James Robertson (explorer): Difference between revisions

{{Other people||James Robertson (disambiguation){{!}}James Robertson}}

|caption= '''"Father of Tennessee"'''<br>Copy of James Robertson portrait<br> (Original by [[Washington Bogart Cooper]])

|birth_place= [[Brunswick County, Virginia]], UnitedBritish StatesAmerica

'''James Robertson''' (June 28, 1742 &ndash; September 1, 1814) was an American explorer, soldier and Indian agent, and one of the founding fathers of what became the State of [[Tennessee]]. An early companion of explorer [[Daniel Boone]], Robertson helped establish the [[Watauga Association]] in the early 1770s, and helpedto defend [[Fort Watauga]] from an attack by the [[CherokeesCherokee]] in 1776. In 1779, he cofoundedco-founded what is now [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], and was instrumental in the settlement of [[Middle Tennessee]]. He served as a brigadier general in the [[Southwest Territory]] militia in the early 1790s, and as an Indian Commissioner in later life.

Robertson was born in 1742 in [[Brunswick County, Virginia|Brunswick County]], [[Virginia]], of [[Scotch-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] and [[English American|English]] descent., to John Randolph Robertson and Mary (Gower) Blakely. Around 17501749, his father relocated the family to [[Wake County, North Carolina]]. HeRobertson worked onwith his father'ssiblings on their family farm and had limited formal education, but he learned to track and hunt animals and know his way in the woods and waterways.

RobertsonAfter returnedreturning to North Carolina, and married Charlotte Reeves in 1767. HeRobertson became involved with the [[Regulator movement]]. They banded togetherrecruited a group of settlers to return to the Watauga River valley, which they believed to be in Virginia (at that time including present-day West Virginia). In 1772, Robertson and the pioneers who had settled in Northeast Tennessee (along the Watauga River, the [[Doe River|Doe]], the [[Holston River|Holston]] and the [[Nolichucky River|Nolichucky]] rivers) met at [[Sycamore Shoals]] to establish an independent regional government known as the Watauga Association.

However, in 1772, surveyors placed the land officially within the domain of the [[Cherokee]] tribe, who had long occupied this area. They required negotiationthe ofsettlers to negotiate a lease withto thecultivate settlers.and Tragedysettle struckon their land. asAs the signed lease was being celebrated, when a Cherokee warrior was murdered by a white man. Robertson's skillful diplomacy made peace with the irate [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]Cherokee, who threatened to expel the settlers by force if necessary.

In 1775, a treaty meeting was held between the Cherokee and a delegation of the [[Transylvania (colony)|Transylvania Company]], headed by [[Richard Henderson (American pioneer)|Richard Henderson]]. Under the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals (or the Treaty of Watauga), the Transylvania Company purchased a vast amount of land from the CherokeesCherokee, including most of present-day Kentucky and part of [[Tennessee]]. The treaty was technically illegal since only the purchasegovernment ofcould landhave fromformal Nativetransactions Americansand waspurchase reservedland byfrom theNative governmentAmerican tribes. (theThe British, the colonial governments of Virginia and North Carolina and, later, the United States, all forbade private purchase of land from Indians).

During the treaty process, [[Dragging Canoe]], son of the Cherokee chief [[Attacullaculla]], made a speech condemning the sale of any Cherokee land, which the tribe held in common for the use of all. andHe broke from the general Cherokee tribal government to form thea sub-tribeband knownthat asthe pioneers called the [[Chickamauga Cherokee]] or Chickamauga, for their settlement, although the people never had a separate tribal identity. After Henderson's Transylvania Company had bought Kentucky (although other tribes claimed it, such as the [[Shawnee]] also claimed it), Daniel Boone was hired to widen the Indian path over [[Cumberland Gap]] to facilitate migration by Anglo-American pioneers. This road became known as the [[Wilderness Road]].

Robertson's group remainedlived at Watauga in peace until July 1776, when Chief Old Abraham of Chilhowee led a Cherokee contingent that attacked Fort Watauga (a defensive log fort built for defense purposes by the Watauga Association). A 40-man contingent commanded by John Carter, with Robertson and [[John Sevier]] as lieutenants, withstood a siege of about two weeks. After the CherokeesCherokee were subjugated later that year, the governor of North Carolina appointed Robertson as Indian agent to reside at the Cherokee capital. He was to holdprevent them infrom checkforming andan thwartalliance with the designsBritish ofto thefight [[Greatas Britain|British]]their allies against the rebels during the [[American Revolution]].

In the spring of 1779, heduring the Revolutionary War, Robertson and [[John Donelson]] founded [[Fort Nashborough]], later to become [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]],. It was then part of the [[Washington District, North Carolina]]. He represented [[Davidson County, Tennessee|Davidson County]] (home of Fort Nashborough in present-day Tennessee, not to be confused with the modern [[Davidson County, North Carolina]]), in the North Carolina legislature and had the settlement established as a town,. andHe also established the first school there, the historic Davidson Academy for male students.<ref>https://{{cite web.archive.org/web/20100413100327/|url=http://www.davidsonacademy.com/about_da/history-1.htm "Beginnings, 1784|archive-1786". Davidson Academy, 2007.</ref> (not to be confused with the present-day Davidson Academy that was founded as Madison Christian School for elementary school students, grade levels 1 through 4, during 1980<ref>httpurl=https://wwwweb.davidsonacademyarchive.comorg/why-da "Why DA?"<web/20100413100327/ref><ref>http://docswww.wixstaticdavidsonacademy.com/ugdabout_da/749b40_465f0302a0c34939b9dfcb4ee4abb344history-1.pdfhtm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 "April 2010|title=Davidson Academy Handbook- forAbout StudentsDA|date=13 andApril Parents". History.2010}}</ref>).

RobertsonThe was[[Spain|Spanish]] offeredgovernor peaceof andformer theFrench freeterritory navigationwest of the [[Mississippi River]] byoffered Robertson peace and the [[Spain|Spanish]]free governor,navigation of the Mississippi in exchange for his leaving the United States and establishing&nbsp;— along with the Watauga settlement and Kentucky&nbsp;— an independent government. He refused to consider the matter. In 1790, he was appointed brigadier-general of the territorial militia by U.S. President [[George Washington]], and his military services did not end until 1796. He shared with Sevier the honor and affection of Tennesseans, and he held the post of Indian commissioner until his death in 1814.

* [[Daniel Boone]]

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