ments had
been made on the beautiful plateau of country between the Yadkin and
Catawba rivers. At this time, the Cherokee Indians, the most powerful
of the Western tribes, still claimed the territory, as rightful "lords
of the soil," and were committing numerous depredations and occasional
murders. In 1756, Fort Dobbs about twenty miles West of Salisbury, was
built for the protection of the small neighborhood of farmers and
grazers around it. Even the thriving colony of "Albemarle county" on
the seaboard now felt its growing importance was beginning to call for
"more room," and seek new possessions in the interior, thus
unconsciously fulfilling the truth of the poet's prediction, "Westward
the course of empire takes its way."

On the 3d of April, 1765, William Tryon qualified as Commander
in-chief, and Captain-General of the Province of North Carolina. The
administration of Governor Tryon embraces an important period in the
history of the State. He was a soldier by profession, and being
trained to arms, looked upon the sword as the true scepter of
government. "He knew when to flatter, and when to threaten. He knew
when 'discretion was the better part of valor,' and when to use such
force and cruelty as achieved for him from the Cherokee Indians, the
bloody title of the 'Great Wolf of North Carolina.' He could use
courtesy towards the Assembly when he desired large appropriations for
his magnificent palace; and knew how to bring to bear the
blandishments of the female society of his family, and all the
appliances of generous hospitality."[D] Governor Tryon first met the
Assembly in the town of Wilmington on the 3d of May 1765. "In his
address, he opposed all religious intolerance, and, although he
recommended provision for the clergy out of the public treasury, yet
he advised the members of the Church of England of the folly of
attempting to establish it by legal enactment. Under such
recommendations, a law was passed legalizing the marriages (which
before were denounced as illegal) performed by Presbyterian ministers,
and authorizing them and other dissenting clergymen to perform that
rite."[E]

On the 22nd of March, 1765, the Stamp Act was passed. This act
produced great excitement throughout the whole country, and no where
was it more violently denounced than in North Carolina. The
Legislature was then in session, and so intense and wide-spread was
the opposition to this odious measure, that Governor Tryon,
appreh