Originally published in the "Bicentennial Bites" article series by Billie R. McNamara in The Standard-Banner in celebration of Tennessee's 200th statehood anniversary (1996).
The last segment discussed the destruction of Fort Loudoun by Cherokees and reciprocal pillaging by English soldiers. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of many years of atrocities committed by both natives and white settlers. Since most Tennessee history books describe in detail the massacres and wars that occurred, this column will not.
With the exception of traders and the residents of Fort Loudoun, the first white settlement of what is now Tennessee occurred shortly after a treaty was signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, on the Mohawk River near present-day Rome, New York. Sir William Johnson negotiated with the Iroquois Crown for title to the lands from present-day Western New York, through Ohio and Pennsylvania, down to the mouth of the Tennessee River in present-day Knoxville, Tennessee. Adventuresome souls erroneously believed this treaty opened the lands to settlement, despite the Proclamation Line decreed by Britain's King George in 1763. The Governor of Virginia ignored the Proclamation and continued issuing land patents as far south as the headwaters of the Tennessee River. Virginia, not North Carolina, granted the first land in Tennessee. The patent, issued to John Buchanan in June, 1753, was for 1,250 acres on the Indian River in present-day Sullivan County.
Following Fort Stanwix, numerous treaties with Native American residents of present-day Tennessee were entered into by the States of North Carolina, Virginia, and Franklin, the United States, and even the French. While the Iroquois were negotiating with the English at Fort Stanwix, the Cherokee asked North Carolina for establishment of a boundary between that state's western lands and the Indians' hunting grounds. Capt. John Stuart, one of the survivors of Fort Loudoun, acted as an Indian Agent for the British Crown in negotiating this agreement, known as the Treaty of Hard Labour. It was executed almost simultaneously with Fort Stanwix and extinguished Cherokee claims to part ownership in most of the same area covered under the Fort Stanwix agreement. East Tennessee was left in Cherokee control, even though settlers had already penetrated the area.
Less than two years after the Fort Stanwix and Hard Labour treaties, Virginia wished to purchase lands in her southwestern region. An agreement, called the Treaty of Lochabar, was negotiated with the Cherokee by Col. John Donelson, who is well-known for his leadership in settling Middle Tennessee. Lochabar left most of East Tennessee under Cherokee control, but it opened the area of upper East Tennessee for colonization. Within a few months, pioneers began streaming into the Watauga, North Holston, Carter's Valley, and Nolichucky settlements.
Tennessee's early pioneers were amazing folks, who individually and collectively made significant marks on the history of our region.
