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hostility of the Indians, and their enmity was not without cause. At this time there were few permanent Indian settlements in Tennessee. This territory was held by them chiefly as a hunting ground. They would come in from beyond the present state borders, and hunt and return with their game. They did not object to the white man's using this territory for a similar purpose. But they did object to permanent settlements by the white man, because they realized that this would tend to drive out the game and in the end would mean their own expulsion.

CHAPTER II

THE WATAUGA SETTLEMENT

In the year 1761, a number of Virginians, with some others, formed themselves into a company and came into the western part of Virginia to hunt. This company was composed of Wallen, Scaggs, Blevins, Cox, and fifteen others. They came into what is now called Carter's Valley, in East Tennessee. About the same time Daniel Boone came into the same section at the head of another company.

These hunters were attracted to this section by the great abundance of game, which they felt sure abounded along the western waters, and they went out with the expectation of making large gain through this source. At this time there were no white settlers in this part of the country, but Indians were here in large numbers.

These hunters were successful in killing large game, and they remained here about eighteen months. They came back again and others came with them, but, as yet, no permanent settlements had been made.

Impressed by the beautiful and fertile valleys of this section, as well as by the unusual opportunities afforded for possible hunting, a number of people from Virginia and North Carolina decided to settle here permanently.

The first permanent home was established by William Bean, who came a little before 1770, when the first settlers began to gather on the banks of the Watauga, and here was made the first settlement in Tennessee. Others came in and formed two other settlements near Watauga. The two additional settlements were Holston and Carter's Valley.

In South Carolina, before 1770, no courts of justice were held beyond the limits of the capital, and in the interior of the province the inhabitants took the law into their own hands and punished offenders in their own way. This mode of proceeding was called regulation and its authors "Regulators.” Those who opposed them were called "Scovilites," after their leader, Scovil, commissioned by the governor of South Carolina to suppress the Regulators. Each party was armed and prepared to fight to the bitter end. The feelings arising from these tumults drove many patriots from South Carolina to the settlements on the Holston and the Watauga rivers.

In North Carolina, at the same time, there was great unrest on the part of the masses of the people, who claimed that illegal and exorbitant fees were exacted by officers of the government, that oppressive taxes were exacted by the sheriffs and that the method of collecting them was tyrannical. In 1765, the people were aroused by the report that the Stamp Act had been passed by the British Parliament. They protested to England that they would not be forcibly taxed. The Stamp Act was repealed, but this did not quiet them. The extortions of offi

cers were continued and the taxes were multiplied. The office holders were all foreigners. The people held several meetings and assumed the name of Regulators, and adopted the policy of resisting all illegal taxation. They prevented the sitting of courts and otherwise obstructed the execution of the laws. Governor Tryon met them on the 16th of May, 1771, on the Alamance. Tryon's men numbered somewhat less than 3,000. The patriotic citizens numbered about 3,000; but they were poorly armed, and it seems had but little ammunition. The government troops, being better armed, better drilled, and better equipped in every way, won the battle. After this defeat many of these courageous citizens came to the Watauga settlement to make their home.

So a considerable number of those who made up the first permanent settlement in Tennessee, came to the Watauga settlement, not primarily to take advantage of the cheaper and better land in this section, but to get away from political oppression and establish themselves in a new country more friendly to liberty and freedom. Such men are a valuable addition to any community, and they doubtless made a large contribution to the heroic work accomplished by the Watauga settlers in their early history.

In 1772, the Watauga settlement was steadily increasing through immigration from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was during this year that the pioneers decided that they must

have some form of government. At this time the line between Virginia and North Carolina had not been definitely fixed, and these settlers believed for some time that they were in Virginia. But later they discovered that they were within the bounds of North Carolina. Neither Virginia nor North Carolina gave them any protection. The cost of establishing courts and maintaining an army to protect these settlers so far distant from the home government was a burden North Carolina refused to assume, even after it was certain that the settlement was within the bounds of this colony. Cut off from the protection of the home government, there was but one thing for them to do and that was to form some kind of government of their own, which would meet the demands of social order, and this they did. In forming this government they took the laws of Virginia as their guide. A written constitution or compact was drawn and adopted by them.

The procedure in the formation of this new government was truly democratic, since the consent of the whole people was obtained at each step. A committee of thirteen was elected as a general legislative body. From this body five commissioners were selected in whose hands the executive and judicial powers of the government were placed. This committee of five was the real governing body of their little "state," and was doubtless the first commission form of government in this country. John Carter, John Sevier, James Robertson, Charles Robertson, and Jack Isbel were the five men selected

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