380 The Winning of the West 



The speech is interesting because it shows that 

 the Indians both liked and respected Sevier, their 

 most redoubtable foe; and because it acknowledges 

 that in the previous war the Cherokees themselves 

 had been the wrongdoers. Even Old Tassel had 

 been implicated in the treacherous conduct of the 

 chiefs at that period; but he generally acted very 

 well, and belonged with the large number of his 

 tribesmen who, for no fault of their own, were 

 shamefully misused by the whites. 



The white intruders were not removed. No 

 immediate collision followed on this account; but 

 when Old Tassel's talk was forwarded to the gov- 

 ernor, small parties of Chickamaugas, assisted by 

 young braves from among the Creeks and Erati, 

 had already begun to commit ravages on the out- 

 lying settlements. Two weeks before Old Tassel 

 spoke, on the nth of September, a family of whites 

 was butchered on Moccasin Creek. The neighbors 

 gathered, pursued the Indians, and recaptured the 

 survivors. 21 Other outrages followed, throughout 

 the month. Sevier as usual came to the rescue of 

 the angered settlers. He gathered a couple of hun- 

 dred mounted riflemen, and made one of his swift 

 retaliatory inroads. His men were simply volun- 

 teers, for there was no money in the country treas- 

 ury with which to pay them or provide them with 

 food and provisions ; it was their own quarrel, and 

 they furnished their own services free, each bring- 

 ing his horse, rifle, ammunition, blanket, and wallet 



21 Calendar of Va. State Papers, III, p. 317. 



