h the mist that shrouds early western
history, is striking and picturesque in itself; yet its chief interest
lies in the fact that he was but a type of many other men whose lives
were no less lonely and dangerous. He had no qualities to make him a
leader when settlements sprang up around him. To the end of his days he
remained a solitary hunter and Indian fighter, spurning restraint and
comfort, and seeking the strong excitement of danger to give zest to his
life. Even in the time of the greatest peril from the savages he would
not stay shut up in the forts, but continued his roving, wandering life,
trusting to his own quick senses, wonderful strength, and iron nerves.
He even continued to lie out at night, kindling a fire, and then lying
down to sleep far from it. [Footnote: _Southwestern Monthly_, Nashville,
1852, vol. II. General Hall's narrative.]

Robertson Travels Thither.

Early in the year 1779 a leader of men came to the place where the old
hunter had roamed and killed game; and with the new-comer came those who
were to posses the land. Robertson left the Watauga settlements soon
after the spring opened, [Footnote: It is very difficult to reconcile
the dates of these early movements; even the contemporary documents are
often a little vague, while Haywood, Ramsey, and Putnam are frequently
months out of the way. Apparently Robertson stayed as commissioner in
Chota until February or March, 1779, when he gave warning of the
intended raid of the Chickamaugas, and immediately afterwards came back
to the settlements and started out for the Cumberland, before Shelby
left on his Chickamauga expedition. But it is possible that he had left
Chota before, and that another man was there as commissioner at the time
of the Chickamauga raid which was followed by Shelby's counter-stroke.]
with eight companions, one of them a negro. He followed Boon's
trace,--Wilderness Road,--through Cumberland Gap, and across the
Cumberland River. Then he struck off southwest through the wilderness,
lightening his labor by taking the broad, well-beaten buffalo trails
whenever they led in his direction; they were very distinct near the
pools and springs, and especially going to and from the licks. The
adventurers reached the bend of the Cumberland without mishap, and fixed
on the neighborhood of the Bluff, the ground near the French Lick, as
that best suited for their purpose; and they planted a field of corn on
the site of the future for