Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 THE FIRST SETTLERS IN TENNESSEE A powerful Cherokee chief had refused to join in the treaty, persisting in his attachment to the British; and, with a few adherents, went down the Tennessee River, dissatisfied, and commenced a new settlement at a place called Chickamauga. Numbers followed him, prompted by a disposition to plunder and carnage. Discord ensued; and injuries to the whites, perpetrated by this mischievous party, became so frequent, following almost in contact with each other, that chastisement could no longer be delayed. Accordingly, in 1779, an expedition for that purpose was undertaken commanded by Isaac Shelby,* the late governor of Kentucky, then a resident of Washington County. It was directed especially against Chickamauga. Peaceable Indians were not to be molested. It proved effectual. Chickamauga fell; and the hostile wretches, partly disabled and partly intimidated, were for the present innocuous. (Char's note: this Chief was Dragging Canoe the son of Attacullaculla and cousin of Nancy Ward) Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 THE FIRST SETTLERS IN TENNESSEE Impelled by the pressure from behind and the great desire to better their condition in a new and rich land, settlers in the western parts of Virginia and North Carolina braved the terrors and the privations of the wilderness, crossed the mountains and established homes for themselves in what is now East Tennessee. They did not come in companies, nor was the movement by any means a concerted or organized migration. They came singly or in small parties, generally of those who had been neighbors or friends in their former communities. Those from Virginia thought they were still in that colony when they had passed into North Carolina. Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 THE FIRST SETTLERS IN TENNESSEE Dr. Archibald Henderson, in his introduction to The Conquest of the Old Southwest, says: Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 THE FIRST SETTLERS IN TENNESSEE The prime determinative principle of the progressive American civilization of the eighteenth century was the passion for the acquisition of land. * * * Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 WILLIAM BEENThis is the way he spelled his name. His son, Russell, the first white child born in Tennessee, spelled it Bean.1 The second determinative impulse of the pioneer civilization was wanderlustthe passionately inquisitive instinct of the hunter, the traveler, and the explorer. Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 WILLIAM BEENThis is the way he spelled his name. His son, Russell, the first white child born in Tennessee, spelled it Bean.1 The credit for establishing the first home in Tennessee is generally given to William Been. It may be so. Yet it is possible that he was antedated by one Honeycut, whose prenomen is not known. In 1770, when Robertson came into the Watauga region he found Honeycut there living in a hut. Robertson lived with him and raised a crop that year. Then, attempting to recross the mountains, he became lost and wandered for fourteen days. At length, by fortunate chance, he met two hunters through whose aid he was enabled to reach his home in safety. Soon afterwards he returned to Watauga with a few others and settled there. Footnote The Conquest of the Old Southwest, p. 182. Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 WILLIAM BEENThis is the way he spelled his name. His son, Russell, the first white child born in Tennessee, spelled it Bean.1 page 64 Most authorities say that William Been came to Watauga in 1769 and erected a log cabin at the mouth of Boone's Creek. Gradually a settlement grew up around him composed largely of the families of the Regulators whom the tyranny of Governor Tryon had driven out of North Carolina. The Regulators were bands of men organized in North Carolina and then in South Carolina to put down highwaymen and to correct many abuses in the back country including the tyrannies of the government. The uprising of these bold and resolute, simple and imperfectly educated people, which had begun as a constitutional struggle to secure justice and to prevent their own exploitation by [p.64] dishonest lawyers of the county courts, now gave place to open anarchy and secret incendiarism.2 Footnote Ibid., p. 183. Tennessee the Volunteer State 17691923: Volume 1 WILLIAM BEENThis is the way he spelled his name. His son, Russell, the first white child born in Tennessee, spelled it Bean.1 Governor Tryon and his officers and the ruling classes generally were not broad enough in their sympathies to see that justice only was sought by an oppressed people, but thought that an insurrection was in progress threatening property, life and government. The governor called out the militia of the province and led an army of well-nigh one thousand men and officers against the Regulators, who had assembled at Alamance to the number of 2,000. Tryon stood firm upon the demands that the people should submit to government and disperse at a designated hour. The Regulators, on their side, hoped to secure the reforms they desired by intimidating the governor with a great display of force. The battle was a tragic fiasco for the Regulators, who fought bravely, but without adequate arms or real leadership. With the conclusion of this desultory action, a fight lasting about two hours (May 16, 1771), the power of the Regulators was completely broken.3 Footnote Ibid., p. 190. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com