general boundary line
between white and Indian settlements. Influenced by the desire of
individual settlers to fortify their claims and by the opposition of the
natives to white encroachment, the colony designated definite lands for
the Virginia Indians and began to follow more closely the custom of
purchasing all territory received from the natives. To see that this was
done, the Assembly passed numerous laws, pertaining in most cases only
to the specific tribes of Indians mentioned in each act.

In 1653 the Assembly ordered that the commissioners of York County
remove any persons then seated upon the territory of the Pamunkey or
Chickahominy Indians. At the same time both lands and hunting grounds
were assigned to the red men of Gloucester and Lancaster counties. The
following year the Indian tribes of Northampton County on the Eastern
Shore were granted the right to sell their land to the English provided
a majority of the inhabitants of the Indian town consented and provided
the Governor and Council of the colony ratified the procedure. Soon
other tribes were given the same privilege. So anxious were they to
dispose of their land when allowed to convey a legal title, that it
became necessary for the colony to forbid further land transfers without
the Assembly's stamp of approval. Such a step was taken in order to
prevent the continual necessity of apportioning new lands to keep the
natives satisfied.

By 1658 the Assembly had received from several Indian tribes so many
complaints of being deprived of their land, either by force or fraud,
that measures were again adopted to protect the natives in their rights.
No member of the colony was allowed to occupy lands claimed by the
natives without consent from the Governor and Council or from the
commissioners of the territory where the settlement was intended. To
decrease the chances for cheating the Indians, all sales were to be
consummated at quarter courts where unfair purchases could be prevented.

Efforts to protect the Indians in the possession of their lands were
subject to modification from time to time. The treaty of 1646 designated
the York River as the line to separate the settlements of the English
and the natives. But the colony at that time was on the eve of a great
period of expansion. With an estimated population of 15,000 in 1650, the
colony increased by 1666 to approximately 40,000, and by 1681 to
approximately 80,000. To stem the tide of the advancing