St. Clair and Wayne 3 



the adventurers of the border; save for the shield 

 thus offered by the fighting tribes it would have 

 been impossible to bar the frontiersmen from the 

 territory either to the north or to the south of the 

 boundaries of the United States. 



Congress had tried hard to bring about peace with 

 the Southern Indians, both by sending commission- 

 ers to them and by trying to persuade the three 

 Southern States to enter into mutually beneficial 

 treaties with them. A successful effort was also 

 made to detach the Chickasaws from the others, and 

 keep them friendly with the United States. Con- 

 gress as usual sympathized with the Indians against 

 the intruding whites, although it was plain that only 

 by warfare could the red men be permanently sub- 

 dued. 3 



The Cumberland people felt the full weight of the 

 warfare, the Creeks being their special enemies. 

 Robertson himself lost a son and a brother in the 

 various Indian attacks. To him fell the task of try- 

 ing to put a stop to the ravages. He was the leader 

 of his people in every way, their commander in war 

 and their spokesman when they sought peace; and 

 early in 1788 he wrote a long letter on their behalf 

 to the Creek chief McGillivray. After disclaiming 

 all responsibility for or connection with the Frank- 

 lin men, he said that the settlers for whom he spoke 

 had not had the most distant idea that any Indians 



3 State Dept. MSS., No. 180, p. 66; No. 151, p. 275. Also 

 letters of Richard Winn to Knox, June 25, 1788; James 

 White to Knox, Aug. i, 1788; Joseph Martin to Knox, July 



25, 1788. 



