Donelson's Indian Line

Donelson's Indian Line is a Virginia historical marker in Scott County, dedicated 2016.

US Rtes. 23 and 58, at Gate City

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Cherokee Indians lived in this area before European settlement. In the Treaty of Lochaber (1770), the Cherokee agreed to shift westward the boundary between their land and territory open to settlers. This new line was to run from the vicinity of present-day Kingsport, Tennessee, to the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, now in West Virginia. John Donelson represented Virginia in the party that surveyed the line in 1771. With the consent of Cherokee representative Attakullakulla, Donelson blazed a line that extended to the mouth of the Kentucky River, well to the west of the boundary delineated in the treaty. Donelson's line crossed the road near here.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1776 · Carte nouvelle de l'Amérique Angloise contenant tout ce que les Anglois possédent sur… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1796 · Kentuckey. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1797 · Tennassee Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower left sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Kentuckey, 1796, covering the location of Donelson's Indian Line, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Kentuckey, 1796, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Donelson's Indian Line

Historical maps covering this location

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