, John Williams, and, in all probability, their close +friends Thomas and Nathaniel Hart of Orange County, North +Carolina, immigrants from Hanover County, Virginia. + +Seizing the opportunity presented just after the conclusion of +peace, the company engaged Daniel Boone as scout and surveyor. He +was instructed, while hunting and trapping on his own account, to +examine, with respect to their location and fertility, the lands +which he visited, and to report his findings upon his return. The +secret expedition must have been transacted with commendable +circumspection; for although in after years it became common +knowledge among his friends that he had acted as the company's +agent, Boone himself consistently refrained from betraying the +confidence of his employers. Upon a similar mission, Gist had +carefully concealed from the suspicious Indians the fact that he +carried a compass, which they wittily termed "land stealer"; and +Washington likewise imposed secrecy upon his land agent Crawford, +insisting that the operation be carried on under the guise of +hunting game." The discreet Boone, taciturn and given to keeping +his own counsel, in one instance at least deemed it advantageous +to communicate the purpose of his mission to some hunters, well +known to him, in order to secure the results of their information +in regard to the best lands they had encountered in the course of +their hunting expedition. Boone came among the hunters, known as +the "Blevens connection," at one of their Tennessee station camps +on their return from a long hunt in Kentucky, in order, as +expressed in the quaint phraseology of the period, to be +"informed of the geography and locography of these woods, saying +that he was employed to explore them by Henderson & Company." The +acquaintance which Boone on this occasion formed with a member of +the party, Henry Scaggs, the skilled hunter and explorer, was +soon to bear fruit; for shortly afterward Scaggs was employed as +prospector by the same land company. In 1764 Scaggs had passed +through Cumberland Gap and hunted for the season on the +Cumberland; and accordingly the following year, as the agent of +Richard Henderson and Company, he was despatched on an extended +exploration to the lower Cumberland, fixing his station at the +salt lick afterward known as Mansker's Lick. + +Richard Henderson thus, it appears, "enlisted the Harts and +others in an enterprise which his own genius planned," says Peck, +the personal acquaintance and biographer of Boone, "and then +encouraged several hunters to explore the country and learn where +the best lands lay." Just why Henderson and his associates did +not act sooner upon the reports brought back by the +hunters--Boone and Scaggs and Callaway, who accompanied Boone in +1764 in the interest of the land company "is not known; but in +all probability the fragmentary nature of these reports, however +glowing and enthusiastic, was sufficient cause for the delay of +five years before the land company, through the agency of Boone +and Findlay, succeeded in having a thorough exploration inside of +the Kentucky region. Delay was also caused by rival claims to the +territory. In the Virginia Gazette of December 1, 1768, Henderson +must have read with astonishment not unmixed with dismay that +"the Six Nations and all their tributaries have granted a vast +extent of country to his majesty, and the Proprietaries of +Pennsylvania, and settled an advantageous boundary line between +their hunting country and this, and the other colonies to the +Southward as far as the Cherokee River, for which they received +the most valuable present in goods and dollars that was ever +given at any conference since the settlement of America." The +news was now bruited about through the colony of North Carolina, +that the Cherokees were hot in their resentment because the +Northern Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees and the +perpetual disputants for the vast Middle Ground of Kentucky, had +received at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, November 5, 1768, an +immense compensation from the crown for the territory which they, +the Cherokees, claimed from time immemorial. Only three weeks +before, John Stuart, Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the +Southern Department, had negotiated with the Cherokees the Treaty +of Hard Labor, South Carolina (October 14th), by which Governor +Tryon's line of 1767, from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, was +continued direct to Colonel Chiswell's mine, the present +Wytheville, Virginia, and thence in a straight Brie to the mouth +of the Great Kanawha. Thus at the close of the year 1768 the +crown through both royal governor and superintendent of Indian +affairs acknowledged in fair and open treaty the right of the +Cherokees, whose Tennessee villages guarded the gateway, to the +valley lands east of the mountain barrier as well as to the dim +mid-region of Kentucky. In the very act of negotiating the Treaty +of Fort Stanwix, Sir William Johnson privately acknowledged that +possession of the trans-Alleghany could be legally obtained only +by extinguishing the title of the Cherokees. + +These conflicting claims soon led to collisions between the +Indians and the company's settlers. In the spring of 1769 +occurred one of those incidents in the westward advance which, +though slight in itself, was to have a definite bearing upon the +course of events in later years. In pursuance of his policy, as +agent of the Loyal Land Company, of promoting settlement upon the +company's lands, Dr. Thomas Walker, who had visited Powell's +Valley the preceding year and come into possession of a very +large tract there, simultaneously made proposals to one party of +men including the Kirtleys, Captain Rucker, and others, and to +another party led by Joseph Martin, trader of Orange County, +Virginia, afterward a striking figure in the Old Southwest. The +fevered race by these bands of eighteenth-century "sooners" for +possession of an early "Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter +band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that +when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly handed them "a letter +from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got to the valley +first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were not to +interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with +the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat +and destroyed 23 deer--15 bears--2 buffaloes and a great quantity +of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland +who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The +company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees, +who, fortified by the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this +country within the Indian reservation, were determined to drive +Martin and his company out. While hunting on the Cumberland +River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, Martin and his company were +surrounded and disarmed by a party of Cherokees who said they had +orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men +hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived at +their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and +their goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse +but to return to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until +six years later that Martin, under the stable influence of the +Transylvania Company, was enabled to return to this spot and +erect there the station which was to play an integral part in the +progress of westward expansion. + +Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under +the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn +back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and +explorers who visited that territory between the time of its +discovery by Walker and Gist and the advent of Boone. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone + +The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of +Virginia & North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when +they intended to make a long Hunt (as they calls it) they +Collected near the head of Holston near whare Abingdon now stands +. . . .--General William Hall. + + +Before the coming of Walker and Gist in 1750 and 1751 +respectively, the region now called Kentucky had, as far as we +know, been twice visited by the French, once in 1729 when +Chaussegros de Lery and his party visited the Big Bone Lick, and +again in the summer of 1749 when the Baron de Longueuil with four +hundred and fifty-two Frenchmen and Indians, going to join +Bienville in an expedition against "the Cherickees and other +Indians lying at the back of Carolina and Georgia," doubtless +encamped on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio. Kentucky was also +traversed by John Peter Salling with his three adventurous +companions in their journey through the Middle West in 1742. But +all these early visits, including the memorable expeditions of +Walker and Gist, were so little known to the general public that +when John Filson wrote the history of Kentucky in 1784 he +attributed its discovery to James McBride in 1754. More +influential upon the course of westward expansion was an +adventure which occurred in 1752, the very year in which the +Boones settled down in their Vadkin home. + +In the autumn of 1752, a Pennsylvania trader, John Findlay, with +three or four companions, descended the Ohio River in a canoe as +far as the falls at the present Louisville, Kentucky, and +accompanied a party of Shawnees to their town of +Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, eleven miles east of what is now Winchester. + +This was the site of the "Indian Old Corn Field," the Iroquois +name for which ("the place of many fields," or "prairie") was Ken +-ta-ke, whence came the name of the state. + +Five miles east of this spot, where still may be seen a mound and +an ellipse showing the outline of the stockade, is the famous +Pilot Knob, from the summit of which the fields surrounding the +town lie visible in their smooth expanse. During Findlay's stay +at the Indian town other traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia, +who reported that they were "on their return from trading with +the Cuttawas (Catawbas), a nation who live in the Territories of +Carolina," assembled in the vicinity in January, 1753. Here, as +the result of disputes arising from their barter, they were set +upon and captured by a large party of straggling Indians +(Coghnawagas from Montreal) on January 26th; but Findlay and +another trader named James Lowry were so fortunate as to escape +and return through the wilderness to the Pennsylvania +settlements." The incident is of important historic significance; +for it was from these traders, who must have followed the Great +Warriors' Path to the country of the Catawbas, that Findlay +learned of the Ouasioto (Cumberland) Gap traversed by the Indian +path. His reminiscences of this gateway to Kentucky, of the site +of the old Indian town on Lulbegrud Creek, a tributary of the Red +River, and of the Pilot Knobwere sixteen years later to fire +Boone to his great tour of exploration in behalf of the +Transylvania Company. + +During the next two decades, largely because of the hostility of +the savage tribes, only a few traders and hunters from the east +ranged through the trans-Alleghany. But in 1761, a party of +hunters led by a rough frontiersman, Elisha Walden, penetrated +into Powell's Valley, followed the Indian trail through +Cumberland Gap, explored the Cumberland River, and finally +reached the Laurel Mountain where, encountering a party of +Indians, they deemed it expedient to return. With Walden went +Henry Scaggs, afterward explorer for the Henderson Land Company, +William Elevens and Charles Cox, the famous Virginia hunters, one +Newman, and some fifteen other stout pioneers. Their itinerary +may be traced from the names given to natural objects in honor of +members of the party--Walden's Mountain and Walden's Creek, +Scaggs' Ridge and Newman's Ridge. Following the peace of 1763, +which made travel in this region moderately safe once more, the +English proceeded to occupy the territory which they had won. In +1765 George Croghan with a small party, on the way to prepare the +inhabitants of the Illinois country for transfer to English +sovereignty, visited the Great Bone Licks of Kentucky (May 30th, +31st); and a year later Captain Harry Gordon, chief engineer in +the Western Department in North America, visited and minutely +described the same licks and the falls. But these, and numerous +other water-journeys and expeditions of which no records were +kept, though interesting enough in themselves, had little bearing +upon the larger phases of westward expansion and colonization. + +The decade opening with the year 1765 is the epoch of bold and +ever bolder exploration--the more adventurous frontiersmen of the +border pushing deep into the wilderness in search of game, lured +on by the excitements of the chase and the profit to be derived +from the sale of peltries. In midsummer, 1766, Captain James +Smith, Joshua Horton, Uriah Stone, William Baker, and a young +mulatto slave passed through Cumberland Gap, hunted through the +country south of the Cherokee and along the Cumberland and +Tennessee rivers, and as Smith reports "found no vestige of any +white man." During the same year a party of five hunters from +South Carolina, led by Isaac Lindsey, penetrated the Kentucky +wilderness to the tributary of the Cumberland, named Stone's +River by the former party, for one of their number. Here they +encountered two men, who were among the greatest of the western +pioneers, and were destined to leave their names in historic +association with the early settlement of Kentucky, James Harrod +and Michael Stoner, a German, both of whom had descended the Ohio +from Fort Pitt. With the year 1769 began those longer and more +extended excursions into the interior which were to result in +conveying at last to the outside world graphic and detailed +information concerning "the wonderful new country of Cantucky." +In the late spring of this year Hancock and Richard Taylor (the +latter the father of President Zachary Taylor), Abraham +Hempinstall, and one Barbour, all true-blue frontiersmen, left +their homes in Orange County, Virginia, and hunted extensively in +Kentucky and Arkansas. Two of the party traveled through Georgia +and East and West Florida; while the other two hunted on the +Washita during the winter of 1770-1. Explorations of this type +became increasingly hazardous as the animosity of the Indians +increased; and from this time onward for a number of years almost +all the parties of roving hunters suffered capture or attack by +the crafty red men. In this same year Major John McCulloch, +living on the south branch of the Potomac, set out accompanied by +a white man-servant and a negro, to explore the western country. +While passing down the Ohio from Pittsburgh McCulloch was +captured by the Indians near the mouth of the Wabash and carried +to the present site of Terre Haute, Indiana. Set free after four +or five months, he journeyed in company with some French +voyageurs first to Natchez and then to New Orleans, whence he +made the sea voyage to Philadelphia. Somewhat later, Benjamin +Cleveland (afterward famous in the Revolution), attended by four +companions, set out from his home on the upper Yadkin to explore +the Kentucky wilderness. After passing through Cumberland Gap, +they encountered a band of Cherokees who plundered them of +everything they had, even to their hats and shoes, and ordered +them to leave the Indian hunting-grounds. On their return journey +they almost starved, and Cleveland, who was reluctantly forced to +kill his faithful little hunting-dog, was wont to declare in +after years that it was the sweetest meat he ever ate. + +Fired to adventure by the glowing accounts brought back by Uriah +Stone, a much more formidable band than any that had hitherto +ventured westward--including Uriah Stone as pilot, Gasper +Mansker, John Rains, Isaac Bledsoe, and a dozen others--assembled +in June, 1769, in the New River region. "Each Man carried two +horses," says an early pioneer in describing one of these +parties, "traps, a large supply of powder and led, and a small +hand vise and bellows, files and screw plate for the purpose of +fixing the guns if any of them should get out of fix." Passing +through Cumberland Gap, they continued their long journey until +they reached Price's Meadow, in the present Wayne County, +Kentucky, where they established their encampment. In the course +of their explorations, during which they gave various names to +prominent natural features, they established their "station camp" +on a creek in Sumner County, Tennessee, whence originated the +name of Station Camp Creek. Isaac Bledsoe and Gasper Mansker, +agreeing to travel from here in opposite directions along a +buffalo trace passing near the camp, each succeeded in +discovering the famous salt-lick which bears his name--namely +Bledsoe's Lick and Mansker's Lick. The flat surrounding the lick, +about one hundred acres in extent, discovered by Bledsoe, +according to his own statement "was principally Covered with +buffelows in every direction--not hundreds but thousands." As he +sat on his horse, he shot down two deer in the lick; but the +buffaloes blindly trod them in the mud. They did not mind him and +his horse except when the wind blew the scent in their nostrils, +when they would break and run in droves. Indians often lurked in +the neighbourhood of these hunters -plundering their camp, +robbing them, and even shooting down one of their number, Robert +Crockett, from ambush. After many trials and vicissitudes, which +included a journey to the Spanish Natchez and the loss of a great +mass of peltries when they were plundered by Piomingo and a war +party of Chickasaws, they finilly reached home in the late spring +of 1770." + +The most notable expedition of this period, projected under the +auspices of two bold leaders extraordinarily skilled in +woodcraft, Joseph Drake and Henry Scaggs, was organized in the +early autumn of 1770. This imposing band of stalwart hunters from +the New River and Holston country, some forty in number, garbed +in hunting shirts, leggings, and moccasins, with three +pack-horses to each man, rifles, ammunition, traps, dogs, +blankets, and salt, pushed boldly through Cumberland Gap into the +heart of what was later justly named the "Dark and Bloody Ground" +(see Chapter XIV)--"not doubting," says an old border chronicler, +"that they were to be encountered by Indians, and to subsist on +game." From the duration of their absence from home, they +received the name of the Long Hunters--the romantic appellation +by which they are known in the pioneer history of the Old +Southwest. Many natural objects were named by this party--in +particular Dick's River, after the noted Cherokee hunter, Captain +Dick, who, pleased to be recognized by Charles Scaggs, told the +Long Hunters that on HIS river, pointing it out, they would find +meat plenty--adding with laconic signifigance: "Kill it and go +home." From the Knob Lick, in Lincoln County, as reported by a +member of the party, "they beheld largely over a thousand +animals, including buffaloe, elk, bear, and deer, with many wild +turkies scattered among them; all quite restless, some playing, +and others busily employed in licking the earth . . . . The +buffaloe and other animals had so eaten away the soil, that they +could, in places, go entirely underground." Upon the return of a +detachment to Virginia, fourteen fearless hunters chose to +remain; and one day, during the absence of some of the band upon +a long exploring trip, the camp was attacked by a straggling +party of Indians under Will Emery, a halfbreed Cherokee. Two of +the hunters were carried into captivity and never heard of again; +a third managed to escape. In embittered commemoration of the +plunder of the camp and the destruction of the peltries, they +inscribed upon a poplar, which had lost its bark, this emphatic +record, followed by their names: + +2300 Deer Skins lost Ruination by God + +Undismayed by this depressing stroke of fortune, they continued +their hunt in the direction of the lick which Bledsoe had +discovered the preceding year. Shortly after this discovery, a +French voyageur from the Illinois who had hunted and traded in +this region for a decade, Timothe de Monbreun, subsequently +famous in the history of Tennessee, had visited the lick and +killed an enormous number of buffaloes for their tallow and +tongues with which he and his companion loaded a keel boat and +descended the Cumberland. An early pioneer, William Hall, learned +from Isaac Bledsoe that when "the long hunters Crossed the ridge +and came down on Bledsoe's Creek in four or five miles of the +Lick the Cane had grown up so thick in the woods that they +thought they had mistaken the place until they Came to the Lick +and saw what had been done . . . . One could walk for several +hundred yards a round the Lick and in the lick on buffellows +Skuls, & bones and the whole flat round the Lick was bleached +with buffellows bones, and they found out the Cause of the Canes +growing up so suddenly a few miles around the Lick which was in +Consequence of so many buffellows being killed." + +This expedition was of genuine importance, opening the eyes of +the frontiersmen to the charms of the country and influencing +many to settle subsequently in the West, some in Tennessee, some +in Kentucky. The elaborate and detailed information brought back +by Henry Scaggs exerted an appreciable influence, no doubt, in +accelerating the plans of Richard Henderson and Company for the +acquisition and colonization of the trans-Alleghany. But while +the "Long Hunters" were in Tennessee and Kentucky the same region +was being more extensively and systematically explored by Daniel +Boone. To his life, character, and attainments, as the typical +"long hunter" and the most influential pioneer we may now turn +our particular attention. + + + +CHAPTER IX. Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration + +Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; +where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the +distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and +adorations of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the +miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities +laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the +greatest upon earth.--Daniel Boone, 1781. + + +The wandering life of a border Nimrod in a surpassingly beautiful +country teeming with game was the ideal of the frontiersman of +the eighteenth century. AS early as 1728, while running the +dividing line between North Carolina and Virginia, William Byrd +encountered along the North Carolina frontier the typical figure +of the professional hunter: "a famous Woodsman, call'd +Epaphroditus Bainton. This Forester Spends all his time in +ranging the Woods, and is said to make great Havock among the +Deer, and other Inhabitants of the Forest, not much wilder than +himself." By the middle of the century, as he was threading his +way through the Carolina piedmont zone, the hunter's paradise of +the Yadkin and Catawba country, Bishop Spangenberg found ranging +there many hunters, living like Indians, who killed thousands of +deer each year and sold the skins in the local markets or to the +fur-traders from Virginia whose heavy pack-trains with their +tinkling bells constantly traversed the course of the Great +Trading Path. The superlative skill of one of these hunters, both +as woodsman and marksman, was proverbial along the border. The +name of Daniel Boone became synonymous with expert huntsmanship +and almost uncanny wisdom in forest lore. The bottoms of the +creek near the Boone home, three miles west of present +Mocksville, contained a heavy growth of beech, which dropped +large quantities of its rich nuts or mast, greatly relished by +bears; and this creek received its name, Bear Creek, because +Daniel and his father killed in its rich bottoms ninety-nine +bears in a single hunting-season. After living for a time with +his young wife, Rebecca Bryan, in a cabin in his father's yard, +Daniel built a home of his own upon a tract of land, purchased +from his father on October 12, 1759, and lying on Sugar Tree, a +tributary of Dutchman's Creek. Here he dwelt for the next five +years, with the exception of the period of his temporary removal +to Virginia during the terrible era of the Indian war. Most of +his time during the autumn and winter, when he was not engaged in +wagoning or farming, he spent in long hunting-journeys into the +mountains to the west and northwest. During the hunting-season of +1760 he struck deeper than ever before into the western mountain +region and encamped in a natural rocky shelter amidst fine +hunting-grounds, in what is now Washington County in east +Tennessee. Of the scores of inscriptions commemorative of his +hunting-feats, which Boone with pardonable pride was accustomed +throughout his life time to engrave with his hunting-knife upon +trees and rocks, the earliest known is found upon a leaning beech +tree, only recently fallen, near his camp and the creek which +since that day has borne his name. This is a characteristic and +enduring record in the history of American exploration + + D. Boon +CillED A. BAR On + Tree + in The + yEAR + 1760 + +Late in the summer of the following year Boone marched under the +command of the noted Indian-fighter of the border, Colonel Hugh +Waddell, in his campaign against the Cherokees. From the lips of +Waddell, who was outspoken in his condemnation of Byrd's futile +delays in road-cutting and fort-building, Boone learned the true +secret of success in Indian warfare, which was lost upon +Braddock, Forbes, and later St. Clair: that the art of defeating +red men was to deal them a sudden and unexpected blow, before +they had time either to learn the strength of the force employed +against them or to lay with subtle craft their artful ambuscade. + +In the late autumn of 1761, Daniel Boone and Nathaniel Gist, the +son of Washington's famous guide, who were both serving under +Waddell, temporarily detached themselves from his command and led +a small party on a "long hunt" in the Valley of the Holston, +While encamping near the site of Black's Fort, subsequently +built, they were violently assailed by a pack of fierce wolves +which they had considerable difficulty in beating off; and from +this incident the locality became known as Wolf Hills (now +Abingdon, Virginia). + + +From this time forward Boone's roving instincts had full sway. +For many months each year he threaded his way through that +marvelously beautiful country of western North Carolina +felicitously described as the Switzerland of America. Boone's +love of solitude and the murmuring forest was surely inspired by +the phenomenal beauties of the country' through which he roamed +at will. Blowing Rock on one arm of a great horseshoe of +mountains and Tryon Mountain upon the other arm, overlooked an +enormous, primeval bowl, studded by a thousand emerald-clad +eminences. There was the Pilot Mountain, the towering and +isolated pile which from time immemorial had served the +aborigines as a guide in their forest wanderings; there was the +dizzy height of the Roan on the border; there was Mt. Mitchell, +portentous in its grandeur, the tallest peak on the continent +east of the Rockies; and there was the Grandfather, the oldest +mountain on earth according to geologists, of which it has been +written: + +Oldest of all terrestrial things--still holding +Thy wrinkled forehead high; +Whose every scam, earth's history enfolding, +Grim science doth defy! + +Thou caught'st the far faint ray from Sirius rising, +When through space first was hurled +The primal gloom of ancient voids surprising, +This atom, called the World! + +What more gratifying to the eye of the wanderer than the +luxuriant vegetation and lavish profusion of the gorgeous flowers +upon the mountain slopes, radiant rhododendron, rosebay, and +laurel, and the azalea rising like flame; or the rare beauties of +the water--the cataract of Linville, taking its shimmering leap +into the gorge, and that romantic river poetically celebrated in +the lines: + +Swannanoa, nymph of beauty, +I would woo thee in my rhyme, +Wildest, brightest, loveliest river +Of our sunny Southern clime. + * * * +Gone forever from the borders +But immortal in thy name, +Are the Red Men of the forest +Be thou keeper of their fame! +Paler races dwell beside thee, +Celt and Saxon till thy lands +Wedding use unto thy beauty +Linking over thee their hands. + +The long rambling excursions which Boone made through western +North Carolina and eastern Tennessee enabled him to explore every +nook and corner of the rugged and beautiful mountain region. +Among the companions and contemporaries with whom he hunted and +explored the country were his little son James and his brother +Jesse; the Linville who gave the name to the beautiful falls; +Julius Caesar Dugger, whose rock house stood near the head of Elk +Creek; and Nathaniel Gist, who described for him the lofty +gateway to Kentucky, through which Christopher Gist had passed in +1751. Boone had already heard of this gateway, from Findlay, and +it was one of the secret and cherished ambitions of his life to +scale the mountain wall of the Appalachians and to reach that +high portal of the Cumberland which beckoned to the mysterious +new Eden beyond. Although hunting was an endless delight to Boone +he was haunted in the midst of this pleasure, as was Kipling's +Explorer, by the lure of the undiscovered: + +Till a voice as bad as conscience, rang interminable changes +On one everlasting whisper day and night repeated--so: +'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges- +- +'Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go.' + +Of Boone's preliminary explorations for the land company known as +Richard Henderson and Company, an account has already been given; +and the delay in following them up has been touched on and in +part explained. Meanwhile Boone transferred his efforts for a +time to another field. Toward the close of the summer of 1765 a +party consisting of Major John Field, William Hill, one +Slaughter, and two others, all from Culpeper County, Virginia, +visited Boone and induced him to accompany them on the "long +Journey" to Florida, whither they were attracted by the liberal +offer of Colonel James Grant, governor of the eastern section, +the Florida of to-day. On this long and arduous expedition they +suffered many hardships and endured many privations, found little +game, and on one occasion narrowly escaped starvation. They +explored Florida from St. Augustine to Pensacola; and Boone, who +relished fresh scenes and a new environment, purchased a house +and lot in Pensacola in anticipation of removal thither. But upon +his return home, finding his wife unwilling to go, Boone once +more turned his eager eye toward the West, that mysterious and +alluring region beyond the great range, the fabled paradise of +Kentucky. + +The following year four young men from the Yadkin, Benjamin +Cutbird, John Stewart (Boone's brother-in-law who afterwards +accompanied him to Kentucky), John Baker, and James Ward made a +remarkable journey to the westward, crossing the Appalachian +mountain chain over some unknown route, and finally reaching the +Mississippi. The significance of the journey, in its bearing upon +westward expansion, inheres in the fact that while for more than +half a century the English traders from South Carolina had been +winning their way to the Mississippi along the lower routes and +Indian trails, this was the first party from either of the +Carolinas, as far as is known, that ever reached the Mississippi +by crossing the great mountain barrier. When Cutbird, a superb +woodsman and veritable Leather stocking, narrated to Boone the +story of his adventures, it only confirmed Boone in his +determination to find the passage through the mountain chain +leading to the Mesopotamia of Kentucky. + +Such an enterprise was attended by terrible dangers. During 1766 +and 1767 the steady encroachments of the white settlers upon the +ancestral domain which the Indians reserved for their imperial +hunting-preserve aroused bitter feelings of resentment among the +red men. Bloody reprisal was often the sequel to such +encroachment. The vast region of Tennessee and the +trans-Alleghany was a twilight zone, through which the savages +roamed at will. From time to time war parties of northern +Indians, the inveterate foes of the Cherokees, scouted through +this no-man's land and even penetrated into the western region of +North Carolina, committing murders and depredations upon the +Cherokees and the whites indiscriminately. During the summer of +1766, while Boone's friend and close connection, Captain William +Linville, his son John, and another young man, named John +Williams, were in camp some ten miles below Linville Falls, they +were unexpectedly fired upon by a hostile band of Northern +Indians, and before they had time to fire a shot, a second volley +killed both the Linvilles and severely wounded Williams, who +after extraordinary sufferings finally reached the settlements." +In May, 1767, four traders and a half-breed child of one of them +were killed in the Cherokee country. In the summer of this year +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina laid out the boundary +line of the Cherokees, and upon his return issued a proclamation +forbidding any purchase of land from the Indians and any issuance +of grants for land within one mile of the boundary line. Despite +this wise precaution, seven North Carolina hunters who during the +following September had lawlessly ventured into the mountain +region some sixty miles beyond the boundary were fired upon, and +several of them killed, by the resentful Cherokees Undismayed by +these signs of impending danger, undeterred even by the tragic +fate of the Linvilles, Daniel Boone, with the determination of +the indomitable pioneer, never dreamed of relinquishing his +long-cherished design. Discouraged by the steady disappearance of +game under the ruthless attack of innumerable hunters, Boone +continued to direct his thoughts toward the project of exploring +the fair region of Kentucky. The adventurous William Hill, to +whom Boone communicated his purpose, readily consented to go with +him; and in the autumn of 1768 Boone and Hill, accompanied, it is +believed, by Squire Boone, Daniel's brother, set forth upon their +almost inconceivably hazardous expedition. They crossed the Blue +Ridge and the Alleghanies, the Holston and Clinch rivers near +their sources, and finally reached the head waters of the West +Fork of the Big Sand. Surmising from its course that this stream +must flow into the Ohio, they pushed on a hundred miles to the +westward and finally, by following a buffalo path, reached a +salt-spring in what is now Floyd County, in the extreme eastern +section of Kentucky. Here Boone beheld great droves of buffalo +that visited the salt-spring to drink the water or lick the +brackish soil. After spending the winter in hunting and trapping, +the Boones and Hill, discouraged by the forbidding aspect of the +hill-country which with its dense growth of laurel was +exceedingly difficult to penetrate, abandoned all hope of finding +Kentucky by this route and wended their arduous way back to the +Yadkin. + +The account of Boone's subsequent accomplishment of his purpose +must be postponed to the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER X. Daniel Boone in Kentucky + +He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San +Salvador; as Cortes, looking down, from the crest of Ahualco, on +the Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nunez, standing alone on the peak +of Darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered +waters of the Pacific.---William Gilmore Simms: Views and +Reviews. + + +A chance acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, during the French +and Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, John Findlay, +was the origin of Boone's cherished longing to reach the El +Dorado of the West. In this slight incident we may discern the +initial inspiration for the epochal movement of westward +expansion. Findlay was a trader and horse peddler, who had early +migrated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had been licensed a trader +with the Indians in 1747. During the same year he was married to +Elizabeth Harris, daughter of John Harris, the Indian-trader at +Harris's Ferry on the Susquehanna River, after whom Harrisburg +was named. During the next eight years Findlay carried on his +business of trading in the interior. Upon the opening of the +French and Indian War he was probably among "the young men about +Paxtang who enlisted immediately," and served as a waggoner in +Braddock's expedition. Over the campfires, during the ensuing +campaign in 1765, young Boone was an eager listener to Findlay's +stirring narrative of his adventures in the Ohio Valley and on +the wonderfully beautiful levels of Kentucky in 1752. The fancies +aroused in his brooding mind by Findlay's moving recital and his +description of an ancient passage through the Ouasioto or +Cumberland Gap and along the course of the Warrior's Path, +inspired him with an irrepressible longing to reach that alluring +promised land which was the perfect realization of the hunter's +paradise. + +Thirteen years later, while engaged in selling pins, needles, +thread, and Irish linens in the Yadkin country, Findlay learned +from the Pennsylvania settlers at Salisbury or at the Forks of +the Yadkin of Boone's removal to the waters of the upper Yadkin. +At Boone's rustic home, in the winter of 1768-9, Findlay visited +his old comrade-in-arms of Braddock's campaign. On learning of +Boone's failure during the preceding year to reach the Kentucky +levels by way of the inhospitable Sandy region, Findlay again +described to him the route through the Ouasioto Gap traversed +sixteen years before by Pennsylvania traders in their traffic +with the Catawbas. Boone, as we have seen, knew that Christopher +Gist, who had formerly lived near him on the upper Yadkin, had +found some passage through the lofty mountain defiles; but he had +never been able to discover the passage. Findlay's renewed +descriptions of the immense herds of buffaloes he had seen in +Kentucky, the great salt-licks where they congregated, the +abundance of bears, deer, and elk with which the country teemed, +the innumerable flocks of wild turkeys, geese, and ducks, aroused +in Boone the hunter's passion for the chase; while the beauty of +the lands, as mirrored in the vivid fancy of the Irishman, +inspired him with a new longing to explore the famous country +which had, as John Filson records, "greatly engaged Mr. Findlay's +attention." + +In the comprehensive designs of Henderson, now a judge, for +securing a "graphic report of the trans-Alleghany region in +behalf of his land company", Boone divined the means of securing +the financial backing for an expedition of considerable size and +ample equipment. In numerous suits for debt, aggregating hundreds +of dollars, which had been instituted against Boone by some of +the leading citizens of Rowan, Williams and Henderson had acted +as Boone's attorneys. In order to collect their legal fees, they +likewise brought suit against Boone; but not wishing to press the +action against the kindly scout who had hitherto acted as their +agent in western exploration, they continued the litigation from +court to court, in lieu of certain "conditions performed" on +behalf of Boone, during his unbroken absence, by his attorney in +this suit, Alexander Martin. Summoned to appear in 1769 at the +March term of court at Salisbury, Boone seized upon the occasion +to lay before Judge Henderson the designs for a renewed and +extended exploration of Kentucky suggested by the golden +opportunity of securing the services of Findlay as guide. Shortly +after March 6th, when Judge Henderson reached Salisbury, the +conference, doubtless attended by John Stewart, Boone's +brother-in-law, John Findlay, and Boone, who were all present at +this term of court, must have been held, for the purpose of +devising ways and means for the expedition. Peck, the only +reliable contemporary biographer of the pioneer, who derived many +facts from Boone himself and his intimate acquaintances, draws +the conclusion (1847): "Daniel Boone was engaged as the master +spirit of this exploration, because in his judgment and fidelity +entire confidence could be reposed . . . . He was known to +Henderson and encouraged by him to make the exploration, and to +examine particularly the whole country south of the Kentucky--or +as then called the Louisa River." As confidential agent of the +land company, Boone carried with him letters and instructions for +his guidance upon this extended tour of exploration." + +On May 1, 1769, with Findlay as guide, and accompanied by four of +his neighbors, John Stewart, a skilled woodsman, Joseph Holden, +James Mooney, and William Cooley, Boone left his "peaceable +habitation" on the upper Yadkin and began his historic journey +"in quest of the country of Kentucky." Already heavily burdened +with debts, Boone must have incurred considerable further +financial obligations to Judge Henderson and Colonel Williams, +acting for the land company, in order to obtain the large amount +of supplies requisite for so prolonged an expedition. Each of the +adventurers rode a good horse of strength and endurance; and +behind him were securely strapped the blanket, ammunition, salt, +and cooking-utensils so indispensable for a long sojourn in the +wilderness. In Powell's Valley they doubtless encountered the +party led thither by Joseph Martin (see Chapter VII), and there +fell into the "Hunter's Trail" commented on in a letter written +by Martin only a fortnight before the passing of Boone's +cavalcade. Crossing the mountain at the Ouasioto Gap, they made +their first "station camp" in Kentucky on the creek, still named +after that circumstance, on the Red Lick Fork. After a +preliminary journey for the purpose of locating the spot, Findlay +led the party to his old trading-camp at Es-kip-pa-ki-thi-ki, +where then (June 7, 1769) remained but charred embers of the +Indian huts, with some of the stockading and the gate-posts still +standing. In Boone's own words, he and Findlay at once "proceeded +to take a more thorough survey of the country;" and during the +autumn and early winter, encountering on every hand apparently +inexhaustible stocks of wild game and noting the ever-changing +beauties of the country, the various members of the party made +many hunting and exploring journeys from their "station camp" as +base. On December 22, 1769, while engaged in a hunt, Boone and +Stewart were surprised and captured by a large party of +Shawanoes, led by Captain Will, who were returning from the +autumn hunt on Green River to their villages north of the Ohio. +Boone and Stewart were forced to pilot the Indians to their main +camp, where the savages, after robbing them of all their peltries +and supplies and leaving them inferior guns and little +ammunition, set off to the northward. They left, on parting, this +menacing admonition to the white intruders: "Now, brothers, go +home and stay there. Don't come here any more, for this is the +Indians' hunting-ground, and all the animals, skins, and furs are +ours. If you are so foolish as to venture here again, you may be +sure the wasps and yellow jackets will sting you severely." + +Chagrined particularly by the loss of the horses, Boone and +Stewart for two days pursued the Indians in hot haste. Finally +approaching the Indians' camp by stealth in the dead of night, +they secured two of the horses, upon which they fled at top +speed. In turn they were immediately pursued by a detachment of +the Indians, mounted upon their fleetest horses; and suffered the +humiliation of recapture two days later. Indulging in wild +hilarity over the capture of the crestfallen whites, the Indians +took a bell from one of the horses and, fastening it about +Boone's neck, compelled him under the threat of brandished +tomahawks to caper about and jingle the bell, jeering at him the +while with the derisive query, uttered in broken English: "Steal +horse, eh?" With as good grace as they could summon--wry smiles +at best--Boone and Stewart patiently endured these humiliations, +following the Indians as captives. Some days later (about January +4, 1770), while the vigilance of the Indians was momentarily +relaxed, the captives suddenly plunged into a dense canebrake and +in the subsequent confusion succeeded in effecting their escape. +Finding their camp deserted upon their return, Boone and Stewart +hastened on and finally overtook their companions. Here Boone was +both surprised and delighted to encounter his brother Squire, +loaded down with supplies. Having heard nothing from Boone, the +partners of the land company had surmised that he and his party +must have run short of ammunition, flour, salt, and other things +sorely needed in the wilderness; and because of their desire that +the party should remain, in order to make an exhaustive +exploration of the country, Squire Boone had been sent to him +with supplies. Findlay, Holden, Mooney, and Cooley returned to +the settlements; but Stewart, Squire Boone, and Alexander Neely, +who had accompanied Squire, threw in their lot with the intrepid +Daniel, and fared forth once more to the stirring and bracing +adventures of the Kentucky wilderness. In Daniel Boone's own +words, he expected "from the furs and peltries they had an +opportunity of taking . . . to recruit his shattered +circumstances; discharge the debts he had contracted by the +adventure; and shortly return under better auspices, to settle +the newly discovered country." + +Boone and his party now stationed themselves near the mouth of +the Red River, and soon provided themselves, against the hard. +ships of the long winter, with jerk, bear's oil, buffalo tallow, +dried buffalo tongues, fresh meat, and marrow-bones as food, and +buffalo robes and bearskins as shelter from the inclement +weather. Neely had brought with him, to while away dull hours, a +copy of "Gulliver's Travels"; and in describing Neely's +successful hunt for buffalo one day, Boone in after years +amusingly deposed: "In the year 1770 I encamped on Red River with +five other men, and we had with us for our amusement the History +of Samuel Gulliver's Travels, wherein he gave an account of his +young master, Glumdelick, careing him on market day for a show to +a town called Lulbegrud. A young man of our company called +Alexander Neely came to camp and told us he had been that day to +Lulbegrud, and had killed two Brobdignags in their capital." Far +from unlettered were pioneers who indulged together in such +literary chat and gave to the near-by creek the name (after Dean +Swift's Lorbrugrud) of Lulbegrud which name, first seen on +Filson's map of Kentucky (1784), it bears to this day. From one +of his long, solitary hunts Stewart never returned; and it was +not until five years later, while cutting out the Transylvania +Trail, that Boone and his companions discovered, near the old +crossing at Rockcastle, Stewart's remains in a standing hollow +sycamore. The wilderness never gave up its tragic secret. + +The close of the winter and most of the spring were passed by the +Boones, after Neely's return to the settlements, in exploration, +hunting, and trapping beaver and otter, in which sport Daniel +particularly excelled. Owing to the drain upon their ammunition, +Squire was at length compelled to return to the settlements for +supplies; and Daniel, who remained alone in the wilderness to +complete his explorations for the land company, must often have +shared the feelings of Balboa as, from lofty knob or towering +ridge, he gazed over the waste of forest which spread from the +dim out lines of the Alleghanies to the distant waters of the +Mississippi. He now proceeded to make those remarkable solitary +explorations of Kentucky which have given him immortality-- +through the valley of the Kentucky and the Licking, and along the +"Belle Riviere" (Ohio) as low as the falls. He visited the Big +Bone Lick and examined the wonderful fossil remains of the +mammoth found there. Along the great buffalo roads, worn several +feet below the surface of the ground, which led to the Blue +Licks, he saw with amazement and delight thousands of huge shaggy +buffalo gamboling, bellowing, and making the earth rumble beneath +the trampling of their hooves. One day, while upon a cliff near +the junction of the Kentucky and Dick's Rivers, he suddenly found +himself hemmed in by a party of Indians. Seizing his only chance +of escape, he leaped into the top of a maple tree growing beneath +the cliffs and, sliding to safety full sixty feet below, made his +escape, pursued by the sound of a chorus of guttural "Ughs" from +the dumbfounded savages. + +Finally making his way back to the old camp, Daniel was rejoined +there by Squire on July 27, 1770. During the succeeding months, +much of their time was spent in hunting and prospecting in +Jessamine County, where two caves are still known as Boone's +caves. Eventually, when ammunition and supplies had once more run +low, Squire was compelled a second time to return to the +settlements. Perturbed after a time by Squire's failure to rejoin +him at the appointed time, Daniel started toward the settlements, +in search of him; and by a stroke of good fortune encountered him +along the trail. Overjoyed at this meeting (December, 1770) the +indomitable Boones once more plunged into the wilderness, +determined to conclude their explorations by examining the +regions watered by the Green and Cumberland rivers and their +tributaries. In after years, Gasper Mansker, the old German +scout, was accustomed to describe with comic effect the +consternation created among the Long Hunters, while hunting one +day on Green River, by a singular noise which they could not +explain. Stealthily slipping from tree to tree, Mansker finally +beheld with mingled surprise and amusement a hunter, bareheaded, +stretched flat upon his back on a deerskin spread on the ground, +singing merrily at the top of his voice! It was Daniel Boone, +joyously whiling away the solitary hours in singing one of his +favorite songs of the border. In March, 1771, after spending some +time in company with the Long Hunters, the Boones, their horses +laden with furs, set their faces homeward. On their return +journey, near Cumberland Gap, they had the misfortune to be +surrounded by a party of Indians who robbed them of their guns +and all their peltries. With this humiliating conclusion to his +memorable tour of exploration, Daniel Boone, as he himself says, +"once more reached home after experiencing hardships which would +defy credulity in the recital." + +Despite the hardships and the losses, Boone had achieved the +ambition of years: he had seen Kentucky, which he "esteemed a +second paradise." The reports of his extended explorations, which +he made to Judge Henderson, were soon communicated to the other +partners of the land company; and their letters of this period, +to one another, bristle with glowing and minute descriptions of +the country, as detailed by their agent. Boone was immediately +engaged to act in the company's behalf to sound the Cherokees +confidentially with respect to their willingness to lease or sell +the beautiful hunting-grounds of the trans-Alleghany. The high +hopes of Henderson and his associates at last gave promise of +brilliant realization. Daniel Boone's glowing descriptions of +Kentucky excited in their minds, says a gifted early chronicler, +the "spirit of an enterprise which in point of magnitude and +peril, as well as constancy and heroism displayed in its +execution, has never been paralleled in the history of America." + + + +CHAPTER XI. The Regulators + +It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but +if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one +cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to +raise money which is not to be had. And lastly if his personal +estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his +lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) +must go the same way to satisfy, these cursed hungry +caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out the bowels of our +Commonwealth, if they be not pulled down from their nests in a +very short time.--George Sims: A Serious Address to the +Inhabitants of Granville County, containing an Account of our +deplorable Situation we suffer .... and some necessary Hints with +Respect to a Reformation. June 6, 1765. + + +It is highly probable that even at the time of his earlier +explorations in behalf of Richard Henderson and Company, Daniel +Boone anticipated speedy removal to the West. Indeed, in the very +year of his first tour in their interest, Daniel and his wife +Rebeckah sold all their property in North Carolina, consisting of +their home and six hundred and forty acres of land, and after +several removals established themselves upon the upper Yadkin. +This removal and the later western explorations just outlined +were due not merely to the spirit of adventure and discovery. +Three other causes also were at work. In the first place there +was the scarcity of game. For fifteen years the shipments of +deerskins from Bethabara to Charleston steadily increased; and +the number of skins bought by Gammern, the Moravian storekeeper, +ran so high that in spite of the large purchases made at the +store by the hunters he would sometimes run entirely out of +money. Tireless in the chase, the far roaming Boone was among +"the hunters, who brought in their skins from as far away as the +Indian lands"; and the beautiful upland pastures and mountain +forests, still teeming with deer and bear, doubtless lured him to +the upper Yadkin, where for a time in the immediate neighborhood +of his home abundance of game fell before his unerring rifle. +Certainly the deer and other game, which were being killed in +enormous numbers to satisfy the insatiable demand of the traders +at Salisbury, the Forks, and Bethabara, became scarcer and +scarcer; and the wild game that was left gradually fled to the +westward. Terrible indeed was the havoc wrought among the elk; +and it was reported that the last elk was killed in western North +Carolina as early as 1781. + +Another grave evil of the time with which Boone had to cope in +the back country of North Carolina was the growth of undisguised +outlawry, similar to that found on the western plains of a later +era. This ruthless brigand age arose as the result of the +unsettled state of the country and the exposed condition of the +settlements due to the Indian alarms. When rude borderers, +demoralized by the enforced idleness attendant upon fort life +during the dark days of Indian invasion, sallied forth upon +forays against the Indians, they found much valuable +property--horses, cattle, and stock--left by their owners when +hurriedly fleeing to the protection of the frontier stockades. +The temptations thus afforded were too great to resist; and the +wilder spirits of the backwoods, with hazy notions of private +rights, seized the property which they found, slaughtered the +cattle, sold the horses, and appropriated to their own use the +temporarily abandoned household goods and plantation tools. The +stealing of horses, which were needed for the cultivation of the +soil and useful for quickly carrying unknown thieves beyond the +reach of the owner and the law, became a common practice; and was +carried on by bands of outlaws living remote from one another and +acting in collusive concert. + +Toward the end of July, 1755, when the Indian outrages upon the +New River settlements in Virginia had frightened away all the +families at the Town Fork in the Yadkin country, William Owen, a +man of Welsh stock, who had settled in the spring of 1752 in the +upper Yadkin near the Mulberry Fields, was suspected of having +robbed the storekeeper on the Meho. Not long afterward a band of +outlaws who plundered the exposed cabins in their owners' +absence, erected a rude fort in the mountain region in the rear +of the Yadkin settlements, where they stored their ill-gotten +plunder and made themselves secure from attack. Other members of +the band dwelt in the settlements, where they concealed their +robber friends by day and aided them by night in their nefarious +projects of theft and rapine. + +The entire community was finally aroused by the bold depredations +of the outlaws; and the most worthy settlers of the Yadkin +country organized under the name of Regulators to break up the +outlaw band. When it was discovered that Owen, who was well known +at Bethabara, had allied himself with the highwaymen, one of the +justices summoned one hundred men; and seventy, who answered the +call, set forth on December 26, 1755, to seek out the outlaws and +to destroy their fortress. Emboldened by their success, the +latter upon one occasion had carried off a young girl of the +settlements. Daniel Boone placed himself at the head of one of +the parties, which included the young girl's father, to go to her +rescue; and they fortunately succeeded in effecting the release +of the frightened maiden. One of the robbers was apprehended and +brought to Salisbury, where he was thrown into prison for his +crimes. Meanwhile a large amount of plunder had been discovered +at the house of one Cornelius Howard; and the evidences of his +guilt so multiplied against him that he finally confessed his +connection with the outlaw band and agreed to point out their +fort in the mountains. + +Daniel Boone and George Boone joined the party of seventy men, +sent out by the colonial authorities under the guidance of +Howard, to attack the stronghold of the bandits. Boone afterward +related that the robbers' fort was situated in the most fitly +chosen place for such a purpose that he could imagine--beneath an +overhanging cliff of rock, with a large natural chimney, and a +considerable area in front well stockaded. The frontiersmen +surrounded the fort, captured five women and eleven children, and +then burned the fort to the ground. Owen and his wife, +Cumberland, and several others were ultimately made prisoners; +but Harman and the remainder of the band escaped by flight. Owen +and his fellow captives were then borne to Salisbury, +incarcerated in the prison there, and finally (May, 1756) +condemned to the gallows. Owen sent word to the Moravians, +petitioning them to adopt his two boys and to apprentice one to a +tailor, the other to a carpenter. But so infuriated was Owen's +wife by Howard's treachery that she branded him as a second +Judas; and this at once fixed upon him the sobriquet "Judas" +Howard-a sobriquet he did not live long to bear, for about a year +later he was ambushed and shot from his horse at the crossing of +a stream. He thus paid the penalty of his betrayal of the outlaw +band. For a number of years, the Regulators continued to wage war +against the remaining outlaws, who from time to time committed +murders as well as thefts. As late as January, 1768, the +Regulators caught a horse thief in the Hollows of Surry County +and brought him to Bethabara, whence Richter and Spach took him +to the jail at Salisbury. After this year, the outlaws were heard +of no more; and peace reigned in the settlements. + +Colonel Edmund Fanning--of whom more anon--declared that the +Regulation began in Anson County which bordered upon South +Carolina. Certain it is that the upper country of that province +was kept in an uproar by civil disturbances during this early +period. Owing to the absence of courts in this section, so remote +from Charleston, the inhabitants found it necessary, for the +protection of property and the punishment of outlaws, to form an +association called, like the North Carolina society, the +Regulation. Against this association the horse thieves and other +criminals made common cause, and received tacit support from +certain more reputable persons who condemned "the irregularity of +the Regulators." The Regulation which had been thus organized in +upper South Carolina as early as 1764 led to tumultuous risings +of the settlers; and finally in the effort to suppress these +disorders, the governor, Lord Charles Montagu, appointed one +Scovil, an utterly unworthy representative, to carry out his +commands. After various disorders, which became ever more +unendurable to the law-abiding, matters came to a crisis (1769) +as the result of the high-handed proceedings of Scovil, who +promiscuously seized and flung into prison all the Regulators he +could lay hands on. In the month of March the back country rose +in revolt against Scovil and a strong body of the settlers was on +the point of attacking the force under his command when an +eleventh-hour letter arrived from Montagu, dismissing Scovil from +office. Thus was happily averted, by the narrowest of margins, a +threatened precursor of the fight at Alamance in 1771 (see +Chapter XII). As the result of the petition of the Calhouns and +others, courts were established in 1760, though not opened until +four years later. Many horse thieves were apprehended, tried, and +punished. Justice once more held full sway. + +Another important cause for Boone's removal from the neighborhood +of Salisbury into the mountain fastnesses was the oppressive +administration of the law by corrupt sheriffs, clerks, and +tax-gatherers, and the dissatisfaction of the frontier squatters +with the owners of the soil. At the close of the year 1764 +reports reached the town of Wilmington, after the adjournment of +the assembly in November, of serious disturbances in Orange +County, due, it was alleged, to the exorbitant exactions of the +clerks, registers, and some of the attorneys. As a result of this +disturbing news, Governor Dobbs issued a proclamation forbidding +any officer to take illegal fees. Troubles had been brewing in +the adjacent county of Granville ever since the outbreak of the +citizens against Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent (January +24, 1759), and the issuance of the petition of Reuben Searcy and +others (March 23d) protesting against the alleged excessive fees +taken and injustices practised by Robert (Robin) Jones, the +famous lawyer. These disturbances were cumulative in their +effect; and the people at last (1765 ) found in George Sims, of +Granville, a fit spokesman of their cause and a doughty champion +of popular rights. In his "Serious Address to the Inhabitants of +Granville County, containing an Account of our deplorable +Situation we suffer . . . and some necessary Hints with Respect +to a Reformation," recently brought to light, he presents a +crushing indictment of the clerk of the county court, Samuel +Benton, the grandfather of Thomas Hart Benton. After describing +in detail the system of semi-peonage created by the merciless +exactions of lawyers and petty court officials, and the +insatiable greed of "these cursed hungry caterpillars," Sims with +rude eloquence calls upon the people to pull them down from their +nests for the salvation of the Commonwealth. + +Other abuses were also recorded. So exorbitant was the charge for +a marriage-license, for instance, that an early chronicler +records "The consequence was that some of the inhabitants on the +head-waters of the Yadkin took a short cut. They took each other +for better or for worse; and considered themselves as married +without further ceremony." The extraordinary scarcity of currency +throughout the colony, especially in the back country, was +another great hardship and a perpetual source of vexation. All +these conditions gradually became intolerable to the uncultured +but free spirited men of the back country. Events were slowly +converging toward a crisis in government and society. Independent +in spirit, turbulent in action, the backwoodsmen revolted not +only against excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and +extortionate fees, but also against the rapacious practices of +the agents of Lord Granville. These agents industriously picked +flaws in the titles to the lands in Granville's proprietary upon +which the poorer settlers were seated; and compelled them to pay +for the land if they had not already done so, or else to pay the +fees twice over and take out a new patent as the only remedy of +the alleged defect in their titles. In Mecklenburg County the +spirit of backwoods revolt flamed out in protest against the +proprietary agents. Acting under instructions to survey and close +bargains for the lands or else to eject those who held them, +Henry Eustace McCulloh, in February, 1765, went into the county +to call a reckoning. The settlers, many of whom had located +without deeds, indignantly retorted by offering to buy only at +their own prices, and forbade the surveyors to lay out the +holdings when this smaller price was declined. They not only +terrorized into acquiescence those among them who were willing to +pay the amount charged for the lands, but also openly declared +that they would resist by force any sheriff in ejectment +proceedings. On May 7th an outbreak occurred; and a mob, led by +Thomas Polk, set upon John Frohock, Abraham Alexander, and +others, as they were about to survey a parcel of land, and gave +them a severe thrashing, even threatening the young McCulloh with +death. + +The choleric backwoodsmen, instinctively in agreement with +Francis Bacon, considered revenge as a sort of wild justice. +Especial objects of their animosity were the brothers Frohock, +John and Thomas, the latter clerk of the court at Salisbury, and +Edmund Fanning, a cultured gentleman-adventurer, associate +justice of the superior court. So rapacious and extortionate were +these vultures of the courts who preyed upon the vitals of the +common people, that they were savagely lampooned by Rednap +Howell, the backwoods poet-laureate of the Regulation. The temper +of the back country is well caught in Howell's lines anent this +early American "grafter", the favorite of the royal governor: + +When Fanning first to Orange came, +He looked both pale and wan; +An old patched coat was on his back, +An old mare he rode on. + +Both man and mare wan't worth five pounds, +As I've been often told; +But by his civil robberies, +He's laced his coat with gold. + +The germs of the great westward migration in the coming decade +were thus working among the people of the back country. If the +tense nervous energy of the American people is the transmitted +characteristic of the border settlers, who often slept with +loaded rifle in hand in grim expectation of being awakened by the +hideous yells, the deadly tomahawk, and the lurid firebrand of +the savage, the very buoyancy of the national character is in +equal measure "traceable to the free democracy founded on a +freehold inheritance of land." The desire for free land was the +fundamental factor in the development of the American democracy. +No colony exhibited this tendency more signally than did North +Carolina in the turbulent days of the Regulation. The North +Carolina frontiersmen resented the obligation to pay quit-rents +and firmly believed that the first occupant of the soil had an +indefeasible right to the land which he had won with his rifle +and rendered productive by the implements of toil. Preferring the +dangers of the free wilderness to the paying of tribute to +absentee landlords and officials of an intolerant colonial +government, the frontiersman found title in his trusty rifle +rather than in a piece of parchment, and was prone to pay his +obligations to the owner of the soil in lead rather than in gold. + + + +CHAPTER XII. Watauga--Haven of Liberty + +The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore +quitted the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle +of Alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only +waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow them.- +-Reverend Morgan Edwards, 1772. + + +The five years (1766-1771) which saw the rise, development, and +ultimate defeat of the popular movement known as the Regulation, +constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance in +North Carolina but also of fruitful consequences in the larger +movements of westward expansion. With the resolute intention of +having their rulers "give account of their stewardship," to +employ their own words, the Sandy Creek Association of Baptists +(organized in 1758), in a series of papers known as Regulators' +Advertisements (1766-8) proceeded to mature, through popular +gatherings, a rough form of initiative and referendum. At length, +discouraged in its efforts, and particularly in the attempt to +bring county officials to book for charging illegal fees, this +association ceased actively to function. It was the precursor of +a movement of much more drastic character and formidable +proportions, chiefly directed against Colonel Edmund Fanning and +his associates. This movement doubtless took its name, "the +Regulation," from the bands of men already described who were +organized first in North Carolina and later in South Carolina, to +put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back +country, such as the tyrannies of Scovil and his henchmen. +Failing to secure redress of their grievances through legal +channels, the Regulators finally made such a powerful +demonstration in support of their refusal to pay taxes that +Governor William Tryon of North Carolina, in 1768, called out the +provincial militia, and by marching with great show of force +through the disaffected regions, succeeded temporarily in +overawing the people and thus inducing them to pay their +assessments. + +The suits which had been brought by the Regulators against Edmund +Fanning, register, and Francis Nash, clerk, of Orange County, +resulted in both being "found guilty of taking too high fees." +Fanning immediately resigned his commission as register; while +Nash, who in conjunction with Fanning had fairly offered in 1766 +to refund to any one aggrieved any fee charged by him which the +Superior Court might hold excessive, gave bond for his appearance +at the next court. Similar suits for extortion against the three +Froliocks in Rowan County in 1769 met with failure, however; and +this outcome aroused the bitter resentment of the Regulators, as +recorded by Herman Husband in his "Impartial Relation." During +this whole period the insurrectionary spirit of the people, who +felt themselves deeply aggrieved but recognized their inability +to secure redress, took the form of driving local justices from +the bench and threatening court officials with violence. + +At the session of the Superior Court at Hillsborough, September +22, 1770, an elaborate petition prepared by the Regulators, +demanding unprejudiced juries and the public accounting for taxes +by the sheriffs, was handed to the presiding justice by James +Hunter, a leading Regulator. This justice was our acquaintance, +Judge Richard Henderson, of Granville County, the sole high +officer in the provincial government from the entire western +section of the colony. In this petition occur these trenchant +words: "As we are serious and in good earnest and the cause +respects the whole body of the people it would be loss of time to +enter into arguments on particular points for though there are a +few men who have the gift and art of reasoning, yet every man has +a feeling and knows when he has justice done him as well as the +most learned." On the following Monday (September 24th), upon +convening of court, some one hundred and fifty Regulators, led by +James Hunter, Herman Husband, Rednap Howell, and others, armed +with clubs, whips, and cudgels, surged into the court-room and +through their spokesman, Jeremiah Fields, presented a statement +of their grievances. "I found myself," says Judge Henderson, +"under a necessity of attempting to soften and turn away the fury +of these mad people, in the best manner in my power, and as such +could well be, pacify their rage and at the same time preserve +the little remaining dignity of the court." + +During an interim, in which the Regulators retired for +consultation, they fell without warning upon Fanning and gave him +such rough treatment that he narrowly escaped with his life. The +mob, now past control, horsewhipped a number of leading lawyers +and citizens gathered there at court, and treated others, notably +the courtly Mr. Hooper of Boston, "with every mark of contempt +and insult." Judge Henderson was assured by Fields that no harm +should come to him provided he would conduct the court in +accordance with the behest of the Regulators: namely, that no +lawyer, save the King's Attorney, should be admitted to the +court, and that the Regulators' cases should be tried with new +jurors chosen by the Regulators. With the entire little village +terrorized by this campaign of "frightfulness," and the court +wholly unprotected, Judge Henderson reluctantly acknowledged to +himself that "the power of the judiciary was exhausted." +Nevertheless, he says, "I made every effort in my power +consistent with my office and the duty the public is entitled to +claim to preserve peace and good order." Agreeing under duress to +resume the session the following day, the judge ordered an +adjournment. But being unwilling, on mature reflection, to permit +a mockery of the court and a travesty of justice to be staged +under threat and intimidation, he returned that night to his home +in Granville and left the court adjourned in course. Enraged by +the judge's escape, the Regulators took possession of the court +room the following morning, called over the cases, and in futile +protest against the conditions they were powerless to remedy, +made profane entries which may still be seen on the record: +"Damned rogues," "Fanning pays cost but loses nothing," "Negroes +not worth a damn, Cost exceeds the whole," "Hogan pays and be +damned," and, in a case of slander, "Nonsense, let them argue for +Ferrell has gone hellward." + +The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly +educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to +secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by dishonest +lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and +secret incendiarism. In the dead of night, November 12th and +14th, Judge Henderson's barn, stables, and dwelling house were +fired by the Regulators and went up in flames. Glowing with a +sense of wrong, these misguided people, led on by fanatical +agitators, thus vented their indiscriminate rage, not only upon +their op pressors, but also upon men wholly innocent of injuring +them--men of the stamp of William Hooper, afterward signer of the +Declaration of Independence, Alexander Martin, afterward governor +and United States Senator,,and Richard Henderson, popular +representative of the back country and a firm champion of due +process of law. It is perhaps not surprising in view of these +events that Governor Tryon and the ruling class, lacking a +sympathy broad enough to ensure justice to the oppressed people, +seemed to be chiefly impressed with the fact that a widespread +insurrection was in progress, threatening not only life and +property, but also civil government itself. The governor called +out the militia of the province and led an army of well nigh one +thousand men and officers against the Regulators, who had +assembled at Alamance to the number of two thousand. Tryon stood +firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government +and disperse at a designated hour. The Regulators, on their side, +hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the +governor with a great display of force. The battle was a tragic +fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without +adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this +desultory action, a fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), +the power of the Regulators was completely broken." + + +Among these insurgents there was a remarkable element, an element +whose influence upon the course of American history has been but +imperfectly understood which now looms into prominence as the +vanguard of the army of westward expansion. There were some of +the Regulators who, though law-abiding and conservative, were +deeply imbued with ideas of liberty, personal independence, and +the freedom of the soil. Through the influence of Benjamin +Franklin, with whom one of the leaders of the group, Herman +Husband, was in constant correspondence, the patriotic ideas then +rapidly maturing into revolutionary sentiments furnished the +inspiration to action. As early as 1766, the Sandy Creek leaders, +referred to earlier in this chapter, issued a call to each +neighborhood to send delegates to a gathering for the purpose of +investigating the question "whether the free men of this country +labor under any abuses of power or not." The close connection +between the Sandy Creek men and the Sons of Liberty is amply +demonstrated in this paper wherein the Sons of Liberty in +connection with the "stamp law" are praised: for "redeeming us +from Tyranny" and for having "withstood the lords in Parliament +in behalf of true liberty." Upon the records of the Dutchman's +Creek Church, of "regular" Baptists, at the Forks of the Yadkin, +to which Daniel Boone's family belonged, may be found this +memorable entry, recognizing the "American Cause" well-nigh a +year before the declaration of independence at Philadelphia: "At +the monthly meeting it was agreed upon concerning the American +Cause, if any of the brethren see cause to join it they have the +liberty to do it without being called to an account by the +church. But whether they join or do not join they should be used +with brotherly love. + +The fundamental reasons underlying the approaching westward +hegira are found in the remarkable petition of the Regulators of +An son County (October 9, 1769), who request that "Benjamin +Franklin or some other known PATRIOT" be appointed agent of the +province in London to seek redress at the source. They exposed +the basic evil in the situation by pointing out that, in +violation of the law restricting the amount of land that might be +granted to each person to six hundred and forty acres, much of +the most fertile territory in the province had been distributed +in large tracts to wealthy landlords. In consequence "great +numbers of poor people are necessitated to toil in the +cultivation of the bad Lands whereon they hardly can subsist." It +was these poor people, "thereby deprived of His Majesties +liberality and Bounty," who soon turned their gaze to the +westward and crossed the mountains in search of the rich, free +lands of the trans-Alleghany region. + +This feverish popular longing for freedom, stimulated by the +economic pressure of thousands of pioneers who were annually +entering North Carolina, set in motion a wave of migration across +the mountains in 1769. Long before Alamance, many of the true +Americans, distraught by apparently irremediable injustices, +plunged fearlessly into the wilderness, seeking beyond the +mountains a new birth of liberty, lands of their own selection +free of cost or quit-rents, and a government of their own +choosing and control."' The glad news of the rich valleys beyond +the mountains early lured such adventurous pioneers as Andrew +Greer and Julius Caesar Dugger to the Watauga country. The +glowing stories, told by Boone, and disseminated in the back +country by Henderson, Williams, and the Harts, seemed to give +promise to men of this stamp that the West afforded relief from +oppressions suffered in North Carolina. During the winter of +1768-9 there was also a great rush of settlers from Virginia into +the valley of the Holston. A party from Augusta County, led by +men who had been delighted with the country viewed seven years +before when they were serving under Colonel William Byrd against +the Cherokees, found that this region, a wilderness on their +outward passage in 1768, was dotted with cabins on every spot +where the grazing was good, upon their return the following year. +Writing to Hillsborough on October 18, 1770, concerning the "many +hundred families" in the region from Green River to the branches +of the Holston, who refused to comply with the royal proclamation +of 1763, Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia reports that "very +little if any Quit Rents have been received for His Majesty's use +from that Quarter for some time past"--the people claiming that +"His Majesty hath been pleased to withdraw his protection from +them since 1763." + +In the spring of 1770, with the express intention of discovering +suitable locations for homes for himself and a number of others, +who wished to escape the accumulating evils of the times, James +Robertson of Orange County, North Carolina, made an arduous +journey to the pleasing valley of the Watauga. Robertson, who was +born in Brunswick County, Virginia, June 28, 1742, of excellent +Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a noteworthy figure of a certain type- +-quiet, reflective, conservative, wise, a firm believer in the +basic principles of civil Liberty and the right of local +self-government. Robertson spent some time with a man named +Honeycut in the Watauga region, raised a crop of corn, and chose +for himself and his friends suitable locations for settlement. +Lost upon his return in seeking the mountain defiles traversed by +him on the outward journey, Robertson probably escaped death from +starvation only through the chance passing of two hunters who +succored him and set him upon the right path. On arriving in +Orange he found political and social conditions there much worse +than before, many of the colonists declining to take the +obligatory oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the +Battle of Alamance, preferring to carve out for themselves new +homes along the western waters. Some sixteen families of this +stamp, indignant at the injustices and oppressions of British +rule, and stirred by Robertson's description of the richness and +beauty of the western country, accompanied him to Watauga shortly +after the battle. + +This vanguard of the army of westward advance, independent +Americans in spirit with a negligible sprinkling of Loyalists, +now swept in a great tide into the northeastern section of +Tennessee. The men of Sandy Creek, actuated by independent +principles but out of sympathy with the anarchic side of the +Regulation, left the colony almost to a man. "After the defeat of +the Regulators," says the historian of the Sandy Creek +Association, "thousands of the oppressed, seeing no hope of +redress for their grievances, moved into and settled east +Tennessee. A large proportion of these were of the Baptist +population. Sandy Creek Church which some time previous to 1771, +numbered 606, was afterward reduced to fourteen members!" This +movement exerted powerful influence in stimulating westward +expansion. Indeed, it was from men of Regulating principles- +-Boone, Robertson, and the Searcys--who vehemently condemned the +anarchy and incendiarism of 1770, that Judge Henderson received +powerful cooperation in the opening up of Kentucky and Tennessee. + +The several treaties concerning the western boundary of white +settlement, concluded in close succession by North Carolina, +Virginia, and the Crown with the Southern and Northern Indians, +had an important bearing upon the settlement of Watauga. The +Cherokee boundary line, as fixed by Governor Tryon (1767) and by +John Stuart (1768), ran from Reedy River to Tryon Mountain, +thence straight to Chiswell's Mine, and thence direct to the +mouth of the Great Kanawha River. By the treaty at Fort Stanwix +(November 5, 1768), in the negotiation of which Virginia was +represented by Dr. Thomas Walker and Major Andrew Lewis, the Six +Nations sold to the Crown their shadowy claim to a vast tract of +western country, including in particular all the land between the +Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers. The news of the cession resulted +in a strong southwestward thrust of population, from the +neighborhood of Abingdon, in the direction of the Holston Valley. +Recognizing that hundreds of these settlers were beyond the line +negotiated by Stuart, but on lands not yet surveyed, Governor +Botetourt instructed the Virginia commissioners to press for +further negotiations, through Stuart, with the Cherokees. +Accordingly, on October 18, 1770, a new treaty was made at +Lochaber, South Carolina, by which a new line back of Virginia +was established, beginning at the intersection of the North +Carolina-Cherokee line (a point some seventy odd miles east of +Long Island), running thence in a west course to a point six +miles east of Long Island, and thence in a direct course to the +confluence of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. At the time of +the treaty, it was agreed that the Holston River, from its +intersection with the North Carolina-Virginia line, and down the +course of the same, should be a temporary southern boundary of +Virginia until the line should be ascertained by actual survey. A +strong influx of population into the immense new triangle thus +released for settlement brought powerful pressure to bear upon +northern Tennessee, the point of least resistance along the +western barrier. Singularly enough, this advance was not opposed +by the Cherokees, whose towns were strung across the extreme +southeast corner of Tennessee. + +When Colonel John Donelson ran the line in the latter part of +1771, The Little Carpenter, who with other Indian chiefs +accompanied the surveying party, urged that the line agreed upon +at Lochaber should break off at the head of the Louisa River, and +should run thence to the mouth thereof, and thence up the Ohio to +the mouth of the Great Kanawha. For this increase in the +territory of Virginia they of course expected additional payment. +As a representative of Virginia, Donelson agreed to the proposed +alteration in the boundary line; and accordingly promised to send +the Cherokees, in the following spring, a sum alleged by them to +have been fixed at five hundred pounds, in compensation for the +additional area. This informal agreement, it is believed, was +never ratified by Virginia; nor was the promised compensation +ever paid the Cherokees. + +Under the belief that the land belonged to Virginia, Jacob Brown +with one or two families from North Carolina settled in 1771 upon +a tract of land on the northern bank of the Nonachunheh +(corruption, Nolichucky) River. During the same year, an +experimental line run westward from Steep Rock and Beaver Creek +by Anthony Bledsoe showed that upon the extension of the boundary +line, these settlers would fall within the bounds of North +Carolina. Although thus informally warned of the situation, the +settlers made no move to vacate the lands. But in the following +year, after the running of Donelson's line, Alexander Cameron, +Stuart's deputy, required "all persons who had made settlements +beyond the said line to relinquish them." Thus officially warned, +Brown and his companions removed to Watauga. Cameron's order did +not apply, however, to the settlement, to the settlement north of +the Holston River, south and east of Long Island; and the +settlement in Carter's Valley, although lying without the +Virginia boundary, strangely enough remained unmolested. The +order was directed at the Watauga settlers, who were seated south +of the Holston River in the Watauga Valley. + +The plight in which the Watauga settlers now found themselves was +truly desperate; and the way in which they surmounted this +apparently insuperable difficulty is one of the most striking and +characteristic events in the pre-Revolutionary history of the Old +Southwest. It exhibits the indomitable will and fertile resource +of the American character at the margin of desperation. The +momentous influence of the Watauga settlers, inadequately +reckoned hitherto by historians, was soon to make itself +powerfully felt in the first epochal movement of westward +expansion. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. Opening the Gateway--Dunmore's War + +Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the +greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their +Charter. They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the +memorable Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet +continued inaccessable.--The Harrodsburg Petition. June 7-15, +1776. + + +It was fortunate for the Watauga settlers that the Indians and +the whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the +time the Watauga Valley was shown, by the running of the boundary +line, to lie within the Indian reservation. With true American +self reliance, the settlers met together for deliberation and +counsel, and deputed James Robertson and John Been, as stated by +Tennessee's first historian, "to treat with their landlords, and +agree upon articles of accommodation and friendship. The attempt +succeeded. For though the Indians refused to give up the land +gratuitously, they consented, for a stipulated amount of +merchandise, muskets, and other articles of convenience, to lease +all the country on the waters of the Watauga." In addition to the +land thus leased for ten years, several other tracts were +purchased from the Indians by Jacob Brown, who reoccupied his +former location on the Nolichucky. + +In taking this daring step, the Watauga settlers moved into the +spotlight of national history. For the inevitable consequence of +leasing the territory was the organization of a form of +government for the infant settlement. Through his familiarity +with the North Carolina type of "association," in which the +settlers had organized for the purpose of "regulating" abuses, +and his acquaintance with the contents of the "Impartial +Relation," in which Husband fully expounded the principles and +practices of this association, Robertson was peculiarly fitted +for leadership in organizing this new government. The convention +at which Articles of Association, unfortunately lost, were drawn +up, is noteworthy as the first governmental assemblage of +free-born American citizens ever held west of the Alleghanies. +The government then established was the first free and +independent government, democratic in spirit, representative in +form, ever organized upon the American continent. In describing +this mimic republic, the royal Governor of Virginia says: "They +appointed magistrates, and framed laws for their present +occasion, and to all intents and purposes, erected themselves +into, though an inconsiderable, yet a separate State." The most +daring spirit in this little state was the young John Sevier, of +French Huguenot family (originally spelled Xavier), born in +Augusta County, Virginia, on September 23, 1745. It was from +Millerstown in Shenandoah County where he was living the +uneventful life of a small farmer, that he emigrated (December, +1773) to the Watauga region. With his arrival there begins one of +the most fascinating and romantic careers recorded in the varied +arid stirring annals of the Old Southwest. In this daring and +impetuous young fellow, fair-haired, blue-eyed, magnetic, +debonair--of powerful build, splendid proportions, and athletic +skill--we hold the gallant exemplar of the truly heroic life of +the border. The story of his life, thrilling in the extreme, is +rich in all the multi-colored elements which impart romance to +the arduous struggle of American civilization in the opening +years of the republic. + +The creative impulses in the Watauga commonwealth are hinted at +by Dunmore, who serves, in the letter above quoted, that Watauga +"sets a dangerous example to the people America, of forming +governments distinct from and independent of his Majesty's +authority." + +It is true that the experiment was somewhat limited. The +organization of the Watauga association, which constituted a +temporary expedient to meet a crisis in the affairs of a frontier +community cut off by forest wilderness and mountain barriers from +the reach of the arm of royal or provincial government, is not to +be compared with the revolutionary assemblage at Boonesborough, +May 23, 1775, or with the extraordinary demands for inde pendence +in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, during the same month. +Nevertheless the Watauga settlers defied both North Carolina and +the Crown, by adopting the laws of Virginia and by ignoring +Governor Josiah Martin's proclamation (March 26, 1774) "requiring +the said settlers immediately to retire from the Indian +Territories." Moreover, Watauga really was the parent of a series +of mimic republics in the Old Southwest, gradually tending toward +higher forms of organization, with a larger measure of individual +liberty. Watauga, Transylvania, Cumberland, Franklin represent +the evolving political genius of a free people under the creative +leadership of three constructive minds--James Robertson, John +Sevier, and Richard Henderson. Indeed, Watauga furnished to Judge +Henderson precisely the "dangerous example" of which Dunmore +prophetically speaks. + +Immediately upon his return in 1771 from the extended exploration +of Kentucky, Daniel Boone as already noted was engaged as secret +agent, to treat with the Cherokees for the lease or purchase of +the trans-Alleghany region, on behalf of Judge Henderson and his +associates. Embroiled in the exciting issues of the Regulation +and absorbed by his confining duties as colonial judge, Henderson +was unable to put his bold design into execution until after the +expiration of the court itself which ceased to exist in 1773. +Disregarding the royal proclamation of 1763 and Locke's +Fundamental Constitutions for the Carolinas, which forbade +private parties to purchase lands from the Indians, Judge +Henderson applied to the highest judicial authorities in England +to know if there was any law in existence forbidding purchase of +lands from the Indian tribes. Lord Mansfield gave Judge Henderson +the "sanction of his great authority in favor of the purchase." +Lord Chancellor Camden and Mr. Yorke had officially advised the +King in 1757, in regard to the petition of the East Indian +Company, "that in respect to such territories as have been, or +shall be acquired by treaty or grant from the Great Mogul, or any +of the Indian princes or governments, your Majesty's letters +patent are NOT NECESSARY; the property of the soil vesting in the +company by the Indian grant subject only to your Majesties right +of sovereignty over the settlements, as English settlements, and +over the inhabitants, as English subjects, who carry with them +your Majesties laws wherever they form colonies, and receive your +Majesties protection by virtue of your royal charters." This +opinion, with virtually no change, was rendered in regard to the +Indian tribes of North America by the same two authorities, +certainly as early as 1769; and a true copy, made in London, +April 1, 1772, was transmitted to Judge Henderson. Armed with the +legal opinions received from England, Judge Henderson was fully +persuaded that there was no legal bar whatsoever to his seeking +to acquire by purchase from the Cherokees the vast domain of the +trans-Alleghany. A golden dream of empire, with its promise of an +independent republic in the form of a proprietary colony, casts +him under the spell of its alluring glamour. + +In the meantime, the restless Boone, impatient over the delay in +the consummation of Judge Henderson's plans, resolved to +establish himself in Kentucky upon his own responsibility. +Heedless of the question of title and the certain hazards +incident to invading the territory of hostile savages, Boone +designated a rendezvous in Powell's Valley where he and his party +of five families were to be met by a band under the leadership of +his connections, the Bryans, and another company led by Captain +William Russell, a daring pioneer of the Clinch Valley. A small +detachment of Boone's party was fiercely attacked by Shawanoes in +Powell's Valley on October 10, 1773, and almost all were killed, +including sons of Boone and Russell, and young John and Richard +Mendenhall of Guilford County, North Carolina. As the result of +this bloody repulse, Boone's attempt to settle in Kentucky at +this time was definitely abandoned. His failure to effect a +settlement in Kentucky was due to that characteristic disregard +of the territorial rights of the Indians which was all too common +among the borderers of that period. + +This failure was portentous of the coming storm. The reign of the +Long Hunters was over. Dawning upon the horizon was the day of +stern adventurers, fixed in the desperate and lawless resolve to +invade the trans-Alleghany country and to battle savagely with +the red man for its possession. More successful than Boone was +the McAfee party, five in number, from Botetourt County, +Virginia, who between May l0th and September 1, 1773, safely +accomplished a journey through Kentucky and carefully marked +well-chosen sites for future location." An ominous incident of +the time was the veiled warning which Cornstalk, the great +Shawanoe chieftain, gave to Captain Thomas Bullitt, head of a +party of royal surveyors, sent out by Lord Dunmore, Governor of +Virginia. Cornstalk at Chillicothe, June 7, 1773, warned Bullitt +concerning the encroachments of the whites, "designed to deprive +us," he said, "of the hunting of the country, as usual . . . the +hunting we stand in need of to buy our clothing." During the +preceding summer, George Rogers Clark, an aggressive young +Virginian, with a small party, had descended the Ohio as low as +Fish Creek, where he built a cabin; and in this region for many +months various parties of surveyors were busily engaged in +locating and surveying lands covered by military grants. Most +significant of the ruthless determination of the pioneers to +occupy by force the Kentucky area was the action of the large +party from Monongahela, some forty in number, led by Captain +James Harrod, who penetrated to the present Miller County, where +in June, 1774, they made improvements and actually laid out a +town. + +A significant, secretly conducted movement, of which historians +have taken but little account, was now in progress under the +manipulation of Virginia's royal governor. As early as 1770 Dr. +John Connolly proposed the establishment of an extensive colony +south of the Ohio; and the design of securing such territory from +the Indians found lodgment in the mind of Lord Dunmore. But this +design was for the moment thwarted when on October 28, 1773, an +order was issued from the Privy Council chamber in Whitehall +granting an immense territory, including all of the present West +Virginia and the land alienated to Virginia by Donelson's +agreement with the Cherokees (1772), to a company including +Thomas Walpole, Samuel Wharton, Benjamin Franklin, and others. +This new colony, to be named "Vandalia," seemed assured. A clash +between Dunmore and the royal authorities was imminent; for +Virginia under her sea-to-sea charter claimed the vast middle +region of the continent, extending without known limit to west +and northwest. Moreover, Dunmore was interested in great land +speculations on his own account; and while overtly vindicating +Virginia's claim to the trans-Alleghany by despatching parties of +surveyors to the western wilderness to locate and survey lands +covered by military grants, he with the collusion of certain +members of the "Honourable Board," his council, as charged by +Washington, was more than "lukewarm," secretly restricting as +rigorously as he dared the extent and number of the soldiers' +allotments. According to the famous Virginia Remonstrance, he was +in league with "men of great influence in some of the neighboring +states" to secure, under cover of purchases from the Indians, +large tracts of country between the Ohio and the Mississippi." In +shaping his plans Dunmore had the shrewd legal counsel of Patrick +Henry, who was equally intent upon making for himself a private +purchase from the Cherokees. It was Henry's legal opinion that +the Indiana purchase from the Six Nations by the Pennsylvania +traders at Fort Stanwix (November 5, 1768) was valid; and that +purchase by private individuals from the Indians gave full and +ample title. In consequence of these facts, William Murray, in +behalf of himself and his associates of the Illinois Land +Company, and on the strength of the Camden Yorke decision, +purchased two large tracts, on the Illinois and Ohio +respectively, from the Illinois Indians (July 5, 1773); and in +order to win the support of Dunmore, who was ambitious to make a +fortune in land speculation, organized a second company, the +Wabash (Ouabache) Land Company, with the governor as the chief +share-holder. In response to Murray's petition on behalf of the +Illinois Land Company, Dunmore (May, 1774) recommended it to Lord +Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and urged that it +be granted; and in a later letter he disingenuously disclaimed +any personal interest in the Illinois speculation. + +The party of surveyors sent out under the direction of Colonel +William Preston, on the request of Washington and other leading +eastern men, in 1774 located lands covered by military grants on +the Ohio and in the Kentucky area for prominent Virginians, +including Washington, Patrick Henry, William Byrd, William +Preston, Arthur Campbell, William Fleming, and Andrew Lewis, +among others, and also a large tract for Dr. Connolly. Certain of +these grants fell within the Vandalia area; and in his reply +(September 10, 1774) to Dunmore's letter, Lord Dartmouth sternly +censured Dunmore for allowing these grants, and accused the white +settlers of having brought on, by such unwarrantable aggressions, +the war then raging with the Indians. This charge lay at the door +of Dunmore himself; and there is strong evidence that Dunmore +personally fomented the war, ostensibly in support of Virginia's +charter rights, but actually in order to further his own +speculative designs." Dunmore's agent, Dr. Connolly, heading a +party posing as Virginia militia, fired without provocation upon +a delegation of Shawanoe chiefs assembled at Fort Pitt (January, +1774). Taking advantage of the alarming situation created by the +conflict of the claims of Virginia and Pennsylvania, Connolly, +inspired by Dunmore without doubt, then issued an incendiary +circular (April 21, 1774), declaring a state of war to exist. +Just two weeks before the Battle of the Great Kanawha, Patrick +Henry categorically stated, in conversation with Thomas Wharton: + +"that he was at Williamsburg with Ld. D. when Dr. Conolly first +came there, that Conolly is a chatty, sensible man, and informed +Ld. Dunmore of the extreme richness of the lands which lay on +both sides of the Ohio; that the prohibitory orders which had +been sent him relative to the land on the hither side (or +Vandalia) had caused him to turn his thoughts to the opposite +shore, and that as his Lordship was determined to settle his +family in America he was really pursueing this war, in order to +obtain by purchase or treaty from the natives a tract of +territory on that side; he then told me that he was convinced +from every authority that the law knew, that a purchase from the +natives was as full and ample a title as could be obtained, that +they had Lord Camden and Mr. York's opinion on that head, which +opinion with some others that Ld. Dunmore had consulted, and with +the knowledge Conolly had given him of the quality of the country +and his determined resolution to settle his family on this +continent, were the real motives or springs of the present +expedition." + +At this very time, Patrick Henry, in conjunction with William +Byrd 3d and others, was negotiating for a private purchase of +lands from the Cherokees; and when Wharton, after answering +Henry's inquiry as to where he might buy Indian goods, remarked: +"It's not possible you mean to enter the Indian trade at this +period," Henry laughingly replied: "The wish-world is my hobby +horse." "From whence I conclude," adds Wharton, "he has some +prospect of making a purchase of the natives, but where I know +not." + +The war, thus promulgated, we believe, at Dunmore's secret +instigation and heralded by a series of ghastly atrocities, came +on apace. After the inhuman murder of the family of Logan, the +Indian chieftain, by one Greathouse and his drunken companions +(April 30th), Logan, who contrary to romantic views was a +blackhearted and vengeful savage, harried the Tennessee and +Virginia borders, burning and slaughtering. Unable to arouse the +Cherokees, owing to the opposition of Atta-kulla-kulla, Logan as +late as July 21st said in a letter to the whites: "The Indians +are not angry, only myself," and not until then did Dunmore begin +to give full execution to his warlike plans. The best woodsmen of +the border, Daniel Boone and the German scout Michael Stoner, +having been despatched on July 27th by Colonel William Preston to +warn the surveyors of the trans-Alleghany, made a remarkable +journey on foot of eight hundred miles in sixty-one days. +Harrod's company at Harrodsburg, a company of surveyors at +Fontainebleau, Floyd's party on the Kentucky, and the surveyors +at Mann's Lick, this warned, hurried in to the settlements and +were saved. Meanwhile, Dunmore, in command of the Virginia +forces, invaded territory guaranteed to the Indians by the royal +proclamation of 1763 and recently (1774) added to the province of +Quebec, a fact of which he was not aware, conducted a vigorous +campaign, and fortified Camp Charlotte, near Old Chillicothe. +Andrew Lewis, however, in charge of the other division of +Dunmore's army, was the one destined to bear the real brunt and +burden of the campaign. His division, recruited from the very +flower of the pioneers of the Old Southwest, was the most +representative body of borderers of this region that up to this +time had assembled to measure strength with the red men. It was +an army of the true stalwarts of the frontier, with fringed +leggings and hunting-capes, rifles and powder-horns, +hunting-knives and tomahawks. + +The Battle of the Great Kanawha, at Point Pleasant, was fought on +October 10, 1774, between Lewis's force, eleven hundred strong, +and the Indians, under Cornstalk, somewhat inferior in numbers. +It was a desultory action, over a greatly extended front and in +very brushy country between Crooked Creek and the Ohio. +Throughout the long day, the Indians fought with rare craft and +stubborn bravery--loudly cursing the white men, cleverly picking +off their leaders, and derisively inquiring, in regard to the +absence of the fifes: "Where are your whistles now?" Slowly +retreating, they sought to draw the whites into an ambuscade and +at a favorable moment to "drive the Long Knives like bullocks +into the river." No marked success was achieved on either side +until near sunset, when a flank movement directed by young Isaac +Shelby alarmed the Indians, who mistook this party for the +expected reinforcement under Christian, and retired across the +Ohio. In the morning the whites were amazed to discover that the +Indians, who the preceding day so splendidly heeded the echoing +call of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!", had quit the +battlefield and left the victory with the whites. + +The peace negotiated by Dunmore was durable. The governor had +accomplished his purpose, defied the authority of the crown, and + + +vindicated the claim of Virginia, to the enthusiastic +satisfaction of the backwoodsmen. While tendering their thanks to +him and avowing their allegiance to George III, at the close of +the campaign, the borderers proclaimed their resolution to exert +all their powers "for the defense of American liberty, and for +the support of her just rights and privileges, not in any +precipitous, riotous or tumultuous manner, but when regularly +called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen." Dunmore's +War is epochal, in that it procured for the nonce a state of +peace with the Indians, which made possible the advance of Judge +Henderson over the Transylvania Trail in 1775, and, through his +establishment of the Transylvania Fort at Boonesborough, the +ultimate acquisition by the American Confederation of the +imperial domain of the trans-Alleghany. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company + +I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of +conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary +persons and excentric geniuses in America, and perhaps in the +world. His name is Richard Henderson.--J. F. D. Smyth: A Tour in +the United States of America. + + +Early in 1774, chastened by his own disastrous failure the +preceding autumn, Boone advised Judge Henderson that the time was +auspicious for opening negotiations with the Cherokees for +purchasing the trans-Alleghany region." In organizing a company +for this purpose, Henderson chose men of action and resource, +leaders in the colony, ready for any hazard of life and fortune +in this gigantic scheme of colonization and promotion. The new +men included, in addition to the partners in the organization +known as Richard Henderson and Company, were Colonel John +Luttrell, destined to win laurels in the Revolution, and William +Johnston, a native of Scotland, the leading merchant of +Hillsborough. + +Meeting in Hillsborough on August 27, 1774, these men organized +the new company under the name of the Louisa Company. In the +articles then drawn up they agreed to "rent or purchase" a tract +of land from the Indian owners of the soil for the express +purpose of "settling the country." Each partner obligated himself +to "furnish his Quota of Expenses necessary towards procuring the +grant." In full anticipation of the grave dangers to be +encountered, they solemnly bound themselves, as "equal sharers in +the property," to "support each other with our lives and +fortunes." Negotiations with the Indians were begun at once. +Accompanied by Colonel Nathaniel Hart and guided by the +experienced Indian-trader, Thomas Price, Judge Henderson visited +the Cherokee chieftains at the Otari towns. After elaborate +consultations, the latter deputed the old chieftain, +Atta-kulla-kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, "to attend the said +Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there examine the Goods +and Merchandize which had been by them offered as the +Consideration of the purchase." The goods purchased at Cross +Creek (now Fayetteville, North Carolina), in which the Louisa +Company "had embarked a large amount," met the entire approval of +the Indians--the squaw in particular shrewdly examining the goods +in the interest of the women of the tribe. + +On January 6, 1775, the company was again enlarged, and given the +name of the Transylvania Company-the three new partners being +David Hart, brother to Thomas and Nathaniel, Leonard Henley +Bullock, a prominent citizen of Granville, and James Hogg, of +Hillsborough, a native Scotchman and one of the most influential +men in the colony. In the elaborate agreement drawn up reference +is explicitly made to the contingency of "settling and voting as +a proprietor and giving Rules and Regulations for the Inhabitants +etc." Hillsborough was the actual starting-point for the westward +movement, the first emigrants, traveling thence to the Sycamore +Shoals of the Watauga. In speaking of the departure of the +settlers, the first movement of extended and permanent westward +migration, an eye-witness quaintly says: "At this place +[Hillsborough] I saw the first party of emigrant families that +moved to Kentucky under the auspices of Judge Henderson. They +marched out of the town with considerable solemnity, and to many +their destination seemed as remote as if it had been to the South +Sea Islands." Meanwhile, the "Proposals for the encouragement of +settling the lands etc.," issued on Christmas Day, 1774, were +quickly spread broadcast through the colony and along the +border." It was the greatest sensation North Carolina had known +since Alamance; and Archibald Neilson, deputy-auditor and naval +officer of the colony, inquired with quizzical anxiety: "Pray, is +Dick Henderson out of his head?" The most liberal terms, +proffered by one quite in possession of his head, were embodied +in these proposals. Land at twenty shillings per hundred acres +was offered to each emigrant settling within the territory and +raising a crop of corn before September 1, 1775, the emigrant +being permitted to take up as much as five hundred acres for him +self and two hundred and fifty acres for each tithable person +under him. In these "Proposals" there was no indication that the +low terms at which the lands were offered would be maintained +after September 1, 1775. In a letter to Governor Dunmore +(January, 1775), Colonel William Preston, county surveyor of +Fincastle County, Virginia, says "The low price he [Henderson] +proposes to sell at, together with some further encouragement he +offers, will I am apprehensive induce a great many families to +remove from this County (Fincastle) & Carolina and settle there." +Joseph Martin, states his son, "was appointed entry-Taker and +agent for the Powell Valley portion" of the Transylvania Purchase +on January 20, 1775; and "he (Joseph Martin) and others went on +in the early part of the year 1775 and made their stand at the +very spot where he had made corn several years before. In +speaking of the startling design, unmasked by Henderson, of +establishing an independent government, Colonel Preston writes to +George Washington of the contemplated "large Purchase by one Col. +Henderson of North Carolina from the Cherokees . . . . I hear +that Henderson talks with great Freedom & Indecency of the +Governor of Virginia, sets the Government at Defiance & says if +he once had five hundred good Fellows settled in that Country he +would not Value Virginia." + +Early in 1775 runners were sent off to the Cherokee towns to +summon the Indians to the treaty ground at the Sycamore Shoals of +the Watauga; and Boone, after his return from a hunt in Kentucky +in January, was summoned by Judge Henderson to aid in the +negotiations preliminary to the actual treaty. The dominating +figure in the remarkable assemblage at the treaty ground, +consisting of twelve hundred Indians and several hundred whites, +was Richard Henderson, "comely in person, of a benign and social +disposition," with countenance betokening the man of strenuous +action" noble forehead, prominent nose, projecting chin, firm-set +jaw, with kindness and openness of expression." Gathered about +him, picturesque in garb and striking in appearance, were many of +the buckskin-clad leaders of the border--James Robertson, John +Sevier, Isaac Shelby, William Bailey Smith, and their +compeers--as well as his Carolina friends John Williams, Thomas +and Nathaniel Hart, Nathaniel Henderson, Jesse Benton,and +Valentine Searcy. + +Little was accomplished on the first day of the treaty (March +14th); but on the next day, the Cherokees offered to sell the +section bargained for by Donelson acting as agent for Virginia in +1771. Although the Indians pointed out that Virginia had never +paid the promised compensation of five hundred pounds and had +therefore forfeited her rights, Henderson flatly refused to +entertain the idea of purchasing territory to which Virginia had +the prior claim. Angered by Henderson's refusal, The Dragging +Canoe, leaping into the circle of the seated savages, made an +impassioned speech touched with the romantic imagination peculiar +to the American Indian. With pathetic eloquence he dwelt upon the +insatiable land-greed of the white men, and predicted the +extinction of his race if they committed the insensate folly of +selling their beloved hunting-grounds. Roused to a high pitch of +oratorical fervor, the savage with uplifted arm fiercely exhorted +his people to resist further encroachments at all hazards--and +left the treaty ground. This incident brought the conference to a +startling and abrupt conclusion. On the following day, however, +the savages proved more tractable,agreeing to sell the land as +far as the Cumberland River. In order to secure the additional +territory watered by the tributaries of the Cumberland, Henderson +agreed to pay an additional sum of two thousand pounds. Upon this +day there originated the ominous phrase descriptive of Kentucky +when The Dragging Canoe, dramatically pointing toward the west, +declared that a DARK Cloud hung over that land, which was known +as the BLOODY GROUND. + +On the last day, March 17th, the negotiations were opened with +the signing of the "Great Grant." The area purchased, some twenty +millions of acres, included almost all the present state of +Kentucky, and an immense tract in Tennessee, comprising all the +territory watered by the Cumberland River and all its +tributaries. For "two thousand weight of leather in goods" +Henderson purchased "the lands lying down Holston and between the +Watauga lease, Colonel Donelson's line and Powell's Mountain" as +a pathway to Kentucky -the deed for which was known as the "Path +Deed." By special arrangement, Carter's Valley in this tract went +to Carter and Lucas; two days later, for two thousand pounds, +Charles Robertson on behalf of the Watauga Association purchased +a large tract in the valleys of the Holston, Watauga, and New +Rivers; and eight days later Jacob Brown purchased two large +areas, including the Nolichucky Valley. This historic treaty, +which heralds the opening of the West, was conducted with +absolute justice and fairness by Judge Henderson and his +associates. No liquor was permitted at the treaty ground; and +Thomas Price, the ablest of the Cherokee traders, deposed that +"he at that time understood the Cherokee language, so as to +comprehend everything which was said and to know that what was +observed on either side was fairly and truly translated; that the +Cherokees perfectly understood, what Lands were the subject of +the Treaty . . . ." The amount paid by the Transylvania Company +for the imperial domain was ten thousand pounds sterling, in +money and in goods. + +Although Daniel Boone doubtless assisted in the proceedings prior +to the negotiation of the treaty, his name nowhere appears in the +voluminous records of the conference. Indeed, he was not then +present; for a fortnight before the conclusion of the treaty he +was commissioned by Judge Henderson to form a party of competent +woodmen to blaze a passage through the wilderness. On March l0th +this party of thirty ax-men, under the leadership of Boone, +started from the rendezvous, the Long Island of Holston, to +engage in the arduous labor of cutting out the Transylvania +Trail. + +Henderson, the empire-builder, now faced with courage and +resolution the hazardous task of occupying the purchased +territory and establishing an independent government. No mere +financial promoter of a vast speculative enterprise, he was one +of the heroic figures of the Old Southwest; and it was his +dauntless courage, his unwavering resolve to go forward in the +face of all dangers, which carried through the armed "trek" to a +successful conclusion. At Martin's Station, where Henderson and +his party tarried to build a house in which to store their +wagons, as the road could be cleared no further, they were joined +by another party, of five adventurers from Prince William County, +Virginia." In Henderson's party were some forty men and boys, +with forty packhorses and a small amount of powder, lead, salt, +and garden-seeds. The warning freely given by Joseph Martin of +the perils of the path was soon confirmed, as appears from the +following entry in Henderson's diary: + +"Friday the 7th. [April] About Brake of Day began to snow. About +11 O'Clock received a letter from Mr. Luttrells camp that were +five persons killd on the road to the Cantuckie by Indians. Capt. +[Nathaniel] Hart, uppon the receipt of this News Retreated back +with his Company, & determined to Settle in the Valley to make +Corn for the Cantucky people. The same Day Received a Letter from +Dan. Boone, that his Company was fired uppon by Indians, Kill'd +Two of his men--tho he kept the ground & saved the Baggage &c." + +The following historic letter, which reveals alike the dogged +resolution of Boone and his reliance upon Henderson and his +company in this black hour of disaster, addressed "Colonel +Richard Henderson--these with care," is eloquent in its +simplicity + +"Dear Colonel: After my compliments to you, I shall acquaint you +of our misfortunes. On March the 25 a party of Indians fired on +my Company about half an hour before day, and killed Mr. Twitty +and his negro, and wounded Mr. Walker very deeply, but I hope he +will recover. + +"On March the 28 as we were hunting for provisions, we found +Samuel Tate's son, who gave us an account that the Indians fired +on their camp on the 27th day. My brother and I went down and +found two men killed and sculped, Thomas McDowell and Jeremiah +McFeters. I have sent a man down to all the lower companies in +order to gather them all at the mouth of Otter Creek. + +"My advice to you, Sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. +Your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, +but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you. and now +is the time to flusterate their [the Indians'] intentions, and +keep the country, whilst we are in it. If we give way to them +now, it will ever be the case. This day we start from the battle +ground, for the mouth of Otter Creek, where we shall immediately +erect a Fort, which will be done before you can come or send, +then we can send ten men to meet you, if you send for them. + +"I am, Sir, your most obedient + Omble Sarvent +Daniel Boone. + + +"N.B. We stood on the ground and guarded our baggage till day, +and lost nothing. We have about fifteen miles to Cantuck +[Kentucky River] at Otter Creek." + +This dread intelligence caused the hearts of strong men to quail +and induced some to turn back, but Henderson, the jurist-pioneer, +was made of sterner stuff. At once (April 8th) he despatched an +urgent letter in hot haste to the proprietors of Transylvania, +enclosing Boone's letter, informing them of Boone's plight and +urging them to send him immediately a large quantity of powder +and lead, as he had been compelled to abandon his supply of +saltpeter at Martin's Station. "We are all in high spirits," he +assures the proprietors, "and on thorns to fly to Boone's +assistance, and join him in defense of so fine and valuable a +country." + +Laconically eloquent is this simple entry in his diary: "Saturday +the 8th. Started abt. 10 oClock Crossed Cumberland Gap about 4 +miles met about 40 persons Returning from the Cantucky, on Acct. +of the Late Murders by the Indians could prevail on one only to +return. Memo Several Virginians who were with us return'd." + +There is no more crucial moment in early Western history than +this, in which we see the towering form of Henderson, clad in the +picturesque garb of the pioneer, with outstretched arm resolutely +pointing forward to the "dark and bloody ground," and in +impassioned but futile eloquence pleading with the pale and +panic-stricken fugitives to turn about, to join his company, and +to face once more the mortal dangers of pioneer conquest. +Significant indeed are the lines: + +Some to endure, and many to fail, +Some to conquer, and many to quail, +Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. + +The spirit of the pioneer knight-errant inspires Henderson's +words: "In this situation, some few, of genuine courage and +undaunted resolution, served to inspire the rest; by the help of +whose example, assisted by a little pride and some ostentation, +we made a shift to march on with all the appearance of gallantry, +and, cavalier like, treated every insinuation of danger with the +utmost contempt." + +Fearing that Boone, who did not even know that Henderson's +cavalcade was on the road, would be unable to hold out, Henderson +realized the imperative necessity for sending him a message of +encouragement. The bold young Virginian, William Cocke, +volunteered to brave alone the dangers of the murder-haunted +trail to undertake a ride more truly memorable and hazardous than +that of Revere. "This offer, extraordinary as it was, we could by +no means refuse," remarks Henderson, who shed tears of gratitude +as he proffered his sincere thanks and wrung the brave +messenger's hand. Equipped with "a good Queen Anne's musket, +plenty of ammunition, a tomahawk, a large cuttoe knife [French, +couteau], a Dutch blanket, and no small quantity of jerked beef," +Cocke on April l0th rode off "to the Cantuckey to Inform Capt +Boone that we were on the road." The fearful apprehensions felt +for Cocke's safety were later relieved, when along the road were +discovered his letters in forming Henderson of his arrival and of +his having been joined on the way by Page Portwood of Rowan. On +his arrival at Otter Creek, Cocke found Boone and his men, and on +relating his adventures, "came in for his share of applause." +Boone at once despatched the master woodman, Michael Stoner, with +pack-horses to assist Henderson's party, which he met on April +18th at their encampment "in the Eye of the Rich Land." Along +with "Excellent Beef in plenty," Stoner brought the story of +Boone's determined stand and an account of the erection of a rude +little fortification which they had hurriedly thrown up to resist +attack. With laconic significance Henderson pays the following +tribute to Boone which deserves to be perpetuated in national +annals: "It was owing to Boone's confidence in us, and the +people's in him, that a stand was ever attempted in order to wait +for our coming." + +In the course of their journey over the mountains and through the +wilderness, the pioneers forgot the trials of the trail in the +face of the surpassing beauties of the country. The Cumberlands +were covered with rich undergrowth of the red and white +rhododendron, the delicate laurel, the mountain ivy, the +flameazalea, the spicewood, and the cane; while the white stars +of the dogwood and the carmine blossoms of the red-bud, strewn +across the verdant background of the forest, gleamed in the eager +air of spring. "To enter uppon a detail of the Beuty & Goodness +of our Country," writes Nathaniel Henderson, "would be a task too +arduous . . . . Let it suffice to tell you it far exceeds any +country I ever saw or herd off. I am conscious its out of the +power of any man to make you clearly sensible of the great Beuty +and Richness of Kentucky." Young Felix Walker, endowed with more +vivid powers of description, says with a touch of native +eloquence: + +"Perhaps no Adventurer Since the days of donquicksotte or before +ever felt So Cheerful & Ilated in prospect, every heart abounded +with Joy & excitement . . . & exclusive of the Novelties of the +Journey the advantages & accumalations arising on the Settlement +of a new Country was a dazzling object with many of our Company . +. . . As the Cain ceased, we began to discover the pleasing & +Rapturous appearance of the plains of Kentucky, a New Sky & +Strange Earth to be presented to our view . . . . So Rich a Soil +we had never Saw before, Covered with Clover in full Bloom. the +Woods alive abounding in wild Game, turkeys so numerous that it +might be said there appeared but one flock Universally Scattered +in the woods . . . it appeared that Nature in the profusion of +her Bounties, had Spread a feast for all that lives, both for the +Animal & Rational World, a Sight so delightful to our View and +grateful to our feelings almost Induced us, in Immitation of +Columbus in Transport to Kiss the Soil of Kentucky, as he haild & +Saluted the sand on his first setting his foot on the Shores of +America." + +On the journey Henderson was joined in Powell's Valley by +Benjamin Logan, afterward so famous in Kentucky annals, and a +companion, William Galaspy. At the Crab Orchard they left +Henderson's party; and turning their course westward finally +pitched camp in the present Lincoln County, where Logan +subsequently built a fort. On Sunday, April 16th, on Scaggs's +Creek, Henderson records: "About 12 oClock Met James McAfee with +18 other persons Returning from Cantucky." They advised Henderson +of the "troublesomeness and danger" of the Indians, says Robert +McAfee junior: "but Henderson assured them that he had purchased +the whole country from the Indians, that it belonged to him, and +he had named it Transylvania . . . . Robt, Samuel, and William +McAfee and 3 others were inclined to return, but James opposed +it, alleging that Henderson had no right to the land, and that +Virginia had previously bought it. The former (6) returned with +Henderson to Boonesborough." Among those who had joined +Henderson's party was Abraham Hanks from Virginia, the maternal +grandfather of Abraham Lincoln; but alarmed by the stories +brought by Stewart and his party of fugitives, Hanks and Drake, +as recorded by William Calk on that day (April 13th), turned +back. + +At last the founder of Kentucky with his little band reached the +destined goal of their arduous journeyings. Henderson's record on +his birthday runs: "Thursday the 20th [April] Arrived at Fort +Boone on the Mouth of Oter Creek Cantuckey River where we were +Saluted by a running fire of about 25 Guns; all that was then at +Fort . . . . The men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced in +our arrival." It is a coincidence of historic interest that just +one day after the embattled farmers at Lexington and Concord +"fired the shots heard round the world," the echoing shots of +Boone and his sturdy backwoodsmen rang out to announce the +arrival of the proprietor of Transylvania and the birth of the +American West. + + + +CHAPTER XV. Transylvania--A wilderness Commonwealth + +You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being +of this country in general, in which the interest and security of +each and every individual are inseparably connected .... Our +peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all +sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common +danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in +their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, +consequently, that harmony in opinion, so essential to the +forming good, wise and wholesome laws.--Judge Richard Henderson: +Address to the Legislature of Transylvania, May 23, 1775. + + +The independent spirit displayed by the Transylvania Company, and +Henderson's procedure in open defiance of the royal governors of +both North Carolina and Virginia, naturally aroused grave alarm +throughout these colonies and South Carolina. "This in my +Opinion," says Preston in a letter to George Washington (January +31, 1775), "will soon become a serious Affair, & highly deserves +the Attention of the Government. For it is certain that a vast +Number of People are preparing to go out and settle on this +Purchase; and if once they get fixed there, it will be next to +impossible to remove them or reduce them to Obedience; as they +are so far from the Seat of Government. Indeed it may be the +Cherokees will support them." Governor Martin of North Carolina, +already deeply disturbed in anticipation of the coming +revolutionary cataclysm, thundered in what was generally regarded +as a forcible-feeble proclamation (February 19, 1775) against +"Richard Henderson and his Confederates" in their "daring, unjust +and unwarrantable proceedings." In a letter to Dartmouth he +denounces "Henderson the famous invader" and dubs the +Transylvania Company "an infamous Company of land Pyrates." + +Officials who were themselves eager for land naturally opposed +Henderson's plans. Lord Dunmore, who in 1774, as we have seen, +was heavily interested in the Wabash Land Company engineered by +William Murray, took the ground that the Wabash purchase was +valid under the Camden-Yorke decision. This is so stated in the +records of the Illinois Company. Likewise under Murray's control. +But although the "Ouabache Company," of which Dunmore was a +leading member, was initiated as early as May 16, 1774, the +purchase of the territory was not formally effected until October +18, 1775--too late to benefit Dunmore, then deeply embroiled in +the preliminaries to the Revolution. Under the cover of his +agent's name, it is believed, Dunmore, with his "passion for land +and fees," illegally entered tracts aggregating thousands of +acres of land surveyed by the royal surveyors in the summer of +1774 for Dr. John Connolly. Early in this same year, Patrick +Henry, who, as already pointed out, had entered large tracts in +Kentucky in violation of Virginia's treaty obligations with the +Cherokees, united with William Byrd 3d, John Page, Ralph Wormley, +Samuel Overton, and William Christian, in the effort to purchase +from the Cherokees a tract of land west of Donelson's line, being +firmly persuaded of the validity of the Camden-Yorke opinion. +Their agent, William Kenedy, considerably later in the year, went +on a mission to the Cherokee towns, and upon his return reported +that the Indians might be induced to sell. When it became known +that Judge Henderson had organized the Transylvania Company and +anticipated Patrick Henry and his associates, Colonel Arthur +Campbell, as he himself states, applied to several of the +partners of the Transylvania Company on behalf of Patrick Henry, +requesting that Henry be taken in as a partner. It was afterward +stated, as commonly understood among the Transylvania +proprietors, that both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson desired +to become members of the company; but that Colonel Richard +Henderson was instrumental in preventing their admission "lest +they should supplant the Colonel [Henderson] as the guiding +spirit of the company." + +Fully informed by Preston's elaborate communication on the +gravity of the situation, Dunmore acted energetically, though +tardily, to prevent the execution of Henderson's designs. On +March 21st Dunmore sent flying through the back country a +proclamation, demanding the immediate relinquishment of the +territory by "one Richard Henderson and other disorderly persons, +his associates," and "in case of refusal, and of violently +detaining such possession, that he or they be immediately fined +and imprisoned. This proclamation, says a peppery old chronicler, +may well rank with the one excepting those arch traitors and +rebels, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, from the mercy of the +British monarch. In view of Dunmore's confidence in the validity +of the Camden-Yorke decision, it is noteworthy that no mention of +the royal proclamation of 1763 occurs in his broadside; and that +he bases his objection to the Transylvania purchase upon the +king's instructions that all vacant lands "within this colony" be +laid off in tracts, from one hundred to one thousand acres in +extent, and sold at public auction. This proclamation which was +enclosed, oddly enough, in a letter of official instructions to +Preston warning him not to survey any lands "beyond the line run +by Colonel Donaldson," proved utterly ineffective. At the same +time, Dunmore despatched a pointed letter to Oconostota, +Atta-kulla-kulla, Judge's Friend, and other Cherokee chieftains, +notifying them that the sale of the great tract of land below the +Kentucky was illegal and threatening them with the king's +displeasure if they did not repudiate the sale. + +News of the plans which Henderson had already matured for +establishing an independent colony in the trans-Alleghany +wilderness, now ran like wild-fire through Virginia. In a letter +to George Washington (April 9, 1775), Preston ruefully says: +"Henderson I hear has made the Purchase & got a Conveyance of the +great and Valluable Country below the Kentucky from the +Cherokees. He and about 300 adventurers are gone out to take +Possession, who it is said intends to set up an independent +Government & form a Code of Laws for themselves. How this may be +I cant say, but I am affraid the steps taken by the Government +have been too late. Before the Purchase was made had the Governor +interfered it is believed the Indians would not have sold." + +Meanwhile Judge Henderson, with strenuous energy, had begun to +erect a large stockaded fort according to plans of his own. +Captain James Harrod with forty-two men was stationed at the +settlement he had made the preceding year, having arrived there +before the McAfees started back to Virginia; and there were small +groups of settlers at Boiling Spring, six miles southeast of +Harrods settlement, and at St. Asaph's, a mile west of the +present Stanford. A representative government for Transylvania +was then planned. When the frank and gallant Floyd arrived at the +Transylvania Fort on May 3d, he "expressed great satisfaction," +says Judge Henderson, "on being informed of the plan we proposed +for Legislation & sayd he must most heartily concur in that & +every other measure we should adopt for the well Govern'g or good +of the Community in Gen'l." In reference to a conversation with +Captain James Harrod and Colonel Thomas Slaughter of Virginia, +Henderson notes in his diary (May 8th): "Our plan of Legislation, +the evils pointed out--the remedies to be applyed &c &c &c were +Acceeded to without Hesitation. The plann was plain & Simple- +-'twas nothing novel in its essence a thousand years ago it was +in use, and found by every year's experience since to be +unexceptionable. We were in four distinct settlem'ts. Members or +delegates from every place by free choice of Individuals they +first having entered into writings solemnly binding themselves to +obey and carry into Execution Such Laws as representatives should +from time to time make, Concurred with, by A Majority of the +Proprietors present in the Country." + +In reply to inquiries of the settlers, Judge Henderson gave as +his reason for this assembling of a Transylvania Legislature that +"all power was derived from the people." Six days before the +prophetic arrival of the news of the Battle of Lexington and +eight days before the revolutionary committee of Mecklenburg +County, North Carolina, promulgated their memorable Resolves +establishing laws for independent government, the pioneers +assembled on the green beneath the mighty plane-tree at the +Transylvania Fort. In his wise and statesmanlike address to this +picturesque convention of free Americans (May 23, 1775), an +address which Felix Walker described as being "considered equal +to any of like kind ever delivered to any deliberate body in that +day and time," Judge Henderson used these memorable words: + +"You, perhaps, are fixing the palladium, or placing the first +corner stone of an edifice, the height and magnificence of whose +superstructure . . . can only become great in proportion to the +excellence of its foundation . . . . If any doubt remain amongst +you with respect to the force or efficiency of whatever laws you +now, or hereafter make, be pleased to consider that ALL POWER IS +ORIGINALLY IN THE PEOPLE; MAKE AND THEIR INTEREST, THEREFORE, BY +IMPARTIAL AND BENEFICENT LAWS, AND YOU MAY BE SURE OF THEIR +INCLINATION TO SEE THEM ENFORCED." + +An early writer, in speaking of the full blooded democracy of +these "advanced" sentiments, quaintly comments: "If Jeremy +Bentham had been in existence of manhood, he would have sent his +compliments to the President of Transylvania." This, the first +representative body of American freemen which ever convened west +of the Alleghanies, is surely the most unique colonial government +ever set up on this continent. The proceedings of this backwoods +legislature--the democratic leader ship of the principal +proprietor; the prudence exhibited in the laws for protecting +game, breeding horses, etc.; the tolerance shown in the granting +of full religious liberty--all display the acumen and practical +wisdom of these pioneer law-givers. As the result of Henderson's +tactfulness, the proprietary form of government, thoroughly +democratized in tone, was complacently accepted by the backwoods +men. From one who, though still under royal rule, vehemently +asserted that the source of all political power was the people, +and that "laws derive force and efficiency from our mutual +consent," Western democracy thus born in the wilderness was +"taking its first political lesson." In their answer to +Henderson's assertion of freedom from alien authority the +pioneers unhesitatingly declared: "That we have an absolute +right, as a political body, without giving umbrage to Great +Britain, or any of the colonies, to form rules for the government +of our little society, cannot be doubted by any sensible mind and +being without the jurisdiction of, and not answerable to any of +his Majesty's courts, the constituting tribunals of justice shall +be a matter of our first contemplation . . . ." In the +establishment of a constitution for the new colony, Henderson +with paternalistic wisdom induced the people to adopt a legal +code based on the laws of England. Out of a sense of +self-protection he reserved for the proprietors only one +prerogative not granted them by the people, the right of veto. He +clearly realized that if this power were given up, the delegates +to any convention that might be held after the first would be +able to assume the claims and rights of the proprietors. + +A land-office was formally opened, deeds were issued, and a store +was established which supplied the colonists with powder, lead, +salt, osnaburgs, blankets, and other chief necessities of pioneer +existence. Writing to his brother Jonathan from Leestown, the +bold young George Rogers Clark, soon to plot the downfall of +Transylvania, enthusiastically says (July 6, 1775): "A richer and +more Beautifull Cuntry than this I believe has never been seen in +America yet. Col. Henderson is hear and Claims all ye Country +below Kentucke. If his Claim Should be good, land may be got +Reasonable Enough and as good as any in ye World." Those who +settled on the south side of Kentucky River acknowledged the +validity of the Transylvania purchase; and Clark in his Memoir +says: "the Proprietors at first took great pains to Ingratiate +themselves in the fav'r of the people." + +In regard to the designs of Lord Dunmore, who, as noted above, +had illegally entered the Connolly grant on the Ohio and sought +to outlaw Henderson, and of Colonel William Byrd 3d, who, after +being balked in Patrick Henry's plan to anticipate the +Transylvania Company in effecting a purchase from the Cherokees, +was supposed to have tried to persuade the Cherokees to repudiate +the "Great Treaty," Henderson defiantly says: "Whether Lord +Dunmore and Colonel Byrd have interfered with the Indians or not, +Richard Henderson is equally ignorant and indifferent. The utmost +result of their efforts can only serve to convince them of the +futility of their schemes and possibly frighten some few +faint-hearted persons, naturally prone to reverence great names +and fancy everything must shrink at the magic of a splendid +title." + +Prompted by Henderson's desire to petition the Continental +Congress then in session for recognition as the fourteenth +colony, the Transylvania legislature met again on the first +Thursday in September and elected Richard Henderson and John +Williams, among others, as delegates to the gathering at +Philadelphia. Shortly afterward the Proprietors of Transylvania +held a meeting at Oxford, North Carolina (September 25, 1775), +elected Williams as the agent of the colony, and directed him to +proceed to Boonesborough there to reside until April, 1776. James +Hogg, of Hillsborough, chosen as Delegate to represent the Colony +in the Continental Congress, was despatched to Philadelphia, +bearing with him an elaborate memorial prepared by the President, +Judge Henderson, petitioning the Congress "to take the infant +Colony of Transylvania into their protection." + +Almost immediately upon his arrival in Philadelphia, James Hogg +was presented to "the famous Samuel and John Adams." The latter +warned Hogg, in view of the efforts then making toward +reconciliation between the colonies and the king, that "the +taking under our protection a body of people who have acted in +defiance of the King's proclamation, will be looked on as a +confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily +reproached." Jefferson said that if his advice were followed, all +the use the Virginians should make of their charter would be "to +prevent any arbitrary or oppressive government to be established +within the boundaries of it"; and that it was his wish "to see a +free government established at the back of theirs [Virginia's] +properly united with them." He would not consent, however, that +Congress should acknowledge the colony of Transylvania, until it +had the approbation of the Virginia Convention. The quit-rents +imposed by the company were denounced in Congress as a mark of +vassalage; and many advised a law against the employment of +negroes in the colony. "They even threatened us with their +opposition," says Hogg, with precise veracity, "if we do not act +upon liberal principles when we have it so much in our power to +render ourselves immortal." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. The Repulse of the Red Men + +To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind +feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the +Cherokees ever afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the +Indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were +they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the +property of our frontier men.--David L. Swain: The Indian War of +1776. + + +During the summer of 1775 the proprietors of Transylvania were +confronted with two stupendous tasks--that of winning the favor +and support of the frontiersmen and that of rallying the rapidly +dwindling forces in Kentucky in defense of the settlements. +Recognizing the difficulty of including Martin's Station, because +of its remoteness, with the government provided for Transylvania, +Judge Henderson prepared a plan of government for the group of +settlers located in Powell's Valley. In a letter to Martin (July +30th), in regard to the recent energetic defense of the settlers +at that point against the Indians, Henderson says: "Your spirited +conduct gives me much pleasure . . . . Keep your men in heart if +possible, NOW IS OUR TIME, THE INDIANS MUST NOT DRIVE US." The +gloom which had been occasioned by the almost complete desertion +of the stations at Harrodsburg, the Boiling Spring, and the +Transylvania Fort or Boonesborough was dispelled with the return +of Boone, accompanied by some thirty persons, on September 8th, +and of Richard Callaway with a considerable party on September +26th. The crisis was now passed; and the colony began for the +first time really to flourish. The people on the south side of +the Kentucky River universally accepted proprietary rule for the +time being. But the seeds of dissension were soon to be sown +among those who settled north of the river, as well as among men +of the stamp of James Harrod, who, having preceded Henderson in +the establishment of a settlement in Kentucky, naturally resented +holding lands under the Transylvania Company. + +The great liberality of this organization toward incoming +settlers had resulted in immense quantities of land being taken +up through their land-office. The ranging, hunting, and +road-building were paid for by the company; and the entire +settlement was furnished with powder, lead, and supplies, wholly +on credit, for this and the succeeding year. "Five hundred and +sixty thousand acres of land are now entered," reports Floyd on +December 1st, "and most of the people waiting to have it run +out." After Dunmore, having lost his hold upon the situation, +escaped to the protection of a British vessel, the Fowey, Colonel +Preston continued to prevent surveys for officers' grants within +the Transylvania territory; and his original hostility to Judge +Henderson gave place to friendship and support. On December 1st, +Colonel John Williams, resident agent of the Transylvania +Company, announced at Boonesborough the long-contemplated and +widely advertised advance in price of the lands, from twenty to +fifty shillings per hundred acres, with surveying fees of four +dollars for tracts not exceeding six hundred and forty acres. At +a meeting of the Transylvania legislature, convened on December +21st, John Floyd was chosen surveyor general of the colony, +Nathaniel Henderson was placed in charge of the Entering Office, +and Richard Harrison given the post of secretary. At this meeting +of the legislature, the first open expression of discontent was +voiced in the "Harrodsburg Remonstrance," questioning the +validity of the proprietors' title, and protesting against any +increase in the price of lands, as well as the taking up by the +proprietors and a few other gentlemen of the best lands at the +Falls of the Ohio. Every effort was made to accommodate the +remonstrants, who were led by Abraham Hite. Office fees were +abolished, and the payment of quit-rents was deferred until +January 1, 1780. Despite these efforts at accommodation, grave +doubts were implanted by this Harrodsburg Remonstrance in the +minds of the people; and much discussion and discontent ensued. + +By midsummer, 1775, George Rogers Clark, a remarkably +enterprising and independent young pioneer, was "engrossing all +the land he could" in Kentucky. Upon his return to Virginia, as +he relates, he "found there was various oppinions Respecting +Henderson claim. many thought it good, others douted whether or +not Virginia coud with propriety have any pretentions to the +cuntrey." Jefferson displayed a liberal attitude toward the +claims of the Transylvania proprietors; and Patrick Henry openly +stated that, in his opinion, "their claim would stand good." But +many others, of the stamp of George Mason and George Washington, +vigorously asserted Virginia's charter rights over the Western +territory." This sharp difference of opinion excited in Clark's +mind the bold conception of seizing the leadership of the country +and making terms with Virginia under threat of secession. With +the design of effecting some final disposition in regard to the +title of the Transylvania proprietors, Judge Henderson and +Colonel Williams set off from Boonesborough about May 1st, +intending first to appeal to the Virginia Convention and +ultimately to lay their claims before the Continental Congress. +"Since they have gone," reports Floyd to Preston, "I am told most +of the men about Harrodsburg have re-assumed their former +resolution of not complying with any of the office rules +whatever. Jack Jones, it is said, is at the head of the party & +flourishes away prodigiously." John Gabriel Jones was the mere +figurehead in the revolt. The real leader, the brains of the +conspiracy, was the unscrupulous George Rogers Clark. At Clark's +instance, an eight-day election was held at Harrodsburg (June +7-15), at which time a petition to the Virginia Convention was +drawn up; and Clark and Jones were elected delegates. Clark's +plan, the scheme of a bold revolutionist, was to treat with +Virginia for terms; and if they were not satisfactory, to revolt +and, as he says, "Establish an Independent Government" . . . +"giving away great part of the Lands and disposing of the +Remainder." In a second petition, prepared by the self-styled +"Committee of West Fincastle" (June 20th), it was alleged that +"if these pretended Proprietors have leave to continue to act in +their arbitrary manner out the controul of this colony [Virginia] +the end must be evident to every well wisher to American +Liberty." + +The contest which now ensued between Richard Henderson and George +Rogers Clark, waged upon the floor of the convention and behind +the scenes, resulted in a conclusion that was inevitable at a +moment in American history marked by the signing of the +Declaration of Independence. Virginia, under the leader ship of +her new governor, Patrick Henry, put an end to the proprietary +rule of the Transylvania Company. On December 7th such part of +Transylvania as lay within the chartered limits of Virginia was +erected by the legislature of that colony into the County of +Kentucky. The proprietary form of government with its "marks of +vassalage," although liberalized with the spirit of democracy, +was unendurable to the independent and lawless pioneers, already +intoxicated with the spirit of freedom swept in on the first +fresh breezes of the Revolution. Yet it is not to be doubted that +the Transylvania Company, through the courage and moral influence +of its leaders, made a permanent contribution to the colonization +of the West, which, in providential timeliness and effective +execution, is without parallel in our early annals. + +While events were thus shaping themselves in Kentucky--events +which made possible Clark's spectacular and meteoric campaign in +the Northwest and ultimately resulted in the establishment of the +Mississippi instead of the Alleghanies as the western boundary of +the Confederation--the pioneers of Watauga were sagaciously +laying strong the foundations of permanent occupation. In +September, 1775, North Carolina, through her Provincial Congress, +provided for the appointment in each district of a Committee of +Safety, to consist of a president and twelve other members. +Following the lead thus set, the Watauga settlers assumed for +their country the name of "Washington District"; and proceeded by +unanimous vote of the people to choose a committee of thirteen, +which included James Robertson and John Sevier. This district was +organized "shortly after October, 1775, according to Felix +Walker; and the first step taken after the election of the +committee was the organization of a court, consisting of five +members. Felix Walker was elected clerk of the court thus +organized, and held the position for about four years. James +Robertson and John Sevier, it is believed, were also members of +this court. To James Robertson who, with the assistance of his +colleagues, devised this primitive type of frontier rule--a true +commission form of government, on the "Watauga Plan"--is justly +due distinctive recognition for this notable inauguration of the +independent democracy of the Old Southwest. The Watauga +settlement was animated by a spirit of deepest loyalty to the +American cause. In a memorable petition these hardy settlers +requested the Provincial Council of North Carolina not to regard +them as a "lawless mob," but to "annex" them to North Carolina +without delay. "This committee (willing to become a party in the +present unhappy contest)", states the petition, which must have +been drafted about July 15, 1776, "resolved (which is now on our +records), to adhere strictly to the rules and orders of the +Continental Congress, and in open committee acknowledged +themselves indebted to the united colonies their full proportion +of the Continental expense." + +While these disputes as to the government of the new communities +were in progress an additional danger threatened the pioneers. +For a whole year the British had been plying the various Indian +tribes from the lakes to the gulf with presents, supplies, and +ammunition. In the Northwest bounties had actually been offered +for American scalps. During the spring of 1776 plans were +concerted, chiefly through Stuart and Cameron, British agents +among the Southern Indians, for uniting the Loyalists and the +Indians in a crushing attack upon the Tennessee settlements and +the back country of North Carolina. Already the frontier of South +Carolina had passed through the horrors of Indian uprising; and +warning of the approaching invasion had been mercifully sent the +Holston settlers by Atta-kulla-kulla's niece, Nancy Ward, the +"Pocahontas of the West"--doubtless through the influence of her +daughter, who loved Joseph Martin. The settlers, flocking for +refuge into their small stockaded forts, waited in readiness for +the dreaded Indian attacks, which were made by two forces +totaling some seven hundred warriors. + +On July 20th, warned in advance of the approach of the Indians, +the borderers, one hundred and seventy in all, marched in two +columns from the rude breastwork, hastily thrown up at Eaton's +Station, to meet the Indians, double their own number, led by The +Dragging Canoe. The scouts surprised one party of Indians, +hastily poured in a deadly fire, and rushed upon them with such +impetuous fury that they fled precipitately. Withdrawing now +toward their breastwork, in anticipation of encountering there a +larger force, the backwoodsmen suddenly found themselves attacked +in their rear and in grave danger of being surrounded. Extending +their own line under the direction of Captain James Shelby, the +frontiersmen steadily met the bold attack of the Indians, who, +mistaking the rapid extension of the line for a movement to +retreat, incautiously made a headlong onslaught upon the whites, +giving the war-whoop and shouting: "The Unakas are running!" In +the ensuing hot conflict at close quarters, in some places hand +to hand, the Indians were utterly routed--The Dragging Canoe +being shot down, many warriors wounded, and thirteen left dead +upon the field. + +On the day after Thompson, Cocke, Shelby, Campbell, Madison, and +their men were thus winning the battle of the Long Island +"flats," Robertson, Sevier, and their little band of forty-two +men were engaged in repelling an attack, begun at sunrise, upon +the Watauga fort near the Sycamore Shoals. This attack, which was +led by Old Abraham, proved abortive; but as the result of the +loose investment of the log fortress, maintained by the Indians +for several weeks, a few rash venturers from the fort were killed +or captured, notably a young boy who was carried to one of the +Indian towns and burned at the stake, and the wife of the pioneer +settler, William Been, who was rescued from a like fate by the +intercession of the humane and noble Nancy Ward. It was during +this siege, according to constant tradition, that a frontier +lass, active and graceful as a young doe, was pursued to the very +stockade by the fleet-footed savages. Seeing her plight, an +athletic young officer mounted the stockade at a single leap, +shot down the foremost of the pursuers, and leaning over, seized +the maiden by the hands and lifted her over the stockade. The +maiden who sank breathless into the arms of the young officer, +John Sevier, was "Bonnie Kate Sherrill"--who, after the fashion +of true romance, afterward became the wife of her gallant +rescuer. + +While the Tennessee settlements were undergoing the trials of +siege and attack, the settlers on the frontiers of Rowan were +falling beneath the tomahawk of the merciless savage. In the +first and second weeks of July large forces of Indians penetrated +to the outlying settlements; and in two days thirty-seven persons +were killed along the Catawba River. On July 13th, the bluff old +soldier of Rowan, General Griffith Rutherford, reported to the +council of North Carolina that "three of our Captains are killed +and one wounded"; and that he was setting out that day with what +men he could muster to relieve Colonel McDowell, ten men, and one +hundred and twenty women and children, who were "besieged in some +kind of a fort." Aroused to extraordinary exertions by these +daring and deadly blows, the governments of North Carolina, South +Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia instituted a joint campaign +against the Cherokees. It was believed that, by delivering a +series of crushing blows to the Indians and so conclusively +demonstrating the overwhelming superiority of the whites, the +state governments in the Old Southwest would convince the savages +of the futility, of any attempt ever again to oppose them +seriously. + +Within less than a week after sending his despatches to the +council Rutherford set forth at the head of twenty-five hundred +men to protect the frontiers of North Carolina and to overwhelm +the foe. Leading the South Carolina army of more than eighteen +hundred men, Colonel Andrew Williamson directed his attack +against the lower Cherokee towns; while Colonel Samuel Jack led +two hundred Georgians against the Indian towns at the heads of +the Chattahoochee and Tugaloo Rivers. Assembling a force of some +sixteen hundred Virginians, Colonel William Christian +rendezvoused in August at the Long Island of Holston, where his +force was strengthened by between three and four hundred North +Carolinians under Colonels Joseph Williams and Love, and Major +Winston. The various expeditions met with little effective +opposition on the whole, succeeding everywhere in their design of +utterly laying waste the towns of the Cherokees. One serious +engagement occurred when the Indians resolutely challenged +Rutherford's advance at the gap of the Nantahala Mountains. +Indian women--heroic Amazons disguised in war-paint and armed +with the weapons of warriors and the courage of despair--fought +side by side with the Indian braves in the effort to arrest +Rutherford's progress and compass his defeat. More than forty +frontiersmen fell beneath the deadly shots of this truly Spartan +band before the final repulse of the savages. + +The most picturesque figures in this overwhelmingly successful +campaign were the bluff old Indian-fighter, Griffith Rutherford, +wearing "a tow hunting shirt, dyed black, and trimmed with white +fringe" as a uniform; Captain Benjamin Cleveland, a rude paladin +of gigantic size, strength, and courage; Lieutenant William +Lenoir (Le Noir), the gallant and recklessly brave French +Huguenot, later to win a general's rank in the Revolution; and +that militant man of God, the Reverend James Hall, graduate of +Nassau Hall, stalwart and manly, who carried a rifle on his +shoulder and, in the intervals between the slaughter of the +savages, preached the gospel to the vindictive and bloodthirsty +backwoodsmen. Such preaching was sorely needed on that campaign-- +when the whites, maddened beyond the bounds of self-control by +the recent ghastly murders, gladly availed themselves of the +South Carolina bounty offered for fresh Indian scalps. At times +they exultantly displayed the reeking patches of hair above the +gates of their stockades; at others, with many a bloody oath, +they compelled their commanders either to sell the Indian +captives into slavery or else see them scalped on the spot. +Twenty years afterward Benjamin Hawkins relates that among Indian +refugees in extreme western Georgia the children had been so +terrorized by their parents' recitals of the atrocities of the +enraged borderers in the campaign of 1776, that they ran +screaming from the face of a white man. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. The Colonization of the Cumberland + +March 31, 1760. Set out this day, and after running some +distance, met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the +line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were +much rejoiced. He gave us every information we wished, and +further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in +Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of Ohio, for the use of the +Cumberland settlement. We are now without bread, and are +compelled to hunt the buffalo to preserve life.--John Donelson: +Journal of a Voyage, intended by God's permission, in the good +boat Adventure, from Fort Patrick Henry, on Holston River, to the +French Salt Springs on Cumberland River. + + +To the settlements in Tennessee and Kentucky, which they had +seized and occupied, the pioneers held on with a tenacious grip +which never relaxed. From these strongholds, won through sullen +and desperate strokes, they pushed deeper into the wilderness, +once again to meet with undimmed courage the bitter onslaughts of +their resentful foes. The crushing of the Cherokees in 1776 +relieved the pressure upon the Tennessee settlers, enabling them +to strengthen their hold and prepare effectively for future +eventualities; the possession of the gateway to Kentucky kept +free the passage for Western settlement; Watauga and its +defenders continued to offer a formidable barrier to British +invasion of the East from Kentucky and the Northwest during the +Revolution; while these Tennessee frontiersmen were destined soon +to set forth again to invade a new wilderness and at frightful +cost to colonize the Cumberland. + +The little chain of stockades along the farflung frontier of +Kentucky was tenaciously held by the bravest of the race, grimly +resolved that this chain must not break. The Revolution +precipitated against this chain wave after wave of formidable +Indian foes from the Northwest under British leadership. At the +very time when Grifth Rutherford set out for the relief of +McDowell's Fort, a marauding Indian band captured by stealth near +the Transylvania Fort, known as Boone's Fort (Boonesborough), +Elizabeth and Frances Callaway, and Jemima Boone, the daughters +of Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, and rapidly marched them +away toward the Shawanoe towns on the Ohio. A relief party, in +two divisions, headed respectively by the young girls' fathers, +and composed among others of the lovers of the three girls, +Samuel Henderson, John Holder, and Flanders Callaway, pursued +them with almost incredible swiftness. Guided by broken twigs and +bits of cloth surreptitiously dropped by Elizabeth Callaway, they +finally overtook the unsuspecting savages, killed two of them, +and rescued the three maidens unharmed. This romantic +episode--which gave Fenimore Cooper the theme for the most +memorable scene in one of his Leatherstocking Tales had an even +more romantic sequel in the subsequent marriage of the three +pairs of lovers. + +This bold foray, so shrewdly executed and even more sagaciously +foiled, was a true precursor of the dread happenings of the +coming neighborhood of the stations; and relief was felt when the +Transylvania Fort, the great stockade planned by Judge Henderson, +was completed by the pioneers (July, 1776). Glad tidings arrived +only a few days later when the Declaration of Independence, read +aloud from the Virginia Gazette, was greeted with wild huzzas by +the patriotic backwoodsmen. During the ensuing months occasional +invasions were made by savage bands; but it was not until April +24, 1777, that Henderson's "big fort" received its first attack, +being invested by a company of some seventy-five savages. The +twenty-two riflemen in the fort drove off the painted warriors, +but not before Michael Stoner, Daniel Boone, and several others +were severely wounded. As he lay helpless upon the ground, his +ankle shattered by a bullet, Boone was lifted by Simon Kenton and +borne away upon his shoulders to the haven of the stockade amid a +veritable shower of balls. The stoical and taciturn Boone clasped +Kenton's hand and gave him the accolade of the wilderness in the +brief but heartfelt utterance; "You are a fine fellow." On July +4th of this same year the fort was again subjected to siege, when +two hundred gaudily painted savages surrounded it for two days. +But owing to the vigilance and superb markmanship of the +defenders, as well as to the lack of cannon by the besieging +force, the Indians reluctantly abandoned the siege, after leaving +a number dead upon the field. Soon afterward the arrival of two +strong bodies of prime riflemen, who had been hastily summoned +from the frontiers of North Carolina and Virginia, once again +made firm the bulwark of white supremacy in the West. + +Kentucky's terrible year, 1778, opened with a severe disaster to +the white settlers--when Boone with thirty men, while engaged in +making salt at the "Lower Salt Spring," was captured in February +by more than a hundred Indians, sent by Governor Hamilton of +Detroit to drive the white settlers from "Kentucke." Boone +remained in captivity until early summer, when, learning that his +Indian captors were planning an attack in force upon the +Transylvania Fort, he succeeded in effecting his escape. After a +break-neck journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which +he ate but one meal, Boone finally arrived at the big fort on +June 20th. The settlers were thus given ample time for +preparation, as the long siege did not begin until September 7th. +The fort was invested by a powerful force flying the English +flag--four hundred and forty-four savages gaudy in the vermilion +and ochre of their war-paint, and eleven Frenchmen, the whole +being commanded by the French-Canadian, Captain Dagniaux de +Quindre, and the great Indian Chief, Black-fish who had adopted +Boone as a son. In the effort to gain his end de Quindre resorted +to a dishonorable stratagem, by which he hoped to outwit the +settlers and capture the fort with but slight loss. "They formed +a scheme to deceive us," says Boone, "declaring it was their +orders, from Governor Hamilton, to take us captives, and not to +destroy us; but if nine of us would come out and treat with them, +they would immediately withdraw their forces from our walls, and +return home peacably." Transparent as the stratagem was, Boone +incautiously agreed to a conference with the enemy; Callaway +alone took the precaution to guard against Indian duplicity. +After a long talk, the Indians proposed to Boone, Callaway, and +the seven or eight pioneers who accompanied them that they shake +hands in token of peace and friendship. As picturesquely +described by Daniel Trabue: + +"The Indians sayed two Indians must shake hands with one white +man to make a Double or sure peace at this time the Indians had +hold of the white men's hands and held them. Col. Calloway +objected to this but the other Indians laid hold or tryed to lay +hold of the other hand but Colonel Calloway was the first that +jerked away from them but the Indians seized the men two Indians +holt of one man or it was mostly the case and did their best to +hold them but while the man and Indians was a scuffling the men +from the Fort agreeable to Col. Calloway's order fired on them +they had a dreadful skuffel but our men all got in the fort safe +and the fire continued on both sides." + +During the siege Callaway, the leader of the pioneers, made a +wooden cannon wrapped with wagon tires, which on being fired at a +group of Indians "made them scamper perdidiously." The secret +effort of the Indians to tunnel a way underground into the fort, +being discovered by the defenders, was frustrated by a +countermine. Unable to outwit, outfight, or outmaneuver the +resourceful Callaway, de Quindre finally withdrew on September +16th, closing the longest and severest attack that any of the +fortified stations of Kentucky had ever been called upon to +withstand. + +The successful defense of the Transylvania Fort, made by these +indomitable backwoodsmen who were lost sight of by the +Continental Congress and left to fight alone their battles in the +forests, was of national significance in its results. Had the +Transylvania Fort fallen, the northern Indians in overwhelming +numbers, directed by Hamilton and led by British officers, might +well have swept Kentucky free of defenders and fallen with +devastating force upon the exposed settlements along the western +frontiers of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, This +defense of Boonesborough, therefore, is deserving of +commemoration in the annals of the Revolution, along with +Lexington and Bunker's Hill. Coupled with Clark's meteoric +campaign in the Northwest and the subsequent struggles in the +defense of Kentucky, it may be regarded as an event basically +responsible for the retention of the trans-Alleghany region by +the United States. The bitter struggles, desperate sieges, and +bloody reprisals of these dark years came to a close with the +expeditions of Clark and Logan in November, 1782, which +appropriately concluded the Revolution in the West by putting a +definite end to all prospect of formidable invasion of Kentucky. + +In November, 1777, "Washington District," the delegates of which +had been received in the preceding year by the Provincial +Congress of North Carolina, was formed by the North Carolina +General Assembly into Washington County; and to it were assigned +the boundaries of the whole of the present state of Tennessee. +While this immense territory was thus being definitely included +within the bounds of North Carolina, Judge Henderson on behalf of +the Transylvania Company was making a vigorous effort to secure +the reestablishment of its rights from the Virginia Assembly. By +order of the Virginia legislature, an exhaustive investigation of +the claims of the Transylvania Company was therefore made, +hearings being held at various points in the back country. On +July 18, 1777, Judge Henderson presented to the peace +commissioners for North Carolina and Virginia at the Long Island +treaty ground an elaborate memorial in behalf of the Transylvania +Company, which the commissioners unanimously refused to consider, +as not coming under their jurisdiction. Finally, after a full and +impartial discussion before the Virginia House of Delegates, that +body declared the Transylvania purchase void. But in +consideration of "the very great expense [incurred by the +company] in making the said purchase, and in settling the said +lands, by which the commonwealth is likely to receive great +advantage, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a +barrier against the Indians," the House of Delegates granted +Richard Henderson and Company two hundred thousand acres of land +situated between the Ohio and Green rivers, where the town of +Henderson, Kentucky, now stands. With this bursting of the +Transylvania bubble and the vanishing of the golden dreams of +Henderson and his associates for establishing the fourteenth +American colony in the heart of the trans-Alleghany, a first +romantic chapter in the history of Westward expansion comes to a +close. + +But another and more feasible project immediately succeeded. +Undiscouraged by Virginia's confiscation of Transylvania, and +disregarding North Carolina's action in extending her boundaries +over the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered +limits, Henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the +ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking +conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more +solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment of +Transylvania. It was not his purpose, however, to found an +independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the +Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North Carolina, +and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale +of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland +supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the +prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was +necessary to prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to +determine whether or not the Great French Lick, the ideal +location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of North +Carolina. + +Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an +extensive colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to +take form in vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project +Henderson had chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North +Carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for +future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing +party the ablest of the Tennessee pioneers, James Robertson. +Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga settlement +and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North +Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to +leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in +this desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight +white men and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth +from the Holston settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a +preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be +prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." After +erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense, +Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long +journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult +with George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the +Virginia Land Office several thousand acres of land at the French +Lick. After perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing +"cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in Virginia, +Robertson returned to Watauga to take command of the migration. + +Toward the end of the year two parties set out, one by land, the +other by water, for the wonderful new country on the Cumberland +of which Boone and Scaggs and Mansker had brought back such +glowing descriptions. During the autumn Judge Henderson and other +commissioners from North Carolina, in conjunction with +commissioners from Virginia, had been running out the boundary +line between the two states. On the very day--Christmas, +1779--that Judge Henderson reached the site of the Transylvania +Fort, now called Boonesborough, the swarm of colonists from the +parent hive at Watauga, under Robertson's leadership, reached the +French Lick and on New Year's Day, 1780, crossed the river on the +ice to the present site of Nashville. + +The journal of the other party, which, as has been aptly said, +reads like a chapter from one of Captain Mayne Reid's fascinating +novels of adventure, was written by Colonel John Donelson, the +father-in-law of Andrew Jackson. Setting out from Fort Patrick +Henry on Holston River, December 22, 1779, with a flotilla +consisting of about thirty flatboats, dugouts, and canoes, they +encountered few difficulties until they began to run the gauntlet +of the Chickamauga towns on the Tennessee. Here they were +furiously attacked by the Indians, terrible in their red and +black war-paint; and a well-filled boat lagging in the rear, with +smallpox on board, was driven to shore by the Indians. The +occupants were massacred; but the Indians at once contracted the +disease and died by the hundreds. This luckless sacrifice of +"poor Stuart, his family and friends," while a ghastly price to +pay, undoubtedly procured for the Cumberland settlements +comparative immunity from Indian forays until the new-comers had +firmly established themselves in their wilderness stronghold. +Eloquent of the granite endurance and courageous spirit of the +typical American pioneer in its thankfulness for sanctuary, for +reunion of families and friends, and for the humble shelter of a +log cabin, is the last entry in Donelson's diary (April 24, +1780): + +"This day we arrived at our journey's end at the Big Salt Lick, +where we have the pleasure of finding Capt. Robertson and his +company. It is a source of satisfaction to us to be enabled to +restore to him and others their families and friends, who were +intrusted to our care, and who, some time since, perhaps, +despaired of ever meeting again. Though our prospects at present +are dreary, we have found a few log cabins which have been built +on a cedar bluff above the Lick by Capt. Robertson and his +company." + +In the midst of the famine during this terrible period of the +"hard winter," Judge Henderson was sorely concerned for the fate +of the new colony which he had projected, and immediately +proceeded to purchase at huge cost a large stock of corn. On +March 5, 1780, this corn, which had been raised by Captain +Nathaniel Hart, was "sent from Boonesborough in perogues +[pettiaugers or flatboats] under the command of William Bailey +Smith . . . . This corn was taken down the Kentucky River, and +over the Falls of Ohio, to the mouth of the Cumberland, and +thence up that river to the fort at the French Lick. It is +believed have been the only bread which the settlers had until it +was raised there in 1781." There is genuine impressiveness in +this heroic triumphing over the obstacles of obdurate nature and +this paternalistic provision for the exposed Cumberland +settlement--the purchase by Judge Henderson, the shipment by +Captain Hart, and the transportation by Colonel Smith, in an +awful winter of bitter cold and obstructed navigation, of this +indispensable quantity of corn purchased for sixty thousand +dollars in depreciated currency. + +Upon his arrival at the French Lick, shortly after the middle of +April, Judge Henderson at once proceeded to organize a government +for the little community. On May 1st articles of association were +drawn up; and important additions thereto were made on May 13th, +when the settlers signed the complete series. The original +document, still preserved, was drafted by Judge Henderson, being +written throughout in his own handwriting; and his name heads the +list of two hundred and fifty and more signatures. The +"Cumberland Compact," as this paper is called, is fundamentally a +mutual contract between the copartners of the Transylvania +Company and the settlers upon the lands claimed by the company. +It represents the collective will of the community; and on +account of the careful provisions safeguarding the rights of each +party to the contract it may be called a bill of rights. The +organization of this pure democracy was sound and +admirable--another notable early example of the commission form +of government. The most remarkable feature of this backwoods +constitution marks Judge Henderson as a pioneer in the use of the +political device so prominent to-day, one hundred and forty years +later--the "recall of judges." In the following striking clause +this innovation in government was recognized thus early in +American history as the most effective means of securing and +safeguarding justice in a democracy: + +"As often as the people in general are dissatisfied with the +doings of the Judges or Triers so to be chosen, they may call a +new selection in any of the said stations, and elect bothers in +their stead, having due respect to the number now agreed to be +elected at each station, which persons so to be chosen shall have +the same power with those in whose room or place they shall or +may be chosen to act." + +A land-office was now opened, the entry-taker being appointed by +Judge Henderson, in accordance with. the compact; and the lands, +for costs of entry, etc., were registered for the nominal fee of +ten dollars per thousand acres. But as the Transylvania Company +was never able to secure a "satisfactory and indisputable title," +the clause resulted in perpetual nonpayment. In 1783, following +the lead of Virginia in the case of Transylvania, North Carolina +declared the Transylvania Company's purchase void, but granted +the company in compensation a tract of one hundred and ninety +thousand acres in Powell's Valley. As compensation, the grants of +North Carolina and Virginia were quite inadequate, considering +the value of the service in behalf of permanent western +colonization rendered by the Transylvania company. + +James Robertson was chosen as presiding officer of the court of +twelve commissioners, and was also elected commander-in-chief of +the military forces of the eight little associated settlements on +the Cumberland. Here for the next two years the self-reliant +settlers under Robertson's wise and able leadership successfully +repelled the Indians in their guerrilla warfare, firmly +entrenched themselves in their forest-girt stronghold, and +vindicated their claim to the territory by right of occupation +and conquest. Here sprang up in later times a great and populous +city--named, strangely enough, neither for Henderson, the +founder, nor for Robertson and Donelson, the leaders of the two +colonizing parties, but for one having no association with its +history or origins, the gallant North Carolinian, General Francis +Nash, who was killed at the Battle of Germantown. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. King's Mountain + +With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden +and favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago +destruction hung over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 +British and Tories waited at Charlotte for the reinforcement of +1000 from Broad River, which reinforcement has been entirely cut +off, 130 killed and the remainder captured. Cornwallis +immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward Charleston, +with part of our army in his rear . . . .--Elizabeth Maxwell +Steel: Salisbury, October 25, 1780. + + +So thoroughly had the Cherokees been subdued by the devastations +of the campaign of 1776 that for several years thereafter they +were unable to organize for a new campaign against the +backwoodsmen along the frontiers of North Carolina and Tennessee. +During these years the Holston settlers principally busied +themselves in making their position secure, as well as in setting +their house in order by severely punishing the lawless Tory +element among them. In 1779 the Chickamaugas, with whom The +Dragging Canoe and his irreconcilable followers among the +Cherokees had joined hands after the campaign of 1776, grew so +bold in their bloody forays upon small exposed settlements that +North Carolina and Virginia in conjunction despatched a strong +expedition against them. Embarking on April l0th at the mouth of +Big Creek near the present Rogersville, Tennessee, three hundred +and fifty men led by Colonel Evan Shelby descended the Tennessee +to the fastnesses of the Chickamaugas. Meeting with no resistance +from the astonished Indians, who fled to the shelter of the +densely wooded hills, they laid waste the Indian towns and +destroyed the immense stores of goods collected by the British +agents for distribution among the red men. The Chickamaugas were +completely quelled; and during the period of great stress through +which the Tennessee frontiersmen were soon to pass, the Cherokees +were restrained through the wise diplomacy of Joseph Martin, +Superintendent of Indian affairs for Virginia. + +The great British offensive against the Southern colonies, which +were regarded as the vulnerable point in the American +Confederacy, was fully launched upon the fall of Charleston in +May, l780. Cornwallis established his headquarters at Camden; and +one of his lieutenants, the persuasive and brilliant Ferguson, +soon rallied thousands of Loyalists in South Carolina to the +British standard. When Cornwallis inaugurated his campaign for +cutting Washington wholly off from the Southern colonies by +invading North Carolina, the men upon the western waters realized +that the time had come to rise, in defense of their state and in +protection of their homes. Two hundred Tennessee riflemen from +Sullivan County, under Colonel Isaac Shelby, were engaged in +minor operations in South Carolina conducted by Colonel Charles +McDowell; and conspicuous among these engagements was the affair +at Musgrove's Mill on August 18th when three hundred horsemen led +by Colonel James Williams, a native of Granville County, North +Carolina, Colonel Isaac Shelby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Clark of +Georgia repulsed with heavy loss a British force of between four +and five hundred. + +These minor successes availed nothing in face of the disastrous +defeat of Gates by Cornwallis at Camden on August 16th and the +humiliating blow to Sumter at Rocky Mount on the following day. +Ferguson hotly pursued the frontiersmen, who then retreated over +the mountains; and from his camp at Gilbert Town he despatched a +threatening message to the Western leaders, declaring that if +they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms and +take protection under his standard, he would march his army over +the mountains and lay their country waste with fire and sword. +Stung to action, Shelby hastily rode off to consult with Sevier +at his log castle near Jonesboro; and together they matured a +plan to arouse the mountain men and attack Ferguson by surprise. +In the event of failure, these wilderness free-lances planned to +leave the country and find a home with the Spaniards in +Louisiana. + +At the original place of rendezvous, the Sycamore Shoals of the +Watauga, the overmountain men gathered on September 25th. There +an eloquent sermon was preached to them by that fiery man of God, +the Reverend Samuel Doak, who concluded his discourse with a +stirring invocation to the sword of the Lord and of Gideon--a +sentiment greeted with the loud applause of the militant +frontiersmen. Here and at various places along the march they +were joined by detachments of border fighters summoned to join +the expedition--Colonel William Campbell, who with some +reluctance had abandoned his own plans in response to Shelby's +urgent and repeated message, in command of four hundred hardy +frontiersmen from Washington County, Virginia; Colonel Benjamin +Cleveland, with the wild fighters of Wilkes known as "Cleveland's +Bulldogs"; Colonel Andrew Hampton, with the stalwart riflemen of +Rutherford; Major Joseph Winston, the cousin of Patrick Henry, +with the flower of the citizenry of Surry; the McDowells, Charles +and Joseph, with the bold borderers of Burke; Colonels Lacy and +Hill, with well-trained soldiers of South Carolina; and +Brigadier-General James Williams, leading the intrepid Rowan +volunteers. + +Before breaking camp at Quaker Meadows, the leading officers in +conference chose Colonel William Campbell as temporary officer of +the day, until they could secure a general officer from +headquarters as commander-in-chief. The object of the +mountaineers and big-game hunters was, in their own terms, to +pursue Ferguson, to run him down, and to capture him. In +pursuance of this plan, the leaders on arriving at the ford of +Green River chose out a force of six hundred men, with the best +mounts and equipment; and at daybreak on October 6th this force +of picked mounted riflemen, followed by some fifty "foot-cavalry" +eager to join in the pursuit, pushed rapidly on to the Cowpens. +Here a second selection took place; and Colonel Campbell, was +again elected commander of the detachment, now numbering some +nine hundred and ten horsemen and eighty odd footmen, which +dashed rapidly on in pursuit of Ferguson. + +The British commander had been apprised of the coming of the +over-mountain men. Scorning to make a forced march and attempt to +effect a junction with Cornwallis at Charlotte, Ferguson chose to +make a stand and dispose once for all of the barbarian horde whom +he denounced as mongrels and the dregs of mankind. After +despatching to Cornwallis a message asking for aid, Ferguson took +up his camp on King's Mountain, just south of the North Carolina +border line, in the present York County, South Carolina. Here, +after his pickets had been captured in silence, he was surprised +by his opponents. At three o'clock in the afternoon of October +7th the mountain hunters treed their game upon the heights. + +The battle which ensued presents an extraordinary contrast in the +character of the combatants and the nature of the strategy and +tactics. Each party ran true to form--Ferguson repeating +Braddock's suicidal policy of opposing bayonet charges to the +deadly fusillade of riflemen, who in Indian fashion were +carefully posted behind trees and every shelter afforded by the +natural inequalities of the ground. In the army of the Carolina +and Virginia frontiersmen, composed of independent detachments +recruited from many sources and solicitous for their own +individual credit, each command was directed in the battle by its +own leader. Campbell--like Cleveland, Winston, Williams, Lacey, +Shelby, McDowell, Sevier, and Hambright--personally led his own +division; but the nature of the fighting and the peculiarity of +the terrain made it impossible for him, though the chosen +commander of the expedition, actually to play that role in the +battle. The plan agreed upon in advance by the frontier leaders +was simple enough--to surround and capture Ferguson's camp on the +high plateau. The more experienced Indian fighters, Sevier and +Shelby, unquestionably suggested the general scheme which in any +case would doubtless have been employed by the frontiersmen; it +was to give the British "Indian play"--namely to take cover +everywhere and to fire from natural shelter. Cleveland, a +Hercules in strength and courage who had fought the Indians and +recognized the wisdom of Indian tactics, ordered his men, as did +some of the other leaders, to give way before a bayonet charge, +but to return to the attack after the charge had spent its force. + +"My brave fellows," said Cleveland, "every man must consider +himself an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as quick +as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. When you +can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not +to run quite off. If we are repulsed, let us make a point of +returning and renewing the fight; perhaps we may have better luck +in the second attempt than in the first." + +The plateau upon which Ferguson was encamped was the top of an +eminence some six hundred yards long and about two hundred and +fifty yards from one base across to the other; and its shape was +that of an Indian paddle, varying from one hundred and twenty +yards at the blade to sixty yards at the handle in width. +Outcropping boulders upon the outer edge of the plateau afforded +some slight shelter for Ferguson's force; but, unsuspicious of +attack, Ferguson had made no abatis to protect his camp from the +assault to which it was so vulnerable because of the protection +of the timber surrounding it on all sides. As to the disposition +of the attacking force, the center to the northeast was occupied +by Cleveland with his "Bulldogs," Hambright with his South Fork +Boys from the Catawba (now Lincoln County, North Carolina), and +Winston with his Surry riflemen; to the south were the divisions +of Joseph McDowell, Sevier, and Campbell; while Lacey's South +Carolinians, the Rowan levies under Williams, and the Watauga +borderers under Shelby were stationed upon the north side. +Ferguson's forces consisted of Provincial Rangers, one hundred +and fifty strong, and other well-drilled Loyalists, between eight +and nine hundred in number; but his strength was seriously +weakened by the absence of a foraging party of between one and +two hundred who had gone off on the morning the battle occurred. +Shelby's men, before getting into position, received a hot fire, +the opening shots of the engagement. This inspired Campbell, who +now threw off his coat, to shout encouraging orders to his men +posted on the side of the mountain opposite to Shelby's force. +When Campbell's Virginians uttered a series of piercing shouts, +the British officer, De Peyster, second in command, remarked to +his chief: "These things are ominous--these are the damned +yelling boys." + +The battle, which lasted some minutes short of an hour, was waged +with terrific ferocity. The Loyalist militia, whenever possible, +fired from the shelter of the rocks; while the Provincial Corps, +with fixed bayonets, steadily charged the frontiersmen, who fired +at close range and then rapidly withdrew to the very base of the +mountain. After each bayonet charge the Provincials coolly +withdrew to the summit, under the accumulating fire of the +returning mountaineers, who quickly gathered in their rear. Owing +to their elevated location, the British, although using the +rapid-fire breech-loading rifle invented by Ferguson himself, +found their vision deflected, and continually fired high, thus +suffering from nature's handicap, refraction. The militia, using +sharpened butcher-knives which Ferguson had taught them to +utilize as bayonets, charged against the mountaineers; but their +fire, in answer to the deadly fusillade of the expert squirrel- +shooters, was belated, owing to the fact that they could not fire +while the crudely improvised bayonets remained inserted in their +pieces. The Americans, continually firing upward, found ready +marks for their aim in the clearly delineated outlines of their +adversaries, and felt the fierce exultation which animates the +hunter who has tracked to its lair and surrounded wild game at +bay. + +The leaders of the various divisions of the mountaineers bore +themselves with impetuous bravery, recklessly rushing between the +lines of fire and with native eloquence, interspersed with +profanity, rallying their individual commands again and again to +the attack. The valiant Campbell scaled the rugged heights, +loudly encouraging his men to the ascent. Cleveland, resolutely +facing the foe, urged on is Bulldogs with the inspiriting words: +"Come, boys; let's try 'em again. We'll have better luck next +time." No sooner did Shelby's men reach the bottom of the hill, +in retreating before a charge, than their commander, fiery and +strenuous, ardently shouted: "Now boys, quickly reload your +rifles, and let's advance upon them, and give them another hell +of a fire." The most deadly charge, led by De Peyster himself, +fell upon Hambright's South Fork boys; and one of their gallant +officers, Major Chronicle, waving his military hat, was mortally +wounded, the command, "Face to the hill!", dying on his lips. +These veteran soldiers, unlike the mountaineers, firmly met the +shock of the charge, and a number of their men were shot down or +transfixed; but the remainder, reserving their fire until the +charging column was only a few feet away, poured in a deadly +volley before retiring. The gallant William Lenoir, whose +reckless bravery made him a conspicuous target for the enemy, +received several wounds and emerged from the battle with his hair +and clothes torn by balls. The ranking American officer, +Brigadier General James Williams, was mortally wounded while "on +the very top of the mountain, in the thickest of the fight"; and +as he momentarily revived, his first words were: "For God's sake, +boys, don't give up the hill." Hambright, sorely wounded, his +boot overflowing with blood and his hat riddled with three bullet +holes, declined to dismount, but pressed gallantly forward, +exclaiming in his "Pennsylvania Dutch": "Huzza, my prave poys, +fight on a few minutes more, and the pattle will be over!" On the +British side, Ferguson was supremely valorous, rapidly dashing +from one point to another, rallying his men, oblivious to all +danger. Wherever the shrill note of his silver whistle sounded, +there the fighting was hottest and the British resistance the +most stubborn. His officers fought with the characteristic +steadiness of the British soldier; and again and again his men +charged headlong against the wavering and fiery circle of the +frontiersmen. + +Ferguson's boast that "he was on King's Mountain, that he was +king of the Mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from +it" was doubtless prompted, less by a belief in the +impregnability of his position, than by a desperate desire to +inspire confidence in his men. His location was admirably chosen +for defense against attack by troops employing regulation +tactics; but, never dreaming of the possibility of sudden +investment, Ferguson had erected no fortifications for his +encampment. His frenzied efforts on the battlefield seem like a +mad rush against fate; for the place was indefensible against the +peculiar tactics of the frontiersmen. While the mountain flamed +like a volcano and resounded with the thunder of the guns, a +steady stricture was in progress. The lines were drawn tighter +and tighter around the trapped and frantically struggling army; +and at last the fall of their commander, riddled with bullets, +proved the tragic futility of further resistance. The game was +caught and bagged to a man. When Winston, with his fox-hunters of +Surry, dashed recklessly through the woods, says a chronicler of +the battle, and the last to come into position, + +Flow'd in, and settling, circled all the lists, + +then + +From all the circle of the hills death sleeted in upon the +doomed. + +The battle was decisive in its effect--shattering the plans of +Cornwallis, which till then appeared certain of success. The +victory put a full stop to the invasion of North Carolina, which +was then well under way. Cornwallis abandoned his carefully +prepared campaign and immediately left the state. After +ruthlessly hanging nine prisoners, an action which had an +effectively deterrent effect upon future Tory murders and +depredations, the patriot force quietly disbanded. The brilliant +initiative of the buckskin-clad borderers, the strenuous energy +of their pursuit, the perfection of their surprise--all +reinforced by the employment of ideal tactics for meeting the +given situation--were the controlling factors in this +overwhelming victory of the Revolution. The pioneers of the Old +Southwest--the independent and aggressive yeomanry of North +Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina--had risen in their might. +Without the aid or authority of blundering state governments, +they had created an army of frontiersmen, Indian-fighters, and +big-game hunters which had found no parallel or equal on the +continent since the Battle of the Great Kanawha. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. The State of Franklin + +Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare +in the western revolt .... I have thought proper to issue this +manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said +revolt . . . that the honour of this State has been particularly +wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, +would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation +would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual +sat'isfaction of the mother and new State . . . . Let your +proposals be consistent with the honour of the State to accede +to, which by your allegiance as good citizens, you cannot violate +and I make no doubt but her generosity, in time, will meet your +wishes.--Governor Alexander Martin: Manifesto against the State +of Franklin, April 25, 1785. + + +To the shrewd diplomacy of Joseph Martin, who held the Cherokees +in check during the period of the King's Mountain campaign, the +settlers in the valleys of the Watauga and the Holston owed their +temporary immunity from Indian attack. But no sooner did Sevier +and his over-mountain men return from the battle-field of King's +Mountain than they were called upon to join in an expedition +against the Cherokees, who had again gone on the war-path at the +instigation of the British. After Sevier with his command had +defeated a small party of Indians at Boyd's Creek in December, +the entire force of seven hundred riflemen, under the command of +Colonel Arthur Campbell, with Major Joseph Martin as subordinate, +penetrated to the heart of the Indian country, burned Echota, +Chilhowee, Settiquo, Hiawassee, and seven other principal +villages, and destroyed an immense amount of property and +supplies. In March, suspecting that the arch-conspirators against +the white settlers were the Cherokees at the head waters of the +Little Tennessee, Sevier led one hundred and fifty horsemen +through the devious mountain defiles and struck the Indians a +swift and unexpected blow at Tuckasegee, near the present +Webster, North Carolina. In this extraordinarily daring raid, one +of his most brilliant feats of arms, Sevier lost only one man +killed and one wounded; while upon the enemy he inflicted the +loss of thirty killed, took many more prisoners, burned six +Indian towns, and captured many horses and supplies. Once his +deadly work was done, Sevier with his bold cavaliers silently +plunged again into the forest whence he had so suddenly emerged, +and returned in triumph to the settlements. + +Disheartened though the Indians were to see the smoke of their +burning towns, they sullenly remained averse to peace; and they +did not keep the treaty made at Long Island in July, 1781. The +Indians suffered from very real grievances at the hands of the +lawless white settlers who persisted in encroaching upon the +Indian lands. When the Indian ravages were resumed, Sevier and +Anderson, the latter from Sullivan County, led a punitive +expedition of two hundred riflemen against the Creeks and the +Chickamaugas; and employing the customary tactics of laying waste +the Indian towns, administered stern and salutary chastisement to +the copper-colored marauders. + +During this same period the settlers on the Cumberland were +displaying a grim fortitude and stoical endurance in the face of +Indian attack forever memorable in the history of the Old +Southwest. On the night of January 15, 1781, the settlers at +Freeland's Station, after a desperate resistance, succeeded in +beating off the savages who attacked in force. At Nashborough on +April 2d, twenty of the settlers were lured from the stockade by +the artful wiles of the savages; and it was only after serious +loss that they finally won their way back to the protection of +the fort. Indeed, their return was due to the fierce dogs of the +settlers, which were released at the most critical moment, and +attacked the astounded Indians with such ferocity that the +diversion thus created enabled the settlers to escape from the +deadly trap. During the next two years the history of the +Cumberland settlements is but the gruesome recital of murder +after murder of the whites, a few at a time, by the lurking +Indian foe. Robertson's dominant influence alone prevented the +abandonment of the sorely harassed little stations. The arrival +of the North Carolina commissioners for the purpose of laying off +bounty lands and settlers' preemptions, and the treaty of peace +concluded at the French Lick on November 5 and 6, 1783, gave +permanence and stability to the Cumberland settlements. The +lasting friendship of the Chickasaws was won; but the Creeks for +some time continued to harass the Tennessee pioneers. The +frontiersmen's most formidable foe, the Cherokees, stoically, +heroically fighting the whites in the field, and smallpox, +syphilis, and drunkenness at home, at last abandoned the unequal +battle. The treaty at Hopewell on November 28, 1785, marks the +end of an era--the Spartan yet hopeless resistance of the +intrepid red men to the relentless and frequently unwarranted +expropriation by the whites of the ancient and immemorial domain +of the savage. + +The skill in self-government of the isolated people beyond the +mountains, and the ability they had already demonstrated in the +organization of "associations," received a strong stimulus on +June 2, 1784, when the legislature of North Carolina ceded to the +Congress of the United States the title which that state +possessed to the land west of the Alleghanies. Among the terms of +the Cession Act were these conditions: that the ceded territory +should be formed into a separate state or states; and that if +Congress should not accept the lands thus ceded and give due +notice within two years, the act should be of no force and the +lands should revert to North Carolina. No sooner did this news +reach the Western settlers than they began to mature plans for +the organization of a government during the intervening twelve +months. Their exposed condition on the frontiers, still harassed +by the Indians, and North Carolina's delay in sending goods +promised the Indians by a former treaty, both promoted Indian +hostility; and these facts, combined with their remote location +beyond the mountains, rendering them almost inaccessible to +communication with North Carolina--all rendered the decision of +the settlers almost inevitable. Moreover, the allurements of high +office and the dazzling dreams of ambition were additional +motives sufficiently human in themselves to give driving power to +the movement toward independence. + +At a convention assembled at Jonesborough on August 23, 1784, +delegates from the counties of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene +characteristically decided to organize an "Association." They +solemnly declared by resolution: "We have a just and undeniable +right to petition to Congress to accept the session made by North +Carolina, and for that body to countenance us for forming +ourselves into a separate government, and to frame either a +permanent or temporary constitution, agreeably to a resolve of +Congress . . . ." Meanwhile, Governor Martin, largely as the +result of the prudent advice of North Carolina's representative +in Congress, Dr. Hugh Williamson, was brought to the conclusion +that North Carolina, in the passage of the cession act, had acted +precipitately. This important step had been taken without the +full consideration of the people of the state. Among the various +arguments advanced by Williamson was the impressive contention +that, in accordance with the procedure in the case of other +states, the whole expense of the huge Indian expeditions in 1776 +and the heavy militia aids to South Carolina and Georgia should +be credited to North Carolina as partial fulfilment of her +continental obligations before the cession should be irrevocably +made to the Federal government. Williamson's arguments proved +convincing; and it was thus primarily for economic reasons of far +reaching national importance that the assembly of North Carolina +(October 22 to November 25, 1784) repealed the cession act made +the preceding spring. + +Before the news of the repeal of the cession act could reach the +western waters, a second convention met at Jonesborough on +December 17th. Sentiment at this time was much divided, for a +number of the people, expecting the repeal of the cession act, +genuinely desired a continued allegiance to North Carolina. Of +these may well have been John Sevier, who afterward declared to +Joseph Martin that he had been "Draged into the Franklin measures +by a large number of the people of this country." The principal +act of this convention was the adoption of a temporary +constitution for six months and the provision for a convention to +be held within one year, at the expiration of which time this +constitution should be altered, or adopted as the permanent +constitution of the new state. The scholars on the western +waters, desiring to commemorate their aspirations for freedom, +chose as the name of the projected new state: "Frankland"--the +Land of the Free. The name finally chosen, however, perhaps for +reasons of policy, was "Franklin," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. +Meanwhile, in order to meet the pressing needs for a stable +government along the Tennessee frontier, the North Carolina +assembly, which repealed the cession act, created out of the four +western counties the District of Washington, with John Haywood as +presiding judge and David Campbell as associate, and conferred +upon John Sevier the rank of brigadier general of the new +district. The first week in December Governor Martin sent to +Sevier his military commission; and replying to Joseph Martin's +query (December 31, 1784, prompted by Governor Martin) as to +whether, in view of the repeal of the cession act, he intended to +persist in revolt or await developments, Sevier gave it out +broadcast that "we shall pursue no further measures as to a new +State." + +Owing to the remoteness of the Tennessee settlements and the +difficulty of appreciating through correspondence the atmosphere +of sentiment in Franklin, Governor Martin realized the necessity +of sending a personal representative to discover the true state +of affairs in the disaffected region beyond the mountains. For +the post of ambassador to the new government, Governor Martin +selected a man distinguished for mentality and diplomatic skill, +a pioneer of Tennessee and Kentucky, Judge Richard Henderson's +brother, Colonel Samuel Henderson. Despite Sevier's disavowal of +any further intention to establish a new state, the governor gave +Colonel Henderson elaborate written instructions, the purport of +which was to learn all that he could about the political +complexion of the Tennessee frontiersmen, the sense of the +people, and the agitation for a separate commonwealth. Moreover, +in the hope of placating the leading chieftains of the Cherokees, +who had bitterly protested against the continued aggressions and +encroachments upon their lands by the lawless borderers, he +instructed Colonel Henderson also to learn the temper and +dispositions of the Indians, and to investigate the case of +Colonel James Hubbardt who was charged with the murder of Untoola +of Settiquo, a chief of the Cherokees. + +When Colonel Henderson arrived at Jonesborough, he found the +third Franklin legislature in session, and to this body he +presented Governor Martin's letter of February 27, 1785. In +response to the governor's request for an "account of the late +proceedings of the people in the western country," an extended +reply was drafted by the new legislature; and this letter, +conveyed to Governor Martin by Colonel Henderson, in setting +forth in detail the reasons for the secession, made the following +significant statement: "We humbly thank North Carolina for every +sentiment of regard she has for us, but are sorry to observe, +that as it is founded upon principles of interest, as is aparent +from the tenor of your letter, we are doubtful, when the cause +ceases which is the basis of that affection, we shall lose your +esteem." At the same time (March 22nd), Sevier, who had just been +chosen Governor of the State of Franklin, transmitted to Governor +Martin by Colonel Henderson a long letter, not hitherto published +in any history of the period, in which he outspokenly says: + +"It gives me great pain to think there should arise any Disputes +between us and North Carolina, & I flatter myself when North +Carolina states the matter in a fair light she will be fully +convinced that necessity and self preservation have Compelled Us +to the measures we Have taken, and could the people have +discovered that No. Carolina would Have protected and Govern'd +them, They would have remained where they were; but they +perceived a neglect and Coolness, and the Language of Many of +your most leading members Convinced them they were Altogether +Disregarded." + +Following the issuance of vigorous manifestos by Martin (April +25th) and Sevier (May 15th), the burden of the problem fell upon +Richard Caswell, who in June succeeded Martin as Governor of +North Carolina. + +Meantime the legislature of the over-mountain men had given the +name of Franklin to the new state, although for some time it +continued to be called by many Frankland, and its adherents +Franks. The legislature had also established an academy named +after Governor Martin, and had appointed (March 12th) William +Cocke as a delegate to the Continental Congress, urging its +acceptance of the cession. In the Memorial from the Franklin +legislature to the Continental Congress, dealing in some detail +with North Carolina's failure to send the Cherokees some goods +promised them for lands acquired by treaty, it is alleged: + +"She [North Carolina] immediately stoped the goods she had +promised to give the Indians for the said land which so +exasperated them that they begun to commit hostalities on our +frontiers in this situation we were induced to a declaration of +Independence not doubting we should be excused by Congress . . . +as North Carolina seemed quite regardless of our interest and the +Indians daily murdering our friends and relations without +distinction of age or sex." + +Sympathizing with the precarious situation of the settlers, as +well as desiring the cession, Congress urged North Carolina to +amend the repealing act and execute a conveyance of the western +territory to the Union. + +Among the noteworthy features of the Franklin movement was the +constitution prepared by a committee, headed by the Reverend +Samuel Houston of Washington County, and presented at the meeting +of the Franklin legislature, Greeneville, November 14, 1785. This +eccentric constitution was based in considerable part upon the +North Carolina model; but it was "rejected in the lump" and the +constitution of North Carolina, almost unchanged, was adopted. +Under this Houston constitution, the name "Frankland" was chosen +for the new state. The legislature was to consist of but a single +house. In a section excluding from the legislature "ministers of +the gospel, attorneys at law, and doctors of physics," those were +declared ineligible for office who were of immoral character or +guilty of "such flagrant enormities as drunkenness, gaming, +profane swearing, lewdness, Sabbath-breaking and such like," or +who should deny the existence of God, of heaven, and of hell, the +inspiration of the Scriptures, or the existence of the Trinity. +Full religious liberty and the rights of conscience were +assured--but strict orthodoxy was a condition for eligibility to +office. No one should be chosen to office who was "not a scholar +to do the business." This remarkable document, which provided for +many other curious innovations in government, was the work of +pioneer doctrinaires--Houston, Campbell, Cocke, and Tipton--and +deserves study as a bizarre reflection of the spirit and genius +of the western frontiersmen. + +The liberal policy of Martin, followed by the no less +conciliatory attitude of his successor, Caswell, for the time +proved wholly abortive. However, Martin's appointment of Evan +Shelby in Sevier's place as brigadier, and of Jonathan Tipton as +colonel of his county, produced disaffection among the Franks; +and the influence of Joseph Martin against the new government was +a powerful obstacle to its success. At first the two sets of +military, civil, and judicial officers were able to work amicably +together; and a working-basis drawn up by Shelby and Sevier, +although afterward repudiated by the Franklin legislature, +smoothed over some of the rapidly accumulating difficulties. The +persistent and quiet assertion of authority by North Carolina, +without any overt act of violence against the officers of +Franklin state, revealed great diplomatic skill in Governors +Martin and Caswell. It was doubtless the considerate policy of +the latter, coupled with the defection from Sevier's cause of men +of the stamp of Houston and Tipton, after the blundering and +cavalier rejection of their singular constitution, which +undermined the foundations of Franklin. Sevier himself later +wrote with considerable bitterness: "I have been faithfull, and +my own breast acquits myself that I have acted no part but what +has been Consistent with honor and justice, tempered with +Clemency and mercy. How far our pretended patriots have supported +me as their pretended chiefe magistrate, I leave the world at +large to Judge." Arthur Campbell's plans for the formation of a +greater Franklin, through the union of the people on the western +waters of Virginia with those of North Carolina, came to nought +when Virginia in the autumn of 1785 with stern decisiveness +passed an act making it high treason to erect an independent +government within her limits unless authorized by the assembly. +Sevier, however, became more fixed in his determination to +establish a free state, writing to Governor Caswell: "We shall +continue to act independent and would rather suffer death, in all +its various and frightful shapes, than conform to anything that +is disgraceful." North Carolina, now proceeding with vigor +(November, 1786), fully reassumed its sovereignty and +jurisdiction over the mountain counties, but passed an act of +pardon and oblivion, and in many ways adopted moderate and +conciliatory measures. + +Driven to extremities, Cocke and Sevier in turn appealed for aid +and advice to Benjamin Franklin, in whose honor the new state had +been named. In response to Cocke, Franklin wrote (August 12, +1786): "I think you are perfectly right in resolving to submit +them [the Points in Dispute] to the Decision of Congress and to +abide by their Determination." Franklin's views change in the +interim; for when, almost a year later, Sevier asks him for +counsel, Franklin has come to the conclusion that the wisest move +for Sevier was not to appeal to Congress, but to endeavor to +effect some satisfactory compromise with North Carolina (June 30, +1787): + +"There are only two Things that Humanity induces me to wish you +may succeed in: The Accomodating your Misunderstanding with the +Government of North Carolina, by amicable Means; and the Avoiding +an Indian war, by preventing Encroaching on their Lands . . . . +The Inconvenience to your People attending so remote a Seat of +Government, and the difficulty to that Government in ruling well +so remote a People, would I think be powerful Inducements with +it, to accede to any fair & reasonable Proposition it may receive +from you towards an Accommodation." + +Despite Sevier's frenzied efforts to achieve independence--his +treaty with the Indians, his sensational plan to incorporate the +Cherokees into the new state, his constancy to an ideal of revolt +against others in face of the reality of revolt against himself, +his struggle, equivocal and half-hearted, with the North Carolina +authorities under Tipton--despite all these heroic efforts, the +star of Franklin swiftly declined. The vigorous measures pursued +by General Joseph Martin, and his effective influence focussed +upon a movement already honey-combed with disaffection, finally +turned the scale. To the Franklin leaders he sent the urgent +message: "Nothing will do but a submission to the laws of North +Carolina." Early in April, 1788, Martin wrote to Governor +Randolph of Virginia: "I returned last evening from Green Co. +Washington destrict, North Carolina, after a tower through that +Co'ntry, and am happy to inform your Excellency that the late +unhappy dispute between the State of North Carolina, and the +pretended State of Franklin is subsided." Ever brave, constant, +and loyal to the interest of the pioneers, Sevier had originally +been drawn into the movement against his best judgment. Caught in +the unique trap, created by the passage of the cession act and +the sudden volte-face of its repeal, he struggled desperately to +extricate himself. Alone of all the leaders, the governor of +ill-starred Franklin remained recalcitrant. + + + +CHAPTER XX. The Lure of Spain--The Haven of Statehood + +The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what +part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness +and security depend, and they immediately infer that their +interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and +liberality of your government.--John Sevier to Don Diego de +Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. + +From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent +to the late & more recent settlements on the Kentucky in the Rest +the same difficulties have constantly occurred which now oppress +you, but by a series of patient sufferings, manly and spirited +exertions and unconquerable perseverance, they have been +altogether or in great measure subdued.--Governor Samuel Johnston +to James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe, January 29, 1788. + + +A strange sham-battle, staged like some scene from opera bouffe, +in the bleak snow-storm of February, 1788, is really the prelude +to a remarkable drama of revolt in which Sevier, Robertson, +Bledsoe, and the Cumberland stalwarts play the leading roles. On +February 27th, incensed beyond measure by the action of Colonel +John Tipton in harboring some of his slaves seized by the sheriff +under an execution issued by one of the North Carolina courts, +Sevier with one hundred and fifty adherents besieged Tipton with +a few of his friends in his home on Sinking Creek. The siege was +raised at daybreak on February 29th by the arrival of +reinforcements under Colonel Maxwell from Sullivan County; and +Sevier, who was unwilling to precipitate a conflict, withdrew his +forces after some desultory firing, in which two men were killed +and several wounded. Soon afterward Sevier sent word to Tipton +that on condition his life be spared he would submit to North +Carolina. On this note of tragi-comedy the State of Franklin +appeared quietly to expire. The usually sanguine Sevier, now +thoroughly chastened, sought shelter in the distant settlements-- +deeply despondent over the humiliating failure of his plans and +the even more depressing defection of his erstwhile friends and +supporters The revolutionary designs and separatist tendencies +which he still harbored were soon to involve him in a secret +conspiracy to give over the State of Franklin into the protection +of a foreign power. + +The fame of Sevier's martial exploits and of his bold stroke for +independence had long since gone abroad, astounding even so +famous an advocate of liberty as Patrick Henry and winning the +sympathy of the Continental Congress. One of the most interested +observers of the progress of affairs in the State of Franklin was +Don Diego de Gardoqui, who had come to America in the spring of +1785, bearing a commission to the American Congress as Spanish +charge d'affaires (Encargados de Negocios) to the United States. +In the course of his negotiations with Jay concerning the right +of navigation of the Mississippi River, which Spain denied to the +Americans, Gardoqui was not long in discovering the violent +resentment of the Western frontiersmen, provoked by Jay's crass +blunder in proposing that the American republic, in return for +reciprocal foreign advantages offered by Spain, should waive for +twenty-five years her right to navigate the Mississippi. The +Cumberland traders had already felt the heavy hand of Spain in +the confiscation of their goods at Natchez; but thus far the +leaders of the Tennessee frontiersmen had prudently restrained +the more turbulent agitators against the Spanish policy, fearing +lest the spirit of retaliation, once aroused, might know no +bounds. Throughout the entire region of the trans-Alleghany, a +feeling of discontent and unrest prevailed--quite as much the +result of dissatisfaction with the central government which +permitted the wholesale restraint of trade, as of resentment +against the domination of Spain. + +No sooner had the shrewd and watchful Gardoqui, who was eager to +utilize the separatist sentiment of the western settlements in +the interest of his country, learned of Sevier's armed +insurrection against the authority of North Carolina than he +despatched an emissary to sound the leading men of Franklin and +the Cumberland settlements in regard to an alliance. This secret +emissary was Dr. James White, who had been appointed by the +United States Government as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for +the Southern Department on November 29, 1786. Reporting as +instructed to Don Estevan Miro, governor of Louisiana, White, the +corrupt tool of Spain, stated concerning his confidential mission +that the leaders of "Frankland" and "Cumberland district" had +"eagerly accepted the conditions" laid down by Gardoqui: to take +the oath of allegiance to Spain, and to renounce all submission +or allegiance whatever to any other sovereign or power. Satisfied +by the secret advices received, the Spanish minister reported to +the home authorities his confident belief that the Tennessee +backwoodsmen, if diplomatically handled, would readily throw in +their lot with Spain. + +After the fiasco of his siege of Tipton's home, Sevier had seized +upon the renewal of hostilities by the Cherokees as a means of +regaining his popularity. This he counted upon doing by rallying +his old comrades-in-arms under his standard and making one of his +meteoric, whirlwind onslaughts upon their ancient Indian foe. The +victory of this erstwhile popular hero, the beloved "Nolichucky +Jack of the Border," over the Indians at a town on the Hiwassee +"so raised him in the esteem of the people on the frontier," +reports Colonel Maxwell, "that the people began [once more] to +flock to his standard." Inspirited by this good turn in his +fortunes, Sevier readily responded to Dr. White's overtures. + +Alarmed early in the year over the unprovoked depredations and +murders by the Indians in several Tennessee counties and on the +Kentucky road, Sevier, Robertson, and Anthony Bledsoe had +persuaded Governor Samuel Johnston of North Carolina to address +Gardoqui and request him to exert his influence to prevent +further acts of savage barbarity. In letters to Governor +Johnston, to Robertson, and to Sevier, all of date April 18th, +Gardoqui expressed himself in general as being "extremely +surprised to know that there is a suspicion that the good +government of Spain is encouraging these acts of barbarity." The +letters to Robertson and Sevier, read between the lines as +suggestive reinforcements of Spain's secret proposals, possess +real significance. The letter to Sevier contains this dexterously +expressed sentiment: "His Majesty is very favorably inclined to +give the inhabitants of that region all the protection that they +ask for and, on my part, I shall take very great pleasure in +contributing to it on this occasion and other occasions." + +This letter, coupled with the confidential proposals of Dr. +White, furnished a convenient opening for correspondence with the +Spaniards; and in July Sevier wrote to Gardoqui indicating his +readiness to accede to their proposals. After secret conferences +with men who had supported him throughout the vicissitudes of his +ill-starred state, Sevier carefully matured his plans. The +remarkable letter of great length which he wrote to Gardoqui on +September 12, 1788, reveals the conspiracy in all its details and +presents in vivid colors the strong separatist sentiment of the +day. Sevier urgently petitions Gardoqui for the loan of a few +thousand pounds, to enable him to "make the most expedient and +necessary preparations for defense"; and offers to repay the loan +within a short time "by sending the products of this region to +the lower ports." Upon the vital matter of "delivering" the State +of Franklin to Spain, he forthrightly says: + +"Since my last of the 18th of July, upon consulting with the +principal men of this country, I have been particularly happy to +find that they are equally disposed and ready as I am to accept +your propositions and guarantees. You may be sure that the +pleasing hopes and ideas which the people of this country hold +with regard to the probability of an alliance with, and +commercial concessions from, you are very ardent, and that we are +unanimously determined on that score. The people of this region +have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon +which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they +immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend +entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government. . +. . Being the first from this side of the Appalachian Mountains +to resort in this way to your protection and liberality, we feel +encouraged to entertain the greatest hope that we shall be +granted all reasonable aid by him who is so amply able to do it, +and to give the protection and help that is asked of him in this +petition. You know our delicate situation and the difficulties in +which we are in respect to our mother State which is making use +of every strategem to impede the development and prosperity of +this country . . . . Before I conclude, it may be necessary to +remind you that there will be no more favorable occasion than the +present one to put this plan into execution. North Carolina has +rejected the Constitution and moreover it seems to me that a +considerable time will elapse before she becomes a member of the +Union, if that event ever happens." + +Through Miro, Gardoqui was simultaneously conducting a similar +correspondence with General James Wilkinson. The object of the +Spanish conspiracy, matured as the result of this correspondence, +was to seduce Kentucky from her allegiance to the United States. +Despite the superficial similarity between the situation of +Franklin and Kentucky, it would be doing Sevier and his adherents +a capital injustice to place them in the category of the corrupt +Wilkinson and the malodorous Sebastian. Moreover, the +secessionists of Franklin, as indicated in the above letter, had +the excuse of being left virtually without a country. On the +preceding August 1st, North Carolina had rejected the +Constitution of the United States; and the leaders of Franklin, +who were sorely aggrieved by what they regarded as her +indifference and neglect, now felt themselves more than ever out +of the Union and wholly repudiated by the mother state. Again, +Sevier had the embittered feeling resultant from outlawry. +Because of his course in opposing the laws and government of +North Carolina and in the killing of several good citizens, +including the sheriff of Washington County, by his forces at +Sinking Creek, Sevier, through the action of Governor Johnston of +North Carolina, had been attainted of high treason. Under the +heavy burden of this grave charge, he felt his hold upon Franklin +relax. Further, an atrocity committed in the recent campaign +under Sevier's leadership--Kirk's brutal murder of Corn Tassel, a +noble old Indian, and other chieftains, while under the +protection of a flag of truce--had placed a bar sinister across +the fair fame of this stalwart of the border. Utter desperation +thus prompted Sevier's acceptance of Gardoqui's offer of the +protection of Spain. + +John Sevier's son, James, bore the letter of September 12th to +Gardoqui. By a strangely ironic coincidence, on the very day +(October 10, 1788) that Gardoqui wrote to Miro, recommending to +the attention of Spain Dr. White and James Sevier, the emissaries +of Franklin, with their plans and proposals, John Sevier was +arrested by Colonel Tipton at the Widow Brown's in Washington +County, on the charge of high treason. He was handcuffed and +borne off, first to Jonesborough and later to Morganton. But his +old friends and former comrades-in-arms, Charles and Joseph +McDowell, gave bond for his appearance at court; and Morrison, +the sheriff, who also had fought at King's Mountain, knocked the +irons from his wrists and released him on parole. Soon afterward +a number of Sevier's devoted friends, indignant over his arrest, +rode across the mountains to Morganton and silently bore him +away, never to be arrested again. In November an act of pardon +and oblivion with respect to Franklin was passed by the North +Carolina Assembly. Although Sevier was forbidden to hold office +under the state, the passage of this act automatically operated +to clear him of the alleged offense of high treason. With affairs +in Franklin taking this turn, it is little wonder that Gardoqui +and Miro paid no further heed to Sevier's proposal to accept the +protection of Spain. Sevier's continued agitation in behalf of +the independence of Franklin inspired Governor Johnston with the +fear that he would have to be "proceeded against to the last +extremity." But Sevier's opposition finally subsiding, he was +pardoned, given a seat in the North Carolina assembly, and with +extraordinary consideration honored with his former rank of +brigadier-general. + +When Dr. White reported to Miro that the leaders of "Frankland" +had eagerly accepted Gardoqui's conditions for an alliance with +Spain, he categorically added: "With regard to Cumberland +district, what I have said of Frankland applies to it with equal +force and truth." James Robertson and Anthony Bledsoe had but +recently availed themselves of the good offices of Governor +Johnston of North Carolina in the effort to influence Gardoqui to +quiet the Creek Indians. The sagacious and unscrupulous half +breed Alexander McGillivray had placed the Creeks under the +protection of Spain in 1784; and shortly afterward they began to +be regularly supplied with ammunition by the Spanish authorities. +At first Spain pursued the policy of secretly encouraging these +Indians to resist the encroachments of the Americans, while she +remained on outwardly friendly terms with the United States. +During the period of the Spanish conspiracy, however, there is +reason to believe that Miro endeavored to keep the Indians at +peace with the borderers, as a friendly service, intended to pave +the way for the establishment of intimate relations between Spain +and the dwellers in the trans-Alleghany. Yet his efforts cannot +have been very effective; for the Cumberland settlements +continued to suffer from the ravages and depredations of the +Creeks, who remained "totally averse to peace, notwithstanding +they have had no cause of offence"; and Robertson and Bledsoe +reported to Governor Caswell (June 12, 1787): "It is certain, the +Chickasaws inform us, that Spanish traders offer a reward for +scalps of the Americans." The Indian atrocities became so +frequent that Robertson later in the summer headed a party on the +famous Coldwater Expedition, in which he severely chastised the +marauding Indians. Aroused by the loss of a number of chiefs and +warriors at the hands of Robertson's men, and instigated, as was +generally believed, by the Spaniards, the Creeks then prosecuted +their attacks with renewed violence against the Cumberland +settlements. + +Unprotected either by the mother state or by the national +government, unable to secure free passage to the Gulf for their +products, and sorely pressed to defend their homes, now seriously +endangered by the incessant attacks of the Creeks, the Cumberland +leaders decided to make secret overtures to McGillivray, as well +as to communicate to Miro, through Dr. White, their favorable +inclination toward the proposals of the one country which +promised them protection. In a letter which McGillivray wrote to +Miro (transmitted to Madrid, June 15, 1788) in regard to the +visit of Messrs. Hackett and Ewing, two trusty messengers sent by +Robertson and Bledsoe, he reports that the two delegates from the +district of Cumberland had not only submitted to him proposals of +peace but "had added that they would throw themselves into the +arms of His Majesty as subjects, and that Kentucky and Cumberland +are determined to free themselves from their dependence on +Congress, because that body can not protect either their +property, or favor their commerce, and they therefore believe +that they no longer owe obedience to a power which is incapable +of protecting them." Commenting upon McGillivray's communication, +Miro said in his report to Madrid (June 15, 1788): "I consider as +extremely interesting the intelligence conveyed to McGillivray by +the deputies on the fermentation existing in Kentucky, with +regard to a separation from the Union. Concerning the proposition +made to McGillivray by the inhabitants of Cumberland to become +the vassals of His Majesty, I have refrained from returning any +precise answer." + +In his long letter of reply to Robertson and Bledsoe, McGillivray +agreed to make peace between his nation, the Creeks, and the +Cumberland settlers. This letter was most favorably received and +given wide circulation throughout the West. In a most +ingratiating reply, offering McGillivray a fine gun and a lot in +Nashville, Robertson throws out the following broad suggestion, +which he obviously wishes McGillivray to convey to Miro: "In all +probability we cannot long remain in our present state, and if +the British or any commercial nation who may be in possession of +the mouth of the Mississippi would furnish us with trade, and +receive our produce there cannot be a doubt but the people on the +west side of the Appalachian mountains will open their eyes to +their real interest." Robertson actually had the district erected +out of the counties of Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee given the +name of "Miro" by the Assembly of North Carolina in November, +1788--a significant symbol of the desires of the Cumberland +leaders. In a letter (April 23, 1789), Miro, who had just +received letters from Robertson (January 29th) and Daniel Smith +(March 4th) postmarked "District of Miro," observes: "The bearer, +Fagot, a confidential agent of Gen. Smith, informed me that the +inhabitants of Cumberland, or Miro, would ask North Carolina for +an act of separation the following fall, and that as soon as this +should be obtained other delegates would be sent from Cumberland +to New Orleans, with the object of placing that territory under +the domination of His Majesty. I replied to both in general +terms." + +Robertson, Bledsoe, and Smith were successful in keeping secret +their correspondence with McGillivray and Miro; and few were in +the secret of Sevier's effort to deliver the State of Franklin to +Spain. Joseph Martin was less successful in his negotiations; and +a great sensation was created throughout the Southern colonies +when a private letter from Joseph Martin to McGillivray (November +8, 1788) was intercepted. In this letter Martin said: "I must beg +that you write me by the first opportunity in answer to what I am +now going to say to you . . . . I hope to do honor to any part of +the world I settle in, and am determined to leave the United +States, for reasons that I can assign to you when we meet, but +durst not trust it to paper." The general assembly of Georgia +referred the question of the intercepted letter to the governor +of North Carolina (January 24, 1789); and the result was a +legislative investigation into Martin's conduct. Eleven months +later, the North Carolina assembly exonerated him. From the +correspondence of Joseph Martin and Patrick Henry, it would +appear that Martin, on Henry's advice, had acted as a spy upon +the Spaniards, in order to discover the views of McGillivray, to +protect the exposed white settlements from the Indians, and to +fathom the designs of the Spaniards against the United States. + +The sensational disclosures of Martin's intercepted letter had no +deterrent effect upon James Robertson in the attempted execution +of his plan for detaching the Cumberland settlements from North +Carolina. History has taken no account of the fact that Robertson +and the inhabitants now deliberately endeavored to secure an act +of separation from North Carolina. In the event of success, the +next move planned by the Cumberland leaders, as we have already +seen, was to send delegates to New Orleans for the purpose of +placing the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain. + +A hitherto unknown letter, from Robertson to (Miro), dated +Nashville, September 2, 1789, proves that a convention of the +people was actually held--the first overt step looking to an +alliance with Spain. In this letter Robertson says: + +"I must beg your Excellency's permission to take this early +opportunity of thanking you for the honor you did me in writing +by Mr. White. + +"I still hope that your Government, and these Settlements, are +destined to be mutually friendly and usefull, the people here are +impressed with the necessity of it. + +"We have just held a Convention; which has agreed that our +members shall insist on being Seperated from North Carolina. + +"Unprotected, we are to be obedient to the new Congress of the +United States; but we cannot but wish for a more interesting +Connection. + +"The United States afford us no protection. The district of Miro +is daily plundered and the inhabitants murdered by the Creeks, +and Cherokees, unprovoked. + +"For my own part, I conceive highly of the advantages of your +Government." + +A serious obstacle to the execution of the plans of Robertson and +the other leaders of the Cumberland settlements was the prompt +action of North Carolina. In actual conformity with the wishes of +the Western people, as set forth in the petition of Robertson and +Hayes, their representatives, made two years earlier, the +legislature of North Carolina in December passed the second act +of cession, by which the Western territory of North Carolina was +ceded to the United States. Instead of securing an act of +separation from North Carolina as the preparatory step to forming +what Robertson calls "a more interesting connection" with Spain, +Robertson and his associates now found themselves and the +transmontane region which they represented flung bodily into the +arms of the United States. Despite the unequivocal offer of the +calculating and desperate Sevier to "deliver" Franklin to Spain, +and the ingenious efforts of Robertson and his associates to +place the Cumberland region under the domination of Spain, the +Spanish court by its temporizing policy of evasion and indecision +definitely relinquished the ready opportunities thereby afforded, +of utilizing the powerful separatist tendencies of Tennessee for +the purpose of adding the empire upon the Western waters to the +Spanish domain in America. + +The year 1790 marks the end of an era the heroic age of the +pioneers of the Old Southwest. Following the acceptance of North +Carolina's deed of cession of her Western lands to the Union +(April 2, 1790) the Southwest Territory was erected on May 26th; +and William Blount, a North Carolina gentleman of eminence and +distinction, was appointed on June 8th to the post of governor of +the territory. Two years later (June 1, 1792) Kentucky was +admitted into the Union. + +It is a remarkable and inspiring circumstance, in testimony of +the martial instincts and unwavering loyalty of the transmontane +people, that the two men to whom the Western country in great +measure owed its preservation, the inciting and flaming spirits +of the King's Mountain campaign, were the unopposed first choice +of the people as leaders in the trying experiment of +Statehood--John Sevier of Tennessee and Isaac Shelby of Kentucky. +Had Franklin possessed the patient will of Kentucky, she might +well have preceded that region into the Union. It was not, +however, until June 1, 1796, that Tennessee, after a romantic and +arduous struggle, finally passed through the wide-flung portals +into the domain of national statehood. + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's etext, The Conquest of the Old Southwest: +The Romantic Story of the Early Pioneers into Virginia, The Carolinas, +Tennessee, and Kentucky 1740-1790, by Archibald Henderson + diff --git a/old/cnqsw10.zip b/old/cnqsw10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa6a97a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cnqsw10.zip |