76 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [eth.ann.19 



of them osfiiped, Imt tlio other one \v;is found killed find scalpi'd when 

 the rest of theeonipuny cunie up, and wiis buried with the tir^it victims. 

 Sevier's success brought temporar}' respite to the Cumberland settle- 

 ments. During- the early part of the year the Indian attacks In- 

 small raiding parties had l)een so frequent and annoying that a force 

 of men had been kept out on patrol service under officers who adopted 

 with some success the policy of hunting the Indians in their camping 

 places in the thickets, rather than waiting for them to come into the 

 settlements.' 



In February, ITDi, the Territorial assembly of Tennessee met at 

 Knoxville and, among other business transacted, addressed a strong 

 memoi"ial to Congi-ess calling for more efficient protection for the 

 frontier and demanding a declaration of war against the Creeks and 

 Cherokee. The memorial states that since the treaty of Holston (-July, 

 ITl'l), these two tribes had killed in a most barbarous and inhuman 

 manner more than two hundred citizens of Tennessee, of both .sexes, 

 had carried others into captivity, destroyed their stock, burned 

 their houses, and laid waste their plantations, had robbed the citizens 

 of their slaves and stolen at least two thousand horses. Special atten- 

 tion was directed to the two great invasions in September, 1792, and 

 September, 1793, and the memorialists declare that there was scarcely 

 a man of the assembly but could tell of "a dear wife or child, an aged 

 parent or near relation, liesides friends, massacred by the hands of these 

 bloodthirsty nations in their house or fields."^ 



In the meantime the raids continued and every scattered cabin was a 

 target for attack. In April a party of twenty warriors surrounded 

 the house of a man named Casteel on the French Broad about nine 

 miles above Knoxville and massacred father, mother, and four children 

 in most brutal fashion. One child only was left alive, a girl of ten 

 years, who was found scalped and bleeding from six tomahawk gashes, 

 yet survived. The others were buried in one grave. The massacre 

 roused such a storm of excitement that it required all the efi'ort 

 of the governoi- and the local officials to prevent an invasion in force 

 of the Indian country. It was learned that Doublehead, of the Chicka- 

 mauga towns, was trying to get the support of the valley towns, which, 

 however, continued to maintain an attitude of peace. The friendly 

 Cherokee also declared that the Spaniards were constantly in.stigating 

 the lower towns to hostilities, although John Watts, one of their prin- 

 cipal chiefs, advocated peace." 



In June a boat under conmiand of William Scott, laden with pots, 

 hardware, and other property, and containing six white men, three 

 women, four children, and twenty negroes, left Knoxville to descend 



1 Ramsey, Tennessee, pp. 590, 602-605, 1853. 



'Haywood. Civil and Political History of Tennessee, pp. 300-302; Knoxville, 1823. 

 3 Ibid., pp. 303-308, 1.S23: Ramsey, op. cit., pp. .591-594. Haywood's history of thi.s period is little more 

 than a continuous record of killings and petty encounters. 



