University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER IV.

Southwest Virginia.

1754-1770. Thus matters stood at the beginning of the year
1754. Governor Dinwiddie, in this year, dispatched George Washington
on a mission to the French commander on the Ohio.
Washington, accompanied by Christopher Gist, arrived at the
French headquarters, which were situated near the present city
of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he delivered the dispatches
from Governor Dinwiddie, informing the French commander that
war was inevitable unless he immediately withdrew from the country.

The French commander denied the right of Governor Dinwiddie
to give him orders in the premises, and declared his purpose to
destroy every settlement made by the Virginians in the west.

To form some idea of the spirit of the American colonies in regard
to the French settlements on the Ohio and their apprehensions
therefrom, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to Earl Granville, in
1754, that the French intended to build forts, not only on the Ohio,
but on Greenbrier, Holston and New rivers, and the French and
Indians, he says, are now making incursions among our inhabitants
in Augusta county, driving them from their homes.

Washington returned to Williamsburg and reported the result
of his trip, whereupon the Governor of Virginia proceeded to raise
a regiment under Colonel Joshua Fry and Lieutenant-Colonel
George Washington. This regiment immediately proceeded to the
west, and at Redstone, Western Pennsylvania, they encountered
a force, composed of Indians and French, which they attacked, killing
ten and capturing the rest.

They proceeded to the Great Meadows, halted, and built a fort,
to which they gave the name of "Fort Necessity." On the 3d day
of July, 1754, a force of French and Indians, numbering about a
thousand, under the command of Count de Villiers, vigorously
assaulted the fort and attempted to take it. The siege lasted for
nine hours, at the end of which time the French leader sent in a
flag of truce offering to receive the surrender of the fort upon honorable

terms, which offer was accepted, and the Virginians marched
out next morning.

In the spring of 1755, the American colonies attacked the French
at Nova Scotia, Crown Point, Niagara and on the Ohio river.

The attack on the French and Indians on the Ohio was commanded
by General Braddock, who had arrived from England
early in that year with two royal regiments—the Eighteenth and
Forty-fourth. Virginia sent 800 men to join Braddock, and the
Virginia troops were commanded by Captains Waggoner, Cock,
Hogg, Stevens, Poulson, Perrony, Mercer and Stewart. Braddock
marched from Alexandria, Virginia, on the 20th of April,
1755, with 2,200 men, and on the 9th of July he reached the
Monongahela river, where his troops fell into an ambuscade.
Braddock was mortally wounded, and his army put to flight, with
a loss of 777 men killed and wounded, and had it not been for the
coolness and courage of Washington and his Virginia troops the
entire army would have been destroyed.

The army retreated a hundred and twenty miles into the settlement,
and the whole frontier of Western Virginia was thus left
open to the ravages of the French and Indians. The French and
Indians crossed the Alleghany mountains into the valley and to
New river, killing and scalping, in the most horrible manner,
men, women, and children without distinction, and thus ended
the first year of the war.

On the 21st day of March, 1755, the County Court of Augusta
county appointed George Stalnaker constable on the waters of the
Holston and New rivers, and he built a stockade fort at Dunkards'
Bottom, the name of which was, according to some writers,
Fort Frederick, but there is some doubt about it.

In the month of February, 1755, William Wright, an ensign,
who was stationed at Fort Lewis, near Salem, Virginia, by Major
Andrew Lewis, accompanied by twenty men, marched to the head
waters of the Holston river for the purpose of protecting the settlers,
but his movements were so slow that he failed to accomplish
anything, and, upon his return, he was reprimanded by the Governor
of Virginia.

The New river settlers were not permitted to escape the ravages
of the Indians and the French, for on the 8th day of July, 1755,
the day before Braddock's defeat, a considerable party of Shawnese

Indians fell upon this settlement and wiped it out of existence.
Colonel James Patton, Casper Barrier, Mrs. George Draper
and a child of John Draper were killed. Mrs. William Inglis and
her two children, Mrs. John Draper and Henry Leonard were taken
prisoners. Mrs. Inglis was taken to Ohio, thence to Bone Lick,
Kentucky, whence she and an old Dutch woman made their escape,
and, after many days, returned to her home on New river.

This invasion occurred on Sunday, the 8th day of July, 1755.
Colonel Patton, accompanied by William Preston, was on a visit
to the New river settlement, and was detained by sickness at the
house of William Inglish. William Preston, William Inglis and
John Draper were away from the house at the time. Mrs. John
Draper, who first discovered the Indians, ran to the house, secured
her infant child, and attempted to make her escape by the opposite
side of the house, but she was detected by the Indians, and, having
one of her arms broken, the child fell to the ground. She then
took the child in the other arm and continued her flight, but was
soon overtaken, the child taken from her, and its brains dashed
out upon a log by the Indians. Colonel Patton, at the time of the
attack, was seated at a table writing, with his broad sword beside
him. He immediately arose, and killed two of the Indians before
he was shot by others beyond his reach.

The Indians then plundered the premises and began a hasty retreat.

On their retreat they passed the house of an old man by the
name of Philip Barger, whom they killed by severing his head
from his body, and carried it off in a bag. It was several days
before efforts were made to overtake the enemy and rescue the
prisoners, as Vause's Fort was the nearest point from which help
could be obtained.

Mrs. Inglis and the other prisoners were carried by the Indians
to Ohio. Mrs. Inglis was absent from her home about five months,
when, in the month of December, 1755, she reached the house of
Adam Harmon on New river, whence she was taken to a small fort
at Dunkards' Bottom, on the west side of New river, where she was
found on the next day by her husband and her brother. The other
captives, with but few exceptions, were either rescued or redeemed
and returned to their homes after many years.

The body of Colonel James Patton was buried at Draper's

Meadows. Colonel John Buchanan sent a company of men to
pursue the Indians, but they did not succeed in overtaking them,
and thus occurred the first Indian massacre of the white inhabitants
of Southwest Virginia.

About ten miles west of where Christiansburg now stands, and
near the former residence of Captain Jacob Kent, about two and
a half miles east of Lafayette and on the head waters of the Roanoke
river, there stood a small fort that in those days was known
as Vause's Fort, and this was the nearest place of refuge for the
settlers on New river.

In the fall of the year 1755, about a hundred French and Indians
came upon the New river, and assaulted and captured this fort
and killed or carried into captivity twenty-four persons, not a
single person escaping. This was a private fort, constructed by
the settlers for their own protection, and was built of logs and
easily captured.

As best I can ascertain, at the time of this invasion James
Burk, who had settled in Burk's Garden in the year 1753, was
captured with his entire family; they were all either killed or carried
into captivity.

A register of the persons who were killed, wounded, and taken
prisoners in the years 1754, 1755, and 1756 on the New river,
Reed creek, and Holston rivers has been preserved, and is as follows:

                                                                                                                                   

1754,	Stephen Lyon, Holston River, killed.
October.	John Godman, Holston River, killed.
	Benjamin Harrison, Holston River, killed.
1755,	— Burk, Holston River, prisoner; escaped.
May 3.	Mary Baker, Holston River, wounded.
June 18.	Samuel Stalnaker, Holston, River, prisoner; escaped.
	Samuel Hydon, Holston River, prisoner.
	Adam Stalnaker, Holston River, killed.
	Mrs. Stalnaker, Holston River, killed.
	A servant man, Holston River, killed.
	Mathias Counie, Holston River, killed.
June 19.	Michael Houck, Holston River, killed.
July 3.	James McFarland, New River, killed.
	John Bingeman, New River, killed.
	Mrs. Bingeman, New River, killed.
	Adam Bingeman, New River, killed.
	John Cook, New River, killed.
	Henry Lin, New River, killed.
	A young child, New River, killed.
	Nathaniel Welshire, New River, wounded.
	Dutch Jacob, New River, wounded.
	His wife, New River, prisoner; escaped.
	Frederick Stern, New River, wounded.
	Mrs. Bingeman, Jr., New River, wounded.
	Mrs. Davis, New River, wounded.
	Isaac Freeland, his wife and five children, New River; prisoners.
	Bridgeman's son and daughter and a stranger, New River; prisoners.
July 12.	Lieutenant Wright and two soldiers, Reed Creek, killed.
30.	Colonel James Patton, New River, killed.
	Caspar Barrier, New River, killed.
	Mrs. Draper and one child, New River, killed.
	James Cull, New River, wounded.
	Mrs. English (Inglis) and her two children, New River, prisoners; escaped.
	Mrs. Draper, Jr., New River, prisoner.
	Henry Leonard, New River, prisoner.
Aug. 12.	Morris Griffith, Vause's Fort, prisoner; escaped.
1756,	Robert Looney and a Dutchman, Reed Creek, killed.
Feb.	John Lee, Reed Creek, killed.
March.	Michael Motes, Reed Creek, killed.
	Patrick Smith, Reed Creek, killed.
	Moses Mann, Reed Creek, prisoner.
	Valentine Harman and one son, New River, killed.
	Andrew Moses, New River, killed.
June 25.	Captain John Smith, Fort Vause, prisoner; escaped.
	Peter Looney, Fort Vause, prisoner; escaped.
	William Bratton, Fort Vause, prisoner; escaped.
	Joseph Smith, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	William Pepper, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	Mrs. Vause and two daughters, a negro, and two young Indians and a servant man, Fort Vause, prisoners.
	Ivan Medley, and two daughters, Fort Vause, prisoners.
	James Bell, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	Christopher Hicks, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	— Cole, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	— Graham, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	Benj. Daries, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	Lieut. John Smith, Fort Vause, killed.
	John Tracey, Fort Vause, killed.
	John English, killed.
	Mrs. Mary English, Fort Vause, prisoner.
	Wm. Robinson, Fort Vause, wounded.
	Thomas Robinson, Fort Vause, wounded.
	Samuel Robinson, Fort Vause, wounded.
	Robert Pepper, Fort Vause, wounded.
	John Robinson, Fort Vause, killed.
1757.	John Walker, Fort Vause, prisoner."[1]
Feb.

In July of this year, Richard Pearis, who was located on the Holston
river carrying on a trade with the Cherokee Indians, addressed a
letter to the Governor of Virginia requesting a grant for the lands
on the Long Island in the South Fork of the Holston river. In
reply the Governor encouraged Pearis to believe that he could obtain
a grant, and wrote him as follows: "I am surprised the inhabitants
on Holston river should submit to be robbed by a few Indians. Let
the Chickasaw know that I greatly approve of his conduct and have
a real esteem for him." This last sentence in the Governor's letter
had reference to a Chickasaw warrior who had resented the murder
of one of the white settlers.

At the time of which we write the Virginia colonists, and the
Cherokee and the Chickasaw Indians were exceedingly friendly, and
through the agency of Richard Pearis, who was a great favorite with
the Indians, the Governor of Virginia subsequently sought to enlist
the Cherokee and the Chickasaw Indians in the war against the
French and the Northern Indians.

SANDY RIVER EXPEDITION.

For the purpose of avenging the massacre of the settlers upon the
New river, the Governor of Virginia enlisted a hundred and thirty
Cherokee Indians, to whom were joined four companies of the Rangers

of West Augusta, for the purpose of invading and destroying the
Shawnese towns at the mouth of the Big Sandy and on the Ohio
river. The command of this expedition was given to Major Andrew
Lewis.

This force consisted of two hundred and sixty-three white men,
commanded by Captain Peter Hogg, with forty men; Captain
William Preston, with thirty men; Captain John Smith, with
thirty men; Captain Samuel Overton, with forty men; Captain
Obadiah Woodson, with forty men; Captains Robert Breckenridge,
Archibald Alexander, John Montgomery and — Dunlap
commanding eighty-three volunteers, and Captain Richard Pearis
commanding a hundred and thirty Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians.

This force was rendezvoused at Fort Lewis, near Salem, Va.,
whence they marched in Feb. 1756, for the Indian towns. They
traveled from Fort Lewis, near Salem, to the New river, which they
crossed at the Horseshoe Bend; they thence descended the New
river to the mouth of Wolf creek, thence up Wolf creek to its
source, thence to Bluestone river, thence to the head of North Fork
of Sandy, which they reached on the 28th day of February, 1756;
thence down the Sandy to the Great Burning Springs, at which point
they saw the rawhides of several buffaloes hung upon bushes to dry.
At this time provisions became very scarce and a famine was threatened,
but this little army was saved by the bravery and firmness of
Major Lewis.

The army then proceeded from the Burning Springs to the banks
of the Ohio, where they remained for two days. Seeing no evidences
of Indians, they began to retrace their steps, and by the time they
had reached the Burning Springs on their return, the hunger of the
men had become so great that the hides of the buffaloes, which had
been hung upon the bushes, were cut into tugs, and the men devoured
them as the only means of preserving life. It is said that
from this circumstance the Tug Fork of Sandy river received its
name. Thus this expedition ended disastrously for the settlers.
The Indians were correspondingly elated and immediately advanced
upon the settlements east of the Alleghany mountains, committing
many murders and carrying off many prisoners.

The Governor and Council of Virginia agreed to build a number
of forts for the protection of the western settlements, and, among

the number, Fort Vause, which had been destroyed by the Indians
a short time previous. The building of the fort was to be under the
supervision of Captain Peter Hogg, and was to be at least one hundred
feet square in the clear, with stockades at least sixteen feet long,
and was to be garrisoned by seventy men. Immediately upon the
erection of this new fort, many of the settlers returned to their
homes at and near the fort. About this time companies of Rangers
were organized for the purpose of running down and capturing
marauding Shawnese Indians wherever they should be found. A
journal of one of these expeditions has been preserved, which we
here publish as a relic of the past.

An extract of a Journal "Concerning a march that Capt. Robert
Wade took to the New River" in search of Indians, Saturday, 12th
of August, 1758:

Captain Wm. Preston and Captain Wm. Byrd each organized a
company of Rangers. A number of the men that enlisted under
them afterwards settled in Washington county and their names were
as follows:

                       

Capt. Wm. Preston's Co.	Capt. Wm. Byrd's Co.
Wm. Johnston,	Michal Morrison, Sergt.,
Benj. Estill,	John Crank,
George Martin,	Thomas Brumley,
John Johnston,	John Donnelly, Fifer,
Jas. Clendenen,	Richard Staunton, Sergt.,
John Vance,	John Lemons,
Solomon Kendrick,	Richard Chapman,
Christopher Ackland,	Francis Farmer,
Robert Rutherford.	Henry Dooley,
	Drury Puckett, Sergt.,
	John Ross.

On the 29th of July, 1756, a Council of War assembled at Staunton,
by direction of the Governor of Virginia, to determine at what

points forts should be built along the frontier for the protection of
the settlers.

The Council was composed of Col. John Buchanan, Samuel Stalnaker
and others, of which Council Wm. Preston acted as clerk.
There can be no doubt that Captain Samuel Stalnaker represented
the Holston settlement and that it was at his request that the
stockade fort was built at Dunkards' Bottom, on New river, and at
Davis' Bottom, at the head waters of the Middle Fork of Holston
river.

In the year 1757, Dickenson's Fort, situated on the Cow Pasture
river, in Augusta county, was raided by the Indians, and several children,
playing under the walls outside the fort, and a number of men
were captured. So careless were the commanding officers that the
Indians reached the very gates of the fort before they were discovered.
At the time of this raid upon Dickenson's Fort, the Indians
captured a boy who was destined in after years to play such a part
in the history of Washington county as would justly entitle him to
the appellation of "Father of Washington County," so intelligent
and active were his efforts in the settling of our county and in the
protection of its earlier inhabitants; and this boy was Arthur Campbell,
who had volunteered as a militiaman for the protection of the
frontiers. On the day of the raid he, with others, had gone to a
thicket near by in search of plums, when the party was fired upon
from ambush by Indians, and Campbell was wounded and captured.
He was carried by the Indians to Ohio and thence to the
Lakes, where he was detained for a number of years, when he succeeded
in making his escape to an English force and returned to his
home. Upon his return he addressed a letter to the Governor of
Virginia, detailing the circumstances of his capture and detention,
and thereby made such an impression upon the Governor that he
was afterwards granted a thousand acres of land in consideration of
his services.

Governor Dinwiddie was so much in earnest about enlisting the
Cherokee and other Southern Indians in the war against the French
and Northern Indians, that, in the year 1756, he dispatched the
Hon. Peter Randolph and Wm. Byrd to their country as commissioners,
to negotiate formal treaties with them. The commissioners
returned to Williamsburg and, either before or at that time, a treaty
was made with the Indians, by which it was stipulated that the

Indians were to send reinforcements to aid the Colonies, in consideration
of the agreement of the Government to build a fort in their
country. On the 24th day of April the Governor directed Major
Andrew Lewis to enlist sixty men who could use the saw and axe,
and to proceed to the Cherokee country with all speed and erect a
fort as agreed upon. Major Lewis did not start for the Indian
country until June of that year, and on the 20th day of August,
wrote the Governor that he might expect a reinforcement of a hundred
and fifty Cherokees and fifty Catawba Indians at an early date.

Major Lewis, with his force, passed down the waters of the Holston
to the southern bank of the Tennessee river, at the head of navigation,
about thirty miles from the present city of Knoxville. He
there built a fort, which he called Fort Loudon, in honor of the
Governor of Virginia. In September of that year, Major Lewis
addressed another letter to the Governor of Virginia, in which he
stated that the Indians were very much pleased with their fort, and
that the Governor might expect a reinforcement of four hundred
Indians. This letter also contained a request from the Indians
that the Governor would send a small garrison of white men to hold
the fort during the absence of their warriors. By the 18th day of
September, 1756, Captain Samuel Overton and his men, who had
accompanied Major Lewis, had returned to their homes, leaving
Major Lewis in the Indian country to bring in the reinforcements.

In the fall of that year Major Lewis returned from the Cherokee
country, accompanied by seven warriors and three women, greatly
to the surprise of the Governor. The French in the meantime
had bought off the Indians.

Fort Loudon was then estimated to be more than a hundred miles
from the nearest settlement, was at a place at all times difficult to
reach, even in times of peace, and beyond the reach of help from
the settlements in the event of war with the Cherokee Indians. This
fort was by order of the Earl of Loudon, then Governor of Virginia
garrisoned by two hundred troops from Britain.

The Indians allured artisans into Fort Loudon by donations of
land, which they caused to be signed by their own chief and by
Governor Dobbs of North Carolina. There was a rapid increase of
the number of settlers, as a result, at and in the vicinity of Fort
Loudon.

In the year 1756 the New River Lead Mines were discovered by
Col. John Chiswell, at which time operations were begun.

Col. Chiswell had been engaged in mining operations near Fredericksburg,
Va., for some time previous to this time, and was an
intimate friend of Col. Wm Byrd.

About this time the lead mines were discovered, and four hundred
acres of land, including the mines, were surveyed on October
1st, 1781, and a patent was issued to Chas. Lynch, trustee for the
lead mine company, by Beverly Randolph, Governor of Virginia, on
the 7th day of May, 1791, in consideration of £3 10s. sterling, paid
by Chas. Lynch, and of pre-emption Treasury warrants Nos. 2393
and 2356. As far as I can ascertain this property was owned originally
by Col. Wm. Byrd, Col. John Chiswell and John Robinson,
afterwards Treasurer of Virginia. Col. John Chiswell, some time
previous to 1775, killed a man in Cumberland county, Virginia, and
while awaiting trial he committed suicide.[2]

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Legislature of
Virginia directed the Committee of Safety for Fincastle county to
lease these mines, at a reasonable rent, and if they could not lease
them, to impress them for [3] the use of the State. The committee,
acting according to their authority, took possession of the lead mines,
whether by lease or by impressment I cannot say, and the State of
Virginia, through her agents, Chas. Lynch and Capt. Calloway,
operated these mines during the Revolutionary War, and paid rent
therefor to the representatives of John Robinson and Wm. Byrd,
and to John Chiswell, the son of Col. John Chiswell.

A considerable village had grown up around Fort Loudon by the
year 1760.

British arms were successful at every point in the contest with the
French and Indians in 1758-1760. Canada was conquered and the
French expelled from it in 1759, and Fort Du Quesne was capturned
by General Forbes and the French expelled from the Ohio
Valley.

The result of the expulsion of the French from Canada and the
Ohio Valley proved very disastrous to the western settlements of the
Southern Colonies. "The scene of action was only changed from

one place to another, and the baneful influence of those active and
enterprising enemies that had descended the Ohio soon manifested
itself in a more concentrated form among the upper Cherokees, the
interior position of whose country furnished facilities of immediate
and frequent intercourse with the defeated and exasperated Frenchmen,
who now ascended the Tennessee river and penetrated to their
mountain fastnesses. An unfortunate quarrel with the Virginians
helped to forward their intrigues and opened an easier access into
the towns of the savages. The Cherokees, as before remarked, had,
agreeably to their treaties, sent a number of their warriors to assist
in the reduction of Du Quesne. Returning home through the back
parts of Virginia, some of them, who had lost their horses on this
expedition, laid hold on such as they found running at large and
appropriated them. The Virginians resented the injury by killing
twelve or fourteen of the unsuspecting warriors and taking several
more prisoners. This ungrateful conduct from allies, whose frontiers
they had defended and recovered, aroused at once a spirit of
deep resentment and deadly retaliation. . . . . . . The
flame soon spread through the upper towns. The garrison at Fort
Loudon, consisting of about two hundred men under the command
of Captains Demere and Stuart, was, from its remote position from
the white settlements, the first to notice the disaffection and to suffer
from it. The soldiers, as usual, making excursions into the woods
to procure fresh provisions, were attacked by them and some of them
killed. From this time such dangers threatened the garrison that
every one was confined within the small boundary of the fort." . .
. . . . . . . . "All communication with the settlements
across the mountains from which they received supplies was cut off,
and the soldiers, having no other sources from which provision could
be procured, had no prospect left them but famine or death. Parties
of the young warriors rushed down upon the frontier settlements,
and the work of massacre became general along the borders
of Virginia and North Carolina."[4]

The Governor of North Carolina undertook to pacify the Indians,
and negotiated a treaty with six of their head men, but this treaty
did not express the sentiments of the Indians and they paid no
attention to it.

Numerous companies of Rangers were organized to patrol the

frontiers and punish the Indians for any depredations they might
commit, and every means was exhausted to bring about peace, but
the Indians were not disposed to listen to any terms of accommodation
and continued their depredations wherever and whenever
possible.

The Governor of Virginia directed Col. William Byrd to proceed
to Fort Loudon with a body of backwoodsmen from Virginia, numbering
about six hundred men, and to relieve the garrison. Col.
Byrd organized his force and began the march, but was greatly
hampered by lack of men and supplies.

Notwithstanding the fact that Col. Byrd was an experienced campaigner,
he occupied most of his time in building block-houses and
roads, and accomplished nothing in the way of relieving Fort Loudon.

He crossed New river to the lead mines and immediately proceeded
to build a fort about two miles south of the present site of
Max Meadows on the McAdam road near the home of James McGavock,
to which he gave the name of Fort Chiswell, in honor of
his friend, Col. John Chiswell, who was at that time working the
lead mines which had been discovered some time previously.

From Fort Chiswell Col. Byrd marched to the Long Island in the
South Fork of Holston river, opening a road from Fort Chiswell to
Long Island.

At this point, Col. Byrd and his men spent the winter of 1760.
During the winter Col. Byrd erected a fort upon a beautiful level on
the north bank of the South Fork of the Holston river, nearly opposite
the upper end of Long Island, to which fort he gave the name
of Fort Robinson, in honor of John Robinson, the partner of himself
and Col. John Chiswell in the ownership of the lead mines.
This fort was built upon an extensive plan. The walls were sufficient
in thickness to withstand the force of a small cannon shot.
There were proper bastions, and the gates were spiked with large
nails so that the wood was entirely covered.[5]

At the time this fort was built, it was supposed that the Long
Island was in Virginia, the boundary line between Virginia and
North Carolina not having been run farther west than Steep Rock.

And thus to Virginians may be assigned the honor of having

erected Fort Loudon and Fort Robinson, the first Anglo-American
forts within the present State of Tennessee.

While engaged in building Fort Robinson Col. Byrd was joined
by five hundred men from North Carolina under the command of
Col. Waddell.

As a result of the course pursued by Col. Byrd, great dissatisfaction
arose among his men, and Col. Byrd resigned, and was succeeded
in the command of the force, now numbering about twelve
hundred men, by Col. Stephens.

In the meantime, the distant garrison at Fort Loudon, consisting
of two hundred men, was reduced to the dreadful alternative of
perishing by hunger or submitting to the mercy of the enraged
Cherokees. The Governor of South Carolina, hearing that the Virginians
had undertaken to relieve it, for awhile seemed satisfied and
anxiously waited to hear the news of that happy event, but so remote
was the fort from any settlement and so difficult was it to march
an army through a barren wilderness, where every thicket concealed
an enemy, and to carry, at the same time, sufficient supplies
along with them, that the Virginians had not succeeded in giving
them assistance. Provisions being entirely exhausted at Fort Loudon,
the garrison was upon the point of starving. For a whole
month they had no other subsistence than the flesh of lean horses
and dogs and a small supply of Indian beans, procured stealthily for
them by some friendly Cherokee women. The officers had long endeavored
to encourage the men with the hope of succour; but now,
being blockaded night and day by the enemy and having no resource
left, they threatened to leave the fort and die at once by the hands
of the savages, rather than perish slowly by famine. In this extremity
the commander was obliged to call a council of war to consider
what was proper to be done. The officers were all of the opinion
that it was impossible to hold out longer. They therefore agreed to
surrender the fort to the Cherokees on the best terms that could be
obtained from them. For this purpose, Capt. Stuart, an officer of
great sagacity and address and much beloved by those of the Indians
who remained in the British interest, procured leave to go to Chota,
one of the principal towns in the neighborhood, where he obtained
the following terms of capitulation, which were signed by the commanding
officers and two of the Cherokee chiefs.

"That the garrison of Fort Loudon march out with their arms

and drums, each soldier having as much powder and ball as his officer
shall think necessary for the march, and all the baggage he may
choose to carry; that the garrison be permitted to march, unmolested,
to Virginia or Fort Prince George, as the commanding officer shall
think proper, and that a number of Indians be appointed to escort
them and hunt for provisions during the march; that such soldiers
as are lame, or by sickness disabled from marching, be received
into the Indian towns and kindly used until they recover, and then
be allowed to return to Fort Prince George; that the Indians do
provide for the garrison as many horses as they conveniently can for
the march, agreeing with the officers and soldiers for payment; that
the fort, great guns, powder, ball and spare arms be delivered to the
Indians without fraud or further delay, on the day appointed for
the march of the troops.[6]

"Agreeably to this stipulation, the garrison delivered up the fort
and marched out with their arms, accompanied by Oconostota,
Judds' friend, the Prince of Chota, and several other Indians, and
that day went fifteen miles on their way to Fort Prince George.

At night they encamped upon a plain about two miles from Taliquo,
an Indian town, when all their attendants, upon one pretext or
another, left them; which the officers considered as no good sign, and
therefore placed a strict guard around their camp. During the
night they remained unmolested, but next morning about break of
day a soldier from an outpost came running in and informed them
that he saw a number of Indians, armed and painted in the most
dreadful manner, creeping among the bushes and advancing in order
to surround them. Scarcely had the officer time to order his men
to stand to their arms, when the savages poured in upon them a
heavy fire from different quarters, accompanied by the most hideous
yells, which struck a panic into the soldiers, who were so much enfeebled
and dispirited that they were incapable of making any effectual
resistance. Captain Demere, with three other officers and about
twenty-six privates, fell at the first onset. Some fled into the woods
and were afterwards taken prisoners and confined among the towns
in the valley. Captain Stuart and those that remained were seized,
pinioned and brought back to Fort Loudon. No sooner had Attakullakulla
heard that his friend, Mr. Stuart, had escaped, than he hastened
to the fort and purchased him from the Indian that took him,

giving him his rifle, clothes and all he could command by way of
ransom. He then took possession of Capt. Demere's house, where
he kept his prisoner as one of his family and freely shared with
him the little provisions his table afforded, until a fair opportunity
should offer for rescuing him from the hands of the savages,
but the poor soldiers were kept in a miserable state of captivity for
some time and then redeemed by the province at great expense.

"While the prisoners were confined at Fort Loudon, Oconostota
formed the design of attacking Fort Prince George. To this bold
undertaking he was the more encouraged, as the cannon and ammunition
surrendered by the garrison would, under direction of
French officers who were near him, secure its success. Messengers
were therefore dispatched to the valley towns requesting their warriors
to meet him at Stickoee.

"By accident, discovery was made of ten bags of powder and a
large quantity of ball, that had been secretly buried at the fort to prevent
their falling into the enemy's hands. This discovery had nearly
proved fatal to Captain Stuart; but the interpreter had such presence
of mind as to assure the incensed savages that these warlike stores
were concealed without Stuart's knowledge or consent. The supply
of ammunition being sufficient for the siege, a council was held
at Chota, to which the captive Stuart was taken. Here he was reminded
of the obligations he was under for having his life spared,
and as they had determined to take six cannon and two cohorts
against Fort Prince George, the Indians told him he must accompany
the expedition, manage the artillery and write such letters to
the commandant as they should dictate to him. They further informed
him that if the officer should refuse to surrender, they had
determined to burn the prisoners, one by one, before his face and
try whether he could be so obstinate as to hold out while his friends
were expiring in the flames.

"Captain Stuart was much alarmed at his present situation and
from that moment resolved to make his escape or perish in the
attempt. He privately communicated his design to Attakullakulla
and told him that the thought of bearing arms against his countrymen
harrowed his feelings, and he invoked his assistance to accomplish
his release. The old warrior took him by the hand, told him he
was his friend and was fully apprised of the designs of his countrymen,
and pledged his efforts to deliver him from danger. Attakullakulla

claimed Captain Stuart as his prisoner and resorted to stratagem
to rescue him. He told the other Indians that he intended to
go a hunting for a few days and to take his prisoner with him.
Accordingly they departed, accompanied by the warrior's wife, his
brother and two soldiers. The distance to the frontier settlements
was great and the utmost expedition was necessary to prevent surprise
from Indians pursuing them. Nine days and nights did they
travel through a dreary wilderness, shaping their course by the sun
and moon, for Virginia. On the tenth they arrived at the banks of
the Holston river, where they fortunately fell in with a party of three
hundred men, sent out under the command of Col. Byrd for the
relief of Fort Loudon. On the fourteenth day the Captain reached
Col. Byrd's camp on the frontiers of Virginia. His faithful friend
Attakullakulla was here loaded with presents and provisions and
sent back to protect the unhappy prisoners till they should be ransomed
and to exert his influence with the Cherokees for the restoration
of peace."[7]

It will be observed that Fort Loudon was defended by twelve great
guns. It cannot be explained how the cannon had been transported
to Fort Loudon as early as 1756. They could not have been brought
down the Ohio and up the Tennessee, for the French were in possession
of the mouth of the Tennessee. The only plausible explanation
that can be given is that these cannon were carried across
the mountains from Augusta county when reinforcements were sent
to Fort Loudon, and then along Indian trails upon pack horses. It
is possible that these cannon were brought from Fort Lewis to the
head waters of the Holston and carried down the same in boats or
canoes to the mouth of the Holston, and thence up the Little Tennessee
to Fort Loudon.

It is sad to contemplate the fate of the occupants of this the first
Anglo-American fort established in Tennessee.

It does not appear that the fort at Long Island was permanently
occupied at this time. About this time, large numbers of hunters
from Eastern Virginia, allured by the report of the abundance of
game and the prospect of gain in the western wilderness, organized
themselves into companies, and hunted throughout Southwest Virginia,
East Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky.

The first company of hunters who visited this section, as far as

I can ascertain, was a company organized by Elisha Wallen (from
whom Wallen's Creek and Wallen's Ridge received their names, as
well as Wallen's Station in Lee county), accompanied by Scaggs,
Blevins, Cox and others. They remained eighteen months, during
which time they hunted in Clinch and Powell's Valleys in Virginia,
and Carter's Valley in Tennessee, and went as far as Laurel mountain
in Kentucky.

About the same time Daniel Boone, accompanied by several hunters,
visited the Holston and camped the first night in what is now
known as Taylor's Valley. On the succeeding day, they hunted down
the South Fork of Holston river and traveled thence to what was
thereafter known as Wolf' Hills, where they encamped the second
night, near where Black's Fort was afterwards built. It is interesting
to note at this point that Daniel Boone and his companion, immediately
after nightfall, were troubled by the appearance of great
numbers of wolves, which assailed their dogs with such fury that it
was with great difficulty that the hunters succeeded in repelling their
attacks and saving the lives of their dogs, a number of which were
killed or badly crippled by the wolves. The wolves had their home
in the cave that underlies the town of Abingdon. The entrance to
this cave is upon the lot now occupied by the residence of Capt.
James L. White, and it was from this incident that Abingdon received
its first name, Wolf Hills. Boone and his companion remained
at Abingdon for a short while, during which time they disagreed
and separated, Boone taking the Indian trail leading to Long
Island, and Nathaniel Gist, his companion, following the Indian
trail to Cumberland Gap. They did not meet again upon this trip.

On Boon's creek in East Tennessee was found a tree upon which
was found the following inscription: "D. Boon cilled a bar on this
tree in the year 1760"; and near Long Island in Tennessee a tree
was found in recent years upon which was the following inscription:
"D. Boon killa bar on this tree 1773."

A block containing the last inscription was taken from this tree
and is now in possession of Mrs. James W. Preston, of Abingdon,
and establishes the fact that Daniel Boone was upon the waters of
the Holston as early as 1760, and again in 1773.

A treaty of peace was concluded between the French and English
at Fontainbleau, in 1762, by which the English acquired Canada
and that portion of the Mississippi Valley east of that river, but

Daniel Boone and Boone Trees.

peace was not concluded with the Indians until the next year. The
Indians had become accustomed to bloodshed and greatly detested
the Anglo-American settlers. They were greatly exasperated by the
cession of Canada to the English and at the French for deserting
them.

The Indians detested the Anglo-American settlers for the very evident
reason that they asserted title to all the lands lying upon the
western waters, were building forts at various places upon the frontiers
and manning them with British troops, and because their settlers
were occupying the favorite hunting grounds of the Indians.
The Indians, being deprived of the more moderate counsel of their
French allies, therefore became more brutal and savage in their conduct
towards the settlers, and so active and intelligent were the
Indians in conducting their campaigns against the settlements that
all the land lying along the waters of the Mississippi was depopulated
by July, 1763, except a small settlement at Draper's Meadows, on
New river. The condition of the country at that time is best described
by a letter of Col. Wm. Preston, which letter is here published.

The letter is dated Greenfield, 27th July, 1763. The writer
says: "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 with a few families on the New
river, who have built a fort, among whom are Mr. Thompson and his
family, alone remaining. They intend to make a stand till 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 misfortunes so far with
* * * and are in hopes of being relieved I have a thousand
things * * * Captain Christian can't wait * * * I give
you joy." (The asterisks indicate parts of the letter torn out.)

In the year 1760, a party of Indians, numbering eight or ten,
crossed the Blue Ridge and murdered a number of people in Bedford
county, took several women and children prisoners and returned by
way of New river.

A man in the New river settlement, while searching for stray
horses, discovered the Indians encamped about six miles from the
New river fort, of which information was given to William Inglis,
who gathered sixteen or eighteen men and proceeded to attack the
Indians, about daybreak the next morning. A considerable battle
followed, in which one white man and seven Indians were killed, the
rest of the Indians making their escape. Capt. Inglis and his men
secured all the provisions and plunder of the Indians.

The western settlements for ten years enjoyed comparative peace
from the Indians. The only trouble they had to contend with was
from parties of thieving Indians that occasionally visited the settlements.
The British Government previously to 1763 claimed the
lands lying west of the Alleghany mountains by right of the discovery
of John Cabot made in 1497, and at no time recognized the
claims of the Indian inhabitants to these lands.

In the treaty concluded with France in 1762, while France ceded
to England all her rights in this territory, still no provision was
made for extinguishing the Indian title thereto, and the Indians
denied the right of France to cede England these lands.

In March, 1764, a company of Indians visited the home of David
Cloyd, about five miles west of the present Fincastle, Va., and
tomahawked Mrs. Cloyd, killed John Cloyd, destroyed the entire
household, and carried off a large sum of money that belonged to
David Cloyd. Mrs. Cloyd lived until the next morning and told
all the circumstances connected with the raid. Before dying she
told how an Indian had taken up a cob and wiped the blood from
her temples, exclaiming "Poor old woman!"

This company of Indians were pursued by a company of militia
under Capt. James Montgomery, and one of the Indians was killed
on John's creek about thirty miles from Cloyd's house, with £137
18s. on his person. A dispute arose among the militia as to the

ownership of the money and it was deposited in the hands of Capt.
James Montgomery until the matter should be decided.

We here insert a copy of the court records, which best explains
the matter.

In Augusta County Court, August Term, 1766.

 

David Cloyd

Plaintiff,

vs.

Recover goods taken by Indians.

 

James Montgomery,

Defendant.

We agree that a party of Indians made an Irruption into the
Colony, attacked the Plaintiff's House, rifled it and bore off upwards
of £200 in gold and silver and several household goods and
negroes.

We agree that a party of the militia pursued the enemy and overtook
them on John's creek, a branch of the James river, at the distance
of 30 or 35 miles from the Plaintiff's House, and attacked
and killed one of the number.

We agree that upon searching the Indian's Budgett a quantity of
gold, some dollars and pieces of small silver were found, which
upon being weighed amounted to the sum of £137 18s.

We agree that the money found in the budgett of the Indians
consisted of the same coins which the Plaintiff was known to have
in his house when plundered by the Indians.

We agree that after the money was recovered from the Indians a
dispute arose among the militia to whom the money of right belonged,
whether it should be delivered to the Pltff. who was deemed
to have been the owner of it before it fell into the hands of the
Indians, or whether the militia were entitled to it as having recovered
it from them, upon which dispute that sum of money was
lodged in the hands of the Defendant to be by him kept till that
point should be settled.

We agree that the Plaintiff made an offer of 30 shillings to each
of the men who had assisted in the pursuit of the Enemy.

We agree that a part of the Company of Militia made an offer
to the Plaintiff of delivering up his negroes and household goods
if he would allow them the money.

We agree that the Defendant paid the sum of money out of his
hands to the Militia and that several of them returned their dividends
to the Plaintiff amounting to the sum of £106.17.2.

We agree that the Plaintiff paid to several of the captors who
returned him their dividends the sum of 30s. the premium by him
before offered for their service.

We agree that if the law be for the Plaintiff that Judgment be
entered for him for the sum of £31.0.10, if the Law be for the
Defendant we agree that Judgment be entered for him.

Gabriel Jones, Atty. for Pltff.

Peter Hogg, Atty. for Deft.

We have no further account of Indians invading Southwest Virginia,
until the year 1764, at which time a party of Indians came
up Sandy and on to New river, where they divided, one party going
towards the settlements at Roanoke and Catawba, the other to
the settlement on Jackson river. The company of Indians that
went towards the Roanoke settlement were accidentally discovered
by Captain Paul and a company of twenty men, at midnight, on the
New river, near the mouth of Indian creek. Capt. Paul's men fired
upon the Indians, killing three and wounding many others; the
rest fled and escaped. It is hard to depict the effect of these terrible
scenes upon the settlers of Western Virginia. Among the prisoners
rescued by Capt. Paul was a Mrs. Green, who knew Capt.
Paul and recognized his voice. She was mistaken for an Indian
squaw by one of Capt. Paul's men, who was in the act of tomahawking
her, when she called the name of Capt. Paul, which saved her
alive.

She was asked why she made no resistance; to which she replied,
"I would as soon die as not; my husband is murdered, my children
slain, my parents are dead; I have not a relative in America, everything
dear to me is gone. I have no wishes, no hopes, no fears. I
would not rise to my feet to save my life."

The English Government was exceedingly anxious to secure peace
with the Indians, and this year Col. Boquet published a royal
proclamation forbidding the whites to settle or hunt west of the
Alleghany mountains; which read as follows: "And we do strictly
enjoin and require all persons whatsoever, who have, either willfully
or inadvertently, seated themselves upon any lands within the
Countries above described (West of the Alleghany mountains), or
upon any other lands which not having been ceded to, or purchased
by us, are still reserved to said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to

remove themselves from said settelments." This proclamation was
issued in October, 1764, but it failed to accomplish the object in
view, and thereupon, in the year 1765, two armed movements were
made into the Indian Territory, the one to Lake Erie and the other
to the Muskingum. Two treaties were made with the Indians in
the autumn of this year, one at Niagara and the other at the Muskingum.
The treaty signed at the Muskingum was negotiated by
Col. Boquet with the Delaware and Shawnese Indians. At the
time of the signing of this treaty, Col. Boquet received from the
Indians two hundred and six prisoners, ninety Virginians from
West Augusta and one hundred and sixteen Pennsylvanians.

And thus was concluded at the end of ten years of hard fighting
the French-Indian war, which began in 1754.

If the British Government was candid in the promulgation of
the proclamation of 1763, she thereby admitted the claims of the
Indians, and accomplished nothing as a result of the ten years' war
with the French and Indians just closed.

After the publication of this proclamation, the citizens of the
Colonies became criminals when they, in any way, trespassed upon
any of the lands on the waters of the Mississippi. Nevertheless,
the frontier hunters and the western settlers proceeded with their
explorations as if that proclamation had never been issued, and
some historians go as far as to say that even the leading public
men of that day did not consider this proclamation binding, but as
only intended to appease the apprehensions of the Indians, but in
this opinion we cannot join.

Whatever may have been the intention of the proclamation, it is
certain that its effect was to greatly retard the settlements of the
lands west of the mountains.

The "Loyal Land Company" on the 25th day of May, 1763, petitioned
the Governor and Council for a renewal and confirmation
of the grant made to them for 800,000 acres of land by the Governor
and Council of Virginia in 1749, but their petition was denied,
upon the ground that they were restricted by his Majesty's
instructions from renewing or confirming the grant. From this
action of the Governor and Council of Virginia, it may be well
said, all the surveys made upon the waters of the Holston and
Clinch rivers by James Patton, Dr. Thomas Walker and others
and all the patents issued therefor were void, for the reason that

the King of England had no right to grant to any of his subjects
lands belonging to the Indians.

Nevertheless, Dr. Walker, agent for the "Loyal Land Company,"
and the devisees of Col. James Patton, immediately proceeded to
survey and sell lands upon the waters of the Holston and Clinch
rivers, under their grants, as if they had never been restrained
from so doing by the proclamation of 1763 and by the action of the
Governor and Council of Virginia, and by the 16th day of December,
1773, Dr. Walker, as agent for the "Loyal Company," had
actually surveyed and disposed of to purchasers 1,756 tracts of land
containing 156,164 acres; and this, in addition to the lands surveyed
in the years 1753-'54—making a total of 201,554 acres out
of the 800,000 acres granted.

In the year 1766, Dr. Walker, as agent for the "Loyal Company,"
caused advertisements to be distributed through several
of the States, north and south, requesting all persons who had
contracted for any of the company's land and were driven off their
settlements in the former war, to return and claim the same or it
would be sold to others. The Legislature of Virginia, in the fall
of the year 1778, confirmed the acts of Dr. Walker in the premises
to the extent stated, but declined to allow the company any further
time or to survey any further lands under this grant. At
the same session of the General Assembly of Virginia William Preston
and William Thompson, executors of James Patton, deceased,
were authorized to complete the grant of 120,000 acres of land
made by James Patton, under his grant, and to execute deeds to
the purchasers therefor.

Nathaniel Gist, a noted Indian trader, in the year 1761, purchased
from the Cherokee Indians the Great Island lying in the
Holston river, known as Long Island, and claimed the same,
under his grant from the Indians, and in the year 1777 he petitioned
the Legislature of Virginia to confirm the title thereto to
him. What action the Legislature took upon this petition cannot
be ascertained, but it may be presumed that the Legislature declined
his request, as on the 24th day of June, 1776, the General
Assembly of Virginia, with the approval of the Governor, "Resolved,
That no purchase of lands within the chartered limits of Virginia
shall be made under any pretense whatever, from any Indian tribe
or nation, without the approval of the Virginia Legislature."

This island was a favorite resort of the Indians, and seemed
to have been anxiously sought after by Richard Pearis and Nathaniel
Gist, probably two of the best Indian spies and hunters we
read of in our early history. From the conclusion of the French-Indian
war in December, 1764, until February 13, 1770, nothing
of importance occurred beyond the visits of the Long Hunters and
the surveyors for the land companies, a few settlements being
made.

In the year 1765, John Campbell, who afterwards became clerk
of the County Court of Washington county, visited the waters of
the Holston with Dr. Walker, and purchased for his father, David
Campbell, and himself, from John Buchanan, a large tract of land
near the head waters of the Holston river, containing 740 acres,
called "Royal Oak,"[8] and, being the same tract of land surveyed
for John Buchanan on the 14th day of October, 1747.

Among the settlers that came this year (1768) was Joseph Martin,
a daring and enterprising backwoodsman. He was accompanied
by a band of from twenty to thirty men, and led them to
Powell's Valley, now in Lee county, Va., where they erected a fort
upon the north side of a creek, near two fine springs of water,
which fort and creek were thereafter called Martin's Fort and
Martin's Creek. The shape of the fort was a parallelogram which
enclosed about one-half an acre of ground. There were some five
or six cabins built about twenty feet apart, with strong stockades
between them, and in these stockades there were port-holes. Here
they cleared the land and planted corn and other vegetables. In
the latter part of the summer of this year the Indians broke them
up, and the settlers returned to the waters of the Holston. Martin's
Fort was not occupied after the Revolutionary War.

Several years thereafter John and Arthur Campbell, accompanied
by their sister, Margaret, came out and settled at Royal
Oak, and in the year 1769 David Campbell, the father, with his
wife and sons, James, David, Robert and Patrick, and his daughters,
Mary, Martha, Sarah and Ann, came out and settled at the
same place.

In the year 1766, a party of hunters visited the Clinch Valley,
and two of their number, Carr and Butler, decided to remain.
They built a cabin at a place afterwards known as "Crab Orchard,"

about three miles west of Tazewell Courthouse. In the
year 1769, Carr separated from Butler and settled on a beautiful
piece of land two miles east of Tazewell Courthouse.

While many prospective settlers visited this section previously
to 1769, but few permanent settlements were made because of the
fact that the Indians claimed, and the English Government admitted
their right to all the lands lying west of the mountains,
but the frontiers were lined with prospective settlers anxious for
an opportunity to take possession of and settle the new land. Great
numbers of emigrants were impatiently waiting along the frontiers
for an opportunity to make a rush for new homes on the
waters of the Mississippi.

The British Government recognized the fact that it could not
much longer restrain the people and protect the Indians in their
rights, and early in the spring of 1768 Sir William Johnson was
directed by the home government to negotiate a treaty with the
Delaware and the Shawnese Indians. John Stuart, the superintendent
of Indian affairs, about the same time was directed to negotiate
a treaty with the Southern Indians, extinguishing their rights to
the much-desired land. Sir William Johnson, pursuant to order,
appointed a Congress for the meeting of the Six Nations with the
commissioners of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, at Fort
Stanwix, near Oswego, New York, on October 24, 1768. The Congress
met pursuant to order, and on November 5, 1768, a treaty
was negotiated with the Indians, by which they conveyed unto the
British Sovereign, Lord King George III, all of a certain tract of
land situated in North America at the back of the British settlements,
the deed being in the words and figures following, to-wit:

To all to whom these presents may come, or may concern: We
the Sachems & Chiefs of the Six United Nations and of the Shawnese,
Delawares, Mingoes, of Ohio and other dependent Tribes, on
behalf of ourselves and the rest of our several Nations, the Chiefs
and Warriors who are now here convened by Sir William Johnson,
Baronet, His Majesty's Superintendent of our Affairs, send greeting.
Whereas His Majesty was graciously pleased to propose to us
in the year 1765, that a Boundary line should be fixed between the
English and us, to ascertain and establish our limits and prevent
those encroachments of which we have so long and so loudly complained,
and to put a stop to the many fraudulent advantages

which had been so often taken of us in Land affairs, which Boundary
appearing to us as a wise and good measure, we did then agree
to a part of a line and promised to settle the whole finally whensoever
Sir Wm. Johnson should be fully empowered to trade with us
for that purpose. And whereas his said Majesty has at length given
Sir William Johnson orders, Sir William Johnson has convened
the Chiefs and Warriors of our respective Nations, who are the true
and absolute proprietors of the lands in question and who are here
now to a very considerable number, and whereas many uneasinesses
and doubts have arisen amongst us, which have given rise to apprehension
that the line may not be strictly observed on the part of
the English, in which case matters might be worse than before,
which apprehensions together with the dependent state of some of
our Tribes, and other circumstances which retarded the settlement
and became the subject of some debate, Sir Wm. Johnson has at
length so far satisfied us as to induce us to come to an agreement
concerning the line, which brought to a conclusion. The whole
being explained to us in a large assembly of our people, and before
Sir William Johnson, and in the presence of his Excellency the
Governor of New Jersey, the Commissioners for the Provinces
of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and sundry other gentlemen, by
which line, so agreed upon, a considerable tract of country along
several provinces is to be thus ceded to his Majesty which we are
induced to and do ratify and confirm to his said Majesty, from the
expectation and confidence we place in his royal goodness, and he
will graciously comply with our humble request, as the same is
expressed in the speech of the several Nations addressed to his Majesty
through Sir William Johnson, on Tuesday the first of the present
month of November, wherein we have declared our expectations
of the continuance of his Majesty's favor, and our desire that our
ancient engagements be observed and our affairs attended to by
the officer who has the management thereof, enabling him to discharge
all these matters properly for our interest. That the lands
occupied by the Mohocks around their villages, as well as by any
other Nation affected by this our cession, may effectually remain
to them and to their posterity, and that any engagements regarding
property that they may now be under, may be prosecuted and
our present grants deemed valid on our parts, with the several other
humble requests contained in our speech. And whereas at the settling
of the said line, it appears that the line described by his
Majesty's order, was not extended Northward of Oswego, or to
the Southward of Great Kanawha River, we have agreed to continue
the line to the Northward, on the supposition that it was omitted
by reason of our not having come to any determination concerning
its course at the Congress held in 1765, inasmuch as the
"line to the Northward became the most necessary of any for preventing
the encroachments at our very towns and residences, and
we have given this line more favorable to Pennsylvania for the
reasons and considerations mentioned in the treaty. We have likewise
continued it South to Cherokee River,"[9] because the same is
and we do declare it to be our true bounds with the Southern Indians,
and that we have undoubted right to the country as far south
as that River, which makes our cession to his Majesty much more
advantageous than that proposed.

Now therefore know ye, that we, the Sachems and Chiefs
beforementioned, native Indians and proprietors of the lands hereinafter
described, for and in behalf of ourselves and the whole of
our Confederacy, for the consideration hereinbefore mentioned
and also for and in consideration of a valuable present of the several
articles in use and among the Indians, which, together with a
large sum of money, amounting in the whole to the sum of £10,460
7s 3 pence, sterling, to us now delivered and paid by Sir William
Johnson, Baronet, his Majesty's Sole Agent and Superintendent of
Indian Affairs, for the Northern Department of America, in the
name and on behalf of our Sovereign Lord, George Third, by the
grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender
of the Faith, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge,
we the said Indians have for us, our heirs and successors, granted,
bargained, sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents, do
grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm, unto our said Sovereign
Lord, King George Third, all that tract of land situated in North
America at the back of the British settlements bounded by a line
which we have now agreed upon, and do hereby establish as the
boundary between us and the British Colonies in America, beginning
at the mouth of the Cherokee or Hogohegee River, where it
empties into the River Ohio, and running from thence along the
Southern side of the said River to Kittanning, which is above Fort

Pitt, from thence by a direct line to the nearest fork of the West
Branch of the Susquehanna, thence through the Alleghany Mountains
along the Southern side of the said West Branch until it
comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called Tiadgton, thence
across the West Branch, and along the South Side of that
creek and along the North side of the Burnett Hills to a creek
called Awandae, thence down the same to the East side of that
River to Oswego, from thence East to the Delaware River, and up
that River to opposite where Tianadhera flows into the Susquehanna,
thence to Tianahedra and up the West side thereof, and the West
side of its West Branch to the head thereof, and thence by a direct
line to Canada Creek, where it empties into the Wood Creek at the
West End of the carrying place, beyond Fort Stanwix, and extending
Eastward from every part of the said line as far as the lands
formerly purchased so as to comprehend the whole of the lands or
settlement, except what is within the Province of Pennsylvania, together
with the hereditaments, and appurtenances to the same belonging
or appertaining in the fullest and most ample manner,
and all the Estate, Right, Title, Interest, Property, possession,
Benefit and claim and demand, either in law or equity, of each and
every one of us, in and of the same, or any part thereof, to have and
to hold, the whole lands and premises hereby granted, bargained,
sold, released and confirmed as aforesaid with the hereditaments
and appurtenances thereunto belonging, under the reservations
made in the Treaty, unto our Sovereign Lord, King George Third,
his heirs and successors to and for his and their behoof forever.

In witness whereof, we the Chiefs of the Confederacy, have
hereunto set our marks and seals at Fort Stanwix, the 5th day of
November, 1768, in the 9th year of his Majesty's reign.

Signed, Sealed and delivered,

In presence of

                                             

Sir William Franklin, Gov. N. J.
Fred Smith, Chief Justice,
Thos. Walker, Commiss'r from Va.
Richard Peters,	Of the Council,
James Tilghman,
		His
Texanasore, or Abraham,			[L. S.]
		Mark.
		His
Conaquieso,			[L. S.]
		Mark.
		His
Sugnaregsora,			[L. S.]
		Mark.
		His
Blunt or Chenughita,			[L. S.]
		Mark.
		His
Tigaya,			[L. S.]
		Mark.
		His
Gostrave,			[L. S.]
		Mark.

This Congress was attended by 3,200 Indians of the different
tribes composing the Six Nations, and thus the title of the Northern
Indians to all the territory included within Washington county
was extinguished.

The Confederacy of the Six Nations claimed, by right of conquest,
title to the lands thus ceded. About the year 1685 this Confederacy
of Indians overran and conquered all the country southwards
from the Ohio as far south as Georgia and as far west as the
Mississippi. An immense territory, 1,200 miles long and 600 miles
broad.

It will be observed from an inspection of this deed that Dr.
Thomas Walker was the Virginia Commissioner at this Congress,
and he was beyond question interested in the successful negotiation
of this treaty, not only in behalf of Virginia, but to a greater
extent in behalf of the "Loyal Land Company," of which he was a
part owner and the agent. Nothing was of greater importance to the
"Loyal Land Company" than the extinguishment of the title of the
Indians to the lands on the western waters, out of which they had
a grant for 800,000 acres of land, and from the prosecution of their
work in surveying, settling and selling the same, they had been restrained

and prohibited by the King's proclamation in 1763, and
by the action of the Governor and the Council of Virginia.

About the same time John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian
Affairs in the South, concluded a treaty with the Cherokee Indians
in the absence of Dr. Walker, by which the British Crown acquired
the right to all the land lying east of a straight line passing by
Chiswell's mine, on the eastern bank of the Great Kanawha[10] River,
and from Chiswell's mine on the eastern bank of the river in a
straight line to the confluence of the Great Conhoway in Ohio.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs communicated the result of
the treaty to the Governor of Virginia by letter, which letter is
as follows:

It will be observed from a perusal of the above letter that the
superintendent contemplated the running of the line, as fixed by
the treaty, immediately, but the Indians insisted upon postponing
the time for running this line till the 10th day of May, 1769.

This treaty gave great dissatisfaction to the Colony of Virginia
and to Dr. Walker, the agent for the "Loyal Land Company," for,
at the time the treaty was negotiated, hundreds of settlers had fixed
their homes on the lands west of the line as fixed, and not only had
many settlers occupied portions of these lands, but Dr. Walker as
agent for the "Loyal Land Company," and Col. James Patton's
representatives, had actually surveyed and sold large and numerous
tracts of land lying in the present counties of Pulaski, Wythe,
Smyth and Washington, and west of the line fixed by this treaty.
The result of this treaty gave the Indians an excuse for depredating

on the settlers, and the settlers were forced to the necessity of
denying the rights of the Cherokee Indians to the lands thus settled.

The settlers on Holston denied the right of the Cherokees to the
lands included within this county, and under the claim that the
lands belonged to the Confederacy of the Six Nations, they held
possession of their lands and continued their settlements. Dr.
Thomas Walker acted as the Virginia representative in the making
of the treaty at Fort Stanwix in the fall of the year 1768 and,
by December of that year, had communicated the result to the
emigrants along the borders, and no longer could the settlement of
this country be postponed. In the winter of 1768 and the early
part of the year 1769, a great flood of settlers overran Southwestern
Virginia and advanced as far south as Boone's Creek in East Tennessee.

The one settler who ventured farthest into the wilderness was
Captain William Bean, who, with his family, settled on Boone's
Creek, early in the year 1769. His son, Russell Bean, was the first
white child born in Tennessee.

When Col. William Byrd visited the Long Island in 1760, two
men, by name Gilbert Christian and William Anderson, accompanied
his regiment. In this year, 1769, Christian and Anderson determined
to explore this western wilderness, and, in company with
Col. John Sawyers and four others, they crossed the North Fork
of the Holston river at Cloud's Fort in Tennessee and explored the
wilderness as far as Big Creek, now a part of Hawkins county,
where they met a large body of Indians, at which point they determined
to return to their homes.

About twenty miles above Cloud's Fort, on the North Fork,
they found a cabin on every spot where the range was good, where
only six weeks before nothing was to be seen but a howling wilderness.
When they passed by before, on their outward destination,
they found no settlers on Holston, save three families on the head
springs of that river.

Just preceding this inrush of settlers, a young Englishman by
the name of Smith visited this section of Virginia and describes
the country, as he found it, in such an excellent manner that I
here copy in full his remarks upon the appearance of the country,
as well as the daily journal which he kept. When he had reached

the summit of the mountains above New river, he thus speaks of
the view presented:

"Language fails in attempting to describe this most astounding
and almost unbounded prospective. The mind was filled with a
reverential awe, but at the same time the ideas, and I had almost
said soul, were sensibly enlarged. The reflection on our own littleness
did not diminish our intellectual faculties nor consequences,
and the mind would boldly soar over the vast extent of the earth
and water around, and even above the globe itself, to contemplate
and admire the amazing works of the great Creator of all.

In short, the strong, mighty, pointed and extended sensations of
the mind at this astonishing period are far beyond the power of
human language to describe or convey any idea of.

On the northwest you will observe with great astonishment and
pleasure the tremendous and abrupt break in the Alleghany mountains,
through which pass the mighty waters of New river and the
Great Kanawha.

On the west you can very plainly discover the three forks or
branches of the Holston, where they break through the great Alleghany
mountains, forming striking and awful chasms.

And still beyond them you may observe Clinch river, or Pellisippi;
that it is almost equal to all three branches of the Holston.
Throughout the whole of this amazing and most extensive perspective
there is not the least feature or trace of art or improvements
to be discovered.

All are the genuine effects of nature alone, and laid down on her
most extended and grandest scale.

Contemplating them fills the eye, engrosses the mind and enlarges
the soul. It totally absorbs the senses, overwhelms all the
faculties, expands even the grandest ideas beyond all conception
and causes you almost to forget that you are a human creature."

He then proceeds to give the details of his journey through this
section of Virginia:

"We descended the mountain, and halted for the night on the
side of a large rivulet, which we conjectured to be either Little
river itself, or some of the waters of it, having crossed the Blue
ridge at a most disagreeable and dangerous gap in the afternoon.

Next morning we set out early and traveled down the north side

of the rivulet, which we found to be Little river, until we arrived
at New river and at last came to the ford.

The New river is broad, deep and rapid, frequently impassable
and always dangerous.

However, we crossed it in safety, though with great difficulty and
hazard of being carried down with the stream, and we looked out
for a convenient spot on the west side, where we now are, to remain
for the night. The low ground on New river is narrow, but
exceedingly rich and fertile; the high land is also very fine in many
places, but excessively broken, rocky and mountainous.

The timber on the high land is very large and lofty, and that on
the low ground is almost equal to the prodigious heavy trees on the
Roanoke river.

The extreme roughness of this country and the difficulty of access
to it, the roads, or rather paths, being not only almost impassable,
but totally impossible ever to be rendered even tolerable by
any human efforts, will not only greatly retard the settlement of
this country, but will always reduce the price and value of the land,
be it ever so rich and fertile.

In the morning our horses and ourselves being very much refreshed,
we set out again on our journey, and, after traveling ten
or twelve miles, crossed a pretty large water course named Peaks'
creek, and soon afterwards a large branch of Reed creek.

In the afternoon we crossed another great ridge of the Alleghany
mountains at a gap, and in the evening came to the waters of
the Middle Fork of the Holston, where we halted for the night,
having traveled this day nearly fifty miles and over a vast quantity
of excellent land.

Next morning we pursued our journey and traveled down the
side of the Middle Fork of the Holston, which we crossed no less
than three times this day, and at night came to Stalnaker's, where
a few people, indeed all the inhabitants, had also erected a kind of
wretched stockade fort for protection against the Indians; but they
had all left it a few days before our arrival and returned to their
respective homes.

Here we remained for two days at the old Dutchman's house
for rest and refreshment for ourselves and horses, which we had
really very much need of, and also to make inquiry concerning
our future route.

The land on the Holston is certainly excellent and fertile in the
highest degree; the climate also is delightful.

But the value of the estates here cannot be considerable for many
years—perhaps centuries to come; for the same roughness that has
been mentioned to affect those on New river.

Here we gained intelligence of a nearer way to Kentucky than
that commonly made use of, which had very lately been discovered,
viz.: by crossing Clinch river about sixty miles from Stalnaker's,
going over the great ridge of the Alleghany, or Appalachian mountains,
at a gap which had been used only by a few of the best hunters,
and falling down on the waters of the Warrior's branch, a river
that runs into Kentucky. With this route pretty exactly laid down,
we set out from the Dutchman's house on the third morning after
our arrival, and, after traveling over a vast quantity of exceedingly
strong, rich land covered with lofty timber, we reached the banks
of the North Branch of the Holston, crossed the river, and put up
for the night, having traveled that day more than thirty miles.

The ford of this branch of the Holston is, if possible, worse than
any we have hitherto met with, and is indeed extremely dangerous,
but we were so familiarized to danger and fatigue as to regard anything
of that nature but little.

On the next morning we set out on our journey by the route
which we had been directed to pursue, and at noon arrived at the
summit of a vast chain of mountains which separates the north
branch of the Holston from the Clinch river.

Here we had the pleasure of enjoying an extensive, wild and
romantic view, particularly that stupendous ridge of the Alleghany,
or Appalachian mountains, which is the chief and most lofty of
the whole.

It was rendered more interesting to me by reflecting that I must
cross it on my journey, our route being directly over it. We made
no unnecessary delay, however, on this commanding spot, but descended
the mountain and pursued with all the expedition we
could; and we arrived on the banks of Clinch river late that evening,
so that we could not venture to cross the ford that night.

In the morning we undertook the hazardous task of fording
Clinch river, and accomplished it after several plunges, as usual,
over our heads: neither did we halt to dry our clothes until noon,
when we rested at the side of a savannah (meadow); here we remained

for two hours, and then arose exceedingly refreshed, and
pursued our journey.

On the evening we had reached half way up the stupendous westernmost
ridge of the Alleghany mountains, the last, greatest and
loftiest of the whole.

Here we remained all night, concluding to attempt the steepest
and most difficult ascent in the morning. We always alighted, and
led our horses up these prodigious and perilous ascents.

We pursued our journey up the mountain next morning, but the
sun was several hours high before we could possibly reach the summit.

This ridge of the Alleghany mountains is indeed of a most stupendous
and astonishing height, and commands a prospect proportionately
extensive.

I took a retrospective view, with satisfaction and pleasure, of the
vast chain of mountains beyond Clinch river, which I had crossed,
and I looked forward, with interested anxiety and eagerness, toward
the great ridge of mountains which I had still to pass over.

The summit of this ridge is the most lofty of all the Alleghany,
is nearly a mile wide, and consists of excellent strong, rich land
of a deep red or a dark reddish-brown color, with very large, tall
timber; and there are springs of water almost on the very summit
of the mountains. When we rested that night we were on the
waters of Warrior's branch."

We give no more of this diary, for our traveler has now passed
beyond the limits of the original bounds of Washington county.

The Governor of Virginia, upon the receipt of the letter from
John Stuart, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, immediately set
about to undo what had been done by the treaty at Hard Labor,
S. C. He thereupon commissioned Colonel Andrew Lewis and Dr.
Thomas Walker to visit the Indians and secure a new line from
them. On the 5th day of January, 1769, they began their journey
to South Carolina for the purpose of seeing the Indians and negotiating
with them. Dr. Walker and Colonel Lewis returned to their
homes in the month of February and made a report to Lord Botetourt,
which report we here copy in full, as it is very interesting,
and explains fully what was done:

My Lord,—On receiving your Excellency's instructions, we began

our journey to Charlestown, South Carolina; on the fifth day
of January, we waited on his Excellency, William Tryon, Esq., at
Brunswick, by whom we were kindly received and promised all the
assistance in his power; on the next day we went to Fort Johnson,
near the mouth of Cape Fear River.

On the 8th, Gov. Tryon wrote us that some Cherokee Indians
were at Brunswick, that Judds Friend and Salue, or the Young
warrior of Estitoe, were two of them, and that they would wait up
at Fort Johnston. His Excellency was again invited to go with
them. On their arrival we informed them we were going to their
father, John Stuart, Esq., on business relative to the Nation, and
should be glad to have their company, and they readily agreed to
come with us. On the 9th the officer we had engaged was ready to
sail, and we embarked with the two Cherokee Chiefs, two Squaws
and an Interpreter. On the 11th, we waited on Mr. Stuart, delivered
your Lordship's letter and full information of our business.

In answer Mr. Stuart told us that the Boundary between the
Cherokees and Virginia was fully settled and ratified in Great
Britain, and that any proposal of that kind would be very alarming
to them, but after some time agreed that we might mention it to
them, which we did on the 13th of Jan'y. The Indian Chiefs appeared
much pleased, and agreed to wait on Mr. Stuart with us, and
in his presence, Judds Friend spoke as follows:

Father,—On an invitation from Governor Tryon, we left our
country some time since; Our two elder Brothers, Col. Lewis and
Doctor Walker, from Virginia, who had matters of importance to
mention to us, that equally concerned our people as well as theirs.
His news gave us great joy, and we lost no time in waiting on them,
and with great pleasure took passage with them in order to wait
on you on the business which was much concerning us, as well as
their people, and to convince you that we like their talk, we now take
them by the hand giving them a welcome, and present them with
this string of Wampum.

Father,—They tell us that by running the line lately mentioned,
as a boundary between our people and Virginia, a great number of
their people will fall within the bounds of our country, which
would greatly distress these our poor Brothers; which is far from
our intention. And to evidence to you, that we are on all occasions,
willing to testify our brotherly affection towards them, we are

heartily willing to join in any such negotiations as may be thought
necessary and most expedient for fixing a new Boundary, that may
include all those people settled in our lands in the bounds of Virginia,
and we now give them in the presence of you our Father, this
string of Wampum as an assurance that those people shall remain
in peaceable possession of those lands, until a treaty is held for fixing
a new Boundary, between them and our people.

Gives a string of Wampum.

We then delivered the following Talk to the Warriors, to be by
them communicated to their Nation.

After we had given Mr. Stuart the reasons for thinking it absolutely
necessary that the new Boundary should be agreed upon,
he desired us to commit these reasons in writing and sign them:
which we did in the following words:

Thus it will appear that Colonel Lewis and Dr. Walker succeeded
in securing from the Indian chiefs the assurance that the
settlers on the land in Southwest Virginia should remain in
peaceable possession of their homes until a treaty could be held fixing
new bounds between them. Acting upon this assurance, emigration
to the land continued, and during this year James Bryan
settled near the present residence of Captain Kendrick, Moab, Va.,
and erected Bryan's Fort, William Cocke settled upon Spring creek,
then called Renfro's creek, and erected Cocke's fort, near the present
residence of C. L. Clyce. Anthony Bledsoe settled in the lower end
of this county about thirty miles east of Long Island, on the Fort
Chiswell road, and afterwards built Bledsoe's Fort. Amos Eaton
settled seven miles east of Long Island, where Eaton's Fort was
afterwards built, and by the beginning of the year 1770 there were
many settlers upon Holston.

The first settlers of the Liberty Hall neighborhood were the
Edmistons, Moores and Buchanans. The first name was written
Edmiston until sixty or seventy years ago. All the land from
Liberty Hall to some distance east of Friendship was held by
William Edmiston under a grant from Charles II, King of England,
and under the King's proclamation of 1763, Edmiston being
an officer in the French-Indian war of 1754-1763.

Fort Edmiston was built by the settlers as a protection against
the Indians, who made frequent inroads on the settlements. As
nearly as can be learned, it was built about 1765.

The site was about three hundred yards east of Liberty Academy.
The old Keys' dwelling, now owned by William Snodgrass, stands
on the site of the old fort. A soldier by the name of Edmiston
died at the fort and was the first person buried in the old Moore
graveyard.

The Indians made frequent attacks on the fort and, in one, captured
and carried off a Miss Steele. The Indians were followed by
parties from the fort, and she was recaptured on Walker's mountain.
She was traced by means of twigs, which she had presence
of mind enough to break off along the road.

Several persons from the fort were in the battle at King's Mountain,
among whom were the eight Edmistons and William Moore.
Several of the former were killed. They were the ancestors of
the Edmondsons of this day.

Fort Edmiston was one of the first forts erected in this section.
Fort Thompson, six miles northeast of Liberty Hall, on the Huff,
formerly the Byars place, was erected about the same time. It was
named for Captain James Thompson, who owned the property at
that time, and it remained many years after the revolution.

Tradition says Fort Edmiston ceased to exist about the year
1800.

The first settlers in Widener's Valley were John Widener, Paulser
Rouse and John Jones. They came from Germany, a few years
prior to the Revolutionary War, or about 1767. They first settled
in Pennsylvania, but afterwards came to this country and settled
temporarily near Fort Thompson. After remaining there a short
time, they removed to the valley. John Widener located near W.
M. Widener's mill, and Jones and Rouse in the lower end of the
valley.

In order to raise money to get away from Germany, John
Widener pawned or bartered his son Mike, a boy twelve or fourteen
years old. John Widener found employment in Pennsylvania,
and earned money enough to redeem Mike. Mike then followed
his father to the New World. He arrived just about the commencement
of the revolution, joined Washington's army, was a brave soldier,
acted as interpreter when the Hessians were captured, and
appears to have been a favorite of Washington's, who called him
"Mikey."

After the revolution Mike followed his father and settled in the
valley on what is now known as the Lilburn Widener farm. Mike
died at the age of eighty-four. Joel Widener, now living, is a
grandson. The present generation are all descendants of John
and Mike. Several families of Rouses, descendants of Paulser, still
live in the valley.

At the time of these early settlements there were a good many
Indians hunting and fishing in and near the valley. They were
very peaceable, however. Two large Indian camps were established
—one on the Middle Fork at a point east of the New Bridge; the
other in the lower end of the valley. Of the latter many evidences
still remain.

John and Michael Fleenor settled in Poor Valley; Casper Fleenor
in Rich Valley, on the head waters of what is now called Gasper's
creek, and Nicholas Fleenor settled at the Lilburn Fleenor

place in Rich Valley, below, Benhams. The four persons named
were of German descent and brothers, and are the ancestors of
many of our best citizens.

At this point it may be appropriate to give a description of the
early forts erected by the settlers in the West.

My readers will understand by this term, not only a place of defence,
but the residence of a small number of families belonging
to the neighborhood.

As the Indian's mode of warfare was an indiscriminate slaughter
of all ages and both sexes, it was as requisite to provide for the
safety of the women and children as for that of the men. The fort
consisted of cabins, block-houses and stockades. A range of cabins
commonly formed one side, at least, of the fort. Divisions or partitions
of logs separated the cabins one from another. The walls
on the outside were ten or twelve feet high, the slope of the roof
being turned wholly inward. Very few of these cabins had plank
floors; the greater part were earthen.

The block-houses were built at the angles of the fort. They projected
about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and
stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches, every
way, larger in dimension than the under one, leaving an opening
at the commencement of the second story to prevent the enemy
from making a lodgement under their walls.

In some forts, instead of block-houses, the angles of the fort
were finished with bastions. A large folding gate, made of thick
slabs nearest the spring, closed the fort.

The stockades, bastions, cabins and block-house walls were furnished
with port-holes at proper heights and distances. The whole
of the outside was made bullet-proof. It may be truly said that
"necessity is the mother of invention," for the whole of this
work was made without the aid of a shingle, nail, or spike of iron,
because such things were not to be had. In some places less exposed
a single block-house, with a cabin or two, constituted the whole
fort.[11]

In this same year Daniel Boone, John Finley, John Stuart and
a few others, as well as numerous other companies of hunters who
are of no importance in the history of this country, explored Kentucky

and hunted throughout Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee
and Eastern Kentucky.

In the year 1769 there occurred a circumstance that greatly aided
the early settlers of Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee in
settling this country and in conquering their Indian neighbors, the
Cherokees.

The Cherokee Indians were exceedingly overbearing in their disposition
and they sought a quarrel with the Chickasaw Indians and
invaded their country.

When they had reached the Chickasaw Old Fields, they were met
by the Chickasaw warriors. After a terrible battle the Cherokees
were defeated with great loss and retreated to their own villages.
The very flower of the Cherokee Nation were destroyed in this battle,
and, the number of their warriors being greatly reduced, for
seven years the early settlers were permitted to pursue their course
in peace.

All of the incidents above related occurred while the lands, now
included in Washington county, were a part of Augusta county, but
in the year 1769, the House of Burgesses of Virginia passed an act
for the division of Augusta county, and all that part of Augusta
county lying south and west of the North river, near Lexington,
Va., was given the name of Botetourt county, and thus a new county
was formed, which included all that part of Virginia in which we
live and about which I write.

The act establishing Botetourt county provided that from and
after the 31st day of January next ensuing, 1770, the said county
and parish of Augusta be divided into two counties and parishes by
a line beginning at the Blue Ridge, running north 55 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 Carr's
creek, thence up said creek to the mountain, thence north 55 degrees
west as far as the courts of the two counties had it extended, and
further. Whereas the people situated on the wates of the Missisippi
in the said county of Botetourt will be very remote from
their courthouse and must necessarily become a separate county as
soon as their numbers are sufficient, which probably will happen in
a short time, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that
the inhabitants of that part of said county of Botetourt which lies

on the said waters shall be exempted from the payment of any
levies to be laid by the said county court for the purpose of building
a courthouse and prison for said county.

It will thus be seen that the organization of the county of Botetourt
was intended to be temporary only.