USA > Tennessee > Sullivan County > Historic Sullivan; a history of Sullivan County, Tennessee, with brief biographies of the makers of history > Part 2
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gnawing capacity, is invoked in behalf of teething children.
Animals are represented as speaking and have their councils and meeting-houses. At one of their councils the discussion arose as to what should be done with Man, the arch enemy. All favored destroying him except the little ground squirrel who, being so small, unnoticed and therefore unharmed by man, now took occasion to defend him. This act so enraged the polar bear, who was presiding, that he reached over and scratched the little squirrel on the back, leaving the claw marks to this day. In this lore other marks and peculiarities of appearance are accounted for.
BIRD MYTHS.
The eagle is the sacred bird of the Indian and is featured in their religious observances. Its beautiful tail feathers, much prized for head ornaments, often brought as much as a horse. None but a professional eagle-killer dared to kill an eagle. There were ceremonials to go through. The eagle-killer prayed four days then killed a deer, exposing the fresh meat, while he hid himself, awaiting the eagle. On killing one he allowed it to remain four days to permit the parasites to leave it. The feathers were then secured and a dance arranged in honor.
In reporting the capture of an eagle to the tribe the eagle-killer would not, out of fear, speak the name of the eagle but would say "a snow bird has died.''5
The buzzard is the doctor. On account of feasting upon the dead it is supposed to be immune from disease. A small quantity of its flesh eaten or a broth of it used as a wash is believed to be a sure cure for small pox and was used among the eastern Cherokees during the epidemic of 1866. A buzzard feather hung on the door will keep
5There is a similar superstition on the stage. At the rehearsal of a new play the last line is often not spoken until the night of the first performance, other words being substituted. A spectator, at a rehearsal once, not knowing this, was startled, when at the close of a thrilling curtain climax, the star shouted "Three beers, please."-N. O. Pacayne.
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THE CHEROKEES.
out witches, they believe, and in the application of medi- cine to wounds the quill of a buzzard feather is employed, medicine being blown through it.
The owl and all night calling birds are believed to be ghosts or witches and their cry is considered a sign of coming danger. A child's eye bathed with water in which an owl feather has been dipped will cause the child to stay awake all night.
The wren is the stork of the Indian tribe because he is always slipping in and around homes and hears what is going on. He carries the news of a birth. When an Indian wishes to know the sex of a child he inquires, "is it a bow or (meal) sifter?"
INSECT MYTHS.
The Cherokees anticipated the germ or microbe theory long before its scientific discovery. They claimed all human ailments of a lurking, insidious nature were caused by insects and because thousands of them were constantly being killed by man they entered slyly, destroying the human system out of revenge.
The Cherokees believe all cruelties are punished in this life, if not upon the one doing the deed, upon some relative or upon a future generation of his kindred.
The cricket is the barber and also on account of its singing qualities plays an important part in various ways. Children slow of speech have their tongues scratched with the claw of a cricket to make them sing and even eloquent. Older persons are treated likewise, but with less effect.
The moth that flutters around the light, the Cherokee says, "is going to bed." It is invoked by the healer in "fire diseases, including sore eyes and frost bite."
The spring lizzard is the rain-maker.
The large crawfish is used to scratch the hand of a child to give it a strong grip.
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HISTORIC SULLIVAN.
When a jarfly sings, they say "the jarfly has brought the beans," his song being taken as a sign that beans are ripe.
During an eclipse they believe a great frog swallows the sun and at such times fire guns, beat drums and make other loud noises to frighten the frog away.
MEDICAL HERBS.
The Indian's idea of medicine is very crude. Their reputed knowledge of the medicinal value of herbs has been exploded by scientific test. Out of twenty plants tested only five had the curative virtue Indians attributed to them, while the remainder were of questionable value or even injurious.
A decoction of cockleburs is recommended for for- getfulness because nothing sticks like a bur.
In rheumatism a patient is forbidden to eat or even touch a squirrel, a buffalo, a cat or any animal that "humps" because the one suffering often assumes the attitude described.
The ball player, in like manner, is not allowed to eat frog legs because the bones of the frog are brittle and easily broken.
CHEROKEE COURTSHIP.
In courtship, like death, all people are brought to a common level. Although the way of making love may be clothed, by different nations, in different forms of speech-all mean the same. The Cherokees have a regular formula for making love as they have for making medicine. How near like the love-making of civilized nations may be seen. White to an Indian is the symbol of happiness as blue is the symbol of sorrow.6 When, in the following formula, the lover speaks of "white woman" he means "happy woman."
6Perhaps the origin of "the blues."
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The Indian lover tried to make the one he loved appear as lonely and miserable without him as he could, at the same time extolling his own merits and debasing those of all rivals. She should never be lonely with him-the term loneliness being the most abject state a person could get into, according to the Indian view of it. Lone- liness to a dusky maiden meant about the same as poverty to a white maiden contemplating marriage.7
"Ku! Listen ! In Alahiyi you repose, O, Terrible Woman, O you have drawn near to hearken. There in Elahiyi you are at rest, O White Woman. No one is lonely when with you. You are most beautiful. Instantly and at once you have rendered me a white man. No one is ever lonely when with me. Now you have made the path white for me. It shall never be dreary. Now you have put me into it. It shall never become blue. You have brought down to me from above the white road. There in mid-earth (mid-surface) you have placed me. I shall stand erect upon the earth. No one is ever lonely when with me. I am very handsome. You have put me into the white house. I shall be in it as it moves about and no one with me shall ever be lonely. Verily, I shall never become blue. Instantly you have caused it to be so with me.
"And now there in Elahiyi you have rendered the woman blue. Now you have made the path blue for her. Let her be completely veiled in loneliness. Put her into the blue road. And now bring her down. Place her stand- ing upon the earth. Where her feet are now and where- ever she may go, let loneliness leave its mark upon her. Let her be marked out for loneliness where she stands.
"Ha! I belong to the (Wolf) ( + +) clan, that one alone which was allotted into for you. No one is ever lonely with me. I am handsome. Let her put her soul
7Poverty does not seem to have played any part among the earlier Indians- all had an equal chance and there was considerable thrift among them.
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the very center of my soul, never to turn away. Grant that in the midst of men she shall never think of them. I belong to the one clan alone which was allotted for you when the seven clans were established.
"Where (other) men live it is lonely. They are very loathsome. The common polecat has made them so like himself that they are fit only for his company. The common oppossum has made them so like himself that they are fit only to be with him. They are very loathsome. Even the crow has made him so like himself that they are fit only for his company. They are very loathsome. The miserable rain-crow has made them so like himself that they are fit only to be with him.
"The seven clans all alike make one feel very lonely in their company. They are not even good looking. They go about clothed with mere refuse. But I-I was ordained to be a white man. I stand with my face toward the Sun Land. No one is ever lonely with me. I am very handsome. I shall certainly never become blue. I am covered by the everlasting white house wherever I go. No one is ever lonely with me. Your soul has come into the very center of my soul, never to turn away. I-(Gatigwanasti,) (0 0)-I take your soul. Sge!"
The reader of history is inclined to regard the Indian merely as a warrior, a hunter of scalps, a cruel slayer of women and children, but Indian literature has a charm of simplicity peculiar. Their legends, stories and folk- lore are not surpassed in any language and have been borrowed from, many times.8
In relating a story, the one telling it always begins by saying, "and this is what the old man told me when I was a boy."
8Joel Chandler Harris is supposed to have created his "Uncle Remus" out of the Southern negro; in reality he simply supplied the Indian lore with the more familiar dialect. "Brer Rabbit" is the same mischievous fellow the Indian story tellers delighted their children with during the long winter days around their wigwam fires. There are instances where writers have paraphrased the original text.
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THE RABBIT AND THE TAR WOLF.
"Once there was such a long spell of dry weather that there was no more water in the creeks and springs, and the animals held a council to see what to do about it. They decided to dig a well, and all agreed to help except the Rabbit, who was a lazy fellow, and said, 'I don't need to dig for water. The dew on the grass is enough for me.' The others did not like this, but they went to work together and dug the well.
"They noticed that the Rabbit kept slick and lively, although it was still dry weather and the water was getting low in the well. They said, 'That tricky Rabbit steals our water at night,' so they made a wolf of pine gum and tar and set it up by the well to scare the thief. That night the Rabbit came, as he had been coming every night, to drink enough to last him all the next day. He saw the queer black thing by the well and said, 'Who's there?' but the tar wolf said nothing. He came nearer, but the wolf never moved, so he grew braver and said, 'Get out of my way or I'll strike you.' Still the wolf never moved and the Rabbit came up and struck it with his paw, but the gum held his foot and he stuck fast. Now he was angry and said, 'Let me go or I'll kick you.' Still the wolf said nothing. Then the Rabbit struck again with his hind foot, so hard that it was caught in the gum and he could not move, and there he stuck until the animals came for water in the morning. When they found who the thief was they had great sport over him for a while and then got ready to kill him, but as soon as he was unfastened from the tar wolf he managed to get away."
WHY THE MOLE LIVES UNDERGROUND.
"A man was in love with a woman who disliked him and would have nothing to do with him. He tried every way to win her favor, but to no purpose, until at last he grew discouraged and made himself sick thinking over it. The Mole came along, and finding him in such low condi-
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HISTORIC SULLIVAN.
tion asked what was the trouble. The man told him the whole story, and when he had finished the Mole said: 'I can help you, so that she will not only like you, but will come to you of her own will.' So that night the Mole burrowed his way underground to where the girl was in bed asleep and took out her heart. He came back by the same way and gave the heart to the man, who could not see it even when it was put into his hand. 'There,' said the Mole, 'swallow it, and she will be drawn to come and can not keep away.' The man swallowed the heart, and when the girl woke up she somehow thought at once of him, and felt a strange desire to be with him, as though she must go to him at once. She wondered and could not understand it, because she had always disliked him before, but at last the feeling grew so strong that she was compelled to go herself to the man and tell him she loved him and wanted to be his wife. And so they were married, but all the magicians who had known them both were surprised and wondered how it had come about. When they found that it was the work of the Mole, whom they had always before thought too insignificant for their notice, they were very jealous and threatened to kill him, so that he hid himself under the ground and has never since dared to come up to the surface."
HOW THE PARTRIDGE GOT HIS WHISTLE.
"In the old days the Terrapin had a fine whistle, but the Partridge had none. The Terrapin was constantly going about whistling and showing his whistle to the other animals until the Partridge became jealous, so one day, when they met the Partridge asked leave to try it. The Terrapin was afraid to risk it at first, suspect- ing some trick, but the Partridge said, 'I'll give it back right away, and if you are afraid you can stay with me while I practice.' So the terrapin let him have the whistle and the Partridge walked around blowing on it
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in fine fashion. 'How does it sound with me?' asked the Partridge. 'O, you do very well,' said the Terrapin, walking along. 'Now, how do you like it,' said the Partridge, running ahead and whistling a little faster. 'That's fine,' answered the Terrapin, hurrying to keep up, 'but don't run so fast.' 'And now, how do you like this?' called the Partridge, and with that he spread his wings, gave one long whistle, and flew to the top of a tree, leaving the poor Terrapin to look after him from the ground. The Terrapin never recovered his whistle, and from that, and the loss of his scalp, which the Turkey stole from him, he grew ashamed to be seen, and ever since he shuts himself up in his box when any one comes near him."
THE BRIDE FROM THE SOUTH.
"The North went traveling, and after going far and meeting many different tribes he finally fell in love with the daughter of the South and wanted to marry her. The girl was willing, but her parents objected and said, 'Ever since you came the weather has been cold, and if you stay here we may all freeze to death.' The North pleaded hard, and said that if they would let him have their daughter he would take her back to his own country, so at last they consented. They were married and he took his bride to his own country, and when she arrived there she found the people all living in ice houses.
"The next day, when the sun rose, the houses began to leak, and as it began to climb higher they began to melt, and it grew warmer and warmer, until finally the people came to the young husband and told him he must send his young wife home again, or the weather would get so warm that the whole settlement would be melted. He loved his wife and held out as long as he could, but as the sun grew hotter the people were more urgent, and at last he had to send her home to her parents.
/
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"The people said that she had been born in the South and nourished all her life upon food that grew in the same climate, her whole nature was warm and unfit for the North."
There is a popular idea that the Indians had no humor.
THE TWO OLD MEN.
"Two old men went hunting. One had an eye drawn down and was called Uk-kwunagita, 'Eye-drawn-down.' The other had an arm twisted out of shape and was called Uk-kusuntsuti, 'Bent-bow-shape.' They killed a deer and cooked the meat in a pot. The second old man dipped a piece of bread into the soup and smacked his lips as he ate. 'Is it good?' said the first old man. Said the other, 'Hayu! uk-kwunagi'sti-Yes, sir! It will draw down one's eye.'
"Thought the first old man to himself, 'He means me.' So he dipped a piece of bread into the pot, and smacked his lips as he tasted it. 'Do you find it good?' said the other old man. Said his comrade, 'Hayu! uk-ku'suntsuteti-Yes, sir! It will twist up one's arm.' Thought the second old man, 'He means me;' so he got very angry and struck the first old man, and then they fought until each killed the other."
JOSEPH MARTIN
A BIOGRAPHY
Joseph Martin was one of the leading frontiermen of Sullivan County, and was one of the county's most useful men when it was in the greatest need. He was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, in 1740. His early school- ing was neglected through his own incorrigible nature, that would bear no restraint. Among his early associates were Gen. Thomas Sumter and Col. Benjamin Cleveland, the latter a hero of King's Mountain.
Martin, when a boy of sixteen, ran away from home and joined the army. He led a roving, hunter's life for many years, as did so many who afterwards became border he- roes. It was the school of experience in which they train-' ed. He became associated with Dr. Thomas Walker in his explorations and in one of these expeditions visited Powell's Valley, where he decided to locate. Here he raised a large crop of corn in 1769.
During the Indian raids of 1774 he commanded a fort on the frontier and was also a leader of scouts.
When Henderson and his Transylvania Company pur- chased the immense tracts of land from the Cherokees, Martin was made their agent in Powell's Valley. He was captain of a company, with Christian, against the Chero- kees in 1776.
In' 1777 he was appointed, by Gov. Patrick Henry, Indian agent and took up his residence on Long Island. Here he lived until 1789.
Martin was a man physically well proportioned, being six feet tall and weighing two hundred pounds. On one occasion he was returning with two companions to the Holston settlement when the party was waylaid by two Indians who suddenly emerged from a cave. One of the men was shot and the Indian who committed the murder retreated into the cave. Martin crawled into the cave,
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HISTORIC SULLIVAN
killed the Indian and dragged him out.1
While Martin was a brave and almost reckless Indian fighter he was also an Indian pacifier. It was as a diplo- mat he rendered his most brilliant service to the country. His treaties were lasting, for the Cherokees had great confidence in him. At one time, while visiting the Cherokee country, he came into contact with the British agent and so powerful was his sway that he had the agent expelled.
His influence with the Cherokees was largely due to his having been adopted by that tribe-he had married Betsy Ward, the beautiful daughter of Nancy Ward, although at the time he had a lawful wife. This act he always tried to explain to his children, who were chagrined by it, by saying it was to further his influences in bringing about treaties. His white wife, although a woman of refine- ment, would never let her children speak disrespectfully about their father on account of the morganatic alliance. And although Gen. Martin, after the death of his first wife, married a woman of some distinction, he still lived with his Indian wife, the second wife also countenancing the union.
He was associated with Isaac Shelby and John Donel- son in formulating the treaty of 1783 at Long Island and was also one of the leading figures in the treaty of Hope- well (S. C.) in 1785.
He came near being the territorial governor of the Territory South of the Ohio, and Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and others used their influence with Washington, who was then President (1790), to have him appointed, but the office falling to a North Carolina man, William Blount was appointed. These two men worked together harmoniously. It was through such diplomatic influence that the Indians were kept inactive and the Kings Moun- tain campaign was made possible.
1Draper MSS. Notes 32.
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JOSEPH MARTIN
In a military way Martin rose to the rank of Brigadier- General.
He retired from service in 1789, returned to Virginia and resided in Henry County.2 Here he engaged in poli- tics, was elected to the legislature and became Madison's right hand man.
His last public service, of interest, was to run the boun- dary line between Tennessee and Virginia in 1800.
He died at his home in Henry County, December 18, 1808.
2Martinsville is now the county seat of Henry County.
CHAPTER III.
THE PIONEERS-EXPLORERS-FIRST SETTLERS.
In 1759 Col. William Byrd was ordered by the Governor of Virginia to collect a number of men and proceed to the relief of Fort Loudon. This fort, the first built on Tennessee soil, was erected in 1756 by Gen. Andrew Lewis, about thirty miles below Knoxville. For a long time it enjoyed the undisturbed friendship of the Indians, by whose permission it was built, but in 1760 it was suffering the terrors of an Indian siege.
A weaker race is always suspicious and jealous of a superior race. This is nowhere better illustrated than among the red and white races of America. The latter were never guarded enough in their treatment of the Indians nor careful enough with their pledges of peace, often violating treaties which had been made, in con- sequence of which they suffered much from the reckless barbarity of their own irresponsible men. Some of the Indians had been murdered on their return from the North and their kinsmen now sought to avenge these deeds and, as was unfortunately, but often the case, their vengeance was visited upon the most defenseless and innocent. A life for a life, they cared not whom, was their religion and law.
On his way to relieve the fort Byrd built another one at New River and called it Fort Chiswell, in honor of his friend, John Chiswell, who was operating the lead mines of that vicinity. His men became dissatisfied with the conduct of the campaign and on arriving at Stalnaker's1 Byrd resigned and Col. Stephen was put
1Near Marion, Va.
THE PIONEERS-EXPLORERS-FIRST SETTLERS. 21
in charge, with a young and ambitious sub-officer, Henry Timberlake, who was also an expert surveyor.
From Stalnaker's they proceeded to Long Island and there erected a large and substantial fort, naming it Fort Robinson.2
On August 8th, 1760, Fort Loudon's fate was sealed by surrender and then treacherous massacre.
When Fort Robinson was completed the Indians, four hundred in number, headed by Chief Oconostota, arrived and sued for peace-no doubt fearing punish- ment for their crime at Fort Loudon. A treaty was entered into November 16, 1761,3 on the completion of which the chief requested that one of the garrison accompany him to his nation as a pledge of good faith. Timberlake agreed to go.
Not long after Fort Robinson was completed the country began to be settled. The first pioneers, however, did not come with the purpose of settling here. Those who ventured this far came in straggling bands, as hunters or, as in the case of Daniel Boone and his party, bound for a section beyond this. But all who happened along the fertile valleys of the Holston went back with glowing tales of the country and what there was here for those who had the courage to make it a home.
Stephen Holston paddled his canoe down far enough to give the river its name.4
2Summers' Southwest Virginia.
3This I believe is the first treaty made in Sullivan-historians, generally seemed to have overlooked it. Timberlake in his memoirs describes his reception in the Cherokee nation in a very dramatic manner. Several hundred savages painted in a picturesque manner met him on his entrance into their towns and among other friendly acts to show how welcome he was, an expert knife-thrower hurled a sabre which buried itself in the ground within two inches of his foot. They then escorted him into the council chamber where his reception was concluded in the presence of a large number of warriors. He staid in the nation several months, then took several chiefs on a visit to England but, having no credentials to show who he was or what there for, was treated rather cooly, at which he returned disgusted.
4The Indians called this river Cherokee and Coot-cla as far down as the mouth of French Broad. Then it took the name of Hogoheege.
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HISTORIC SULLIVAN
COMING OF BOONE.
The Boone trail struck Sullivan County at George's Gap, named for James George,5 one of the Boone party, thence down through Shady valley, near what is now called Fish Dam. Here a skirmish took place with the Indians and a log fort was erected, James George remaining in charge. This spot is still known, by some, as "fort hill."
Boone evidently followed the course of the Holston river. On a farm near Emmett Station on the Virginia and Southwestern railroad, two workmen, Ben Webb and Ed Scalf, who were clearing a tract of new ground in 1893, dug up a copper kettle in which a sapling about three inches in diameter was growing. The men paid little attention to the vessel beyond a few speculations as to how it come to be buried there.
Afterwards some one discovered the inscription "D. Boone 1760" carved under the rim. This at once placed a premium upon its value, in their eyes, and it is still held at a high price.6
Boone spent but little time in Sullivan on his first trip to Cumberland Gap.
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