Note 105 — JOURNAL OF ANDRÉ MICHAUX

Gen. James Robertson, the founder of West Tennessee, was born in Virginia in 1742, but removed to North Carolina at an early age, and was one of the first settlers of Watauga. In 1774 he took part in Dunmore’s War, defended the Watauga fort in a siege in 1776, and three years later removed with a party to the Cumberland. This settlement was maintained only by heroic exertions, and the courage and wisdom of Robertson in his dealing with the Indians. In 1790, Washington appointed him brigadier-general and Indian commissioner. He died in the Chickasaw country in 1814.—​Ed.