- Collection:
- Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
- Title:
- [Letter] 1803 June 9, Knoxville, [Tennessee to] Henry Dearborne [i.e., Dearborn], Secretary [of] War / Archibald Roane, Governor of the State of Tennessee of an image
- Creator:
- Roane, Archibald, 1760-1819
- Publisher:
- Manuscript held by the Special Collections Library, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, Governor Roane Papers , box 1, folder 3, document tl003.
- Date of Original:
- 1803-06-09
- Subject:
- Indians of North America--Government relations
Brigands and robbers - Location:
- United States, 39.76, -98.5
United States, Tennessee, 35.75035, -86.25027 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/html
image/jpeg - Description:
- This document is a letter written on June 9, 1803, by Tennessee Governor Archibald Roane (1801-1803) to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. Roane informs Dearborn that bandits have been attacking travellers on a road in Tennessee Roane offers some suggestions to insure the safety of the travellers, including offering a reward to induce the Indians to help catch the culprits. It is not known if the bandits are Indians, white men, or both, but Roane expresses concern that if it were discovered that the bandits are from an Indian nation, relations between the Indians and whites in the region would deteriorate.
Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries in 2001, as part of GALILEO, funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. - Local Identifier:
- grp003
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_grp003
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_grp003#item
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_grp003/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [title of item], Governor Roane Papers , Special Collections Library, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia
- Extent:
- 2 pages/leaves
- Holding Institution:
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
Page: [1]
Knoxville
9th June 1803
Sir
The road passing through the Indian Country from Nashville to Natchez has for some time past been infested with a gang of Banditts [Bandits], whether White men or Indians or both, has not been fully ascertained. I enclose a [added text: copy of a ] Letter from General Winchester on that subject. Not long before the transaction mentioned by him three of the Citizens of this state were returning from Natchez they were fired on, and one of the party ( Reuben White ) killed, the others made their escape, they were pursued several miles by three persons one of whom they supposed to be a white man and the other two Indians.
I am aware of the difficulty of devising any effectual plan to ensure the safety of travellers on that road, or to [added text: discover and ] apprehend the perpetrators of such crimes -- Perhaps a [deleted text: few men stationed at different ] [added text: some houses of entertainment and a few ] posts [added text: established ] on the road (say at the [deleted text: [illegible text] ] Duck and Tennessee rivers) might have a good effect [deleted text: on deterring ] and a reward offered might
Page: [2]
induce some of the Indians to use their efforts under the direction of the Agents to apprehend the offenders, or such other measures as the President may think proper to direct.
I wish to hear from you on this subject as soon as Convenient. If Similar cases should occur and it should appear that the offenders belong to any tribe of Indians I doubt whether the frontier citizens would wait for the Orders of Government while their minds are so much [added text: [illegible text] Justly ] irritated -- Every thing [Everything] in my power will be done to make a discovery of the perpetrators of the Murders and Robberies [added text: and also ] to preserve that peace [deleted text: friends ] with the Indians which is so necessary to our prosperity [deleted text: and ]
I am Sir with great respect [deleted text: [illegible text] ] Your Most Obd [Obedient] Servant
[Signed] Archibald Roane
Henry Dearborne Esq [Esquire] Secretary at War