USA > Tennessee > The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century: Comprising Its Settlement, as the. > Part 54
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552
REPULSE AT HOUSTON'S STATION.
agents, at that time, and for years after, to very serious com- plaints, censure and opposition.
A fort, about ten miles from Maryville, had in it several § families, but only seven gunmen. It consisted of a 1790 ( rudely constructed cabin, one story high, provided, though, with the usual defences, port-holes, etc. A large party of two or three hundred Indians approached it, with the evident design to attack and destroy it. This they could have undoubtedly - effected with suitable resolution, but were deterred by the method adopted for its defence. The besieged, of whom James Houston, the narrator, was one, reserved their fire till the assailants were near enough for very decisive and certain aim. The discharge at that mo- ment, of the seven rifles, was calculated to impress the enemy with the belief that a more formidable force was lodged within. The firing was repeated with great vigour. The savages picked up their dead and wounded, and retired. The fort did not lose a man.
Indian aggression had become so frequent and general, 1791 § on every part of the extensive frontiers of the United ( States, that Congress passed an act for their defence, authorizing the President to call mounted militia into the field, and to increase the defences of the country by new le- vies. These were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washing- ton, to be placed under the command of General St. Clair, to be employed in an expedition meditated against the Indian villages on the Miamis. A requisition for that purpose was made upon the forces of the Territory.
The President required three hundred and thirty-two men from the District of Washington, to be enrolled at the ear- liest moment, and ready to march to the head-quarters of Gen. St. Clair, at Fort Washington. For once, the militia of the country did not turn out with their usual alacrity. The term,of service was longer than they had been accustomed to, and they were required to take an oath to obey command of officers whom they did not know, and in whose selection their voice was not heard. A draft was had, and many hired substitutes.
553
LEVIES SENT TO GENERAL ST. CLAIR.
` Most of the civil, and nearly all of the military, appoint- ments made for the Territory by Governor Blount, were conferred upon the former officers of the State of Franklin. Considerable dissatisfaction was excited, and a petition was got up, remonstrating against the acts of the Governor.
The opposition thus raised against the administration of Governor Blount, was occasioned principally by his efforts, and those of General Sevier, to raise the United States levies, then wanted for the reinforcement of the north-western army. The terms, especially as to the period of the enlistment for the quotas to be sent from the Territory, were very formal, and different from the volunteering system which had so long obtained with the western militia. The period of ser- vice with them had always been short, and they never parted with the right of choosing their own officers.
A further reason for the hesitancy of the Territorial mili- . tia to join St. Clair, was the inadequacy of the defensive measures nearer home. Still, there was no relaxation, on the part of the Governor, to send forward the levies from the Territory. He was himself engrossed with pressing duties, growing out of his superintendency, and found it necessary to devolve on General Sevier the task of organi- sing the battalion. Writing to him, under date May 24, 1791, Governor Blount says : " The necessity I am under to meet the Cherokees, in treaty, on the last day of this month, will not permit me, after Thursday next, to pay but very little attention to these troops."
Major Rhea was appointed to the command-the battalion was organized and ordered to march, and, before July 15, had started with two hundred men to Fort Washington. Such of the troops as reached the scene of action did their duty, and fully sustained the character of their countrymen for conduct and courage.
Among the troops sent to the army of St. Clair, raised in the South-western Territory, was the company commanded by Captain Jacob Tipton. About to leave on that distant and perilous service, he had taken his farewell of his family, and had mounted his horse. He hallooed back to his wife, requesting her, that if he should be killed, to alter the name
554
.
HEROISM OF THE TIFTONS.
of their son William, and call him, for himself, Jacob. The presentiment which suggested the request, was unhappily realized. At the battle of the fourth November, 1791, the brave captain was killed. His last injunction to his wife was complied with. William became Jacob Tipton, late General Jacob Tipton, of Tipton county, Tennessee, which was thus named, in 1821, by the Tennessee Legislature is honour of the patriotic captain .*
In the meantime, Governor Blount was directing attention to the great subject of procuring a lasting peace between the Cherokees and the people of the United States. He had, during the last year, sent, through Major King and other, invitations to their chiefs, to meet him for that purpose in treaty. Some mischievous men on the frontier and in the nation, had circulated a report that it was the intention of the Governor to draw them to the treaty ground, and there have them all cut off. To counteract such reports, which were keeping back some of the more influential leaders, in the more interior towns, General Robertson, who always had their entire confidence as an honest and frank man, went to their nation early in June. He succeeded in quiet ing their apprehensions and removing the unfavourable impressions they entertained towards the United States, and in disposing them to treat. At first, they proposed to meet at the confluence of Holston and French Broad, and to this General Robertson assented. But they were at length in- duced to yield to the preferences of Governor Blount, who designated a point four miles below, on the north bank of Holston River, as the most convenient and suitable place for holding the treaty. There, was a denser settlement, of which
* Another Tennessean, of the same name and family, was distinguished after- wards at Tippecanoe. He left his native state with an axe and a rifle for bis patrimony. He subsequently became Senator in Congress, and one of the most prominent men in Indiana. Of him the anecdote is narrated, which we have seen in the public journals, where General Harrison is represented as riding up in the heat of the battle, inquiring of the young Tipton-" Where is your captain !" " Dead ! sir." " Your lieutenant ?" "Dead ! sir." " Your second lieutenant !" " Dead ! sir." " Your ensign "" "He stands before you !" where Tipton then stood, holding and defending the flag, but so covered with dirt and so besmeared with blood, that General Harrison scarcely knew him.
555
INDIAN TREATY AT KNOXVILLE.
White's Fort was the centre, and where, indeed, there was already the nucleus of the future Knoxville and the seat of the Territorial Government.
It would be desirable to present here, a full and minute account of this negotiation with the Cherokee chiefs and the Superintendent of the Southern District. This, together with the treaty itself, were laid before the Senate, in October fol- lowing, by President Washington, for its advice and ratifi- cation. The proceedings are not on record or on file in the War Department, and cannot be procured elsewhere. Tra- dition says that Governor Blount received and entertained the chieftains and head warriors with signal attentions and marked ceremonials. The treaty ground was at the foot of Water-street, where the Governor appeared in full dress. He wore a sword and military hat, and acted throughout the occasion the polite and accomplished gentleman, the dig- nified officer and courteous negotiator. He remained scated near his marquee, under and surrounded by the tall trees which then shaded the banks of the Holston. His officers, civil and military, stood near him, uncovered and respectful. On this occasion, James Armstrong was arbiter elegantia- rum." Behind the officials, in clusters and disorderly groups, stood strangers, attracted by the occasion, and the citizens of the immediate neighbourhood. The soldiery were not present.
One of the interpreters, in Indian costume, introduced each chief to Armstrong, and he presented him to the Governor, announcing him by his aboriginal name. The delegation was large ; forty-one of them being thus presented, in order according to their age, and not their rank. Twelve hundred other Indians were upon the ground, among whom were some women and children. The Braves were decorated with eagle feathers on their heads, and other insignia of their
. James Armstrong, alias Trooper Armstrong, the ancestor of General Robert Armstrong, the hero of Emuckfaw and other battles in the Creek war, and at present the editor of the Washington Union. The father had seen service in Europe, and was familiar with foreign etiquette and manners, and acquitted him- self od this occasion much to the satisfaction, both of the Governor and the In- dians. . The latter are always pleased with ceremony and forms.
556
CHEROKEE BOUNDARIES.
rank, but were unarmed. The older chiefs and wise ma, wore only the common Indian dress.
After the presentation was over, Governor Blount, speak- ing through the interpreter, opened the conference. During its continuance, the chiefs observed strictly the Indian Com- cil House tactics-the speaker alone standing, while his colleagues sat upon the ground, in a circle around him, in respectful silence and with fixed attention. Squollecuttal, Kunoskeskie, Auquotague and Nenetooyah, are said to have been the principal speakers. Chuquilatague seemed sulle, and, it is believed, signed the treaty reluctantly.
On the second of July, the conference was ended, and the treaty agreed to and signed.
By its provisions, perpetual peace and friendship were re- stored and established between all the citizens of the United States, and the whole Cherokee nation of Indians, who se knowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign whatsoever. They agreed to deliver to Governor Blount all prisoners then ia their nation, the boundaries of which were declared to be-
" Beginning at the top of the Currahee Mountain, where the Creek line passes it ; thence in a direct line to Tugelo River; thence northeast to the Ocunna Mountain, and over the same along the South-Carolina Indian boundary to the North-Carolina boundary; thence north to a point from which a line is to be extended to the River Clinch, that shall pass the Holston at the ridge which divides the waters running into Lit- tle River from those running into the Tennessee; thence up the River Clinch to Campbell's line, and along the same to the top of Cumberland Mountain; thence a direct line to the Cumberland River where the Kentucky road crosses it; thence down the Cumberland River to a point from which a southwest line will strike the ridge which divides the wa- ters of Cumberland from those of Duck River, forty miles above Nach- ville ; thence down the said ridge to a point from whence a southwest line will strike the mouth of Duck River.
For the country thus ceded, the United States were to pay and deliver to the Cherokees certain valuable goods, besides an annuity of one thousand dollars. It was farther stipula- ted, that the citizens of the United States should have the free and unmolested use of a road, from Washington to Mero District, and the navigation of the Tennessee River. The right of regulating their trade, was also reserved to the
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557
FIRST PRINTING PRESS IN TENNESSEE.
United States. Other provisions were made for the preser- vation of friendly relations between the contracting parties.
This treaty was ratified in November following, when the President issued his proclamation commanding its observ- ance.
During the inception and progress, and even after the 1791 § signing and execution of the Treaty of Holston, In- dian hostility continued. In May, John Farris was wounded, and Mr. Miller and five of his family killed, and his house robbed, on the Rolling Fork of Cumberland. In Russell county, Virginia, near Moccasin Gap, Mrs. Mc- Dowell and Frances Pendleton were killed and scalped.
A few days after the signing of the treaty, a party of Creeks were seen on the Lookout Mountain, with fresh scalps, which they acknowledged had been taken on Cum- berland. It was generally conjectured, that most of the mis- chief mentioned here, was perpetrated by the Creeks and the banditti at the five Lower Towns. Whether by the Creeks or Cherokees, murders continued with little abate- ment. James Patrick was killed in the Poor Valley, seven- teen miles from Rogersville, early in September. The peo- ple began to complain of the inefficiency of treaty stipula- tions in preserving peace, and Governor Blount felt it ne- cessary to urge upon General Robertson the necessity of preventing an infraction of the treaty on the part of the whites, and to maintain, if possible, friendly relations with the Indians.
· The fifth of November, 1791, is signalized in the annals of Tennessee, as the day on which the first newspaper was issued within the borders of that state. The pioneer printer, publisher and editor, in Tennessee, was George Roulstone. He established his press first at Rogersville, in Hawkins county, which thus claims the credit and distinction of the nativity of the newspaper press, which sent forth, through a domestic medium, the first ray of light for the information and improvement of the new community, in whose limits it was founded.
Though at first published at Rogersville, Mr. Roulstone's paper was called " The Knoxville Gazette," as it was intend
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558
KNOXVILLE ESTABLISHED.
ed to be issued at Knoxville, where Governor Blount had determined to fix the seat of his government. In February, of the next year, Knoxville was laid off by Col White, and the Gazette removed to it soon after. It was issued from a cabin, erected on the lot lately owned by Mr. Samuel Bell, on Gay-street.
The columns of the Gazette will, hereafter, furnish some of the matter of these Annals. It was a small sheet, but " re- garded as the pioneer newspaper in the country, the Gazette engages an interest, to which its intrinsic merits would not entitle it. Solitary and alone, in the midst of an extensive Territory, its adventitious importance was necessarily con- siderable. The publisher was a man of rather more than ordinary capacity, but seldom ventured opinions, confining himself to the more easy and ordinary duty of chronicling passing events."*
In this year, Mr. White's neighbourhood had become larg er, and invited, by its position and strength, the location near it of the seat of the Territorial Government. Governor Blount so determined, and the proprietor, James White, laid off a town, consisting of the necessary streets and sixty-four lots. In honour of Major-General Henry Knox, the then Sec- retary of War, under President Washington, the new town was called Knoxville. Some of the lots were sold, in 1791, but no considerable improvement was commenced till Feb- ruary, of 1792, when several small buildings were erected.
Being still Hawkins county, no county buildings were at first erected, but in June that county was circumscribed and subdivided, by an Ordinance of Governor Blount, and Knox county established. Lots had been, however, designated for county purposes, by the proprietor, and temporary buildings for a court house and jail, were, soon after the establishment of the county, put up. The first court house was on the lot adjoining and west of the residence of S. R. Rogers, Esq. The jail was made of squared logs, let down close together, and the floor and loft of like materials. It was enclosed with long palisades, deeply entrenched and sharpened at the upper
* Semi-centennial address of Rev. T. W. Humes.
559
FIRST INHABITANTS OF KNOXVILLE.
end. It was a small building, not more than fourteen feet square, and stood near the spot now occupied as the vault of the Bank of East Tennessee, corner of Main and Gay- streets. The lot for the barrack, extended from Gay to Prince streets, embracing the entire front of that square on Main street. The barrack was an entensive, but not costly struc- ture. It stood upon the ground now the L of the Mansion House, but extended more than twice its length, towards the river ; the building was made of logs notched closely to- gether. It was thus secure against attacks with small arms. The second story projected two feet on every side beyond the walls of the first, so as thus to prevent the application of fire to them in case of a siege. In both stories and in the floor of the second, port-holes were left, at suitable distances. The entire area around it, as far as a rifle would reach, was cleared- even a stump large enough to protect the body of an as- sailant, waseradicated. The site was well selected, and well adapted to its purposes. The structure itself was designed with military skill.
With pious regard and consideration for the church and religion of his fathers, the proprietor of Knoxville designated a lot for the erection of a place of public worship. The barrack, and the court house, and the grove, above the mouth of White's Creek, on the river bank, were at first substituted for this purpose, and it was not till 1810 that a church edi- fice was erected on the church lot. An adjoining square was, afterwards, designated to a purpose scarcely less im- portant-the instruction and education of youth. The entire square between Gay and Church-streets, and State and Boundary-streets, was appropriated to Blount College.
Amongst the first settlers of Knoxville, were James White, James King, Mr. McLemee, Governor Blount, Hugh Dunlap, Samuel and Nathaniel Cowan, Joseph Greer, John Chisolm, Mr. Stone, Captain John Crozier, and Major Arthur Crozier.
The first white child born in Knoxville, was the late Gen. Richard G. Dunlap.
The first lots improved were those nearest the river, and in the south-east quarter of the town. It was not till 1794, that the trees were cut from the lots since owned by Captain
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560
FIRST HOUSES IN KNOXVILLE.
Crozier, south of Gay and north of Cumberland. When he built his first store-house, at what is still called Crozier's Corner, it was shaded by the trees of the ancient forest, and considered out of town.
The cabin of the Governor was on the knoll, between the University and the river. Afterwards, a more suitable resi- dence was erected by him on the lot now owned by Judge Boyd. The mansion stood near the centre of the lot-was finished with some taste, and the grounds were better im- proved than any in town. His office was immediately be- tween his house and Chisolm's Tavern, south of it. It is still standing. Chisolm's was the pioneer tavern in Knox- ville. Col. McClung's clerk's office was on the corner, now known as Craighead's. Nathaniel Cowan's house was on the corner of Water and River-streets. Stone's Tavern was on the property known as Park's Corner. Joseph Greer re- sided upon the lot now owned by S. R. Rogers, Esq. The approach to Knoxville, on the east, was at first along the deep hollow or ravine, which extends from a little below Kennedy's saw-mill, and reaches Cumberland-street before its junction with Main, in front of the residence of Major Swan.
The annuity of one thousand dollars to the Cherokees, as provided by the Treaty of Holston, was considered by some of the chiefs as insufficient. A deputation, consisting of Nenetooyah or Bloody Fellow, Chutloh or King Fisher, Non- tuaka or the Northward, Teesteke or the Disturber, Kutha- gusta or the Prince, Suaka or George Miller, and James Cary, Interpreter, arrived at Philadelphia, Dec. 28th, 1791. A long conference ensued and continued to the 11th. In this conference, Nenetooyah gave a minute and interesting ac- count of all that had transpired at the Treaty of Holston, and, with the rest of the delegation, made a full expose of the affairs of his nation.
On the 18th, the President proposed an addition of five hundred dollars to the Cherokee annuity, to which the Se- nate gave its advice and consent.
On the 31st, the Secretary of War wrote to Governor Blount, directing him not to call out the militia of the Terri
561
SCALP DANCE IN CHEROKEE TOWNS.
tory, excepting in cases of real danger, and pointing out the importance of having the boundary line run.
In February, of this year, Col. E. Robertson informed Go- vernor Blount of aggressions by the Indians, and that on the 27th, in the evening, they killed Mr. Thompson in his own yard, and jumped into his house and killed all the women and children except two. The Governor also received infor- mation from Captain Craig, whom he had despatched on a mission to the Lookout Towns, that some prisoners and scalps had been brought in by the Turtle-at-Home, and that at night a scalp dance was there held, at which Richard Jus- tice and the Glass took the scalps, and tore them with their hands and teeth with great ferocity, as did also the warriors generally, with all the forms, gestures, exultation and decla- ration of a war dance; and that the warriors from Running Water coming in afterwards, renewed the war dance, and gave other indications of hostile intentions ; that the Shaw- nees, in their invitation to the Cherokees to join them against the United States, after St. Clair's defeat, had added the de- claration, that they would consider all Indians as enemies who did not assist them, and that General McGillevray wished to form a general confederacy of all the Indian tribes against the Americans, and that eighty Creek warriors had crossed the Tennessee, on their way to attack Cumberland, and were expecting.reinforcements to make a formidable in- vasion of that country. Captain Craig felt a deep convic- tion that both the Creeks and the Cherokees of the five Lower Towns would join the Shawnees.
Gov. Blount was also Superintendent of Indian Affairs for · the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws. In each tribe he had a deputy resident, and also interpreters. To these he gave instructions, and from them received reports of the condition, disposition and views of the Indians where they resided.
The instructions of the Government restricted Governor Blount to the adoption of defensive measures only, by which to give protection and safety to the Territory. Thus re- stricted, he stationed detachments of militia at the more
562
INTREPIDITY OF MRS. CAMPBELL.
exposed points, with orders to patrol from one station to another.
April 21 .- General Pickens, of South-Carolina, was re- quested, by the Secretary of War, to attend at Nashville, where Governor Blount would hold a conference, in June, with the Chickasaws and Choctaws, to which some of the Cherokee chiefs would be invited. At that time and place, a proposition would be made to these tribes to join the United States army, and it was proposed, by the President, if they accepted, that General Pickens should command them combinedly, on the contemplated expedition north-west of the Ohio.
One of the guards came express to Campbell's Station, with the news that the Indians had just killed two boys at Mr. Wells's, in Hind's Valley. On this occasion it was, that the Indians came to Col. Campbell's and fired at himself and another man, ploughing by his side. The report of their guns being heard by Mrs. Campbell, she, very coolly, barri- caded the door of the house, took the rifles from the rack, and waited, at the port-holes, for the approach of the Indians. In that position she was found by the men escaping from the field. She handed out the rifles-the Indians were pursued, but were not overtaken.
Governor Blount had been invited, by the Chiefs, to meet them, in conference, at Coyatee. As .he approached that place, the standard of the United States was erected. Two thousand Indians were marshalled into two lines, between which the Governor and his honourary escort passed. A firing, in the manner of a feu de joi, was commenced and kept up, handsomely, for some time. The object of the meeting, was the distribution of the goods, and the payment of the annuity, according to the treaty, and to bring to the attention of the Chiefs the repeated infractions, by their warriors, of the provisions stipulated for in treaty. To his remarks on that subject, the Breath, of Nickajack, the Hanging-Maw and John Watts, renewed their declarations that their people were for peace.
After the conference at Coyatee, Governor Blount, attend- ed by a sufficient guard, crossed the mountain, and, at Nash-
563
ZEIGLER'S STATION ATTACKED.
ville, held a conference with the Chickasaws and Choc- taws. In conjunction with General Pickens, he met there a large delegation of their chiefs, distributed the goods, and renewed assurances of peace with them. Returned to Knoxville, he writes to the Secretary of War, under date-
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