grew apace. The grant to Virginia extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, then called the "South Seas." Tennessee, although unexplored and unsettled, was thus included in Virginia, and is entitled to her share in the honor of the first legislative assembly in America and all the glorious colonial history of Virginia; for the ancestors of the Tennessee pioneers played the first act of the drama in the settlement of America.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CONFLICT OF TITLE.

32. The Three Claimants.-The general claim of Spain to the whole of America by right of the discovery of Columbus and by virtue of the decree of the Pope, had now come to be ignored by all nations. Her claims were recognized only to those portions of America which she had explored in advance of other nations. Her claim to Tennessee rested, therefore, on the explorations of DeSoto. As she was inert in prosecuting this claim, although she had not formally abandoned it, the contest narrowed down to England and France. England claimed it as a part of her colony of Virginia, but had never explored or occupied the country. France 1 claimed it, at first, as a part of her province of New France, and subsequently as a part of her province of Louisiana. To examine the claim, let us take a short review of French exploration and colonization.

1

33. French Claims.-Although John Denys had explored the St. Lawrence in 1506; and Verrazani, in 1524, and Cartier, in 1535, had made explorations, France dared not take immediate possession. In 1562, a feeble effort was made by French Huguenots to plant a colony on the Atlantic coast within the French claim of New France, which overlapped the Spanish province of Florida. This effort was made not by the French government, but by a private expedition sent out by Admiral Coligny under Jean Ribaut, which made a short-lived settlement at Port Royal. Two years later, another French colony was established on the St. John River at Fort Caroline. This colony was

1 Refer to any good history of the United States, and to the Cyclopedias. The subject is fully treated in Marbois' History of Louisiana, in Martin's History of Louisiana, and in Gayarre's History of Louisiana.

massacred by the Spaniards under Menendez. Although the French leader, De Gourges, inflicted summary vengeance on the Spaniards, yet France abandoned, for the time, all efforts of colonization, and England attempted none for many years.

34. French Begin Colonization After the Defeat of Spanish Armada. In 1604, the French made a settlement at Port Royal. In 1608 Champlain founded Quebec, which was made the base of French operations. French soldiers were sent out to occupy the country. A flourishing trade was established with the Indians, the Jesuits were sent out to convert the natives to Christianity, and to win them to the control of France. It was claimed by France that the rights of England extended only from the coast to the Alleghany Mountains, including the country drained by the rivers which flow into the Atlantic. France claimed the entire valley of the St. Lawrence, and sent explorers along the lakes and along the country west of the Alleghanies.

35. French Explore the Mississippi Valley.—In 1673, in pursu ance of the policy previously described, the French began their explorations along the Mississippi River. Marquet and Joliet descended the Mississippi and made maps of the country. They noted many Chickasaw villages, and especially noted the Chickasaw Bluffs. In 1682, La Salle made his famous voyage down the Mississippi, claimed the country for France, and named it Louisiana. He stopped at Chickasaw Bluffs, built a cabin and a fort, to which he gave the name "Prud homme," made a treaty with the Indians, and established a trading post. Thus, the French erected the first building in TennesOther French trading posts were established among the Indians. Among these, was the post of M. Charleville, a French trader who built a store at Salt Lick on the Cumberland, where Nashville now stands. 1

see.

36. The French Approach Tennessee from the West.-For a long time France and England maintained the struggle for possession of all the country extending from the Mississippi River to the Alleghany Mountains, embracing, of course, the present State of Tennessec. The French had been the most daring travelers, traders, and missionaries in the New World. They discovered the basin of the St.

1 Marbois' History of Louisiana; Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee, 38, 39: Monette; any good history of the United States.

Lawrence, and were the first to explore the banks of the Mississippi.1 Thus, they approached Tennessee from the west many years before the American pioneer had climbed to the top of the Alleghany Mountains from the east and prepared to descend into the Mississippi Valley.

37. The French not a Colonizing People. They made little effort to settle the country. They mingled with the native population, and assumed, in a large measure, their manner of life. They hoped to held the country for the sake of the Indian trade. To do this, they erected a powerful cordon of forts and trading posts, completely encircling the English colonies on the Atlantic coast. These they located, with marvelous wisdom, at Quebec, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburg, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, and Mobile, besides numerous other places varying in importance from Vincennes, on the Wabash, to the Old French Trading Post, at Nashville, on the Cumberland.

38. Progress of the English Colonies.-The English in the meantime, were colonizing the country from the Atlantic seaboard westward. The colonists were a daring and aggressive race of homeseekers. While clearing and cultivating their fields, erecting churches and schoolhouses, founding towns and cities, and developing trade and commerce in the older settlements, they were constantly pushing their frontiers further into the wilderness. Their vanguard had already reached the foot-hills of the Alleghany Mountains before the close of the long struggle between France and England for the possession of North America.

39. The English Build Counter Forts. The garrisons and rangers from the French forts produced disaffection to the English among the Indian tribes. As early as 1734, the Province of South Carolina recommended that English forts be built among the Indians, to counteract the French influence. In 1755 Governor Glenn, of that Province, held a treaty with the Cherokees. He obtained from them a grant of land upon which to build two forts in their country. Soon after the cession he built Fort Prince George, on the headwaters of the Savannah, about three hundred miles above Charleston, and within gun-shot of an Indian town called Keowee. 2

40. Fort Loudon Built.—In 1756, the Earl of Loudoun was appointed commander-in-chief of the army throughout the British

1 Bancroft's History of the United States (Old Ed.), Vol. IV, pp. 457, 458. 2 Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee, pp. 48–51.

continental provinces in America, as well as governor of the Province of Virginia.1 Following up the concession to Governor Glenn, he dispatched Andrew Lewis to build the other fort at the head of navigation on the Little Tennessee River, in 1756. He located it on the south side of the river, within five miles of Chota, the home of the eloquent Cherokee chief, Oconostota. It was about thirty miles from the present city of Knoxville, and nearly one hundred and fifty miles in advance of any white settlement. It was called Fort Loudon 2 in honor of the first commander-in-chief of the army, and was garrisoned by a force of two hundred British regulars. This was the first structure erected in Tennessee by Anglo-Americans. 3

41. Other Forts Built on the Frontiers.-Besides these forts in the heart of the Indian country, others were erected on the borders of the provincial settlements. North Carolina built Fort Dobbs under the shadow of the Alleghanies. Virginia built a fort on the New River, called Chissel, and another on the Holston, nearly opposite the upper end of Long Island, where Colonel Bird wintered in 1758. This latter fort, while for more than twenty years it was believed to be on Virginia soil, was really some distance south of its line, and was the second Anglo-American fort erected within the boundaries of Tennessee. 4

42. Temporary Settlement of Fort Loudon.-Under the protection of these forts, the tide of emigration reached the base of the mountains that separate Tennessee from North Carolina. They also afforded the daring frontiersman an opportunity to gain some knowledge of the country beyond. A small settlement sprang up under the guns of Fort Loudon. It is probable that this would have been the first permanent settlement in the State but for an unfortunate affair that occurred immediately after the reduction of Fort DuQuesne.

43. Massacre of Fort Loudon.-The Cherokees had been the friends and allies of the English. They had volunteered to protect the American frontier south of the Potomac. Some of them marched with the army of the south to Fort DuQuesne. After that decisive engagement, they received little attention from their allies. Having lost their horses, the neglected Indians supplied themselves with such

1 Bancroft's History of the United States (Old Ed.), Vol. IV, p. 228.

2 Note the spelling. In Fort Loudon, the u has been dropped. The English nobleman in whose honor it was named was the Earl of Loudoun.

3 Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee, pp. 51-53, 66, 85.

4 Ramsey, p. 54.

as they found running at large, as they returned through the back counties of Virginia. The enraged backwoodsmen pursued and put a number of the offending warriors to death. The result was, that while the victory of Fort DuQuesne brought peace to the northern frontiers, this distressing incident plunged the southern provinces into the horrors of an Indian war. Fort Loudon was besieged and captured, its garrison was massacred, and the permanent settlement of the State was delayed for another decade.

44. The Treaty of Paris, 1763.-The second battle of Fort DuQuesne was the last stand of France in her struggle for supremacy in America. It was followed, in 1763, by the treaty of Paris. By this treaty France surrendered to England her claim to all territory east of the Mississippi River, except the Isle of Orleans. From this time the sovereignty of England over the Mississippi Valley was undisputed.

CHAPTER V.

ENGLISH TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS.

45. The King's Proclamation of 1763.—The French, who had little desire for the lands of the Indians themselves, never failed to warn them against the encroachments of the English, who, they said, were determined to occupy their land, and dispossess them of the whole country. Accordingly, the Indians viewed every excursion into their hunting ground with dissatisfaction and jealousy. For the purpose of removing their apprehensions and quieting their discontent, King George issued a proclamation, October 7, 1763, prohibiting all provincial governors from granting land, and all British subjects from making settlements, west of the sources of the streams which flow into the Atlantic. It also prohibited all private purchases of land from the Indians. 2

46. Treaty of Augusta. For the purpose of apprising the Southern Indians of the change effected by the treaty of Paris, a congress was held with them, at Augusta, in November, 1763. There were present representatives of the Creeks, Cherokees, Catawbas, Chickasaws and Choctaws, on the one side, and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District, the Governors of the two Carolinas and Geor

1

Ramsey's Annals of Tennessee, p. 54; Bancroft's History of the United States (Old Ed.) Vol. IV, p. 341.

2 Ramsey's Annals, p. 71.