nd Yadkin rivers--upon Keowee, Tugaloo, Etowab, Coosa and Flint, on
the east and south, and several of the tributaries of the Tennessee,
on the west and north. If to this list be added the names of Hiwassee,
Enoree, Tallulah, Swannanoa and Watauga, all streams originating and
flowing through this mountainous country in rapid, frolicksome mood,
we have an assemblage of musical sounds, (omitting the hard-sounding
_Flint_,) only equaled in beauty and soft cadence upon the ear, by the
grand and picturesque scenery with which they are surrounded.

According to Adair, one of the earliest settlers of South Carolina,
and who wrote of the four principal tribes, (Cherokees, Shawnees,
Chickasaws and Choctaws,) in 1775, "the Cherokees derive their name
from _Cheera_, or _fire_, which is their reputed lower heaven, and
hence they call their _magi, Cheera-tah-gee_, men possessed of the
divine fire."

Within twenty miles of old Fort Loudon, built on the Tennessee in
1756, says the same authority, "there is a great plenty of whetstones
for razors, of red, white and black colors. The silver mines are so
rich that by digging about ten yards (thirty feet) deep, some
desperate vagrants found at sundry times, so much rich ore as to
enable them to counterfeit dollars to a great amount, a horse load of
which was detected in passing for the purchase of negroes at Augusta."
"A tradition, says Dr. Ramsey, (Annals of Tennessee,) still continues
of the existence of the silver mine mentioned by Adair."

After the whites had settled near, and began to encroach upon the
"Over-Hill Towns," their inhabitants withheld all knowledge of the
mines from the traders, fearing their cupidity for the precious metals
might lead to their appropriation by others, and the ultimate
expulsion of the natives from the country. The history of the
Cherokees is closely identified with that of the early settlements of
the frontiers of the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee, and
all suffered from their vigorous and frequent hostile and murderous
incursions. They were formidable for their numbers, and passionate
fondness for war. They were the mountaineers of Aboriginal America,
and like all other inhabitants of an Alpine region, cherished a deep
affection for their country, and defended it with a lasting devotion
and persevering tenacity. Little of their early history can be
gathered from their traditions, extending back scarcely a century
preceding the Revolutio