148 The Winning of the West 



the Holston country to the Cumberland, a distance 

 of one hundred and ten miles through the wilder- 

 ness, and the departure of this annual escort was 

 advertised for weeks in advance. 



Sometimes the escort was thus provided by the 

 authorities. More often adventurers simply banded 

 together, or else some enterprising man advertised 

 that on a given date he should start and would pro- 

 vide protection for those who chose to accompany 

 him. Thus, in the "Knoxville Gazette" for February 

 6, 1795, a boat captain gives public notice to all 

 persons who wish to sail from the Holston country 

 to New Orleans, that on March ist, if the waters 

 answer, his two boats will start, the Mary of 

 twenty-five tons, and the Little Polly of fifteen tons. 

 Those who had contracted for freight and passage 

 are desired to attend previous to that period. 



There was of course a good deal of lawlessness 

 and a strong tendency to settle assault and battery 

 cases in particular out of court. The officers of jus- 

 tice at times had to subdue criminals by open force. 

 Andrew Jackson, who was District Attorney for 

 the Western District, early acquired fame by the 

 energy and success with which he put down any 

 criminal who resisted the law. The worst of- 

 fenders fled to the Mississippi Territory, there 

 to live among Spaniards, Creoles, Indians, and 

 lawless Americans. Lawyers drove a thriving 

 business; but they had their own difficulties, to 

 judge by one advertisement, which appears in the 

 issue of the "Gazette" for March 23, 1793, where 



