Path Grant Deed

Last updated
The Watauga Treaties: The Path Grant Deed

The Path Grant Deed is a document regarded as a first step toward the American westward migration across the Appalachian Mountains, resulting from negotiations at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775. The land acquired within the boundaries of the Path Grant allowed Daniel Boone to develop the Wilderness Road free from attack or claims by the Cherokee. The Path Grant was recorded on November 15, 1794, by the Hawkins County, Tennessee registrar in Deed Book #1, pages 147-151

Contents

The Path Grant lands are located in North East Tennessee and South West Virginia PATH GRANT location map rev.png
The Path Grant lands are located in North East Tennessee and South West Virginia

Notes on the Path Deed Elements and Structure

The Path Grant deed [1] is an indenture conveying a tract of property in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia known as the Path Grant from/by the Cherokee people to nine individuals collectively known as Richard Henderson and company. The indenture was drawn on an unstated day in March 1775 and recorded on November 15, 1794. The document is said to be the Path Deed because it represents the sale of land that is a route to an even larger tract of ground known as the Great Grant or the Transylvania Purchase. Were it not for the Path, it would not be possible to travel to the Great Grant without passing or trespassing on Cherokee land. In the Hawkins County Office of the Registrar of Deeds, it is referred to as "The Indian Deed"

The negotiations and transaction took place in March 1775 at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga river known as the Fort Watauga. The date of the signing and conveyance of the Great Grant is thought to be March 17, 1775. In addition to the Great Grant Deed, three other grants were made by the Cherokee to the Richard Henderson & company and other purchasers noted on the deeds. These are known as the Path Grant Deed, the Charles Robertson Grant Deed for the Watauga settlements and the Jacob Brown Grant Deeds for the Nolichucky settlements. [2]

Photo of the recorded Path Grant Deed, book 1, page 147 Hawkins County, Tennessee Registrar of Deeds Path Grant Deed Page 147 Deed Book 1 Hawkins County Register of Deeds.djvu
Photo of the recorded Path Grant Deed, book 1, page 147 Hawkins County, Tennessee Registrar of Deeds

The Path Grant Path grant  – via Wikisource. was recorded on November 15, 1794, at the Hawkins county registrar but the date was omitted. It was filled in as 17 by another hand at a later date. In the absence of the deeds for the Watauga and Nolichucky grants, the persons to whom the property was conveyed is not known. There is evidence [3] that the three minor grants were made on days immediately subsequent to the Great Grant date. March 17, 1775 might be a day or so early. For record purposes, the actual date is now fixed as March 17.

The drafter of the Path Deed structured the document by using elements or clauses as the building blocks. These clauses were part of deeds drafted at the time and are in use to the present. The clauses in conventional order are the parties clause, the recital, the testatum or consideration clause, The habendum or tenants in common clause, the parcels clause, the tenatum, the redendum clause, the warranty, the covenants and the testimonium.

The Parties Clause

The grantors, the conveying parties, were represented by three chiefs of the Cherokee's being Alla Cullocullah, Oconistoto, and Savanooko, being the representatives appointed by the warriors and other head men on behalf of the whole nation.

The grantees were Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathan Hart, John Williams, John Lutterell, William Johnson, James Hagg (Hogg), David Hart and Leonard Bullock, all said to be of the province of North Carolina. These nine individuals are the same that are noted as being pardners in the Transylvania Co agreement dated January 1775. [4]

The Recital Clause

The grantors are said to be in accordance with current law, to hold the aboriginal title and sole owners since the beginning of time. That is, the Cherokee nation owns the property and has the right to sell it. The property owned is described as all that south of the Ohio River from the mouth of the Tennessee River north and east to the mouth of the Canaway River. The south eastern boundary is the treaty point that lies Holston River six miles east of the Long Island.

The Testatum or Consideration

The Cherokee received ten thousand pounds lawful money of Great Britain in consideration for the sale of the lands.

The Habenum or Tenants in Common clause

The afore mentioned Richard Henderson, Thomas Hart, Nathan Hart, John Williams, John Lutterell, William Johnson, James Hagg (Hogg), David Hart and Leonard Bullock are spelled out and their respective ownership shares are defined. They are Tenants in Common and not Joint Tenants. The joint tenancy title passes to heirs and assigns on the death of the person noted.

The Parcels Clause

The parcel being granted/conveyed is described in accordance with North Carolina law current at the time [5]

The South Eastern corner is the only corner point of the Path Grant that can be established with certainty. That point is on the Donaldson survey line on the Holston river six miles east of the Long Island. It can be positively located as being the point where the Holston River intersects with the parallel of latitude at 36° 30'. [6]

The parcel boundary then follows the treaty line northeasterly until it meets the line of Powell's Mountain curving easterly from the High Knob. The boundary then trends southwesterly until the end of the Powell's Mountain ridge line. The course then extends southerly to the south west corner on the Holston River. The point where it intersects the river is thought to be the current intersection of the Hawkins, Hamblen and Grainger, Tennessee county lines. The boundary then follows the Holston river northeasterly to the point where the river meets the Virginia line of 36° 30' and along that line to the starting point on the treaty line.

The messuage includes not only the land described but all buildings and improvements. The word messauge is a term of art used by drafters of deeds to make note of the fact that all improvements, buildings and structures are conveyed along with the land.

The Tenatum

The Cherokee give up the right to the grant and all rights are transferred to have and to hold by Richard Henderson and Co.

The Redendum

Curiously the grant was in effect a sale of the described lands but the Cherokee were to receive a yearly rent of 4 pence. The deed format at the time provides for the redendum and the rent was apparently set at a very low amount.

The Warranty

The sale is made in fee simple with no conditions mortgage or limit on the use or water course.

The Covenants

The grantees shall have peaceable use of the grant with no molestation or hindrance by the Cherokee. The Cherokee will have no claims on the grant.

The Testimonium

The indenture states that the Cherokee have true and lawful attorneys being Joseph Martin and John Farror who are presumed to have approved the language of the deed. The deed was signed by Joseph Vann, Linquester, who was the Royal Interpreter for the crown. [7]

The document is signed, sealed and delivered as marked by the three chiefs noted as Alla Cullocullah, Oconistoto, and Savanooko otherwise Coronok.

The marks are witnessed by Wm. Bailey Smith, George Lumpkin, Thos Houghton, Caselton Brooks, John Bacon, Tilman Dixon, Valentine Servy, and Thomas Price.

Analysis

The Description Of The Grant

To grasp the scope of the Path Grant, it can be considered as a five sided irregular polygon lying along the valleys of the Clinch and Holston Rivers.

The graphic is a map of the property described in the Path Grant Deed Path Grant 8.15.13.jpg
The graphic is a map of the property described in the Path Grant Deed

The long southerly boundary is the Holston River. The long northerly boundary is Powell's Mountain ridge line that lies adjacent to a section of the Great Grant boundary [8] and the Powell's River valley leading to Cumberland Gap. That is to say, a portion of the Path Grant long Powell's mountain boundary is contiguous with the Great Grant boundary. The Wilderness Road envisioned by Daniel Boone began at the Holston River settlements at the present day Kingsport Tennessee, traversed up into Virginia through the Moccasin Gap of Clinch Mountain and thence across Powell's Mountain to the Powell's River valley. The Path Grant provided ownership transfer of the contested Holston River settlements and the Cherokee lands that must be crossed to reach the Powell's River valley and the Great Grant lands.

When the description of the Path Grant is considered it seems somewhat vague except for one point specifically described. That point is on the Holston River six miles east of the Long Island, where Holston River crosses the Virginia line.

The red line is the Latitude 36deg 30" line NC/Va border extended west by the Donaldson Survey. The Blue line is the western Virginia border established by the Lochaber Treaty. That line extends northerly to the mouth of the Kanawa River at Point Pleasant on the Ohio River. The point of intersection in the middle of the Holston River is 6 miles upstream from the Long Island of the Holston. It is the corner of both the Path Grant and the Watauga Purchases of March 1775. Watauga.Lochaber. corner.jpg
The red line is the Latitude 36° 30" line NC/Va border extended west by the Donaldson Survey. The Blue line is the western Virginia border established by the Lochaber Treaty. That line extends northerly to the mouth of the Kanawa River at Point Pleasant on the Ohio River. The point of intersection in the middle of the Holston River is 6 miles upstream from the Long Island of the Holston. It is the corner of both the Path Grant and the Watauga Purchases of March 1775.

The Treaty of Lochaber in 1771 [9] [10] established the point in question and was made as part of the Donaldson survey establishing a revised western border for the Virginia Colony. A survey was made by Col. Donaldson including Cherokee members of the survey party, that established the survey line from the point on the North Carolina/ Virginia border to a point at Point Pleasant, West Virginia where the Kanawha river meets the Ohio river. That is the same set of points and the line noted in the Path deed recital.

The point six miles from the Long Island is thus not dependent on how to measure six miles on a meandering river but is fixed by the river and the Latitude 36° 30'. Today that point is fixed as 36° 30' north latitude 82° 29' west longitude. The point is the center of the Holston River that is now Fort Patrick Henry Lake within the boundary of Warriors Path State Park. [11] There is no structure or other man made feature marking the point. The present day Virginia/Tennessee line is north of this point and no longer 36° 30' north latitude.

The Lochaber Treaty point shown is on the Holston River where it intersects the parallel of 36deg 30' north latitude. The point is 6 miles upstream from the Long Island of the Holston and is within the current boundaries of Warrior's Path State Park near Kingsport, Tennessee. At this location, The Holston River is the Tennessee Valley Authority Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir. The point is approximately 200 yards upstream from the Hemlock Bridge. The Yellow Treaty Line extends to the Ohio River at the mouth of the Kanawah River at Point Pleasant West Virginia. The red line is looking due east along latitude 36deg 30' Lochaber Treaty Point rev.jpg
The Lochaber Treaty point shown is on the Holston River where it intersects the parallel of 36° 30' north latitude. The point is 6 miles upstream from the Long Island of the Holston and is within the current boundaries of Warrior's Path State Park near Kingsport, Tennessee. At this location, The Holston River is the Tennessee Valley Authority Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir. The point is approximately 200 yards upstream from the Hemlock Bridge. The Yellow Treaty Line extends to the Ohio River at the mouth of the Kanawah River at Point Pleasant West Virginia. The red line is looking due east along latitude 36° 30'

Additionally, the Lochaber Treaty point is not to be confused with a second intersection of the Holston river and the parallel of latitude 36° 30' further down stream and also noted in the Path Grant.

It is considered not possible to determine the polygon's short southwestern boundary line with certainty. A precise description was finessed by the negotiators with 14 words. "beginning on the Holston River where the courses of Powell Mountain crosses the same"

The line is said to follow the course of Powell's mountain to the Holston river. The course of Powells mountain however does not intersect the Holston river.

When considered with the boundary of the Great Grant, the south western boundary becomes apparent.

The Path Grant short southwestern boundary is an extension of the Great Grant line extending from the southern end of Powell's Mountain to a point just west of Cumberland Gap. That point is the current intersection of the borders of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The complete line for both grants thus extends from the intersection of the three counties on the Holston River as noted above northward to the point of intersection of three states on Cumberland Mountain just west of the Cumberland Gap..

A major route, referred to often as the Great War Path, traverses northeasterly through the Holston River Valley. At Bean Station, Tennessee junction, a trail extends northward across Clinch Mountain at Bean's Gap and onward to the Cumberland Gap. [12] It includes the important way point and junction Bean's Station. That route is an alternate Path into the Cumberland Gap and Great Grant lands.

Similarly, the short Northern polygon boundary is not described with certainty. The line northward is on the Lochaber treaty line to the top ridge of Powell's Mountain. The top ridge is presumed to be the ridge line of High Knob that curves eastward over to the Lochaber Treaty line and the north east grant corner.

Although some of the description is somewhat vague, some is quite specific. The course of Holston river as it meanders is the polygon's long southern line until it strikes the extension of the Lochaber Treaty survey line. The line then follows that 36° 30' Donaldson's survey line to the point 6 miles from Long Island (Tennessee). By ceasing to follow the Holston river to the treaty line point some land south of the river was included in the Path Grant. Until March 1775 deed date, land south of the Holston river in the vicinity was unsettled and was Cherokee. The most immediate land that comes to view on the map today is The Long Island of The Holston River. The Long Island was important, even sacred to the Cherokee. This very specific line included in a deed with other very long and nonspecific lines makes it a very important departure from the geographically defined borders. The Cherokee sold the Long Island as a part of the Path Grant. If that is the reason, then Dragging Canoe's opposition justification takes on merit.

The long northern boundary of the polygon is the ridge line of Powell's Mountain from its beginning on the south end to the high point at High Knob.

The Reason For The Path Grant

The purpose of the 9 man syndicate that was Henderson and Co was to purchase the lands of the Great Grant known as the Transylvania Colony from the Cherokee. Those lands are located within what is now Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The syndicate needed a way, a route, a path into those Transylvania Colony lands. At that time, in 1775, the western border of Virginia extended down the Holston River Valley to the noted point on the south fork of the Holston River that was 6 miles up stream from the Long Island. At that point the land to the west was owned by the Cherokee.

The route down the Holston River valley was easily traversed. There were actually settlers, perhaps illegal settlers, living adjacent or nearby to the Long Island. What was needed was a route from this location to the Transylvania lands. That route was across Cherokee lands and subject to all sorts of possible problems with the Cherokee. There was a need to secure that route and the method was to purchase those lands in addition to the Great Grant Transylvania Colony lands. [13]

The syndicate hired Daniel Boone to survey and develop the route. [14] The route is known presently as the Wilderness Road. That path began at what is now Kingsport Tennessee, north across the North Fork of the Holston into present day Virginia, through the Moccasin Gap of Clinch Mountain, across the Clinch River and thence to Powell's mountain where the Transylvania colony lands began. The result was the Path Grant that secured not only the route to Transylvania colony lands but the Holston River settlements and other settlements on the Clinch River.

Events at the Watauga Treaty Gathering

The parties, 1,200 Cherokee and more than 600 whites, gathered at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775 to negotiate the sale of much of the land that is now Kentucky and which is the subject of the Great Grant Deed. It was necessary to hold a second negotiation for land from the Holston River settlements to the Powell Valley to permit unmolested access to the Great Grant lands. That negotiation resulted in the Path Grant. [15] On March 19, 1775, after the negotiations with the Henderson Co, the lease holders for the Watauga settlements around Sycamore Shoals purchased forever from the Cherokee Nation their leaseholds and Jacob Brown purchased his leasehold for the Nolichucky settlements. John Carter and Robert Lucas purchased the recently acquired Carter's Valley from the Richard Henderson Co. [16] [17] Others say the Carter property was awarded as payment for damages resulting from the Cherokee attack and burning of his Carter's valley store [14] The result of this series of transactions transferred most of upper east Tennessee from Cherokee ownership to the settlers.

A very good and detailed account of all events pertaining to the gathering at the Fort Watauga and the various grants may be found at web books The Conquest of the Old Southwest. [18]

The Deed Map

The line of 36° 30' north latitude was established as the Virginia/Carolina border by the king of England in the Carolina Charter of 1655. [19] Generally, the Path Grant boundaries include the land laying between Powell's Mountain on the north and the Holston river on the south. The land includes the Clinch River valley and the Holston River Valley. The various corner points and lines can be easily located on Google Earth.

The Consideration For The Grant

Prior to the gathering and negotiations, "chief Atta kulla-kulla, a young Buck and a squaw" journeyed to North Carolina to view the goods. Their report was favorable and perhaps exaggerated the wealth to be gained from the sale. [20] The payment in valuation of 10,000 British Pounds was made in both silver and goods. The description of goods for the Path Grant is said to consist of "two thousand weight of leather in goods".

The potential acquisition of such abundance of unavailable goods proved to be adequate motivation for the chiefs and their people to overcome the opposition of those opposed to the sale of their lands. There is thus some ambiguity between the language of Great Grant and Path Grant deeds and the historical record. The consideration in both the Great Grant and the Path Grant deeds is said to be 10,000 British pounds. The consideration for the Path Grant is said to be two thousand weight of leather in goods. It can be deduced that there was one payment for both grants totaling 10,000 pounds in money and goods and a separate sweetening of two thousand weight of leather. The research does not yield an unambiguous certainty for the total.

The Opposition of Dragging Canoe

When Dragging Canoe made his speech, [21] it can be argued he was not especially opposed to the sale of the lands around what is now Frankfort or Louisville or even Nashville. Dragging Canoe was opposed to selling the lands along the Holston and Watauga and Nolichucky rivers of East Tennessee. He was opposed to the sale of the Long Island of the Holston. He was opposed to the sale of the lands that were the East Tennessee settlements.

The basis for that argument is his subsequent action. Dragging Canoe did not lead a military campaign to settlements in Kentucky, he led his forces to the Island Flats of the Holston. [22] Old Abram led a second force to attack the nearby Watauga settlement. One wonders if had they not split their force in a two pronged attack if history would have taken a different course. Had their combined forces prevailed in two engagements, there would have been no force to defeat Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain and change the course of the Revolution.

On the day of the signing, Dragging Canoe pointed to the west and said " A dark cloud hangs over that land known as the bloody grounds" [23] Dragging Canoe did not accept the Path Grant Covenants clause noted above.

Names of Signatory Chiefs

The Cherokee Path Grant Deed Signers....."Alla Cullocullah, Oconistoto, and Savanooko otherwise Coronok."

The signer Alla Cullocullah is known in modern times as Attakullakulla, Little Carpenter [24]

The signer Oconistoto is known in modern times as Oconostota. Oconostota and Attakullakulla were cousins and principle chiefs. Oconostota was also Attakullakulla's father in law, [25]

The signer Savanooko otherwise Coronok is known in modern times as Kalanah Savanukah of Chota, the Raven of Chota. "Some historians believe be was Oconostota's nephew, while others stated he married Oconostota's sister. He served as Oconostota's advisor in the second half of the eighteenth-century." [26]

Although not a signer, Dragging Canoe, aka Tsi'yu-gunsini, played an important historical role in Path Deed related events. He was the son of Attakullakulla and nephew of Oconostota. He was cousin to Nancy Ward who also played a part in events resulting from the granting of the Path deed. [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabethton, Tennessee</span> City in Tennessee, United States

Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original Thirteen Colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transylvania Colony</span> Short-lived extra-legal colony in frontier Kentucky

The Transylvania Colony, also referred to as the Transylvania Purchase or the Henderson Purchase, was a short-lived, extra-legal colony founded in early 1775 by North Carolina land speculator Richard Henderson, who formed and controlled the Transylvania Company. Henderson and his investors had reached an agreement to purchase a vast tract of Cherokee lands west of the southern and central Appalachian Mountains through the acceptance of the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals with most leading Cherokee chieftains then controlling these lands. In exchange for the land the tribes received goods worth, according to the estimates of some scholars, about 10,000 British pounds. To further complicate matters, this frontier land was also claimed by the Virginia Colony and a southern portion by Province of North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sevier</span> Soldier, frontiersman and politician (1745-1815)

John Sevier was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennessee's pre-statehood period, both militarily and politically, and he was elected the state's first governor in 1796. He served as a colonel of the Washington District Regiment in the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, and he commanded the frontier militia in dozens of battles against the Cherokee in the 1780s and 1790s.

Dragging Canoe was a Cherokee red chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the Upper South. During the American Revolution and afterward, Dragging Canoe's forces were sometimes joined by Upper Muskogee, Chickasaw, Shawnee, and Indians from other tribes, along with British Loyalists, and agents of France and Spain. The Cherokee American Wars lasted more than a decade after the end of the American Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Robertson (explorer)</span> Explorer and pioneer, born 1742

James Robertson was an American explorer, soldier and Indian agent, and one of the founding fathers of what became the State of Tennessee. An early companion of explorer Daniel Boone, Robertson helped establish the Watauga Association in the early 1770s, and to defend Fort Watauga from an attack by Cherokee in 1776. In 1779, he co-founded what is now Nashville, and was instrumental in the settlement of Middle Tennessee. He served as a brigadier general in the Southwest Territory militia in the early 1790s, and as an Indian Commissioner in later life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chota (Cherokee town)</span> United States historic place

Chota is a historic Overhill Cherokee town site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Developing after nearby Tanasi, Chota was the most important of the Overhill towns from the late 1740s until 1788. It replaced Tanasi as the de facto capital, or 'mother town' of the Cherokee people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attakullakulla</span> Cherokee First Beloved Man

Attakullakulla was an influential Cherokee leader and the tribe's First Beloved Man, serving from 1761 to around 1775. His son was Dragging Canoe, the first leader of the Chickamauga faction of the Cherokee tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overmountain Men</span> American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains

The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. The term "overmountain" arose because their settlements were west of, or "over", the Blue Ridge, which was the primary geographical boundary dividing several of the 13 American states from the Native American lands to the west. The Overmountain Men hailed from parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and what is now Tennessee and Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watauga Association</span> 18th Century semi-autonomous government

The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a few years, the Watauga Association provided a basis for what later developed into the state of Tennessee and likely influenced other western frontier governments in the trans-Appalachian region. North Carolina annexed the Watauga settlement area, by then known as the Washington District, in November 1776. Within a year, the area was placed under a county government, becoming Washington County, North Carolina, in November 1777. This area covers the present day Washington County, Carter County, and other areas now located in the northeast part of the state of Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Henderson (jurist)</span> American pioneer (1735-1785)

Richard Henderson was an American jurist, land speculator and politician who was best known for attempting to create the Transylvania Colony in frontier Kentucky. Henderson County and its seat Henderson, Kentucky are named for him. He also sold land to an early settlement that went on to become Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sycamore Shoals</span> River rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee, US

The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Archeological excavations have found Native Americans lived near the shoals since prehistoric times, and Cherokees gathered there. As Europeans began settling the Trans-Appalachian frontier, the shoals proved strategic militarily, as well as shaped the economies of Tennessee and Kentucky. Today, the shoals are protected as a National Historic Landmark and are maintained as part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee–American wars</span> Indian wars in the Old Southwest

The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American settlers on the frontier. Most of the events took place in the Upper South region. While the fighting stretched across the entire period, there were extended periods with little or no action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Lochaber</span> 1770 treaty between Great Britain and the Cherokee

The Treaty of Lochaber was signed in South Carolina on 18 October 1770 by British representative John Stuart and the Cherokee people, fixing the boundary for the western limit of the colonial frontier settlements of Virginia and North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Watauga</span>

Fort Watauga, also known as Fort Caswell, was a fortification located in the Watauga River's Sycamore Shoals near modern-day Elizabethton, Tennessee. It was constructed from 1775 to 1776 by the Watauga Association, a semi-autonomous government founded by American settlers living near the river, to defend the settlers against attacks from British-allied Indians. The fort was originally named Fort Caswell after the governor of North Carolina, Richard Caswell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area</span> State park in Elizabethton, Tennessee, USA

Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park is a state park located in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The park consists of 70 acres (28.3 ha) situated along the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, a National Historic Landmark where a series of events critical to the establishment of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, and the settlement of the Trans-Appalachian frontier in general, took place. Along with the historic shoals, the park includes a visitor center and museum, the reconstructed Fort Watauga, the Carter House and Sabine Hill . For over a thousand years before the arrival of European explorers, Sycamore Shoals and adjacent lands had been inhabited by Native Americans. The first permanent European settlers arrived in 1770, and established the Watauga Association—one of the first written constitutional governments west of the Appalachian Mountains—in 1772. Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone negotiated the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals in 1775, which saw the sale of millions of acres of Cherokee lands in Kentucky and Tennessee and led to the building of the Wilderness Road. During the American Revolution, Sycamore Shoals was both the site of Fort Watauga, where part of a Cherokee invasion was thwarted in 1776, and the mustering ground for the Overmountain Men in 1780.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overhill Cherokee</span> 18th century Cherokee people who lived on the west side of the Appalachian Mountains

Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 18th-century European traders and explorers from British colonies along the Atlantic coast, as they had to cross the mountains to reach these settlements.

The Cherokee have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Grant Deed</span> Transaction for the sale of property by the Cherokee Nation

The Great Grant Deed, also known as The Great Grant, was a transaction for the sale of property by the Cherokee Nation to Richard Henderson and Company. The grant is also known as the Louisa purchase or the Transylvania purchase. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 17, 1775. The Great Grant was for lands forming Henderson's new Transylvania Colony comprising much of what is now the state of Kentucky.

The Jacob Brown Grant Deeds, also known more simply as the Nolichucky Grants, were transactions for the sale of land by the Cherokee Nation to Jacob Brown. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 25, 1775. The Jacob Brown grants were for two large tracts along the Nolichucky River some of which had been previously leased from the Cherokee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Robertson Grant Deed</span>

The Charles Robertson Grant, also known more simply as the Watauga Grant, was a transaction for the sale of land by the Cherokee Nation to Charles Robertson. The transaction occurred at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River on March 19, 1775. The Charles Robertson Grant was for a large tract in what is now East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, some of which had been previously leased from the Cherokee.

References

  1. ↑ Hawkins County Tennessee Registrar of Deeds, "Book 1", pages 147-151
  2. ↑ Hamer, Philip M. Phd Tennessee A History 1675- 1932, The American Historical Society 1935, vol I page 71
  3. ↑ Hamer, Phillip M. Phd Tennessee A History 1675-1932 The American Historical Society 1935 Vol 1 page 71
  4. ↑ Henderson & Co. Covenants, Partnership Agreement, January 1775, Henderson County Historical and Genealogical Society
  5. ↑ Price, Henry R "Melungeons: The Vanishing Colony of Newman's Ridge" American Studies of Association 1966 citing Overton's Supreme Court records Volume II 1814, page 412
  6. ↑ Tennessee Valley Authority "Navigation Map Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir South Fork Holston River 1953 "
  7. ↑ Jefferson Papers page 11, img 767
  8. ↑ Library of Congress, American Memory, The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1 . General Correspondence 1657-1827 .Richard Henderson, et al To Virginia Convention page 11 ( 767)
  9. ↑ Treaty of Lochaber
  10. ↑ "Cherokee One Feather "The Treaty of Lochaber"". Theonefeather.com. 2009-12-30. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  11. ↑ Tennessee Valley Authority "Navigation Map Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir South Fork Holston River" 1953
  12. ↑ http://www.trigenweb.org/cessions/trans.app.gif%5B%5D
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-01-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. 1 2 Hamer, Philip M. PhD, Tennessee A History 1675- 1932, The American Historical Society 1935, vol 1 page 71
  15. ↑ Alderman, Pat, The Overmountain Men, Erwin 1958
  16. ↑ Jefferson Papers page 31 (img 787)
  17. ↑ Alderman, Pat, The Overmountain Men, Erwin 1958
  18. ↑ Henderson, Archibald, "The Conquest Of The Old Southwest", http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B0/B866/SouthwestC15.html
  19. ↑ TNGen Web Project "The Carolina Charter of 1655" http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions/colonial.html
  20. ↑ The Overmountain Men, Pat Alderman, Erwin 1958 page 24
  21. ↑ Starr, Sharon (2009-04-05). "The James Scrolls: A Speech Given by Dragging Canoe". Thejamesscrolls.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  22. ↑ Alderman, Pat The Overmountain Men, Erwin 1958 pg 31
  23. ↑ Alderman, Pat The Overmountain Men, Erwin 1958 pg 25
  24. ↑ Geni "Attakullakulla "Little Carpenter" Onacona, Ukwaniequa Moytoy (Uku of Tanasi), Cherokee Emissary to England". http://www.geni.com/people/Attakullakulla-Onacona/6000000011727533816
  25. ↑ Geni "Oconastota / Aganstata (Cunne Shote) a.k.a. James Beaver Moytoy (Uku of Chota), First Beloved Man of the Cherokee",
  26. ↑ (16) Geni" Kalanah Savanukah of Chota, the Raven of Chota" http://www.geni.com/people/Kalanah-of-Chota/6000000001629217797
  27. ↑ (17) Geni " http:/ Tai Ya Gansi Ni (Tsí-yu-gûnsí-ní) "Dragging Canoe" (Tatsi), Principal Chief", /www.geni.com/people/Chief-Dragging-Canoe/6000000004086094219
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.