possession of an early "Cherokee Strip" was won by the latter
band, who at once took possession and began to clear; so that
when the Kirtleys arrived, Martin coolly handed them "a letter
from Dr. Walker that informed them that if we got to the valley
first, we were to have 21,000 acres of land, and they were not to
interfere with us." Martin and his companions were delighted with
the beautiful valley at the base of the Cumberland, quickly "eat
and destroyed 23 deer--15 bears--2 buffaloes and a great quantity
of turkeys," and entertained gentlemen from Virginia and Maryland
who desired to settle more than a hundred families there. The
company reckoned, however, without their hosts, the Cherokees,
who, fortified by the treaty of Hard Labor (1768) which left this
country within the Indian reservation, were determined to drive
Martin and his company out. While hunting on the Cumberland
River, northwest of Cumberland Gap, Martin and his company were
surrounded and disarmed by a party of Cherokees who said they had
orders from Cameron, the royal agent, to rob all white men
hunting on their lands. When Martin and his party arrived at
their station in Powell's Valley, they found it broken up and
their goods stolen by the Indians, which left them no recourse
but to return to the settlements in Virginia. It was not until
six years later that Martin, under the stable influence of the
Transylvania Company, was enabled to return to this spot and
erect there the station which was to play an integral part in the
progress of westward expansion.

Before going on to relate Boone's explorations of Kentucky under
the auspices of the land company, it will be convenient to turn
back for a moment and give some account of other hunters and
explorers who visited that territory between the time of its