her boundaries
over the trans-Alleghany region lying within her chartered
limits, Henderson, in whom the genius of the colonizer and the
ambition of the speculative capitalist were found in striking
conjunction, was now inspired to repeat, along broader and more
solidly practical lines, the revolutionary experiment of
Transylvania. It was not his purpose, however, to found an
independent colony; for he believed that millions of acres in the
Transylvania purchase lay within the bounds of North Carolina,
and he wished to open for colonization, settlement, and the sale
of lands, the vast wilderness of the valley of the Cumberland
supposed to lie within those confines. But so universal was the
prevailing uncertainty in regard to boundaries that it was
necessary to prolong the North Carolina-Virginia line in order to
determine whether or not the Great French Lick, the ideal
location for settlement, lay within the chartered limits of North
Carolina.

Judge Henderson's comprehensive plans for the promotion of an
extensive colonization of the Cumberland region soon began to
take form in vigorous action. Just as in his Transylvania project
Henderson had chosen Daniel Boone, the ablest of the North
Carolina pioneers, to spy out the land and select sites for
future location, so now he chose as leader of the new colonizing
party the ablest of the Tennessee pioneers, James Robertson.
Although he was the acknowledged leader of the Watauga settlement
and held the responsible position of Indian agent for North
Carolina, Robertson was induced by Henderson's liberal offers to
leave his comparatively peaceful home and to venture his life in
this desperate hazard of new fortunes. The advance party of eight
white men and one negro, under Robertson's leadership, set forth
from the Holston settlement on February 6, 1779, to make a
preliminary exploration and to plant corn "that bread might be
prepared for the main body of emigrants in the fall." After
erecting a few cabins for dwellings and posts of defense,
Robertson plunged alone into the wilderness and made the long
journey to Post St. Vincent in the Illinois, in order to consult
with George Rogers Clark, who had entered for himself in the
Virginia Land Office several thousand acres of land at the French
Lick. After perfecting arrangements with Clark for securing
"cabin rights" should the land prove to lie in Virginia,
Robertson returned to Watauga to take command of the migration.