USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 22
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Another very peculiar entry in the Preston journal is one which tells that when the expedition left Burke's Garden it crossed three mountains to reach the head of Clinch River. If this statement is correct, the army did not make its exit through the gap at the west end of the Garden. In the mountain which encircles the Garden there is a low place between the gap and the Bear Town pcak. Colonel Lewis evidently took his men through this low place over to Little Creek, then crossed Rich Mountain to a point just west of the divide between Clear Fork and the Clinch Valley. Not being familiar with the country, instead of turning westward, down the valley, the expedition crossed Buckhorn Mountain and came into the valley just west of Dial Rock. Thence the march was con- tinued until the head of "Sandy Creek" was reached.
Local historians have expressed different views as to which branch of the stream was reached and followed. This, however, is unimportant, as Tug River was the main stream followed, and received its name from an incident which occurred during the jour- ney. At one time the provisions were so completely exhausted that the men were threatened with starvation. Johnston, in his History of the New River Settlements, thus relates what occurred: "The weather was extremely cold, snow having fallen the march was a difficult one, and the men stopping at Burning Spring (Warfield) took strips of the hides of the buffaloes and broiled them in the burning gas. They cut them into strips or thugs, hence the name of Tug River. On leaving the spring they scattered through the
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mountains and many of them perished, either frozen to death. starved, or killed by the Indians. They left, however, some marks by the way, cutting their names on trees on the route pursued by them, notably at the forks of Big Coal and Clear Fork of that river, but these trees have been destroyed in recent years."
The remnant of the little army was then returning from its unsuccessful and disastrous expedition. It did not get as far as the mouth of Sandy River, the point where it was expected to reach the Ohio. On the 12th of March the men were so discouraged that they began to desert; and on the 13th Montgomery's and Dunlap's volun- teers left with a view of getting back to their homes, if they could. It is probable that it was then that the return march was begun.
Colonel George Washington was in command of all the Virginia military forces in 1756, with his headquarters at Winchester, as previously related, and he vigorously opposed the Sandy Expedition. He knew the wild and rugged character of the region through which Lewis and his men had to travel, and was confident the enterprise would prove unsuccessful, especially as it was undertaken in the winter season. Governor Dinwiddie was so provoked at the Shaw- nees for their repeated savage attacks upon the frontier settlements that he insisted that the expedition should go forward, and upon him rested the responsibility for its failure.
The failure of the Sandy Expedition was not only a seriously alarming blow to the English settlements west of New River, but was a great incentive to the Shawnees and the other hostile tribes in Ohio to continue their savage attacks upon the border settlements, extending from the Holston Valley to the Potomac River. These incursions of the Indians were encouraged and supported by the French, who were then engaged in a general war with Great Britain, and were vigorously prosecuting the French and Indian War against the English colonies in America. The French were not only furnish- ing the Indians with arms, ammunition, and other supplies, but were paying them liberally for the scalps of the English settlers, and also for the prisoners they captured. These conditions con- tinued until the close of the French and Indian War in 1761, and the Pontiac War in 1763; and resulted in driving out nearly all the settlers who had located west of New River. Colonel William Preston, who, after the death of his uncle, Colonel James Patton, became the guiding spirit of the Trans-Alleghany Pioneers, in a letter written from his home at Greenfield, in the present Botetourt
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County, on the 27th of July, 1763, thus related the unhappy condi- tion of the settlements along and west of New River:
"Our situation at present is very different from what it was when we had the pleasure of your company in this country. All the valleys of Roanoke river and along the waters of the Mississippi are depopulated, except Captain English (Ingles) with a few families on New river, who have built a fort, among whom are Mr. Thompson and his family, alone remaining. They intend to make a stand until some assistance be sent them. Seventy-five of the Bedford militia went out in order to pursue the enemy, but I hear the officers and part of the men are gone home, and the rest gone to Reed Creek to help in the family of James Davis and in two or three other families there that dare not venture to travel.
"I have built a little fort in which are eighty-seven persons, twenty of whom bear arms. We are in a pretty good posture of defence, and with the aid of God are determined to make a stand. In five or six other places in this part of the country they have fallen into the same method and with the same resolution. How long we may keep them is uncertain. No enemy have appeared here as yet. Their guns are frequently heard and their footing observed, which makes us believe they will pay us a visit. My two sisters and their families are here and all in good health. We bear our misfor- tunes so far with fortitude and are in hopes of being relieved."
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CHAPTER VI.
WHY SETTLEMENTS DELAYED IN CLINCH VALLEY.
No settlers came to the Clinch Valley until nearly twenty years after surveying parties had come in and located tracts of land here. John Buchanan, deputy surveyor of Augusta County, had made surveys on the waters of Clinch River, in 1750; and Colonel Patton and William Ingles had surveyed a number of boundaries in Burke's Garden, Abb's Valley, and on the headwaters of Clinch River in 1753. The inquiry has frequently been made why the settlements were so delayed in the Clinch Valley, especially as a number of persons had located with their families on New River and its tribu- taries, and even in the Holston Valley, as early as 1750.
When Dr. Thomas Walker made his famous expedition to Cum- berland Gap in 1750, he found settlers scattered along the route he pursued from the "Great Lick," the site of Roanoke City, to the present Seven Mile Ford, on the Middle Fork of Holston River. These settlers, when they came in, had followed the Buffalo Trail, which the Cherokees had been using for years in making their hunt- ing excursions that were extended as far east as the Great Lick, and even to the Peaks of Otter. It was also the same trail that the traders from Eastern Virginia had traveled when they went on trading expeditions to the Cherokee towns in Tennessee, then North Carolina. The Clinch Valley was then used by the Indians, the Cherokees and the Shawnees, as a hunting ground; and had never been entered by white men, except a few hunting parties, who were, possibly, as anxious to preserve it for a game park as were the Indians.
But for certain causes, which I will mention, settlements would have been made in what is now Tazewell County immediately fol- lowing the surveying of land here by the Loyal Company, of which company, Dr. Thomas Walker was the active agent. This company had, by an order of the Virginia Council, obtained leave to take up and survey 800,000 acres of land, in one or more surveys, to be located on the north of the North Carolina line, and running west- ward and northward for quantity; and the company was given four years to complete its surveys and purchase rights for the same. The company began its work of surveying in 1750, and sold a num- ber of tracts west of New River, to purchasers at the rate of three
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pounds per hundred acres. Some of the purchasers settled on the lands they bought, while others failed to make settlements. The Loyal Company was then interrupted by caveats entered by the Ohio Company and other conflicting claimants, which prevented the completion of the surveying within the term of four years pre- scribed by the order of council. An application was made for a renewal of the grant and on the 14th of June, 1753, an order was made by the council, giving the company four years more to com- plete the surveys. By this last order the lands granted are described as lands lying on the branches of the Mississippi in the county of Augusta. The company began as soon as possible to locate and sell lands under the renewed grant, but the French and Indian War then came on in 1754, and put an end to the surveying. The Indians commenced their hostile incursions into the settlements west of the Alleghanies; and this not only prevented, for a period of nine years, the making of any settlements in the Clinch Valley, but drove out nearly all the settlers in the New River and Holston valleys.
The Greenbrier Company, organized by Andrew Lewis and other prominent Virginians, obtained a grant from the Virginia Council for 100,000 acres of land, which was to be located west of the Alleghanies, and south of the Ohio. The execution of the sur- veying of this company had also been hindered by the same causes that had affected the Loyal Company. As soon as the war was terminated these two companies presented a joint petition to the governor and council, representing that they had made a number of actual surveys of lands within their respective grants and made sales of tracts to divers persons. The petition also set forth the fact that the companies had been prevented from completing their surveys and making settlements thereon only by the war; and praying the renewal of their grants for another four years.
In the meantime King George II. had sent instructions to the colonial government to make no more grants upon the western waters. Following this instruction, the governor and council, on the 25th of May, 1763, declared that they were restrained by the royal instructions from granting the prayer of the two companies. On the 7th of October, 1763, the king issued a proclamation prohibit- ing all persons from settling in that tract of country west of the Alleghanies, which included the territory west of New River; and the proclamation of the king even required those persons who had settled in this region under patents to remove therefrom and take
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up their residence in the interior. This course was adopted by the royal government to pacify the Indians, who, after the French and Indian War was terminated, remained bitterly hostile to the Eng- lish, because of their manifest purpose to rob the natives of their lands and hunting grounds.
The proclamation of the king not only destroyed every possible hope that the Loyal Company could ever again secure from the royal government a renewal of its grants, but, seemingly, invali- dated the titles to all the lands it had sold to settlers or prospec- tive settlers. This latter conclusion was based upon the conviction that the Virginia Council had made a grant to the Loyal Company of lands that did not belong to the English Crown, but were still owned by the Indians. And the order of the king for the removal of all persons who had settled in the forbidden territory placed another obstruction to the settlement of the Clinch Valley which lasted for a period of years.
The Iroquois, or Six Nations, of New York, who had been allies of the British in the war just closed, claimed by right of conquest all the Virginia territory west of the Blue Ridge and south of the Ohio River; and the Cherokees, who were also allies of the British in the war, demanded the withdrawal of all the white settlers from the territory west of New River and south of the Ohio. These demands were recognized by the British Government as just; but gave great concern to the Loyal Company and all persons to whom the company had sold lands west of New River, either for homes or speculative purposes. And the company and its vendees went earnestly to work to secure relief by the negotiation of treaties with the two Indian nations. Quite a number of would-be settlers had congregated in the Upper James River Valley and the Roanoke Valley, eagerly awaiting opportunity to move beyond New River. In response to their appeals, and through the very effective work of Dr. Walker and other members of the Loyal Company, treaties were made with the Indians by which the section west of New River was opened up for settlement.
In the spring of 1768 the British Government instructed Sir William Johnson, of New York, to negotiate a treaty with the Six Nations, and procure from them the relinquishment of their asserted claim of certain territory in the provinces of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He called a congress of the chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy, which assembled at Fort Stanwix, near Oswego, New York, on the 24th of October, 1768; and four days
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thereafter, on the 28th of the same month, a treaty was concluded. Dr. Thomas Walker was present, as commissioner from Virginia, and witnessed the signing of the treaty by the six representative chiefs of the Indian confederacy. No doubt the skillful management of the accomplished agent of the Loyal Company had much to do with securing the desired treaty with the Indians. The treaty con- veyed to King George Third, Sovereign Lord of Great Britain, France and Ireland, all the Virginia territory claimed by the Iro- quois, south of the Ohio River, beginning at the mouth of the Cherokee (Holston) River, where it empties into the River Ohio, and following along the southern side of said River to Kittanning, which is above Fort Pitt. This eliminated for all time the claim of ownership of Virginia territory by the Iroquois.
The British Government had also directed John Stuart, Southern Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to negotiate a treaty with the Cherokees. He met the chiefs of the Upper and Lower Cherokee Nations at Hard Labor, South Carolina, and negotiated a treaty with these Indians on the 14th of October, 1768, just two weeks before the treaty at Fort Stanwix was concluded. This treaty was entirely unsatisfactory, as it failed to secure the very purpose for which it was sought. It left in the possession of the Cherokees all the territory they claimed west of New River, which they had held for many years as their most cherished hunting grounds, the Clinch and the Holston valleys particularly.
Dr. Walker had been appointed commissioner from Virginia to be present when the treaty was made with the Cherokees, but did not attend the meeting. No reasonable explanation was ever given by John Stuart for the negotiation of a treaty whose terms were the very opposite of those sought and intended by the government he represented. Lord Botetourt was then governor of Virginia, and he was induced to appoint Colonel Andrew Lewis and Dr. Thomas Walker commissioners to visit the Cherokees and procure from them another treaty on the desired lines. They proceeded promptly to South Carolina, where they had conferences with some of the Chero- kee chiefs, and obtained from them a pledge that the settlers west of New River should not be disturbed in the possession of their homes, pending the negotiations for rearranging the boundary lines of the hunting grounds of the tribe. It was also arranged by the commissioners that a new treaty should be made with the Indians. John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, met the principle chiefs and about a thousand of the warriors of the Cherokees at
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Lochaber, South Carolina, on the 18th of October, 1770, and on October 22nd, the treaty was concluded.
This treaty seems to have been of as much moment to South Carolina and North Carolina as it was to Virginia, judging from the persons who attended the assembly. From a record of the meeting embodied in the treaty it appears those present besides John Stuart were: Colonel John Donelson, who was there "by appointment of his Excellency, the Right Honorable Lord Botetourt, in behalf of the Province of Virginia," Alex'r Cameron, Deputy Superintendent ; James Simpson, Clk of his Majesty's Council of South Carolina; Major Lacy, from Virginia; Major Williamson, Capt. Cohoon; John Caldwell, Esq., Captain Winter, Christopher Peters, Esq., besides a great number of the back inhabitants of the province of South Carolina; and the following chiefs of the Cherokee Nation: Oconis- toto, Killagusta, Attacallaculla, Keyatory, Tiftoy, Terreaino, Encyod Tugalo, Scaliloskie Chinista, Chinista of Watangali, Octa- citi of Hey Wassie, and about a thousand other Indians of the same Nation."
The following are the most important recitals in the treaty: "The subscribing Cherokee Chiefs and Warriors on behalf of their said Nation in consideration of his Majesty's paternal goodness, so often demonstrated to them, the said Cherokee Indians, and from affection and friendship for their Brethren, the Inhabitants of Vir- ginia, as well as their earnest desire of removing as far as possible all cause of dispute between them and the said inhabitants on account of encroachments on lands reserved by the said Indians for themselves, and also for a valuable consideration in various sorts of goods paid to them by the said John Stuart, on behalf of the Dominion of Virginia, that the hereafter recited line be ratified and confirmed, and it is hereby ratified and confirmed accordingly: and it is by these presents firmly stipulated and agreed upon by the parties aforesaid that a line beginning where the boundary line between the province of No. Carolina and the Cherokee hunting grounds terminates and running thence in a west course to a point six miles east of Long Island in Holston's river and thence to said river six miles above the said Long Island, thence in a course to the confluence of the great Canaway and Ohio rivers, Shall remain and be deemed by all of his Majesty's white subjects as well as all the Indians of the Cherokee Nation, the true and just boundaries of the lands reserved by the said Nation of Indians for their own proper use, and dividing the same from the
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lands ceded by them to his Majesty's within the limits of the pro- vince of Virginia, and that his Majesty's white subjects inhabiting the province of Virginia, shall not, upon any pretense whatsoever, settle beyond the line, nor shall the said Indians make any settle- ments or encroachments on the lands which by this treaty they cede and confirm to his Majesty."
The 2nd Article of the treaty provided that there should be no alteration whatsoever in the boundry line established by the treaty, "except such as may hereafter be found expedient and necessary for the mutual interest of both parties."
By the completion of this treaty with the Cherokees the titles to the lands already occupied by settlers, or purchased for future settlement, were quieted, where the purchases had been made from the Loyal Company under its grant for 800,000 acres or from Colonel Patton under his grant for 120,000 acres. It also vacated the proclamation, issued by the king in 1763, forbidding all persons from settling on the "western waters;" and it threw the Clinch Valley wide open, as well as all the territory ceded by the Cherokees, for settlement. The Loyal Company, however, was denied the right of making further locations under its grant, which had expired by limitation in 1763, and had never been renewed. At this time the British Government and the Colonial Government of Virginia were impressed with the wisdom of extending the frontiers of the Dominion as far westward as possible; and earnest invitation was given emigrants to make their homes on the waters of the Missis- sippi, in what is now known as Southwest Virginia. Very liberal land laws were enacted and new counties were erected as induce- ments to attract settlers west of the Alleghanies and beyond New River. On the 28th of November, 1769, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act for dividing the county of Augusta into two counties, thereby bringing the county of Botetourt into existence. As the act is almost contemporary with the first settlements made in Tazewell County I will quote from it very liberally, as follows:
"I. Whereas many inconveniences attend the inhabitants of the county and parish of Augusta, by reason of the great extent thereof, and the said inhabitants have petitioned this General Assembly that the said county and parish be divided :
"Be it therefore enacted, by the Governor, Council and Burgesses of this General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the 31st day of January next
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ensuing the said county and parish of Augusta be divided into two counties and parishes by a line beginning at the Blue Ridge, running north fifty-five degrees west, to the confluence of Mary's creek, or the South river, with the north branch of James river, thence up the same to the mouth of Carrs creek, thence up the said creek to the mountain, thence north fifty-five degrees west, as far as the courts of the two counties shall extend it; and that all of that part of the said county and parish which lies on the south side of said line, shall be one distinct county and parish, and called and known by the name of Botetourt; and that all the other part thereof, which is on the north side of said line, shall be one other distinct county and parish and retain the name of Augusta."
The act provided for the payment of officers' fees in tobacco at the rate of eight shillings and four pence per hundred weight of gross tobacco, but the most important and interesting features of the act to the future settlers of the Clinch Valley was the following:
"IX. And whereas the people situated on the waters of the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from their court-house, and must necessarily become a separate county, as soon as their numbers are sufficient, which will probably happen in a short time: Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of that part of the said county of Botetourt, which lies on the said waters, shall be exempted from the payment of levies, to be laid by the said county court for the purpose of building a county court-house and prison for the said county."
In Clause IX. of this act we find an urgent appeal to brave pioneer spirits to push further into the wilderness, and erect a bar- rier to furnish additional protection for the people east of the Blue Ridge from incursions by the hostile natives. There is also a con- fident prediction made in the act that the invitation would be promptly responded to by such numbers of persons seeking homes in the Clinch and Holston valleys, that "in a short time" a new county would have to be formed.
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CHAPTER VII.
THE TAZEWELL PIONEER SETTLERS.
No word that is more expressive than "Pioneer" has ever been written into the English language. It means not only the first to enter any field of endeavor, but signifies unusual achievement in some worthy undertaking by the man or woman who fairly wins the title. The unvarnished narrative I will write about the daring men and loyal women who first came to make homes for themselves and their children in the unbroken forests of this region, now known as Tazewell County, will have little merit if it fails to help procure for these immortals a high niche in the Temple of Fame that will surely be erected some day, somewhere, to perpetuate the memory of the Trans-Alleghany Pioneers. They were of a class entirely different from the adventurers and outcasts that Captain Newport brought to Jamestown in 1607-8-9. They had no wealthy corporate body, like the London Company, to give them supplies of food and clothing, arms and ammunition, and houses to dwell in, nor soldiers of a royal government to protect them from attacks by the hostile natives. Nor were they of an indolent, vagrant class, like those first settlers at Jamestown, who were listed as "gentlemen," but who died from starvation because they were too lazy or too proud to work. They found no fertile fields on the banks of noble rivers and spendid bays, already prepared for cultivation, and which they could wrest by fraud or force from the simple, hospitable natives. But these glorious pioneers of the Clinch Valley were real men and women, with great hearts, strong and willing hands, and inspired with a resolute purpose to do all they could, with the means they had, to secure for themselves and their descendants the politi- cal and religious freedom that had been denied them or their fathers in the "Old Countries." In perseverance, in self-command, in forethought, in heroism, in all the virtues that conduce to success in life, the Tazewell Pioneers have never been surpassed. Our ancestors chose well when they selected this beautiful mountain country for their homes and for establishing a civic community for sturdy men and lovely women. Nature, or rather Nature's Almighty Creator, had profusely placed here, for the benefit of the pioneers and their successors, the three greatest essentials for the develop-
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