26 chapters
6 hour read
Selected Chapters
26 chapters
THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST:
THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST:
THE ROMANTIC STORY OF THE EARLY PIONEERS INTO VIRGINIA, THE CAROLINAS, TENNESSEE, AND KENTUCKY 1740-1790 BY ARCHIBALD HENDERSON, Ph.D., D.C.L. Some to endure and many to fail, Some to conquer and many to quail Toiling over the Wilderness Trail. NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1920 TO THE HISTORIAN OF OLD WEST AND NEW WEST FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER WITH ADMIRATION AND REGARD The country might invite a prince from his palace, merely for the pleasure of contemplating its beauty and excellence; but only add
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The romantic and thrilling story of the southward and westward migration of successive waves of transplanted European peoples throughout the entire course of the eighteenth century is the history of the growth and evolution of American democracy. Upon the American continent was wrought out, through almost superhuman daring, incredible hardship, and surpassing endurance, the formation of a new society. The European rudely confronted with the pitiless conditions of the wilderness soon discovered t
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER I.
The Migration of the Peoples Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and some directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the West, and have got near the mountains. — Gabriel Johnston , Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the Board of Trade, February 15, 1751. A t the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population had swept inland to the "fall line," the westward boundary of the es
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
The Cradle of Westward Expansion In the year 1746 I was up in the country that is now Anson, Orange and Rowan Counties, there was not then above one hundred fighting men there is now at least three thousand for the most part Irish Protestants and Germans and dailey increasing. — Matthew Rowan , President of the North Carolina Council, to the Board of Trade, June 28, 1753. T he conquest of the West is usually attributed to the ready initiative, the stern self-reliance, and the libertarian instinc
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
The Back Country and the Border Far from the bustle of the world, they live in the most delightful climate, and richest soil imaginable; they are everywhere surrounded with beautiful prospects and sylvan scenes; lofty mountains, transparent streams, falls of water, rich valleys, and majestic woods; the whole interspersed with an infinite variety of flowering shrubs, constitute the landscape surrounding them; they are subject to few diseases; are generally robust; and live in perfect liberty; the
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The Indian War All met in companies with their wives and children, and set about building little fortifications, to defend themselves from such barbarian and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let loose upon them at pleasure. —The Reverend Hugh McAden : Diary, July, 1755. L ong before the actual outbreak of hostilities powerful forces were gradually converging to produce a clash between the aggressive colonials and the crafty Indians. As the settlers pressed farther westward into the
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
In Defense of Civilization We give thanks and praise for the safety and peace vouchsafed us by our Heavenly Father in these times of war. Many of our neighbors, driven hither and yon like deer before wild beasts, came to us for shelter, yet the accustomed order of our congregation life was not disturbed, no, not even by the more than 150 Indians who at sundry times passed by, stopping for a day at a time and being fed by us. — Wachovia Community Diary , 1757 W ith commendable energy and expediti
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Crushing the Cherokees Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America. — Hewatt : An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia . 1779. G overnor Lyttelton's treaty of "peace," negotiated with the Cherokees at the close of 1759, was worse than a crime: it was a crass and hideous blunder. His domineering attitude and tyrannical treatment of these Indians had aroused the bi
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
The Land Companies It was thought good policy to settle those lands as fast as possible, and that the granting them to men of the first consequence who were likeliest and best able to procure large bodies of people to settle on them was the most probable means of effecting the end proposed. — Acting-Governor Nelson of Virginia to the Earl of Hillsborough: 1770. A lthough for several decades the Virginia traders had been passing over the Great Trading Path to the towns of the Cherokees and the Ca
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Long Hunters in the Twilight Zone The long Hunters principally resided in the upper countries of Virginia & North Carolina on New River & Holston River, and when they intended to make a long Hunt (as they call d it) they Collected near the head of Holston near whare Abingdon now stands.… — General William Hall . B efore the coming of Walker and Gist in 1750 and 1751 respectively, the region now called Kentucky had, as far as we know, been twice visited by the French, once in
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
Daniel Boone and Wilderness Exploration Here, where the hand of violence shed the blood of the innocent; where the horrid yells of the savages, and the groans of the distressed, sounded in our ears, we now hear the praises and adorations of our Creator; where wretched wigwams stood, the miserable abodes of savages, we behold the foundations of cities laid, that, in all probability, will equal the glory of the greatest upon earth. — Daniel Boone , 1784. T he wandering life of a border Nimrod in a
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
Daniel Boone in Kentucky He felt very much as Columbus did, gazing from his caravel on San Salvador; as Cortes, looking down from the crest of Ahualco, on the Valley of Mexico; or Vasco Nuñez, standing alone on the peak of Darien, and stretching his eyes over the hitherto undiscovered waters of the Pacific. — William Gilmore Simms : Views and Reviews . A chance acquaintance formed by Daniel Boone, during the French and Indian War, with the Irish lover of adventure, John Findlay, [95] was the ori
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
The Regulators It is not a persons labour, nor yet his effects that will do, but if he has but one horse to plow with, one bed to lie on, or one cow to give a little milk for his children, they must all go to raise money which is not to be had. And lastly if his personal estate (sold at one tenth of its value) will not do, then his lands (which perhaps has cost him many years of toil and labour) must go the same way to satisfy these cursed hungry caterpillars, that are eating and will eat out th
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
Watauga—Haven of Liberty The Regulators despaired of seeing better times and therefore quitted the Province. It is said 1,500 departed since the Battle of Alamance and to my knowledge a great many more are only waiting to dispose of their plantations in order to follow them. — Reverend Morgan Edwards , 1772. T he five years (1766-1771) which saw the rise, development, and ultimate defeat of the popular movement known as the Regulation, constitute a period not only of extraordinary significance i
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
Opening the Gateway—Dunmore's War Virginia, we conceive, can claim this Country [Kentucky] with the greatest justice and propriety, its within the Limits of their Charter. They Fought and bled for it. And had it not been for the memorable Battle, at the Great Kanaway those vast regions had yet continued inaccessable. — The Harrodsburg Petition . June 7-15, 1776. I t was fortunate for the Watauga settlers that the Indians and the whites were on the most peaceful terms with each other at the time
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company I happened to fall in company, and have a great deal of conversation with one of the most singular and extraordinary persons and excentric geniuses in America, and perhaps in the world. His name is Richard Henderson. —J. F. D. Smyth : A Tour in the United States of America. E arly in 1774, chastened by his own disastrous failure the preceding autumn, Boone advised Judge Henderson that the time was auspicious for opening negotiations with the Cheroke
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
Transylvania—A Wilderness Commonwealth You are about a work of the utmost importance to the well-being of this country in general, in which the interest and security of each and every individual are inseparably connected.… Our peculiar circumstances in this remote country, surrounded on all sides with difficulties, and equally subject to one common danger, which threatens our common overthrow, must, I think, in their effects, secure to us an union of interests, and, consequently, that harmony in
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Repulse of the Red Men To this short war may be properly attributed all the kind feelings and fidelity to treaty stipulations manifested by the Cherokees ever afterwards. General Rutherford instilled into the Indians so great a fear of the whites, that never afterwards were they disposed to engage in any cruelty, or destroy any of the property of our frontier men. — David L. Swain : The Indian War of 1776. D uring the summer of 1775 the proprietors of Transylvania were confronted with two st
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Colonization of the Cumberland March 31, 1780. Set out this day, and after running some distance, met with Col. Richard Henderson, who was running the line between Virginia and North Carolina. At this meeting we were much rejoiced. He gave us every information we wished, and further informed us that he had purchased a quantity of corn in Kentucky, to be shipped at the Falls of Ohio, for the use of the Cumberland settlement. We are now without bread, and are compelled to hunt the buffalo to p
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
King's Mountain With the utmost satisfaction I can acquaint you with the sudden and favorable turn of our public affairs. A few days ago destruction hung over our heads. Cornwallis with at least 1500 British and Tories waited at Charlotte for the reinforcement of 1000 from Broad River, which reinforcement has been entirely cut off, 130 killed and the remainder captured. Cornwallis immediately retreated, and is now on his way toward Charleston, with part of our army in his rear.… — Elizabeth Maxw
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
The State of Franklin Designs of a more dangerous nature and deeper die seem to glare in the western revolt.… I have thought proper to issue this manifesto, hereby warning all persons concerned in the said revolt … that the honour of this State has been particularly wounded, by seizing that by violence which, in time, no doubt, would have been obtained by consent, when the terms of separation would have been explained or stipulated, to the mutual satisfaction of the mother and new State.… Let yo
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
The Lure of Spain [213] —The Haven of Statehood The people of this region have come to realize truly upon what part of the world and upon which nation their future happiness and security depend, and they immediately infer that their interest and prosperity depend entirely upon the protection and liberality of your government. — John Sevier to Don Diego de Gardoqui, September 12, 1788. From the early settlements in the eastern parts of this Continent to the late & more recent settlements
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LIST OF NOTES
LIST OF NOTES
1 Roosevelt's The Winning of the West , a stirring recital with chief stress thrown upon the militant characteristics of the frontiersmen, is open to grave criticism because of failure to give adequate account of social and economic tendencies, the development of democracy, and the evolution of government under the pressure of frontier conditions. 2 Johnson MSS., xii, No. 127. 3 Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 and 1797 , 217. 4 Turner: "Significance of the Frontier
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
For the entire period (1740-1790) covered by this volume, an exceptionally rich store of materials is to be found in the Colonial Records of North Carolina, 1662-1775 (published 1886-1890), and its continuation, the State Records of North Carolina, 1776-1790 (published 1895-1905), thirty volumes in all, including the four volumes of index. The introductions and supplementary matter in these volumes constitute a survey of the period. Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of the West (1889-1896; variou
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Introduction:
Introduction:
We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but not in the index. Obvious errors were corrected--and all of these changes can be found in the Detailed Notes Section of these notes. The Detailed Notes Section also includes issues that have come up during transcription. One common issue is that words are sometimes split into two lines for spacing purposes. These words are hyphenated in the physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the hyphen should be r
48 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Detailed Notes Section:
Detailed Notes Section:
• Page viii : In his letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord Dunmore wrote the clause "Should for ever immagine the Lands further off..." This is a direct quote; the spelling is correct. • Page xvii : Home-builder is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing purposes, giving us two choices on how to transcribe the word. The word was not used again in the book. However, "home-makers" was used on Page 17, and the word included a hyphen and was in the middle of the line. We believe that the
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter