h fifty mounted riflemen, fell in
with a small party of Indians who had killed several settlers. He
followed their trail to Scolacutta's town, where he slew eight or nine
Indians, most of whom were friendly. [Footnote: Robertson MSS., Smith to
Robertson, June 19, 1793, etc.; _Knoxville Gazette_, June 15 and July
13, 1793, etc.] The Indians clamored for justice and the surrender of
the militia who had attacked them. Blount warmly sympathized with them,
but when he summoned a court-martial to try Beard it promptly acquitted
him, and the general frontier feeling was strongly in his favor. Other
militia commanders followed his example. Again and again they trailed
the war parties, laden with scalps and plunder, and attacked the towns
to which they went; killing the warriors and capturing squaws and
children. [Footnote: _Knoxville Gazette_, July 13, July 27, 1793, etc.,
etc.]

Revengeful Forays.

The following January another party of red marauders was tracked by a
band of riflemen to Scolacutta's camp. The militia promptly fell on the
camp and killed several Indians, both the hostile and the friendly.
Other Cherokee towns were attacked and partially destroyed. In but one
instance were the whites beaten off. When once the whites fairly began
to make retaliatory inroads they troubled themselves but little as to
whether the Indians they assailed were or were not those who had wronged
them. In one case, four frontiersmen dressed and painted themselves like
Indians prior to starting on a foray to avenge the murder of a neighbor.
They could not find the trail of the murderers, and so went at random to
a Cherokee town, killed four warriors who were asleep on the ground, and
returned to the settlements. Scolacutta at first was very angry with
Blount, and taunted him with his inability to punish the whites, asserting
that the frontiersmen were "making fun" of their well-meaning governor;
but the old chief soon made up his mind that as long as he allowed the
war parties to go through his towns he would have to expect to suffer
at the hands of the injured settlers. He wrote to Blount enumerating
the different murders that had been committed by both sides, and stating
that his people were willing to let the misdeeds stand as off-setting
one another. He closed his letter by stating that the Upper Towns were
for peace, and added: "I want my mate, General Sevier, to see my talk ...
We have often told lies, but now you may depend on h