USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 3
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In the fourth chapter I told you there were a great many Tories in Carolina. Well, these Tories did their best to help the King of England and his generals to conquer the Whigs. In the many fights that happened between them, the Tories would sometimes have to run off, and even to leave the province, in order to save their lives. Many of them went amongst the Cherc- kees; and as they hated the Whigs, they would try to persuade the Indians to hate them too, and to make war upon the western seulements. You can easily see that the Whigs of Carolina,
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OLD TIMES; OR,
CHAPTER XI.
EXTENSION OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS.
SHORTLY after Watauga was settled, a man named Brown, from North Carolina, took up his abode upon the Nolichucky River, a stream that runs into the Holston farther south and west than the Watauga. Several other families went with him, and they all built their cabins near together on the northern bank of the river. Brown and his companions bought as much land as they all wanted from the Cherokees, for a small parcel of goods, which he brought with him from Carolina on a pack-horse.
About the same time, JJohn Carter and a small company of emigrant, fixed theraselves in what is still called Carter's Valley, not far from the present town of R.cersville. This valley was then supposed to belong to Virginia. and the first settlers were from that province. Emigrants continued to arrive at all these set- tlements, chiefly from Virginia and North Car-
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tiina. None of the Indian towns were very wear them, and the Cherokees were quite peaceful and friendly toward their white neigh- Ans. Indeed, they were well pleased to have i rions among them with whom they could trade their skins and furs for guns, blankets, Knives, etc.
When the white men took possession of the lands on the Watanga, they did not ask the consent of the Cherokees, or anybody else. They occupied the territory, just because nobody .he was there to interfere with them. The Indians did not live nearer than a hundred Miles from it, yet they claimed the whole coun- My as their hunting grounds. To satisfy the "Lerokces, and to keep them in a friendly mood, the people of Watauga agreed to pay them pods to the value of several thousand dollars, for the privilege of living on the lands for a wrtain number of years. This was called leas- E :. z the land; but the white men knew very well they could hold it a few years, they coul l keep it always afterward.
Well, a day was appointed for the head men the. Cherokees to come to Watauga, and omplete the bargain about the land. At the ume time and place it was understood that
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OLD TIMES; OP,
there was to be a horse-race. A race is sure to bring in all the scamps and rowdies that are in reach of it, and upon this occasion, there were some of this sort from the frontiers of Vir- ginia. In the course of the day, some of these Virginians, with little or no provocation, shot and killed one of the Cherokees. We have told you before how revengeful all Indians are, and the white people at Watauga had good reason to dread what would happen as soon as news of the murder should be carried to the Cherokee Nation.
In this alarming state of things, James Rob- ertson proposed that he and another man would go to the Cherokee towns, and endeavor to make up the matter. They went accordingly, at the great risk of their lives, and by explaining, persuading, and promising to punish the mur- derers, when they could catch them, they at length succeeded in pacifying the Indians, and preventing them from attacking the settlement. In this business Mr. Robertson provedl himself to be a man of uncommon prudence, courage. and public spirit; and ever after, the people of Watanga looked to him for protection and guidance in all difficult .
Up to this time the settlers had no quarrel
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with the Indians, and all the sensible men among them had been very cautious not to give « fense to those who could so easily have de- stroved the weak and unprotected settlements. Although the great danger, arising from this foolish murder, was happily warded off by the good management chiefly of Robertson, yet it was tut long before the Cherokees began to entertain. : bad feeling toward the white people, and that without any fault of the latter. This change was brought about by the Indian agents of the King of England, the Tories, and bad men who had gone amongst the Cherokees to avoid being punished for their crimes in the provinces.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
CHAPTER XII.
INDIAN WARFARE.
DUR:xe the year 1775, Indian traders, com. ing into the white settlements, gave notice t. the inhabitants that the Cherokees were aboy: to attack them. This, of course, produced gres: alarm on the frontiers, especially on the Wa- tauga, and Nolichneky, and in Carter's Valley, « which were the most advanced settlements, and nearest to the Indian towns. The people a: these places began at once to make whit prega- ration they could to defend themselves against the enemy. One of the first things thought o. was to baill stations, and to bring all the in- habitants into them for protection.
Well. what is a station? or rather. what was it? for there are no stats as in the cout.try now. It was just a piekor-fence, made of stake- eight or ten det long, set chose together in the ground, and harpun I at top, so that the In dians conk hot chaib over them. With this
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sort of fence a piece of ground was inclosed, Ixrhaps half an acre in extent, and inside of it cabins were built, sufficient to hold all the peo- ple. For a considerable distance round this inclosure the cane and other small growth were cleared away, so that an Indian could not get near to it without being seen.
In building stations, they frequently made cabins close together, so that their walls might answer in place of the picket-fence or stockade. In these walls they cut small holes, through which they could put their rifles and shoot the Indians, while they themselves were safe behind the wall of logs. These were frequently called port-holes, and houses thus built. block-houses. It was a great object in these stations to have running water in the inclosure, or at least in the cleared space around it. At one time there were a great many of these stations in East and Middle Tennessee, but they have all been re- hoved, or have rotted down, and only a few old there can now tell exactly where any of them
Whenever they had reason to expect an im- medlinto attack by the Indians, all the settlers, with their families, would try to get into one of these stations, carrying with them whatever of
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OLD TIMES; OR,
their property they could, and all the provisions they might have on hand. It would frequently happen that they would be confined in the sta- tion for several weeks at a time, without any chance to procure food of any sort, and forced to depend on the supply they might have on hand. When they would be ready to starve, some of the men would leave the station by night, and steal through the surrounding In. dians, at the great hazard of their lives, to get provisions or other assistance from any other station or settlement in roach.
When the Indians would find that the white people had gone into a station, they frequently went off without making any attack, and con- tented themselves with burning the cabins, and carrying off the horses and other property of the settlers. Sometimes, however, they would un- derake to set fire to the stockade and block- houses, and to shoot and kill the men through the cracks between the legs. In this work they were not often successful, and os they were fully exposed to the fire of the vill men within, many of them would he killed in such at- temprs. A more usual course with them was to lurk about the place, and out off all wir might attempt to leave the station, and in
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that way endeavor to starve the party into a surrender.
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It was a practice with the Indians to carry of the dead bodies of their warriors killed in battle, in order to conceal their loss. In per- forming this duty, as they considered it, many of them were killed, who otherwise might have escaped. Another custom of the Indian war- rior was to scalp his dead enemy-that is, to take off a piece of the skin of the head with the hair on it. This he would keep in his wigwam as a proof of his warlike exploits; and he was the proudest warrior of his tribe who could show the longest string of such memorials.
This practice of taking scalps among the In- dians was not always confined to the slain. They would sometimes scalp women and chil- dren, whom, for some reason, they did not choose to kill; and persons were often scalped who recovered from the injury and livel to die of old age. A laughable story is somewhere told of an Indian attempting to scalp a Frenchman who wore a wig. The savage seized him by the hair, but before he could use his scalping- knife, the wig came off, and the Frenchman ran away, leaving the astonished Indian with the strange thing in his hands.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CHEROKEES ATTACK THE SETTLEMENTS.
EARLY in the next year, (1776,) the people of Watauga received certain information that the Cherokees were prepared to march against them in considerable numbers. The plan of attack was understood to be. that the Indians would be divided into several bands, and march against the several stations and settlements at the same time. In the distress produced by this news, messengers were sent without delay into the western counties of Virginia and North Carolina, to get what assistance they could to defend the feeble colonies at Watauga, Noli- chucky, and along the Holston. About a hun- dred men, in five small companies, principally from Virginia, immediately started across the mountains, and arrived at Watauga before the Indians.
After reaching the western settlements the officers comman ling these troops thought it
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would be best to go forward, and meet the In- Hians on their way, instead of waiting till they should be attacked in the stations. The troops from Virginia and Carolina had been joined by all the men on the frontiers who could be spared from the stations, and the whole force amounted to about one hundred and seventy- five men. Near a place called the Island Flats, they met a party of the advancing Indians, about four hundred in number. A hard battle imme- diately commenced, in which the whites were finally victorious, killing about forty of the Cherokee warriors. Several of the white men were wounded, but not one killed.
This first battle between the Tennessee set- tlers and the Cherokees was fought on the 20th of July, 1776. The victory obtained by the white men had a very good influence both upon themselves and upon their savage enemies. It gave courage and confidence to the whites, so that from that time they never feared to meet any number of Indians in battle. I also con- vinced the Cherches that they were no match for the Western riflemen, and that the settle- ments defended by such men were dangerous places in which to look for scale. It did not, however, cure them of their revengeful and
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OLD TIMES; OR,
blood-thirsty disposition, nor prevent them from skulking about and murdering the whites at every sly opportunity.
Another party of Cherokees had taken a dif- ferent route, intending to attack the settlements of Watauga and Nolichucky. The settlers at the latter place had left their homes, and crowded into the Watauga Station, which con- tained not less than one hundred and seventy persons-men, women, and children -- when the Indians made their appearance. They at- tempted to storm the fort in the usual way, but were beaten off, and a good many of them killed by the riflemen within. They re- mained lurking about the place for several days, and then departed.
While the Indians were in the neighborhood of Watauga, a man named Cooper and a boy went out of the storkade to get some timber from the words. The man was killed and scalped by the Indians lying in wait. The boy was made prisoner, carried to the Indian towns, and burned to death. Another man was killed while trying to get into the sort by night, and a woman-Mr. Bean -- was taken prisoner. It is not known what herame of her, nor is it any- where mentioned whether or not she was the
TENNESSEE HISTORY.
wife of Captain Bean, the first settler at Wa- tauga.
But still another gang of the Indians were more successful in their inroad. They pushed for the scattered dwellings lower down the Holston, whose inhabitants had not taken refuge in any station. They killed and scalped every human being in their route, at the same time burning the houses and destroying the growing corn. They did not stop in their destructive course till they reached a settlement called the Wolf Hills, in Western Virginia. They there murdered several persons, but were at length driven off by the men at Black's Station, near where the town of Abingdon now stands.
In the neighborhood of Black's Station lived a preacher by the name of Cummings. At the time the Indians were committing mischief in that quarter, Mr. Cummings and his negro man, in company with three others, were at work in a field. They were fired upon by the Indians, and one of the mien was killed and two others. were wounded. Mr. Cummings and his servant attacked the savages in their hiding-place, and forvedl them to retreat. This Mr. Cummings want to ride to his log meeting-house on Sun- day morning, with his rifle on his shoulder.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
Upon getting into the pulpit, he would set it in a corner, ready to snatch it up on any alarm. He thought it as necessary, in those times, to watch and fight, as to pray and preach; and he seems to have been good at all these exer- cises.
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CHAPTER XIV.
INVASION OF THE INDIAN TOWNS.
AFTER the events related in the foregoing chapter, the Cherokees scemed to be in a very ill humor with their white neighbors in East Tennessee. They retired to their towns, but continued to send out marauding bands to mo- lest the settlements, and to steal horses and take scalps, wherever they could, without exposing themselves to the aim of the frontier rifleman. To put a stop to these outrages, a small army from Virginia, under command of Colonel Chris- tian, and another from North Carolina, under Colonel Williams, marched to the Holston, where they encampel for a few days. Here they were joined by the men from Watauga, and some other stations, until the entire army amounted to about eighteen hundred men.
At the head of these troops, Colonel Christian set out for the Cherokee towns. Until they were near French Broad River, they heard
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OLD TIMES; OR,
nothing from the Indians; but they were there met by an Indian trader, with a message from the Cherokees, warning them not to attempt to cross that river, as a thousand warriors were assemble l there to dispute the passage. Not at all daunted by this bravado, Colonel Christian continued to advance, and upon arriving at the river, was astonished to find the Indian camp totally deserted. The story is, that a white trader among them had persuaded the Chero- kees that it was vain to oppose the white in- vaders, and that their only chance of safety was to retreat to their strongholds in the mountains.
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The army continued its march in a south- westwardly direction toward the Little Tennessee River, where the most important and populous Cherokee towns were situated. Here Colonel Christian expected to encounter the whole In- dian force, and was very careful not to be sur- prised. But he was again disappointed, as not a single Cherokee warrior was to be found. None bat a few helpless old men, squaws, and children were left in the villages. The fighting men of the whole nation had been seized with a panic, and thought of nothing but hiding them- selves.
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As Colonel Christian could not bring his army within shooting distance of the red men, the next best thing to be done was to burn and de- stroy their towns, provisions, and crops. This was no doubt an unpleasant business for the brave and generous men who composed that army, but it was necessary to convince the In- dians that they would not be allowed to harass the settlements without being made to suffer for it in their turn. Some of the towns that were known to be peaceable were spared, which would farther convince all that it was their interest to be friendly toward the set- tlements.
Finding no farther work for them to do. Colonel Christian disbanded his army, and the men returned to their homes. But in their ex- pedition, they had enjoyed the opportunity of visiting and examining the most attractive por- tion of East Tennessce. Many of them went back to Virginia and Carolina, only to bring their families to new homes, which they had already selected on the western frontier. . The reports which ther carried with them. of the richness of the land, and the beauty of the crantry, had a powertid offer in exciting the spirit of emigratica among their friends and
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OLD TIMES; OR,
neighbors, and, for a short time, the population of the Watanga, and other western settlements, was rapidly increased.
And here, young readers, we would call upon , you to notice that, although Colonel Christian's army had every thing in their power at the Cherokee towns, there is no instance of any in- jury done by them to the women and children of their savage enemies. And this, we believe, will hold true in all their subsequent conflicts with the Indians. Many of them had seen their sisters, wives, and helpless children mur- dered. scalped, tortured, and burnt by the Indians, and naturally became Indian-haters. They pursued their warrior enemies with a fierce and unrelenting vengeance, but never did one of them so far forget his manhood as to inflict even a blow upon a squaw or a child .-
Another thing to be observed concerning these Indian wars is, that there were no Tories among the people in the western settlements. - It was well understood that the savages were instigated and furnished with arms, to make war upon the frontiers, by the agents of the British Government residing among them. This produced the natural effect of causing the
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western people to become very hostile to the English King, and all who supported him. There was probably not a Tory west of the . mountains, except a few who had taken refuge and lived among the Indian tribes.
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OLD TIMES: OR.
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CHAPTER XV.
GOVERNMENT OF THE WESTERN COMMUNITIES.
Ir has been mentioned before that East Ten- nessee was a part of- the province or State of North Carolina, and under its authority. But in fact, North Carolina did not, and could not, for a long time, pay attention to the condition of the people west of the mountains. All the resources of the province, all the men and money it could raise, wore required for the Rer- olutimmary War, in which it was engaged, against the British and the Tories is the eastern or Atlantic part of the province. The western settlements were not willfully neglected, but left alone for the want of power to cherish and pro- tect thema.
But a community cannot prosper, or even preserve its + vistence for any length of time, without some sort of government, and some anthority to which all must submit. In their difficult situation, the people of Watauga met
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together, and made a written agreement about the management of their affairs, which has been called the " Watauga Association." They elected thirteen men as commissioners to man- age the affairs of the community, and five men as a court to settle all disputes that might arise among individuals. And for about five years, the Watauga settlement was well For- erned, and the rights of all the people secured, without laws, or judges, or juries, or sheriff's.
They must have been uncommon zien who could thus be governed by their own consent and agreement, without any authority over them. And so they were-men full of heo- esty, prudence, and desire to promote the public good. If there were any of a different character, they could do nothing against the influence and example of such men a: Johit Sevier, James Robertson, Charles Robertson, John Carter, and Zach. Isbell, who were the members of the court. It is in times of difficulty and danger that men of real virtue and talent ex- ervisc a natural and useful control oves others.
The people of Watauga had given to th le settlement the name of Wasinxerox Di triet. considering it as a part of North Cardina. There are now perhaps hundreds of counties
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OLD TIMES; OR,
and towns in the United States that bear the honored name of the "Father of his country:" but, so far as we can learn, this little colony in East Tennessee is the first on the list. At that time, George Washington had just been ap- pointed Commander-in-chief of the American Ar- mies in the Revolutionary War. Their choosing this name, above all others, is very good proof of the strong Whig spirit of these western people.
In the early part of the year 1776, a me- morial or porition was addressed to the "Hon- orable Provincial Council of North Carolina," signed by the commissioners of Watauga, and one hundred other persons. In that memorial they explainel their condition, and the reasons which had threel them to set up a temporary government without the authority of the parent province. . They denied any intention of be- coming independent of North Carolina, and expressed a strong desire to have its laws ex- tended to the western settlements, and regular officers appointed to administer them. They declared, in carnest language their Readiness to take part with Carolina in the Revolutionary struggle which was then going on, and to bear their part of the taxes and other burdens of the war.
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In consequence of this memorial, the Logis- lature of North Carolina so far took notice of the settlements west of the mountains, as to throw them all together under the name of Washington County, and allow them to send delegates to a convention then about to assemble at Halifax. The delegates from Washington county were Charles Robertson. John Carter, John Haile, and John Sevier. The Convention or Provincial Congress met accordingly, and adopted a Constitution of Government for the State of North Carolina, including the western colonies under the new name of Washington county.
The next year, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed a law regulating the militia of Washington county, and providing for the ap- pointment of justices of the peace and other officers in the same. The Assembly also laid off the boundaries of the county-and how large do you suppose they made it? Why, it was just as large as the whole State of Tennessee, as it now is, reaching from the Alleghany Moun- tains on the east to the Mississippi River on The west. As the country has become settled. this one county has been divided and subdivided until there are now eighty-four counties in the State.
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OLD TIMES; OR,
CHAPTER XVI.
WASHINGTON COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
WE must now drop the names of Watauga, Nolichucky, etc., and speak of all the settlements in East Tennessee under the one name that they had received from the General Assembly of North Carolina. We shall proceed to notice several regulations, made by the Legislature of that State, for the benefit of the settlers on the Tennessee side of the mountains.
Among the Erst and most important of these regulations, was one allowing every head of a family in the western territory to have six bun- dred and forty acres of land for himself, one hundred for his wife, and one hundred more for every one of His children. So that if a man had a wife and five children, he could have twelve hundred and forty aeres of good land, just by going to live on it. And this he could have wherever he el ise, provided no other per- son had settled on it lafbre him. A great part
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of the land thus given away would now sell for fifty dollars per acre.
At the same time, a law was passed to pro- vide for keeping up a body of soldiers called "Rangers," for the protection of the western frontier. They were so called, because it was their duty to range along the outside settle- ments, and kill or drive off any skulking In- dians they could find. They were generally mounted on horses, and so were able to move rapidly from one place to another. These Rangers received their pay, not in money-ior the State of North Carolina had none -- but in western land. In this way, every man, though not the head of a family, had a chance to pro- cure a fine tract of land, by serving in the . milicia.
The Legislature of North Carolma, in the same year, appointed commissioners to mark out a wagon-road, from some convenient point in Washington county, into Barke county, on the east side of the mountains. This was the first rond over made in Tennessee, and it was & long time before that became what we would now call a good one. Before that, the emi- grants, on foot or on horseback, just followed the blused path, which the hunters and tradera
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