Of such adventurous spirits was James Robertson, a Virginian born
of Ulster Scot parentage, and a resident of (the present) Wake
County, North Carolina, since his boyhood. Robertson was
twenty-eight years old when, in 1770, he rode over the hills to
Watauga. We can imagine him as he was then, for the portrait
taken much later in life shows the type of face that does not
change. It is a high type combining the best qualities of his
race. Intelligence, strength of purpose, fortitude, and moral
power are there; they impress us at the first glance. At
twenty-eight he must have been a serious young man, little given
to laughter; indeed, spontaneity is perhaps the only good trait
we miss in studying his face. He was a thinker who had not yet
found his purpose--a thinker in leash, for at this time James
Robertson could neither read nor write.
At Watauga, Robertson lived for a while in the cabin of a man
named Honeycut. He chose land for himself and, in accordance with
the custom of the time, sealed his right to it by planting corn.
He remained to harvest his first crop and then set off to gather
his family and some of his friends together and escort them to
the new country. But on the way he missed the trail and wandered
for a fortnight in the mountains. The heavy rains ruined his
powder so that he could not hunt; for food he had only berries
and nuts.
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