of his
task, public inappreciation was awaiting him.

And yet it seems to the present writer that every person interested
in the growth and development of the republic should turn with eager
attention to a narrative embodying the events that have marked the
progress of Georgia. It was in this State that some of the most
surprising and spectacular scenes of the Revolution took place. In one
corner of Georgia those who were fighting for the independence of the
republic made their last desperate stand; and if they had surrendered to
the odds that faced them, the battle of King's Mountain would never have
been fought, Greene's southern campaign would have been crippled, and
the struggle for liberty in the south would have ended in smoke.

It is to illustrate the larger events that these stories have been
written; and while some of them may seem far away from this point of
view, they all have one common purpose and tend to one common end.

STORIES OF GEORGIA.

A SEARCH FOR TREASURE.

[Illustration: De Soto 014]

So far as written records tell us, Hernando de Soto and his companions
in arms were the first white men to enter and explore the territory now
known on the map as the State of Georgia. Tradition has small voice in
the matter, but such as it has tells another story. There are hints that
other white men ventured into this territory before De Soto and his men
beheld it. General Oglethorpe, when he came to Georgia with his gentle
colony, which had been tamed and sobered by misfortune and ill luck,
was firmly of the opinion that Sir Walter Raleigh, the famous soldier,
sailor, and scholar, had been there before him. So believing, the
founder of the Georgian Colony carried with him Sir Walter's diary. He
was confirmed in his opinion by a tradition, among the Indians of the
Yamacraw tribe, that Raleigh had landed where Savannah now stands.
There are also traditions in regard to the visits of other white men
to Georgia. These traditions may be true, or they may be the results
of dreams, but it is certain that De Soto and his picked company of
Spaniards were the first to march through the territory that is now
Georgia. The De Soto expedition was made up of the flower of Spanish
chivalry,--men Used to war, and fond of adventure. Some of them were
soldiers, anxious to win fame by feats of arms in a new land; some were
missionaries, professing an anxiety for the souls of such heathen as
they might encounter, bu