tely blended to
create a typical democracy. The rolling of wave after wave of
settlement westward across the American continent, with a
reversion to primitive conditions along the line of the farthest
frontier, and a marked rise in the scale of civilization at each
successive stage of settlement, from the western limit to the
eastern coast, exemplifies from one aspect the history of the
American people during two centuries. This era, constituting the
first stage in our national existence, and productive of a
buoyant national character shaped in democracy upon a free soil,
closed only yesterday with the exhaustion of cultivable free
land, the disappearance of the last frontier, and the recent
death of "Buffalo Bill". The splendid inauguration of the period,
in the region of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and
Kentucky, during the second half of the eighteenth century, is
the theme of this story of the pioneers of the Old Southwest.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I THE MIGRATION OF THE PEOPLES
II THE CRADLE OF WESTWARD EXPANSION
III THE BACK COUNTRY AND THE BORDER
IV THE INDIAN WAR
V IN DEFENSE OF CIVILIZATION
VI CRUSHING THE CHEROKEES
VII THE LAND COMPANIES
VIII THE LONG HUNTERS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE
IX DANIEL BOONE AND WILDERNESS EXPLORATION
X DANIEL BOONE IN KENTUCKY
XI THE REGULATORS
XII WATAUGA--HAVEN OF LIBERTY
XIII OPENING THE GATEWAY--DUNMORE'S WAR
XIV RICHARD HENDERSON AND THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY
XV TRANSYLVANIA--A WILDERNESS COMMONWEALTH
XVI THE REPULSE OF THE RED MEN
XVII THE COLONIZATION OF THE CUMBERLAND
XVIII KING'S MOUNTAIN
XIX THE STATE OF FRANKLIN
XX THE LURE OF SPAIN--THE HAVEN OF STATEHOOD

THE CONQUEST OF THE OLD SOUTHWEST

CHAPTER I. The Migration of the Peoples

Inhabitants flock in here daily, mostly from Pensilvania and
other parts of America, who are over-stocked with people and Mike
directly from Europe, they commonly seat themselves towards the
West, and have got near the mountains.--Gabriel Johnston,
Governor of North Carolina, to the Secretary of the Board of
Trade, February 15, 1751.

At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population
had swept inland to the "fall line", the westward boundary of the
established settlements. The actual frontier had been advanced by
the more aggressive pioneers to within fifty miles of the Blue
Ridge. So rapid was the settlement