tion
of Captain (afterwards General) Robertson and Colonel John Donaldson, to
establish the earliest colony in that part of the country. The account of
this expedition, and the planting of the settlement, is contained in the
memoir of "Sarah Buchanan," vol. iii. of "Women of the American
Revolution."

The daughter of Colonel Bledsoe, from whose recollection Mr. Haynes has
obtained most of the incidents recorded in these sketches, has in her
possession letters that passed between her father and General Robertson, in
which repeated allusions are made to the fact that to his suggestions and
counsel was owing the first thought of emigration to the Cumberland Valley.
In 1784, Anthony Bledsoe removed with his family to the new settlement of
which he had thus been one of the founders. His brother, Colonel Isaac
Bledsoe, had gone the year before. They took up their residence in what is
now Sumner County, and established a fort or station at "Bledsoe's
Lick"--now known as the Castalian Springs. The families being thus united,
and the eldest daughter of Anthony married to David Shelby, the station
became a rallying-point for an extensive district surrounding it. The
Bledsoes were used to fighting with the Indians; they were men of
well-known energy and courage, and their fort was the place to which the
settlers looked for protection--the colonels being the acknowledged leaders
of the pioneers in their neighborhood, and the terror, far and near, of the
savage marauders. Anthony was also a member of the North Carolina
Legislature from Sumner County.

From 1780 to 1794, or 1795, a continual warfare was kept up by the Creeks
and Cherokees against the inhabitants of the valley. The history of this
time would be a fearful record of scenes of bloody strife and atrocious
barbarity. Several hundred persons fell victims to the ruthless foe, who
spared neither age nor sex, and many women and children were carried far
from their friends into hopeless captivity. The settlers were frequently
robbed and their negro slaves taken away; in the course of a few years two
thousand horses were stolen; their cattle and hogs were destroyed, their
houses and barns burned, and their plantations laid waste. In consequence
of these incursions, many of the inhabitants gathered together at the
stations on the frontier, and established themselves under military rule
for the protection of the interior settlements. During this desperate
period, the pursuits of