The whites were now in their turn the aggressors the trouble being, as usual, that they encroached on lands secured to the red men by solemn treaty.

The Watauga settlements had been kept compact by the presence of the neighboring Indians.

They had grown steadily but slowly.

They extended their domain slightly after every treaty, such treaty being usually though not always the sequel to a successful war; but they never gained any large stretch of territory at once.

Had it not been for the presence of the hostile tribes they would have scattered far and wide over the country, and could not have formed any government.
The preceding spring (1781) the land office had been closed, not to be opened until after peace with Great Britain was definitely declared, the utter demoralization of the government bringing the work to a standstill.