USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
The persons who first crossed the mountains into that part of the country which is now the State of Tennessee, did not come to stay in it. bus to hunt and to trade with the Indians. Wild animals were very plentiful, such as bears, dcer, foxes, beavers, otters, minke, rac- coons, etc. These were easily killed with the "rifle, or taken in various sorts of trans, and !- - skins could be sold for a good price among the
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
people on the east side of the mountains. But if' a man preferred it, he could buy the skins from the Indians for a mere trifle, such as glass ben le, cheap knives, fish-hooks, etc. Some of these skins were valuable for the fur that was on them; others were tanned and made into leather.
These hunters and traders, after traveling upon their business until they were satisfied, would pack their skins upon horses, and return to the settled parts of North Carolina and Vir- rinia. Of course, like other travelers, they had marvelous stories to tell of what they had seen and heard. The descriptions they gave of the rich and beautiful country on the west side of the mountains, naturally caused, in those who listened to them, a desire to see and to possess the goodly land. There soon sprung up in West- ern Carolina and Virginia a feeling of restless- ness and a spirit of' adventure, very different from the quiet and cautious habits for which the people of those two States have ever been remarkable. So great, however, were the diffi- eulties and dangers of the enterprise. that none 1 ut a few of the most daring and reckless among hura would, for a good while, trust themselves on this side of the Alleghany ridge.
31
30
OLD TIMES; OR,
From the most western settlements in Caro- lina to the Watauga River, where the first emi- grants planted themselves, is not less than seventy miles, across steep and rough mountains, where nobody was then living, and where, even to this time, there are only a few scattered cabins. There were no roads, nor even a beaten pathway, for the whole distance. No provisions were to be had on the route, except what could be carried along on pack-horses, and such wild animals as the hunters could kill with their rifles. And when they had reached the Wa- tauga, they were not at all better off; having neither houses to live in, nor grain to make bread, nor land cleared to make a crop. But worse than all these things, was the danger arising from the Indians by whom they were surrounded in their new homes. I shall speak of these Indians in the next chapter.
The first white man who settled in Tennessee with his family, was Captain William Bean, from Pittsylvania county, Virginia. In the year 1769-just one hundred years ago-he built his cabin on Boon's Creek, a small stream that runs into the Watauga River. His son, Russell Bean, was the first white child born in Tennessee. If you will now look at a map, You
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
tiny see that the Watauga River, near the north- want corner of Tennessee, empties into the Hol- Mon, on the south side of the latter stream. The Holston rises in Western Virginia, and rius mostly in a western direction. Other per- sops, with families, soon moved in, and fixed their new homes around Captain Bean's; and thus was Tounessee begun to be settled.
£
32
OLD TIMES: OR.
CHAPTER VI.
INDIANS IN TENNESSEE.
Ar the time that the Territory of Tennessee was first visited by traders and hunters, it, and also Kentucky, were in a singular condition in regard to human inhabitants. There is no doubt that the whole country had once been occupied by various Indian tribes; but at the time of which we speak, there was no part of it in the actual possession of the red men, except that portion of the present State of Tennessee lying south of Tennessee River. This portion belonged to the Cherokees. By ex- amining a map, you will see that this is the south-east portion of the State, bordering on North . Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and. comprising less than one-fourth of its surface. This was only a part of the Cherokee lands. as they had exten-ive possessions in the adjoin- ing province of North Carolina, and in the
33
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
..
territory now constituting the States of Georgia and Alabama.
The country then inhabited by the Cherokee Indians is perhaps the most delightful part of North America; being sufficiently elevated for health, with a fair proportion of hills and plains, well watered, and finely timbered, a fertile soil, and a soft and genial climate. The great French traveler, M. Volney, pronounced it to have the only good climate in America. At the time of the first settlement in East Tennessee, the Cherokees were less powerful than they had formerly been, having just suf- fered a disastrous defeat, and lost many of their warriors, in a great battle with the Chickasaws. It was, no doubt, fortunate for the young com- munity at Watauga, that these Indians had so lately been whipped.
The Chickasaws did not inhabit any portion of Tennessee, but they claimed to have dominion over all West Tennessee from the Tennessee Ilverto the Mississippi. as their hunting grounds. As the early emigrants d'd not come mach into contact with the Chickasaws, it is unnecessary to say more about them in this place.
The Shawnees had at one time held the country on the Cumberland River, freia about 2
34
OLD TIMES; OR,
where Nashville now stands, to the Ohio. They had been engaged almost continually in wars with the Cherokees or Chickasaws. At length, about a hundred years before the settlement of Watauga-according to Indian tradition-the two last-mentioned tribes had combined together, and entirely broken up the Shawnee Nation. Most of them went off andI joined some northern tribes called the Six Nations. They still con- tinued, however, to make incursions into the lands they had left, for the purposes of war and hunting. In these expeditions they were assisted by the Six Nations, and thus Ken- tucky and Tennessee became the " debatable land." the " dark and bloody ground," on which were fought the fierce battles between the northern and southern tribes.
As neither of the parties was able to hold quiet and permanent possession of these lands, the one . kept on the south, and the other on the north, of the dispute territory, and only came into it oceni nally to hunt. or to attack the hunters of the hostile tribes. In this way it happened, according to the best accounts that could be. gutten from the Indians, that the first visitors from Carolina and Virginia found Tennessee and Kentucky
$5
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
a wilderness without human inhabitant, except the Cherokees in one corner, as has been before stated. Whether this is the true account or not, it is a singular and important fact, that just when the people of Virginia and Caro- lina were ready to take possession of the coun- try, the former owners had retired from nearly the whole of it. 1692123
The lands thus left vacant were among the most fertile on the Continent. The abundance of grass, cane, and other spontaneous produc- tions of the earth, would, of course, support countless numbers of wild animals, and fur- nish, perhaps, the most plentiful hunting- grounds that have ever existed anywhere. The absence of resident Indians, together with the favorable climate and rich soil, allowed the buffalo, bear, deer, and turkeys to multiply to the fullest extent: so that the pioneer set- tlers had nothing to do but " slay and cat."
--
36
OLD TIMES; OR, -
CHAPTER VII.
CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS.
PROBABLY most of our young readers have heard frequent descriptions of Indians, and some of them have perhaps seen one or more of the few that still wander about the country. They are frequently called red men, on account of the color of their skin, which is pretty much like that of a copper cent or a brass skillet. They are generally not large men, seldom weighing more than one hundred and fifty pounds. They are straight and slender, their limbs very trim and tapering, with small hands and feet. Their bones are rather small, and they have less muscular strength than white men or negroes; but they are ninible and wiry, and able to travel en foot with great ease and rapidity.
The Indians all have dark eyes, with a keen and sly look. They are not inclined to talk much, and when they do, usually express them-
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
37
selves in a short and abrupt manner. From nature or practice, or from both, they are ca- pable of concealing their feelings much more than white men. However sudden or alarming a circumstance may happen in the presence of an Indian, if he chooses, he can behave just as if he knew nothing about it. In the greatest agony of body or mind. he can appear as calm as a sleeping infant. It is a point of honor with him to endure any degree of torture that can be inflicted without complaint or flinching. 1
There are, perhaps, no cowards among In- dians, yet their notion of courage is not the same as that of white men. When engaged in open and declared war, it is true that white men, as well as Indians, will deceive their enemies, if they can, by tricks and stratagems. But if a white man, by pretending peace and friendship, should seek an opportunity to do his enemy a mischief, he would feel that he was doing a mean and cowardly action. Det the Indian has no such convictiona. He would ghin entrance into the house of a frontier -03 tler to beg a morsel of meat to keep Him from starving, and then murder the mother and children, and burn the cabin over their Jer ! bodies. And this he would do when he and
世界北电力
٦٠
38
OLD TIMES; OR,
his tribe were professing to be the friends of the white man.
Of all human beings, the American Indian is, perhaps, the most revengeful. An injury done to himself or any of his tribe, he never either forgets or forgives ; and in seeking to gratify this feeling, it seems to be immaterial to him whether he wreaks his vengeance on the offender himself, or some one of the nation to which he belongs. Men of all nations in- dulge this passion of revenge more than good Christians should do, but civilized white inen only entertain resentment against the individ- ual who offers the injury or insult. They feel no inclination to retaliate upon his family or friends, and still less upon those who are merely his countrymen. In this respect, how- ever, most savage nations resemble, in some degree, the Indian, though in no other has the passion appeared to be so intense and over- ruling.
-
The Indian is very averse to labor; that is, to any kind of labor which, among us, is called work. In hunting or in war, he will undergo fatigue and hardship to a marvelous extent; but any thing like labor in the fieldl or the workshop, he seems both unwilling and
30
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
unable to endure. The Spaniards, in the West India Islan-Is, attempted to make the Indians perform the work of slaves, but soon discovered that the little labor which they could force upon them was more than they could bear. The natives died off rapidly under this system, and the Spaniar Is resorted to Africa for negroes to take their place. The little corn-patches andl gardens among the Indians are cultivated almost entirely by the females, whom they call équius.
The Indian man spends his time in beastly laziness and sleep, except when engaged in war or the chase. All the work about bis dirty , hut, or wigwam, is performed by the females, assisted sometimes by the prisoners he may have taken in war. Occasionally he spends a" halfidle day in making or mending the clumsy instruments which he is to use in the Imittle or the hunt, but proudly distains to be employed in any thing but bringing honte venison and scalys. This description is it .. tended to apply to Indians in their original, savage state. Those of them who have had munch intercourse with the whites, have been furnished with guns, porder, ant lad, as !!! as with other things, which they have not the
40
OLD TIMES; OR,
art nor the industry to make. Still, the Indian character remains; and, except the fire-arms, they show very little disposition to use the tools of the white man.
Can the Indians be civilized, and brought to practice agriculture and the useful arts of life, to such a degree as to form permanent and prosperous communities? This question has engaged the attention of some of the wisest and best men amongst us. So far as experience can teach any thing upon this point, the results have not been favorable; and the general impression of the American people is, that "an Indian will be an Indian," in despite of all attempts to improve him. Many of the. tribes, that were numerous and powerful a hundred years ago, have entirely disappeared ; and we can reasonably expect for them no other future destiny, than that they will con- tinue to decline, until, at no very distant day, the whole race will become extinet.
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
41
CHAPTER VIII.
CHARACTER OF THE FIRST WHILE SETTLERS.
AT the time the earliest emigrants made the settlement at Watauga, neither North Carolina nor Virginia was crowded with peo- ple. The en.igrants that left those States were under no necessity of doing so in order to get homes. Land in both places was cheap and plentiful, and even to this time they have more waste-land than is to be found in Ten- nessee.
In such circumstances, it may seem strange to our young readers that men should emigrate at all. While they could have lands and homes among kindred and friends, why should they expose themselves to the hardships and dangers of a new country? While they could stay at home in safety, why should they pinnye into a wilderness among will beasts amal firo- cious savage -?
Well, though it may appear unreasonable to
·
42
OLD TIMES; OR,
young persons without much experience, it is just like many things that boys frequently do without asking the reason why. It is the same spirit that causes them to quit a snug room and a worm fire and roam through the woods on a cold and dark night, tumbling over logs and into gullies, and getting scratched with brush and briers, that they may have a chance to see a fight between a dog aml a 'coon. It is just the love of excitement and action-the spirit of adventure.
.
Ease and comfort are good things to some men and boys, but there are others who prefer change and novelty, even at the risk of danger and hardship. It is right that it should be so ; and the world has always had in it both classes of persons-the casy and the active, the cau- tious and the bold. The one class is useful to prevent things from going too fast, while the other is sure to make them po fast enough ; the one keeps things moving, while the other keers them steady. The best character for a man is to have just enough of both qualities, as George Washington had.
Every one will readily understand that it was the most active and bold among the people of Carolina and Virginia that first came to Ten-
43
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
nessee. Those whose motto was to "let well enough alone," stayed where they were born. For a similar reason, men of wealth were not among the early emigrants; for those who owned a large property would be unwilling to risk: it in a wild country. Those who held high offices, or ha ! great family influence in the old provinces, dil not come, for, by removing, they must have lost these advantages. From the nature of the case, the men who laid the founda- tion of the State of Tennessee were poor, but active, hardy, and brave-men fit for the work they had to do.
The early settlers were, none of them, men of minch education ; and, indeed, had they been scholars, their learning would have been use- less in a country where there were no books. and nothing to be done which could be helped by a knowledge of them. The celebrated Dan- iel Boone visited the Watauga country, though he did not stay there, but went to Kentu.les. He carved on the back of a beech-tree a record, informing those who might follow, that he had " cilled A BAR," in that place; and Boone was probably not much behind other pioneoss in the matter of spelling. But, like the others. he had a good rifle and a quick eve, a keen ax
1.
-
44
OLD TIMES; OR,
and a strong arm, and withal, a brave heart, to struggle with the privations and dangers of the wilderness.
Two noble traits of character were, almost of necessity, formed by the condition in which the emigrants were placed. These were a feel- ing of sympathy and a sense of social equality. Where all were equally liable, at any moment, to need the aid of the others, this feeling of equality and sympathy must grow up. Where the best efforts of every man and woman in the community were felt to be barely sufficient to procure subsistence and safety for all and for each one, no one could be disregarded as worth- less or inferior. Besides, in a state of things where the means and the manner of living were the same to all, there could be no room for that silly affectation of superior style, which we sometimes see in older communities. Let us be glad that so much of the okl equality and brotherhood is still left among the people of our noble State.
45
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS OF THE WATAUGA SETTLEMENT,
THE pioneers who had Axel themselves at Watauga, as stated in the fifth chapter, were soon busy in trying to make themselves safe and comfortable. After building a cabin to protect themselves from the inclemency of the weather, the next grand object was to clear a piece of ground for a crop of corn. Until they could raise a crop, they must either do without bread, or bring a supply from Carolina and Virginia, across the mountains on pack- horses. When it must have cost so much time and toil to get it, we may suppose that curn- bread was a rarity and a dainty at Watauga.
Indeed, when they were so lucky as to have a little corn, they could scarcely have bread, for the want of mills to grind the grain into meal. And now, young reader-you who have just risen from your nice and plentiful break- fast, where you had hce-cake. and batter-bread,
46
OLD TIMES; OR,
and biscuit besides-how do you suppose the boys and girls of those days managed to eat their corn? Certainly not raw, as a hog or a horse does; but they would boil it like our hominy, or else roast it in an oven, if they had one, if not, in the hot ashes, and then crack the grains with their teeth. In those hard times, well-provided and happy was the boy that had a pocketful of parched corn.
As to a plenty of meat, and that of the best, there was no difficulty at all. Whoever had a rifle, and powder, and lead, might take his choice of bear-meat, venison, turkey, and some- times buffalo; to say nothing of squirrels, partridges, and other small game. Fish were also plentiful in all the streams, and might be easily caught in various ways. Wild geese 'and ducks also abounded. wherever there was water for them to swim in. Now, if any boy who reads this should be wishing that he had been there to fish and to hunt, let him remem- ber that he must have eaten those good things for his dinner frequently without bread, and sometimes without salt, and perhaps he would change his mind.
While those who had already plantel them- selves at Watauga were thus employed in en-
47
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
denvoring to improve their new homes, other emigrants continued to arrive from Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, but chietly from the province last mentioned. However, they did not come in crowds, with all the means of opening and cultivating large farms, as they now go into Kansas, and Nebraska, and other frontier countries. There were no roads leading to Watauga, and steamboats had not then been. invented; and besides, there was no traveling by water across the Alleghany Mountains. The emigrants came mostly on foot, with a horse or two to carry the old women and young children, with some provisions for the journey, and a few articles for housekeeping.
Every new-comer was received with a hearty welcome, and the whole settlement would at once turn out to build him a cabin. The men who did the work were not carpenters, and they had neither plank nor nails to build with. But with such instruments as an ax and an auger, they managed to construct, out of the trees that stood around, such a shelter as might protect a family from rain and snow. In a few days, the strangers would be at home, and ready to do their part toward helping to settle the next that should arrive.
₹ 5
.
-
48
OLD TIMES; OR,
Among those who joined the Watauga set- tlement about this time, (in the year 1771,) were two men who became afterward particu- larly distinguished in the early history of Ten- nessee. These were John Sevier and James Robertson. Sevier's father was an English- man, born in London, who came to Virginia, and afterward to East Tennessee. Robertson was from Wake county, North Carolina, who, after spending some years at Watauga, settled the first white colony in Middle Tennessee. We may also mention the names of John Car- ter, from Virginia, and Charles Robertson, from South Carolina, among the men of note in the young community.
&
TENSESSEE HISTORY.
CHAPTER X.
THE CONDITION OF THINGS IN NORTH CAROLINA.
IN order that our readers may better under- stand what we have farther to tell about the settlement of East Tennessee, we must try to make them acquainted with certain important matters that were then going on in North Carolina.
1
Well, what is commonly called the Revolu- tionary War was about to begin. This was, as we have before stated, a war between the king- dom of Great Britain on one side, and her American provinces on the other side. These provinces were thirteen in number, all border- ing on the Atlantic Ocean, and all lying on the east of the Alleghany Mountains. They were New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Conuceti- rut, Massachusetts, New York. Pennsylvania New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. They were enlled provinces, or colonies, until
-
50
OLD TIMES; OR,
after the war, and then took the name of States. They were governed by the laws of Great Brit- ain, and had each a governor and other officers appointed by the king.
This is not a proper place to explain the causes of the Revolutionary War, or to give a history of its events. When you are a little older, you can read all about it in many books of American history. It is enough to say here, that the fighting commenced in the year 1775, though the quarrel began several years before. In North Carolina especially, the people had been so much oppressed by unjust taxes, that in 1771, they refused to pay them, and deter- mined to resist the authority of the royal gov- ernor. This resistance was called the "Regu- lation," and brought on a battle at Alamance, in which the "Regulators" were defeated by the troops under the command of Governor Trvon.
After the battle of Alamance, Governor Tryon determined to punish all the persons engaged in the "Regulation," or else compel them to take an oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain. To get out of his power, a good many of them crossed the mountains, andI took refuge among the people at Watauga. And so this
51
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
disturbance in North Carolina helped to in- crease the settlements west of the mountains more rapidly than would have happened other- wise.
As all the provinces were ill-treated by the British Government, in one way or another, at length they all agreed to choose some of their best ond wisest men, to meet together in Phila- delphia, and try to provide some remedy. This assembly of men was called the Continental Congress, and after consulting together, they concluded it was best to throw off the British Liovernment altogether, and become separate and independent States. This they did by a declaration, made and published on the 4th of July, 1776.
Having thus rejected the royal government. the people of North Carolina, as well as of the other provinces, were without any regular gov- ernment at all. This, you know, is a bad state of things; for even a family or a school cannot prosper without laws, and somebody to exercise authority. So the people of Carolina met to- 's ther, in counties and neighborhoods, and ap- pointed men to manage matters as well as they could, until they should have time to make a new government, and establish laws to suit
53
52
OLD TIMES; OR,
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
themselves in place of the English laws. The # having the British and the Tories on their men so appointed were generally called "com- mittees of public safety." hand's at home, would have little power to pro- iert the young settlements in East Tennessee. These were, therefore, left to take care of thera- selves as best they could.
While the province was under the rule of Great Britain, the governor used to appoint men called Indian agents to stay amongst the Cherokees and other tribes, and endeavor to make them friendly with the white people. These men, being appointed and paid by the royal governor, were opposed to the Whigs, or Revolutionary party, and therefore tried to stir up the Indians to make war upon the frontier settlers, while the king was sending his armies aeross the ocean to subdue the provinces, and force them to submit to his authority.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.