USA > Tennessee > The civil and political history of the state of Tennessee from its earliest settlement up to the year 1796 : including the boundaries of the state > Part 4
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On the 2d of November, 1785, at Hopewell, on the Keowee, the United States of America and the Cherokees concluded a treaty, in which the Cherokee boundaries are declared to be as . follows: "Beginning at the mouth of Duck River, on the Tennes- see; thence running north-east to the ridge dividing the waters
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running into the Cumberland from those running into the Ten- nessee; thence east wardly along said ridge to a north-east line to be run, which shall strike the Cumberland River forty miles above Nashville; thence along the said line to the river; thence up the river to the ford where the Kentucky road crosses the river; thence to Campbell's line, near Cumberland Gap; thence to the mouth of Cloud's Creek to Holston; thence to the Chimney Top Mountain: thence to Camp Creek, near the mouth of Big Lime- stone, on Nolichucky; thence a southwardly course seven miles to a mountain; thence to the North Carolina line," etc.
On the 2d of July, 1791, the United States and the Cherokee Nation made another treaty on the treaty ground, on the bank of the Holston, in which the Cherokee boundaries are agreed upon: "Beginning at a point where the South Carolina Indian bound- ary crosses the North Carolina boundary; thence north to a point from a line to be extended to the river Clinch, that shall pass the Holston at the ridge which divides the waters running into Little 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 Cum- berland River where the Kentucky road crosses it: thence down the Cumberland River to a point from whence a south-west line will strike the ridge which divides the waters of the Cumberland from those of Duck River, forty miles above Nashville; thence down the said river to a point from whence a south-west line will strike the mouth of Duck River."
By a treaty made between the United States and the Chero- kees, in the council house near Tellico, on the Cherokee ground, on the 2d of October, 179S, they ceded to the United States all the lands within certain specified points: "From a point on the Tennessee River, below Tellico Block-house, called the Wild Cat Rock, in a direct line to the Militia spring, near Maryville road, leading from Tellico; from the said spring to the Chilhowee Mountain, by a line so to be run as will leave all the farms on Nine Mile Creek to the southward and eastward of it, and to be continued along Chilhowee Mountain until it strikes Hawkins's line; thence along the said line to the Great Iron Mountain; and from the top of which a line to be continued in a south-east- wardly course to where the most southwardly branch of Little River crosses the divisional line to Tugulo River, from the place
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of beginning, the Wild Cat Rock, down the north-east margin of the Tennessee River, not including islands, to a point or place one mile above the junction of that river with the Clinch; and from thence by a line to be drawn in a right angle, until it in- tersects Hawkins's line, leading from the Clinch; thence up the said river to its junction with Emmery River; thence up Emmery River to the foot of Cumberland Mountain; thence a line to be drawn north-eastwardly along the foot of the mountain until it intersects with Campbell's line."
By a treaty made on the 27th of October, 1805, the Cherokees ceded all the lands north of a line beginning at the mouth of Duck River; running thence up the stream of the same to the junction of the fork at the head of which Fort Nash stood with the main fork; thence a direct course to a point on the Tennes- see River bank, opposite to the mouth of Hiwassee River, pro- viding for certain reservations; thence up the middle of the Ten- nessee, but leaving all the islands to the Cherokees, to the mouth of Clinch River; thence up Clinch River to the former bound- ary line agreed upon with the said Cherokees, making some reservations for the use of the Cherokees.
By a treaty made with the Cherokees, and dated the 7th of January, 1806, they relinquished to the United States all right, title, interest, or claim which they then had, or ever had, to all that tract of country which lies to the northward of the river Tennessee, and westward of a line to be run from the upper part of the Chickasaw Old Fields, at the upper point of an island called Chickasaw Island, on said river, to the most eastwardly head waters of that branch of said Tennessee River called Duck River, excepting two small tracts which are described in the treaty. And by an elucidation of this treaty, made on the same day, it is declared to be the intention of the Cherokees to cede to the United States all the right, title, and interest which the said Cherokee Nation ever had to a tract of country contained between the Tennessee River and the Tennessee Ridge, which tract of country had, since the year 1794, been claimed by the Cherokees and Chickasaws; the eastern boundary whereof is limited by a line so to be run from the upper part of the Chick- asaw Old Fields as to include all the waters of Elk River; and it is declared that the eastern limits of said tract shall be bound- ed by a line so to be run from the upper end of the Chickasaw
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Old Fields, a little above the upper part of an island called Chickasaw Island, as will most directly intersect the first waters of Elk River; thence carried to the Great Cumberland Mountain, in which the waters of Elk River have their source; thence along the margin of said mountain until it shall intersect lands heretofore ceded to the United States at the said Tennessee Ridge.
By two treaties, one dated on the 8th of July, 1817, the other on the 27th of February, 1819, the Cherokee Nation ceded to the United States all their lands lying east and north of a cer- tain line described in the treaty: "Beginning on the Tennessee River, at the point where the Cherokee boundary with Madison County, in the Alabama territory, joins the same; thence along the main channel of said river to the mouth of the Hiwassee; then along its main channel to the first hill which closes in on said river, about two miles above Hiwassee Old Town; thence along the ridge which divides the waters of Hiwassee and Little Tellico, to the Tennessee River at Talassee; thence along the main channel to the conjunction of the Cowee and Nanteyalee; thence along the ridge in the fork of said river to the top of the Blue Ridge; thenee along the Blue Ridge to the Unaca turn- pike road; thence by a straight line to the nearest main source of the Chestotee; thence along its main channel to the Cata- houchee; and thence to the Creek boundary; it being under- stood that all the islands in the Chestotee, and the parts of the Tennessee and Hiwassee, with the exception of Jolly's Island, in the Tennessee, near the mouth of the Hiwassee, which con- stitute a portion of the present boundary, belong to the Chero- kee Nation; and it is further understood that the reservations contained in the 2d article of the treaty of Tellico, signed the 26th of October, 1805; and a tract equal to twelve miles square, to be located at the first point formed by the intersec- tion of the boundary line of Madison County, already men- tioned, and the north bank of the Tennessee River, thence along the said line, and up the said river, twelve miles, are ceded to the United States, in trust for the Cherokee Nation, to be sold by the United States, and the proceeds vested in the stock of the United States; the interest to be applied for diffusing the ben- efits of education amongst the Cherokees; and also the rights vested in the Unaca Turnpike Company by the Cherokee Nation y
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are not to be affected by this treaty." This cession was in full satisfaction of all claims which the United States had on account of the cession to a part of the nation, who have emigrated, or might thereafter emigrate, to the Arkansas, and this treaty is a final adjustment of that of the Sth of July, 1817.
The Cherokee hunting-grounds had been so long exposed to those enemies of animal existence, powder and ball, the obvious but sometimes overlooked cause of the decrease of game, of In- dian manufactures, and of Indian population, that they no longer afforded a plentiful subsistence for the owners. Those who were still addicted to the chase resolved to remove to a country on White River, where their employment would be rendered more profitable by the greater plenty of game which they found there. Deputies from the Lower Towns were sent to the government of the United States, to make known their desire to continue the hunter life, and also the scantiness of game where they lived; and under these circumstances, their wish to remove across the Mississippi River, on some vacant land of the United States; and they desired, as a part of the Cherokee Nation, for a divis- ion to be made of their country, so as to include all the waters of the Hiwassee to the Upper Towns. The President permitted those who wished to remove to send an exploring party to re- connoiter the country on the waters of the Arkansas or White Rivers; " the higher up the better, as they will be the longer un- approached by our settlements, which will begin at the mouths of these rivers. The regular districts of the government of the United States were already laid off to the St. Francis. When these parties," said the President, "shall have found a tract of country suiting the emigrants, and not claimed by other Indians, we will arrange with them, and give in exchange that, for a just portion of the country they have, and to a part of which, propor- tioned to their numbers, they have a right.
"Every aid toward their removal, and what will be necessary for them to have, will then be freely administered to them, and when established in their new settlements, we shall still consid- er them as our children, give them the benefit of exchanging their peltries for what they will want of our factories, and always hold them firmly by the hand." They explored the country ac- cordingly, on the west side of the Mississippi, and made choice of the country on the Arkansas and White Rivers, and settled"
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themselves down on the United States lands, to which no other tribe of Indians have any just claim. They duly notified the President thereof, and of their anxious desire for the full and complete ratification of his promise, and sent on their agents to execute a treaty. The nation of the Cherokees then ceded to the United States all the lands north and east of those bounda- ries, which were finally adjusted and settled by the treaty of the 27th of February, 1819, which have been before described.
By a treaty with the Chickasaws, made between them and the United States at Hopewell, on the Keowee, near Seneca Old Town, on the 10th of January, 1786, their bounds were estab- lished as follows: Beginning at the ridge that divides the waters running into the Cumberland from those running into the Ten- nessee, at a point in a line to be run north-east, which shall strike the Tennessee; thence running westwardly along the said ridge till it strikes the Ohio; thence down the southern bank thereof to the Mississippi; the same course to the Choctaw line of Natchez District; thence along the said line or the line of the district, eastward, as far as the Chickasaws claimed on the 27th of November, 1782; thence the said boundary eastwardly, shall be the limits allotted to the Choctaws and Cherokees, to have and hunt on, and the land at present in the possession of the Creeks.
By a treaty made the 20th of September, 1816, the Chickasaw nation ceded to the United States, with the exception of certain reservations specified in the treaty, all right or title to lands on the north side of the Tennessee River and relinquished all claim to territory on the south side of said river, and east of a line commencing at the mouth of Caney Creek, running up said creek to its source; thence a due south course to the Ridge Path, commonly called Gaines's road; along said road south-west- wardly to a point on the Tombigbee River well known by the name of the Cotton Gin Port, and down the western bank of the Tombigbee to the Choctaw boundary.
By a treaty made in 1818, the Chickasaws relinquished their title and claim to all the lands within the bounds of this State, and wholly extinguished and put an end to the same.
CHAPTER IL.
Indian Traders, 1690-Abundance of Game -- Hunters-French Fortresses-The Road of the Traders-Treaty with the Cherokees, 1756-Fort Loudon Built, . 1757-Fort Chissel, 1758-One on the North Bank of the Holston-Holston, Why so Called-War with the Cherokees-Fort Loudon Taken-The Garrison Massacred-Hunters in 1761 - Names Given to the Mountains and Water- courses-Old Furnaces on Clear Creek-Hunters in 1762-Hunters in 1763- Hunters in 1764-Col. Smith, 1766-Returned in the Fall of 1767-Christian and Anderson Explored the Country, 1768-Settlements Begun, 1768, 1769- Scotch . Traders-Regulators-James Robertson-Lands Leased of the Indians -Henderson's Purchase, 1775-Association on Watauga, 1772-Domestic Gov- ernment -- Commissioners-Lease Made by the Cherokees for Eight Years- Lease Made to Brown & Co .- Settlements Enlarged-Parker and Carter- Purchase in Fee by the Lessees-Deed Made by the Indians-A Great Race at Watauga-Indian Killed-Robertson Goes to the Indian Nation and Ap- peases Them-Shawnees, War and Battle-The Part Taken by James Robert- son-Cession of the Indians to Henderson in 1775-Andrew Greer-Boyd's Creek-British Incite the Cherokees to War, 1776-War Determined On- Military Officers Appointed on Watauga-Forts Built-Members Elected for the Convention of North Carolina-John Sevier-Battle of the Long Island- Expedition against the Cherokees, under Col. Christian, 1776-Another, un- der Rutherford, from North Carolina-Another, under Col. Williamson, from South Carolina-Treaty of 1777 Made with the Cherokees-County of Wash- ington Erected in 1777-Land Office Opened, 1777-Cry Raised in the Assem- bly of North Carolina against Those Who Had Entered Land in the Wash- ington Office-Indians-Horse Thieves, Measures Taken to Expel Them- James Robertson, Agent to the Cherokees, Gov. Caswell's Instructions to Him -Shelby's Expedition against the Cherokees Commenced April, 1777-North- ern Boundary Ordered to Be Extended, 1779 -- Sullivan County Erected-Ex- pedition under Sevier in 1779-Battle on Boyd's Creek-Indians Incited to War by the British in 1780-Scouting Companies-Bradly and Others Killed -Troops under Shelby Marched to North and South Carolina, 1780, and Others under Sevier-Post on Paccolet Taken-Battle at the Cedar Spring- Battle at Musgrove's Mill-Battle of King's Mountain.
W HILST Doherty in 1690, Adair in 1730, and other traders from South Carolina and Virginia, visited and for years together resided in the Cherokee country, carrying on a gainful commerce with the natives, it was discovered that another source of great profit lay within the bosom of the wilderness. The an- cient inhabitants had left signs of their former residence, but they had long since departed. The animals, freed from the pres-
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euce of ferocious man, fearless and undisturbed, had securely propagated, and filled the wilderness with their numerous broods. Their flesh could be exchanged for goods of European manufact- ure: and their skins and furs commanded, in the markets of the European colonists, gold and silver. Frequently, in the course of one season, the industrious hunter would return with packages of peltry enough to bring him $1,600 or $1,700, an immeuse sum in those days, and sufficient to procure a great portion of the best land, and other property of the country. No Indians then lived on the Holston or Clinch Rivers. But all the waters from the Holston to the head waters of the Kentucky and the Cumberland were without a single human inhabitant. The old maps of the western countries give some insight into their early circumstances, in the time of the French claim to all the countries between the Mississippi and the Alleghany Mount- ains, south of the lakes of Canada. These old maps lay down the river Holston and call it Cherokee River. The river to the south of it occupies the position which the French Broad does. The river to the south of Holston as laid down in the old maps is called the Tanses or Tanasees. The Big Tennessee, below that, is called the Ho-go-hee-gee. Clinch is not laid down, nor is the Cumberland, but from other sources it is known that the French called the latter the Shauvanon, while the English called it the Shawanoe. The Indians called the Holston the Coot-cla. French forts are represented in these maps as standing, one at the mouth of the Cataway, supposed to be the Kentucky; one on the south of the Ohio, on the bank of the river; another at the mouth of the Oubach, now the Wabash, on the north side of the Ohio, on the bank; another near the junction of the Ohio with the Missis- sippi, on the north side of the former; another at the Chicka- saw Bluffs, on the Mississippi, called Prud-home; another near the east bank of Red River, west of the mouth of the Arkansas, and west of an old Indian village called Ackensa; another at the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa. The fort was called Hal- abama, as well as the river. An Indian settlement below was called Halabamas. Bear Creek is laid down with numerous In- dian settlements upon it. Fifteen or sixteen miles up the Ten- nessee from its mouth they had another fort; and somewhere upon the head waters of the Tombigbee, a fort called Thoulouse. One of, the Indian towns, eastwardly from the present site of
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Natchez, is laid down by the name of Mosco. At the mouth of the Kanawha, on the north-west side of the Ohio, is a fort marked, called Shawnoah; one on the Illinois running into the Mississippi called Fort Creveceur; one on the north-western extremity of Michigan, called Fort Miami; and one about half- way up the Illinois marked French fort. A nation of Indians called the Chevanoes is laid down as settled below the Chero- kees in the country adjacent to where Fort Deposit now stands, on the Tennessee, and southwardly of it, which is supposed to be the people now called the Shawnees, who may have settled there under the auspices of their old friends and allies the Cher- okees, after the expulsion of the Shawnees from the Savannah River. This conjecture is fortified by the circumstance that the French in ancient times called what is now the Cumberland by the name of the Shauvanon, on which the Shawnees were for many years settled. Mr. Vaughan, who lived as late as the year 1801, in the county of Amelia, in Virginia, was employed about the year 1740, as a packman to go to the Cherokee Nation with some Indian traders. The country was then but thinly inhab- ited to the west of Amelia; the last hunter's cabin that he saw was on Otter River, a branch of Staunton, now in Bedford Coun- ty, Virginia. He exactly describes the different prospects of the mountains, the fords of the river, and the Grassy Springs at the present residence of Micajah Lee, now in Hawkins County, in East Tennessee. The trading path from Virginia, as he describes it, proceeded nearly upon the ground that the Buckingham road now runs on, and to the point where it strikes the stage road in Botetourt County; thence nearly upon the ground which the stage road now occupies, crossing New River at the fort, at English's Ferry, onward to the Seven Mile Ford, on the Holston; thence on the left of the line, which now forms the stage road, and near the river to the north fork of the Holston, and crossing the same at the ford, where the stage road now crosses it; and thence nearly upon the same ground which the stage road now occupies to Big Creek; thence leaving the ground that the stage road now runs on, and crossing the Holston at what is now called Dodson's Ford, three miles south-east of Rogersville; thence on by the Grassy Springs, the present residence of Micajah Lee, nine miles south- west of Rogersville; thence down the waters of the Nolichucky to the French Broad, and crossing the same below the mouth of
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Little Pigeon River; thence up Little Pigeon River to its ford, thence leaving the waters of the Little Pigeon, over some small mountains, to Tuckaleeche Town, on Little River. This was an old path when he first saw it, and he continued to travel upon it, trading with the Indians, until the breaking out of the war be- tween the French and English nations about the year 1754.
At the commencement of the French War, and in the year 1755, when Braddock was defeated in his attempt upon -Fort Du Quesne, the Cherokees were inimical to the English colonies. Gov. Dobbs, of North Carolina, deputed Capt. Wattle to treat with them, and also with the Catawbas. In 1756 he made a treaty offensive and defensive with Atta Culla Culla, or the Little Carpenter, in behalf of the Cherokees; he also made a treaty with the Catawbas. The chief of each nation required that a fort should be erected within their respective countries for the defense of their women and children, in case the warriors should be called away against the French and their Indian al- lies. In consequence of their applications, Fort Loudon was built in the year 1757; a garrison was placed in it, and the Indians invited into it artisans, by donations of land, which they caused to be signed by their own chief, and in one instance by Gov. Dobbs, of North Carolina. The Cherokees, as late as the year 1759, carried on war, in conjunction with the Virginians, against the French and such of the Indians as still adhered to their in- terests. After the fall of Fort Du Quesne, in November, 1758, French emissaries from Louisiana were sent to detach them, if possible, from their connections with the English; and their as- siduity and address, together with some displeasure which the Cherokees had taken at the behavior of the Virginians toward them in conducting the war, gave to the nation a strong bias in favor of French propositions. Col. Bird, in 1758, marched with his regiment from Virginia, and built Fort Chissel, and sta- tioned a garrison in it: he also built a fort on the north bank of the Holston, nearly opposite to the upper end of the Long Island. It was situated on a beautiful level, and was built upon a large plan, with proper bastions, and the wall thick enough to stop the force of small cannon-shot. The gates were spiked with large nails, so that the wood was all covered. The army wintered there in the winter of 1758. There were no white settlements on Watauga in 1768. Watauga signifies the River of Islands,
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or the Island River. The Holston River was known to the Cher- okees by the name of Watauga. The name was lost, and a new one assumed from the following circumstance. Some years be- fore 1758, one Stephen Holston, a resident of that part of Vir- ginia, which afterward bore the name of Botetourt, in his trav- eling excursions to the south and west, came to the head waters of a considerable river. Allured by its inviting appearance, and by the fertility of the lands on its banks, and the variegated scenery which it presented, as also by the quantity of game which he saw there, he proceeded some distance down the river. When he returned and related to his countrymen what discover- ies he had made, they called the river by his name. There be- ing two forts, Fort Chissel and Fort Loudon, some persons were tempted to make settlements between them, on the Watauga River, shortly before the breaking out of the Cherokee War. Alienated by the dexterity of French management from their allies, the Virginians, who took no pains to secure a continuance of their esteem, the Cherokees began to show their disinclina- tion to the English colonists in the year 1759. A body of Cher- okees, as well as another of Tuscaroras, had aided the colonists in the reduction of Fort Du Quesne. Some of the Cherokees in this service had lost their horses, and replaced them with oth- ers which they found running in the woods. This the Virginia colonists resented. Indeed, through the whole campaign, the Virginians had treated them very contemptuously. The Virgin- ians, as a nation, though generous, hospitable, humane, brave, and munificent, like many individuals of the same cast, are little inclined to obtain by condescension and suavity that to which they are entitled by their merits. This sentiment, among those of the lower ranks, degenerates into rudeness. While the French in Louisiana, by their emissaries, were acting toward the In- dians in the most engaging and flattering way, and were plying them with the arts of seduction, the Virginians seized this occa- sion of the taking of the horses as a fit one to be made subservient to the purposes of their hatred. They fell upon the warriors, who were unconscious of any offense, murdering some and making prisoners of others. The excessive impolicy of this step soon became very apparent. A storm of indignation raged in the breast of every Cherokee, and burst in acts of vengeance upon the devoted frontiers. Gov. Littleton, of South Carolina, made
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