USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 10
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as well as within the lines claimed by them, the settlers thought proper to treat the President's proclamation with very little regard. Indeed, it may be presumed that nothing more was in- tended by the Government of the United States than to conciliate the Indians, by appearing to be very anxious to treat them with justice-at least, no force was ever employed to remove the settlers, and they did not leave. They and the Government knew very well that Indian hos- tilities would be the same, with or without the observance of treaties on the part of the whites. Nothing but their dread of the white man's rifle could be relied on to insure their peaceful be- havior.
But still, where there had been no sort of treaty, by which the Indians ceded their terri- - ritory, nor any actual settlements made, the policy of the Government to keep all intruders off the Indian lands was daly enforced. The State of Georgia thon owned the territory which is now the State of Alabama, bit the Cherokees had never agreed to give it up to the whites- in other words, the Indian title had not been extinguished. About this time, the Legislature of that State granted to a private compan .a large tract bordering on the Muscle Shoals of
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the Tennessee. The company attempted to settle their grant, but were ordered off by Governor Blount. as the agent of the General Government, and the Cherokees were told at the same time that they might drive them away, without giving offense to the United States.
In the hope of putting some restraint upon the Cherokees, who were constantly committing ontrages upon the frontier, Governor Blount thought it expedient to invite the chiefs and warriors to meet him in a conference, or ridi. to be held on the ground where Knoxville now stands, in June, 1791. Accordingly forty-one chiefs, and about a thousand other Cherokees, attended at the time and place appointe 1. where they found Corretor Blount, surrounded by the principal civil and nalltary & fiers of the Territory. The Governor made las proposals, and the Indian create their speedas, and a treaty was formel, fixing the bowwiary The et the Indian hosting-gorily and many other matters. As in all the cen -. die w rig was fint vished by the the show and then bulli. fed by the whites.
At this time the Coveram at of De Cried cares had dereretitel to sal at any samtaler
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North-west. In order to raise a sufficient force, Washington District was called upon to furnish three hundred and thirty-two men. For the first, and so far, for the last time, Tennesseans refused to volunteer. The term of service was longer than they had been used to, and besides, they were to be commanded by officers not of their own choosing, which had never happened before. Another isson may be that they were just then a good deal dissatisfied with the Fed- cral Government, Ke what they regarded as its neglect to promote the interests of the western people. A draft, or forced enlistment, was re- sorted to, and at length two hundred men, by the great exertions of Governor Blount and General Sevier, were sent forward in time to share the disastrous defeat of General St. Clair, on the 4th of November, 1791.
sjugular inci lent orpurred as the troops were about having upon this expedition. One of the captains -Jarob Tinton-Ind taken leave of His cauly, and mounted his horse. 1[ chen halted and called out his with to tell her that, if' he -boubl be killed. she raust change the name of their son William, and call him Jacob. He seemed to have a presentimers that he should fall, as he did, in the battle that en-
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sue.l. The name of his son was changed agree- ably to his request, and he afterward became General Jacob Tipton, of Tipton county, in West Tennessee. The county was so naned in honor of his father, the brave and patriotic captain.
At the very time the treaty with the Chero- kees was being held at Knoxville, the usual Indian robberies and murders were going for- ward. A Mr. Miller and five of his family were killed, and Ifis house robbed, on the Roll- ing Fork of the Cumberland. On the frontier of Virginia, Mrs. McDowell and Frances Pen- dleton wore murdered and scalped. Shortly after the treaty, James Patrick was killed rear Rogersville. Whether these depredations were committed by Checks or Cherokees is uncertain ; but any vay, these and many similar instances plainly show that treaties had no binding force with the Indians, and brought no a surance of safety to the white settlements. For some rea- sone. it was perhaps well enough to go the 1_h the ceremony of bolling comnelis with them, but then it was proper to keep as sharn a look- out as if nothing of the kind had been trans- acted.
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CHAPTER III.
INDIAN MURDERS AND ROBBERIES.
THERE was perhaps no time, in the history of the Tennesce settlements, in which the hostility of the savages was more constant, determined, and bloody, than during the year succeeding the council at Knoxville, spoken of in the last chapter. The Cherokees and Creeks bad, by this time, found out that the white men were not allowed by the Government to pursue them into their own country, or to attack their towns. This they regarded as a license to their marauding parties to do all the mischief they could in the settlements. if they could only ero -- the line before the pursuers should! orer- take them. In regard to their relations with the Indians, the inhabitants of Washington and Mero were in a worse condition than the early settlers at Watauga and The Bluff; for North Carolina, if she dal ne thing for their protection, at least allowed them to protect themselves.
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Governor Blount and Generals Sevier and Robertson did all they could, under the circum- stances. Troops were kept at the stations in the more exposedl neighborhoods, and patrols, or rangers, were in motion along the frontier. Still this did not prevent small bands of the enemy from stealing into the settlements and committing an immense amount of slaughter and devastation. We shall select a few cases, leaving the great mass of enffring to be imag- ined by our readers. On the 26th of June, the Indians attacked Zeigler's Station, near Bled- soe's Liek, killed four men, and made eighteen prisoners. Nine of these captives were aber- ward redemed by their friends. The remain- der, as also a young woman and four negroes from the neighborhood, were carried off to the Indian towns. On the 15th of July, Peuning- ton and Milligen were killed on the real to Kentucky.
About the same time, Mr. Gilleune and a bay were murdered, and mudr by taartk ! into captivity. Que of the most remarkable affairs, belonging to the Indian ho-thties of this period, was an attack made by abatt sevi. hundred Creeks and Cherokees upon Buchan- an's Stacion, four miles south of Nashville. At
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the time of the attack, the station contained a goodly number of women and children. but only fifteen fighting men. The Indians fired a great many balls into the block-house, and at- tempted to set fire to the buildings. The white men inside made the best possible use of their rifles, au after a long and obstinate fight, the Indians retired with the loss of several of their foremost warriors. Not a man, woman, or child in the fort was hurt, though the Indians killed Gee and Clayton outside.
It was in the next year (1792) that Captain Handly, with forty-two men, was going from Washington District to assist in the defense of the Cumberland people. On his way, he was met and attacked by fifty-six Indians, some of them Shawnees. Except Captain Handly and one of his men, pamed Leiper, the white men instantly fall back out of farther danger. Leiper was wounded, and had fallen from his hors. Fanily attempted to get Him again on his horse, but while doing so, was sturrounded and furiously assaulted by several ludians. To save his own lith, he surrendered to one of them. crying out, "Couawlla!" which, in the Indian language, means friendship, or pesce. Poor Leiper was killed and scalpel, white
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Handly was taken to the Cherokee towns. and, after a long and hard captivity, was restored to his family and friends.
It was not in human nature. especially the nature of western men, to endure these multi- plied wrongs and sufferings. without some im- patient outbreak. When they saw the bleeding bodies of wives and children, lying in all the horror of ghastly murder, upon their own hearth-stones, men were not in a frame of mind to study the laws of the land, or to observe the niceties of governmental policy. On the 25th of May, Thomas Gillam and his son were killed and scalped by the Indians. in the Raccoon Valley. Captain Board and fifty mountol men immediately pursued the mup lerers. and forrot to stop at the Indian live. They killel tit.eu or twenty savages of the Hanging Maw's tribe, and in the southe the wife of that chief also lost her life. Board and his party were Lever pull- ished for this violation of law, and. ilvol. could not have been grobdol. br so fa -ato of feeling as then exist si among the people of the Territory.
On the SOthi of August, two Indiac- came to Mr. Hutter's, tomahank d and Panel his wife, cut off his daughter's local, and plandoral
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the house. Immediately Colonel Doherty and Colonel MeFarland raised one hundred and eighty men for an expedition into the Cherokee country. They were out four weeks, in which time they destroyed six Indian towns, and killed and scalped fifteen warriors, at the same time making prisoners of a good many squaws and chillron. The scalping, in this affair, proves that the white men must have been un- usually exasperated. Those engagol in this attack had to undergo the censures of Governor Blount for a violation of law, and a disregard of the President's proclamation, but the matter went no further.
Andrew Creswell, with two other men, was living near MeGanghey's Station. A party of Cherokees coming into the neighborhood, shot and wounded a man named Cumminghar, who made his escape to Caswell's house. AAmong the men the question was debated whether it would be better to remain, or attempt to reach the station. Creswell put the question to his wife, who repliet that she preferred to die at home. "Then," said Creswell. "I will keep this house till the Indians take me out of it." The building was well constructed for defense, and to prevent his horses being stien. the
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stable was so arranged that the door could not be opened but by a person inside of the house. Seeing the place so well prepared for defense, and so resolutely guarded, the Indians thought best to let it alone.
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CHAPTER IV.
ATTEMPT AGAINST KNOXVILLE-MASSACRE AT CAVET'S STATION-ETOWAH EXPEDITION.
Ox the 24th of September, 1793, the militia patrols were out all day, in the vicinity of Knoxville. without being able to detect any signs of approaching Indians. But in the evening of that very dav. a thousand warriors crossed the Tennessee, below the mouth of the Holston, and were in full march for Knox- ville. This body, consisting of seven hundred Creeks and three hundred Cherokees, was com- manded by two noted chiefs -John Watts and Double-head. One hundred of the Creeks were mounted. They had selected Knoxville . as the object of attack, on acer unt of the public stores collected there, of which they hoped to possess themselves by this silden invasion. By reason of some difficulties in crossing the river, and a want of agreemen. and concert among the leaders, the Indian army failed to
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reach Knoxville that night, as had been ex- pected by them. Not being able to surpris the place by a night-attack, they abandoned the enterprise entirely.
But so large a force of chiefs and braves could not think of returning to their towns without plunder and scalps. Cavet's Station was siear at hand. in which were only three fighting men and a family of thirteen persons. A thousand ferocious and yelling savages soon surrounded the devoted place. What could three men do against such a host? What they did do, was to discharge their guns at the ad- vancing Indians, killing three warriors, and wounling three others. Though so greatly superior in numbers, the Indians coneluded that they would probably lose several more men in storming the block-house, and proposed to the men in the station to surrender. They sent in a half-breed Creek, who could speak English, and who promised that the lives of all should be spared if the staden were gir ! en.
The offer was accepted, and the functions rok possession of the place and the prisoners. They kept their word to save the lives of the party by instantly putting to death. in the most horrid and barbarous manner, every indi viral be-
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longing to it-male and female, old and young -with one exception. A lad, the son of Mr. Cavet, escaped immediate death by the influ- - ence of John Watts, but, was afterward killed in the Indian country. The body of Mr. Cavet was found next day in the garden, with seven 'bullets in his mouth, which he had put there to . load his rifle with. The savages plundered and burned all the buildings, and then started for their towns to hold a scalp-dance. and to brag of their exploits.
The policy of the Federal Government was made to yiell to the spirit of indignant ven- geance which was now aroused. In the absence of Governor Blount. Mr. Smith, the Secretary of the Territory, authorized General Sevier to invade the Chorokors and Creeks. The voice of "Nolichucky Jack," calling his countrymen to arms, nover filled to meet a hearty and en- thusiastic response, and in a few days he- was at the head of is hundre.l mounted riflemen, and Rercoly pursuing the trail of the retreating murderers. In this determined band there were some who were, at all times and habit- ually, Indian-haters: bat, on the present ovca- sion, these men scarcely went Beyond the rest, in their , teradss to overtake and to finish
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the treacherous and truculent butchers of the Cavet family.
The pursuers followed the trail across Little Tennessee and Hiwassee, to the Indian town of Estinaula. The Indians had deserted the town. but loft in it plentiful supplies of grain and meat. What the troops could not consume was destroved. together with the town itself. Sevier and his men encamped that night upon the beuk of Estinaula River. with the woods around them full of Indians. Next day they moved forward toward the Indian town of Etowah, upon the Coosa River. The warriors at Etowah were known to have been under John Watts, and to have taken part in the massacre at Cavet's. How many they were was matter of indifference, to Sevier's men. their only solicitude being to get within rifle distance of the miscreants.
Partly by an accident, the approach and attack were made in such a manner that the Indian warriors could not get away, but wia hemmed in between the assallants and the river- bank. The troops dismounted, and poured in a deadly fire upon them. The Indians fought. bravely for awhile, under the cocouragement and example of their leader, called King-fisher.
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Hugh I. White and two others, standing near each other, leveled their rifles at him. and he fell. Upon the death of the chief, the sur- viving Indians broke, and fled in all directions, and left the whites masters of the field and of the town.
Three white men lost their lives in this en- gagement- Pruett, Weir, and Wallace. The town of Etowah was burned, and several others were destroyed on the return-march of the troops. This was the last act of General Se- vier's military career, as he shortly after went into the civil service of the country. For more than twenty years he had been the favorite leader of the western volunteers in all their wars with the Indians, British, and Tories. He had been in thirty-five battles, was never de- feated, and never wounded. In all his Indian campaigns he had only lost fifty-six men. and this last expedition was the only one for which he ever received a dollar of pay.
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CHAPTER V.
RENEWAL OF INDIAN TROUBLES.
THE chastisement inflicted upon the Creeks and Cherokees, as narrated in the last chapter, had the usual effect of quelling their spirit and checking their inroads for a season only. It would be necessary that the lesson should be re- peated, in order to make a perimanent impresion. While Sevier and the volunteers were away in the expedition to Etowah, the Indians killed a boy and a woman near Dandridge. They were stuck in the throat like boys, their heads entirely skinned, and their bodies lott naked. As the neighbors were carrying the bodies to a burgicaground, wo bien happened to go a little ahead of the rest, and were fired upon by about fifty Indians. One of them escaped, though woundel, and the other blog found dead and scalped, was buried in the same grave with the two comets he had been ar- renting.
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So great was the relief from Indian invasion experienced by the inhabitants of Mero Dis- triet for some rime after Sevier's trip to Etowah. that they sent him their thanks, and a request that he would soon pay another visit to the Indian towns. It was not long before the be- havior of the Indians showed very plainly that they were much in need of another casti- gation. In April, 1794, they attacked a com- pany of travelers, near the Crib Orchard. In this attack, Thomas Sharpe Spencer, the cele- brated pioneer hunter, was killed, and. from that circumstance, the place, on the great east- ern road from Nashville, is called Spencer's Hill to this das.
Dr. Cozby was an old Indian fighter, and it was hard for them to cateb Lim napping. On a motalicht night, a large party of them approached his cabin, in which were ouly him- sek. his wife and several chilicon, of which one boy was obl cuongh to use a con. The Doctor, always upon the witch, sen tam 1 :- fore they were near the house, byurigaded the door, and began to give orders in a loud voice, as if he had a houseful of armed men. The Indians were deceived, and =makul arar. in search of bitter fortune el where. This thay
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found at the house of William Casteel, living about two miles from Cozby's.
Casteel and a neighbor, named Reagan, had agreed to have a hunt the next day. Reagan came to Castecl's early in the morning, where he found the whole family dead-butchered in the most horrid and revolting manner. The family consisted of Casteel himself his wife, and five children-the oldest a daughter of ten years. We have said they were all dead, and so indeed they seemed to the visitor. When the neighbors were preparing them for buris!, Elizabeth, the oldest daughter, showed some signs of life, though wounded in six places with a tomahawk. besides being scalped. She slowly revived, and in two years was well again, was married, and livel long after. The rest of the family are all in one grave, under an oak-tree. still standing.
The excitement produced by this massacre was scarcely less than that which nalowed the marler of the Cavets. The people were cam !- oroas for an immediate and exterminating invasion of the Indian towns, and it required all the influence and exertions of the civil offi- cers to restrain them from a march across the W Arder, in defans of the law. About the same
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time, Jolin Ish was killed, while plowing in his field, eighteen miles from Knoxville. This was done by some Creeks, and the Cherokees caught and delivered up one of the murderers to a party of white men that went in pursuit. He was regularly tried by a court and jury for the crime of murder, and found guilty. His name was Obonpp lego, which means, in English, "dance upon nothing." This exploit he was soou required to perform. for the satisfaction of the people, who greatly enjoyed the spectacle.
We have before noticed the defeat of the army under General St. Clair, by the Northern In- dians, in 1791. The Government of the United States afterward sent General Wayne, with another army, against the same tribes. This effort was more successful, and Wayne indicted upon the Indians an overwhelming and ruinous defeat. News of this disaster to their northern brothers kad reached the Cherokees, and they at once became, or pretended to be, inclined to peace. Governor Blount agreed to holl a council with their chief's at Tellico. It was easily agreed that, in time to come. there should be peace and friendship between the Cherokees and the inhabitants of the South-west Territory, and that all prisoners and property taken
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during the war, should be restored by both parties.
But in despite of treaties and pretensions of friendship, the work of massacre and devasta- tion went on. Not a week, and scarcely a day passed, without some cabin laid in ashes, and come family bereaved, or destroyed. It had long been seen by some, and was now evident to the experience of all. that defensive measures alone would never secure the people of the Territory against Indian aggression. General Robertson was a cool and considerate officer, and every way disposed to respect the laws of the land, and to obey the orders of his official superiors; but he was, at the same time, gener- ous and sympathizing, and could no longer suffer the punctilios of official propriety to prevent the relief' demandled by the united cries of his distressed countryman. He assumed the re- sponsibility of doing what shall be related in the next chapter.
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CHAPTER VI.
EXPEDITION TO NICKOJACK.
Ix the fourteenth chapter of the second Book is given some account of an unfortunate attempt made by a party, un ler the direction of Colonel Brown, to get to Nashville by way of the Ten- nessee River. Our readers will also remember that one of Colonel Brown's sons-Joseph -- had been detained os a captive among the lower Cherokees, for a year or more. He was seven- teen years old when he returned to the white settlements, and was now about twenty-two. He had not forgotten the cruelties inflicted by the savages on his father's family, nor the suf- ferings of his own hard captivity. Indeed, the Indi ins would uht suffer him thas to forget, for a lurking party of them had lately shot and wounded him in the shoulder, by which he was still partially disabl .....
As has been before stated, the Chichimaurs and their confederates, who helil the tours
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about The Narrows of the Tennessee, had been the most destructive enemies of the white settle- ¿ ments, both in East and Middle Tennessee. It was doubted whether an army could be marched across the spur of the Cumberland Mountain at The Narrows, so as effectually to invade the towns. Joseph Brown and several others In- dertook an exploration for the purpose of set- tling this point. They made the tour, and reported to General Robertson that it was quite practicable for horsemen to get over the moun- tain, and, by leaving the horses on this side, to cross the river opposite to Niekojack.
General Robertson at once resolved to strike a blow in that direction, and issued the neces- sarv orders to his subordinates. The troops of Mero District were soon assembled. under Colonels Ford ard Mentromery, and rendez- voused at a block-house pour Durbanan's Sta- tion. Here they were shortly joined by a body of volunteers from Kentucky, commeadel hy Colou-1 Whider. Co! : 1 Or. ale, sho 1.1 been sent by Governor Blount with a body of troops to assist in the defense of the Cum- berland settlements, vas portaded to join the
€ under the authority of th clovertor, he tout
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command of the entire army, and the movement was generally known as Orr's expedition, though in truth the actual direction of affairs was com- i mitted to Colonel Whitley.
All things being in readiness, the army, amounting to more than five hundred mounted riflemen, set out on Sunday, 7th of September, 1794. Under the guidance of Joseph Brown, they took the direct course to Nickojack, passing near the lord of Elb. It was night when they reached the Tennesseo, where they camped, though some of the men swam the river before daylight. In the morning, after leaving a large guardI with the horses on this side, the remain- der of the troops crossed to the southern bank, some on rafts made of dry cane, and others by swimming. Among the swimmers were Wil- liam Tronside, since Governor of the State, and Jowych Brown, who could only use one arm in the operation. .
An exploit of William and Gideon Pillow, upon this version, deserves to be mention. l. A, they were excellent swimmers, they were selected to take over a raft carrying the guns, powder, and clothes of their company, so as to keep them dry Are Cloud na Wh heal by William in his forth, that his arms
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