Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-06-29
PIONEER DAYS OF TAzE
WE'LL COUNTY. VA.


In the following paper l have Ell
dcavored to narrate in uncolored Inn.
guage brief account of tue pioneer
days of Tuzewell county. For my
information have depended mninly
upou tho records in the county clerks
Office and upon traditions and facts
furnished verbally aud by letters
FROM the older citizens of tho county,
hoping thus to preserve aud to bring
to the attention of others long for
gotten fncts connected with the his
tory of the county. Much of the
data given me, especially that relat.
ing to the exchange of property aud
to the local officials, | fiud substanti.
ated i'll the records Of the county
clerks office.
Tazewell county was created bv an
Act of Assembly on December 10th,
1893. Turning to the minutes of
the Assembly we read the following
(D"Resolved that it is the opinion
OF this committee that the petition of
divers inhabitants of the counties of
Wythe and Russell praying that n
new county be formed out of those
parts of the said counties, with the
following bounds, towit, beginning
at the kanawha line. thence running
with the line that divides the coun,
ties of Wythe and Montgomery, to
where the snid liuo crosses the ton
OF Dusky mountain, thence along the
top OF tho said mountain to it's juno
ton with Garden mountain, thence
along The said mountain to Clinch
mountain, thence along the top OF
Clinch mountain to the head of Cove
creek, branch of Maiden Spring forl,
of Clinch River; thence straight
line to AIann's gap i'll Kent's ridge;
thence north 45o west till it strikes
the line that divides tho State of
Kentucky from that of Virginia,
thence along The said line to the
Kanawha line, aud with that line TO
the beginning, is reasonable
The first explorers of this region
were Col. james Patton, DIR. Thomas
Walker, (b) Col. John Buchanan, Col.
James Wood and Major Charles
Campbell, who visited this hitherto
unknown territory i'll l748
At this time severnl small Indian
tribes held the country us their last
hunting ground. The luxuriant
growth of bluegrass in the valleys
and the wild pea vines on tho noun
tain sides furnished abundant food
for the elk and deer. Although ut
the coming of tie whites there were
but few struggling bands of Indians,
there were numerous evidences of II
once numerous population Even to
this day tomahawks and arrow point )
are picked u.p i'll great numbers. AS
you enter Abb's Valley. one of the
numerous natural divisions of tho
county. the remains of n large, circu-
lar stone fort arc to be seer; the giant
trees standing within the enclosure
indicate n hoary ago. Even the mod
ern savnges who were first found in
posse ssion knew nothing of it's his
tory. In the western part of the
county, on the Paint Lick mountain.
there are numerous painting; on the
face of the Jorge rocks crowning its
summit. One painting is of M In
dian warrior i'll the attitude of shoot
ing an arrow; another represents n
strutting turkey gobbler. These
paintings were done with red hena
tite found near the base of the noun.
tain.
(c) Tho first settlers of the county
were mainly of Scotch-Irish abstrac
ton. Men who drifted from the
Pennsylvania colonies down to the
valley of tie Shenandoah, following
the Appalachian into Tennessee and
North Carolina.
The first settler of the county of
whom we have any account was John
Burke, who, in 1854. took up his
lonely abode i'll the geautiful noun
tain girt valley how known as Burks
Garden. William 1ngles of the Dra
pcr's Valley settlement in Montgon.
cry county, had taken up lands in
Burk's Garden under the authority
of the Loyal Land Company as early
ed there till 1775.
For several years the Shawnees on
the Ohio and the Slots and Chero-
KEGS cf North Carolina, Alabama and
Tennessee, had been engaged IN q
fierce war, Tazewell county being a
portion of the disputed territory and
the seat of numerous battles. The
lonely settlers were in continual dan
ger OF their life, but for some time
they suffered no molestation by The
savages, ns each nation was desiroua
of Obtaining the good will of the
whites, a few loads of powder being
sufficient to ransom man.
The numerous hunting parties
were accustomed 10 go out from the
older settlements in the valley in
search of game. which was very plen.
tiful 0bOut fha hao1uotare Of t,o