130 Million years ago  in Tennessee,  there used to be beavers as big as bears. There were also elephant like mammoths called Mastodons. They could reach up with their trunks and get leaves off high trees. They were also the Paleo Indian’s main source of food.   One of the main predators during this time was the saber-toothed tiger.  They found one of it’s bottom jaw bones, and it was as big as a tiger’s.  Scientist think most of the dinosaurs went south and the rest stayed and eventually died out.  When the ice age came  some of them migrated and the rest of them stayed.

By : Brent  (May, 2000)
Resources:  Heartland Series Video, narrated by Bill Landry
Tennessee Studies Weekly, Vol. 1 Issue 2

10,000 - 8,000 B. C. – Paleo Indian Period

The Paleo Indians arrived in Tennessee at the end of the last Ice Age some 13,000 years ago.  They did not live in permanent settlements  but moved from camp to camp.  The locations of these temporary camps were determined by the movements of game herds and the seasonal availability of wild plant food.  They did not own many things.   Today arrowheads and spear points used by the Paleo Indians to hunt animals such as the mastodon and caribou can be found in caves and rock shelters where these Indians made their homes.

 8,000-1,000 B. C. – Archaic Indian Period

The Archaic Indians made good use of the natural resources using plant fibers, vines, strings, rushes, grasses for making baskets.  They used spears for hunting.     During the early time they were mainly hunters and gatherers.   During the later time  there is evidence that they introduced agriculture to Tennessee.    Pottery was developed at the end of the Archaic Period.  They also made copper jewelry, and were the first people known to have dogs as pets.

1000 B. C. – 1000 A. D.  The Woodland Indian Period

The Woodland Indians lived together in large family groups.  Their villages were made up of temporary houses covered with wild grasses and were located along rivers.  They fished, hunted with the bow and arrow, gathered wild foods, and planted gardens where they grew corn, squash, and sunflowers.
The Woodland Indians were innovators.  They were the first Indians of Tennessee to build mounds for burying their dead, many of which may still be seen in the state.    Some of  these mounds were created by the Woodlands and others by their descendants.  The Woodland Indians invented the bow and arrow and hunted with it instead of a spear.  Over the years they developed pottery to take the place of vessels carved out of soapstone.  They also wove baskets.

900 A. D. - 1600 A. D.  Mississippian Indian Period 

The Mississippian Indians were farmers.  They grew pumpkins, corn, and vegetables.  They wore very little clothing.  The Mississippians lived in large villages with wood walls around the villages.  The wood walls were called stockades and were built to keep out enemies.  The chiefs’ houses and important buildings were built on flat topped earthen mounds which were on a higher level than the houses of the common people. They use spears to fight with.
 
By: Garrett (May, 2000)

1500’s – Cherokee Indians

‘O si ‘yo – Hello.  The Cherokee were the most important Indian nation in Tennessee history.  They were among the most civilized and powerful Indians in North America.  The name Cherokee means “cave people.”  They lived on 40,000 square miles in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.  In the early 1700’s there were about 20,000 Cherokee in all.  When Europeans came to Tennessee in the 1500’s, many Cherokee customs and beliefs seemed strange to them.  For one thing the Europeans believed that  land should be owned by individual people, not by all.  This ended up to cause fighting between Europeans and the Cherokees. (May, 2000)

Hernando De Soto  (1541)

Hernando De Soto was a European explorer. He discovered the Mississippi River. He also discovered gold in South America and was looking for gold in North America. Then he became very ill and died before he found gold. When he died his men buried him in the Mississippi River.

by Kevin (May, 2000)

1540 The Chickasaw Indians

All of the land in West Tennessee belonged to the Chickasaw Indians.  They lived there during the 1600’s.  The men hunted and the women grew their food.  Chickasaw moms and dads didn’t punish their children very much.  But they always took good care of their children.  If a child’s parents died a family or relative would watch out for them.
The Chickasaw Indians played an important part in the history of Tennessee.  Chickasaw Bluff was the place where they usually stopped on the Mississippi River and is where Memphis now stands.  They played an important part in Tennessee history during wartime.  The Chickasaws did not like the French, so when the French and English were fighting the Chickasaw Indians fought on the side of the English.

1600 – Shawnee Indians

Shawnee Indian villages were located along the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee.  The Shawnees consisted of small groups that wandered away from the main village.  They would make a camp, hunt for several days and then move on and set up new camps.  When the hunters had killed all the deer or bear they could carry they would return to the main village.  The food they brought back was shared by the entire village.   The Shawnees were driven out of the Middle Tennessee area by the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians.

  By Michael (May, 2000)

1673
English Explorers

In 1673 James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, two Englishmen from Virginia came across the Appalachian Mountains to Tennessee to trade with the Indians.  These two men were the first English-speaking people to reach
Tennessee.

1673
English Explorers

In 1673 James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, two Englishmen from Virginia came across the Appalachian Mountains to Tennessee to trade with the Indians.  These two men were the first English-speaking people to reach
Tennessee.

1673
English Explorers

In 1673 James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, two Englishmen from Virginia came across the Appalachian Mountains to Tennessee to trade with the Indians.  These two men were the first English-speaking people to reach
Tennessee.

1673
French Explorers

In 1673 Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliett led a group of people from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River.  They traveled by canoes to explore the river.  They made camp on the bluff near where Memphis is now located.

1682
LaSalle

In 1682 a French explorer, LaSalle led a party down the Mississippi River.  This party built a camp near Hatchie River in western Tennessee.  They named this place Fort Prudhomme after a young soldier in their party.  LaSalle claimed the river and all the land drained by it in the name of the King of France.

In 1760 Daniel Boone carved in a tree these words, “cilled a Bar.”  He was in Washington County in Eastern Tennessee.  He was a hunter and explorer for many years.  In 1769 he explored Kentucky discovering the Cumberland Gap and Warrior’s Trace.  He then moved his family to upper Tennessee and was later attacked by Indians in Powell’s Valley.  In 1775 Daniel Boone helped Richard Henderson purchase what is now Kentucky and Middle Tennessee and helped create a treaty with the Cherokee Indians.

By Jesse (May, 2000)

1710-1714 – Charles Charlville

In 1714 a lot of Frenchmen wanted to live near the mouth of the Mississippi River.  They thought they would find silver and gold.  They went up and down a lot of rivers leading into the Mississippi.  Charles Charlville traveled with an unknown

Fort Loudoun

The English completed a fort in June of 1757 in Cherokee territory.  The Cherokees were friends of the British and they sent out war parties to fight the French and their Indian allies.  These attacks brought counterattack.  A fort on the Little Tennessee River provided a strong point against French invasion.  It also gave protection for Cherokee women and children while their warriors were away on raids.

After the English won the wars against the French and the Indians they wanted land.  In 1763 the King of England made a proclamation line between the mountains and the Mississippi River.   This meant that no settlers were to go beyond the Appalachian Mountains to the West.  The pioneers ignored this proclamation and by 1768 they started pouring in to what now is Tennessee and Kentucky.  The pioneers paid little attention to the line because they had their eyes on the land across the river and they wanted to own that land.

By Wade (May, 2000)

In 1769 American settlers moved from the colonies of Virginia and North Carolina into what is now East Tennessee.  William Bean and his family were among the first of these settlers.  The Beans helped to build the first lasting settlement in Tennessee.  Because it was near the Watauga River, he settlement was called Watauga.  The Watauga settlement was supposed to be a part of the colony of North Carolina.  But North Carolina was on the eastern side of the mountains and took weeks to reach from Watauga.  The people were also very independent so they set up their own government, which became the first independent settlements in America.

By Emily (May, 2000)
Resource:  Tennessee, Social Studies for a Changing World p. 42

Sequoyah’s father was Nathanial Gist, an Indian trader and an officer in the Revolutionary War.  His mother was Wuteh, of a high-ranking Cherokee family.  Sequoyah, one of the greatest of American Indians, was born probably in the decade of the 1770’s.  A definite date is not known.  When he was young he made a living by hunting and trading furs.  In the 1820’s he made up an alphabet for the Cherokee language.  The Cherokees were delighted with it, and in a little more than a year, thousands of Cherokees were able to read and write in the Cherokee language.

By Laura (May, 2000)
Resource:  This is Tennessee, A School History, by Mary U. Rothrock,

In 1771 the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina was surveyed.  The British colonial agents found the settlers were on the Cherokee land.  They ordered the settlers to move off the land.  Some left and some stayed.  The ones who stayed lived along the Watauga River in northeastern Tennessee.  They met and formed a government called the Watauga Association.  This association developed their own laws and constitution and was the first of its kind to be adopted by a free and independent people in America.  The Watauga Association held the settlers together, and enabled them to maintain law and order.

By Jonathan (May, 2000)

Resources:
 Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Commission, 1998 pg. 1039
This is Tennessee, A School History, Mary Rothrock, 1970 , pgs. 80-81

1771-Long Hunters in Sumner County

In the autumn of 1771, a party of twenty-two men including Isaac Bledsoe, Joseph Drake, and Kasper Mansker, crossed the wilderness to Sumner County. Following a buffalo trail that passed near their camp, Mansker  discovered a sulphur spring with a large herd of deer, and it was named Mansker’s Lick and the creek was named Mansker’s Creek.  Drake came upon a pond and a salt lick, and they were designated Drake’s Pond, Drake’s Lick, and Drake’s Creek.  Bledsoe discovered a huge number of buffalo at a salt lick.  This lick became known as Bledsoe’s Lick and the creek Bledsoe Creek.

1776  Thomas Sharpe Spencer

Thomas Sharpe Spencer was the first white settler in Middle Tennessee.  He came to Middle Tennessee with a group of long hunters.  The other hunters went back to East Tennessee and North Carolina, but Thomas remained and planted a corn crop.  He lived in a hollow sycamore tree at Bledsoe’s Lick through his first winter.  He was a large strong man.  His nickname was Bigfoot Spencer.

James Robertson
 

James Robertson was one of the leaders in the settlement of Watauga in East Tennessee.  People in Watauga had heard of the beautiful land in the Cumberland Valley, what is now Middle Tennessee.  They decided to send their chief scout James Robertson on a journey to the Cumberland Valley.   James Robertson was a good choice.  He had great intelligence and determination.  In February, 1779 Robertson and eight other scouts headed west.  These men traveled through the Cumberland Gap,  turned into the wilderness of Kentucky and followed the trail used by Daniel Boone and other early hunters.  After leaving the trail, they followed buffalo paths through the dense forests from one watering place to another until they finally reached the Cumberland Valley.  The place selected by Robertson was a bluff near French Lick on the Cumberland River, now Nashville.  The men planted a corn crop, and three of them stayed to take care of it while the rest of the men returned to Watauga.  When Robertson returned to the people at Watauga, he explained his reasons for wanting to move to the new country on the Cumberland River.  One reason was the location.  It was located on a great river.  There were numerous streams and creeks.  There was a spring of salt water.   The land was very rich.  There were magnificent trees, and plenty of animals, fish, buffalo, deer, and bear.

1780 – Kasper Mansker
 

Kasper was born on an immigrant ship bound for the American colonies.  He was one of the long hunters in early Middle Tennessee.  He and his wife later moved to Tennessee and established Mansker Station in 1780.  The settlers left the station during that winter because of Indian raids.  A new for was built a mile away from the old one. This second Mansker Station became an important settlement are in Middle Tennessee.  Mansker was also elected Major of the Sumner County Militia and served on the first Sumner County Grand Jury.

Jacques Timothe Boucher, sieur de Montbrun was born in New France of Quebec.  Timothe went to the University of Quebec.  He learned many Indian languages.  When he was 16 he married.  The next year he left Canada and became an explorer.  He traveled 2200 miles by canoe to South Bend Indiana.  His uncle gave him a house.  His first child was born in this house.  Timothe left this area to find new foods.  Trying to make money he came down the Mississippi.  Timothe got on the Cumberland River and came to the French Lick (now known as Nashville) in 1787.  Timothe lived in a cave.  He became friends with the Indians.  In 1790 the first white child was born in Nashville, Timothe’s third child.  When the Indians took Timothe’s wife and children he left and began exploring with Daniel Boone.  After the war Timothe became Governor of Illinois.  Later be became a fur trader.  He married Elizabeth.  Timothe moved back to Nashville.  He built a house and made a road leading to his house, the road is now known as Demonbreun Street.  Timothe died in 1826. He was 79.

By Brett, a descendant of Timothy Demonbreun (May, 2000)

Resources:  Family History Files

Richard Henderson of Hillsborough, North Carolina, purchased 20 million acres of land from the Cherokee Indians that included the Cumberland River watershed and lands on the Kentucky River, the largest private real estate transaction in United States history.  During these dealings, the local settlers "purchased" the right to remain on the Cherokee land that they were living on in the Watauga settlement.  One of the main chiefs, Dragging Canoe, was opposed to the selling of the Cherokee hunting grounds.
He warned the whites they were buying a "dark and bloody ground".  Later the whites attacked and burned Dragging Canoe's village in hopes of them moving south to have the lands to themselves.  They were successful.

by Kyle (May, 2000)

In 1776 Dragging Canoe made plans to attack three American settlements in East Tennessee.  Nancy Ward, a Cherokee, didn't want to attack the settlers.  Nancy warned them about an attack on Fort Watauga. The Indian attack didn't work.  Dragging Canoe and his followers moved away and named themselves the Chickamaugas. They continued their fight against the settlers.

by Hannah (May, 2000)

John Sevier was born in Virginia on the 23rd day of September, 1745.
John had a regular education.  He was a born leader who often corresponded with other leaders like Benjamin Franklin and James Madison. He became Tennessee's first governor. Sevier served in the Revolutionary War. He was the first and only general, and a good man.
John was considered a hero because he pulled a girl to safety over the wall of Fort Watauga.  He later married this girl, "Bonny" Kate Sherrill.

by Emily (May, 2000)

Nancy Ward lived in a Chota village.  Chota was a peace town for Cherokees.  Dragging Canoe was going to attack three American settlements in East Tennessee.  This decision is what divided the Cherokees.  Nancy Ward was one of the Indians who did not agree with him.  One day early in July, Nancy Ward told Isaac Thomas, an American, that some Cherokees were planning to attack Fort Watauga.  The attack did happen on July 21, 1776.  Settlers ran for cover as Indians ruined the fort.

Nancy Ward was the Honored Woman in the Cherokees.  The Cherokee Indians really respected her.

by Kate (May, 2000)

Catherine Sherrill was the daughter of Samuel Sherrill and was born in 1754.  In 1776 she was one of the settlers at Fort Watauga.  On July 21st the fort the Cherokees attacked the fort.  Catherine was on the outside and had to run for her life and scramble up the wall.  John Sevier pulled her safely inside.  They later married in 1780 and had eight children.  She died in 1836 in Alabama at age 82.  She was known as "Bonny" Kate.  Bonny means pretty.

by Clinton (May, 2000)

The people in the Tennessee country wanted to be free from British restrictions such as the Proclamation Line of 1763.   In 1780 approximately 900 men  from the  Watauga area volunteered to help fight against the British in North Carolina.  They were known as the over mountain men.  Using tactics of the Indians they were able to easily defeat their English opponents  led by Colonel Ferguson.

The Over Mountain Men were very independent men who "went over the mountains" from North Carolina into the eastern region of Tennessee to settle.
The Cherokee were unhappy that these settlers were taking their land and sided with the British to try to drive the settlers out.  One of the British leaders, Patrick Ferguson ordered the settlers to lay down their guns and proclaim loyalty to England or else he would "...lay the country waste with fire and sword."  John Sevier had been given charge of protecting the settlers.  He took a group of Tennessee militia and attacked Ferguson and his men in northwest South Carolina at King's Mountain.  The settlers claimed victory and Ferguson and many of his men died in the battle.  The British turned away from the west because of the defeat, and it was the beginning of the events that led to the end of the Revolutionary War.  Every year people re-enact the Battle of King's Mountain.

by Timothy (May, 2000)

At Watauga, it was decided that James Robertson would lead the middle aged men and young boys overland to the French Lick in the Cumberland Country.  The trip was 300 miles through the woods to the Bluffs.   In November, 1779 between 200 and 300 men and boys began the journey.  They first followed the Wilderness Road through  Cumberland Gap into Kentucky and then followed trails to stations along the rivers.  They took a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle,  and pack horses along.  They arrived at the Cumberland River in the midst of snow and freezing weather.  They arrived on Christmas Eve, 1779 on the northern bank of the Cumberland River.  The settlement was to be on the South side of the river.  It was easy to get the sheep, cattle, and horses across the river.  It had been so tremendously cold that the river frozen solid and they could all walk across.  They built some cabins and blockhouses connected by stockades to protect themselves from the Indians.

From The Settlement of Nashville, published by The Historical Commission of Metropolitan Nashville, and Davidson County, 1974

John Donelson was chosen to lead a flotilla of flatboats from the Watauga area to Middle Tennessee carrying the women, children, and old people.   He directed the building of over thirty boats for around 250 people.  The boats would carry the old people as well as their clothing, tools, furniture, and garden seed.  The distance was at least 1,000 miles.  The flotilla left on December 22, 1779.  The first night they encountered the same freezing weather that the overland men were experiencing.  The river froze and they had to wait for two months for the river to thaw before they could continue their journey.  It was a dangerous journey.  Thirty people lost their lives along the way.   The men who came overland were becoming very alarmed because their families were so late in arriving.  On the morning of April 24, 1780 the first flatboat was sighted by the lookout.  For a week they stopped their work and celebrated being together at last.

IN 1779 James Robertson and John Donelson delivered the first settlers to Fort Nashboro.
The original fort was built around a fresh water spring and fronted the Cumberland River.  It sat on about two and one half acres.  The fort walls measured approximately 247 feet by 123 feet.  Two story block houses stood at each corner and were used for defense.  Fort Nashboro was reconstructed in 1930.  The fort we see today was built in 1962.  It's location is what we know today as 170 First Avenue N. at Riverfront park in Nashville.

by Bond (May, 2000)

In the fall of 1779 James Robertson brought a party of settlers to the middle Tennessee region and established a settlement of seven forts or stations with the French Lick station at the center of the scattered group.  They drew up a form of self government called the Cumberland Compact.  Two men were chosen from each fort as a Committee of Guardians.  James Robertson was the head of the committee. It provided  a simple constitution, a guide for land transactions, settled claims and dispensed justice. Two hundred and fifty people signed the compact in May of 1780.  Only one man was unable to sign his name.  Instead, James Patrick made a mark for his signature.

by Katelyn (May, 2000)

Daniel Smith was a fellow pioneer and a friend of James Robertson.  Daniel Smith was born in Virginia in 1748.  When Daniel was 25 years old he became a Deputy Surveyor in southwest Virginia.  Then Daniel Smith moved to the Watauga settlements. He surveyed Tennessee in 1779-1780. In 1780 he became a sheriff of Washington.  Two years later he moved to Sumner County.  He lived at Rock Castle in Hendersonville.  Then William Blount made Daniel the Territorial Secretary. Later he represented Tennessee in the United States Senate.

by Holland (May, 2000)

One day about the last of March, Colonel Samuel Barton started out on horseback to find some cattle.  Not knowing there were Indians, he got shot in the wrist and started back to the fort. He was shot in the back, however, he finally made it back to the fort. The next day he led the Battle of the Bluffs. The battle was fought near Fort Nashborough against Indians from several tribes.
The American Army troops were defeated by the Chickamaugas.

by Amanda (May, 2000)

Leaders in the eastern part of the Tennessee settlements thought they were too far away from North Carolina and they wanted to form a new state.  They named the new state Franklin after Benjamin Franklin.  They people chose John Sevier as the governor.  But the United States thought it should be part of North Carolina and the state of Franklin failed.  So, the Southwest Territory was formed, which later became the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi.  William Blount was chosen as the governor of the new territory.

by Russell (May, 2000)

Kasper Mansker, one Middle Tennessee's first white settlers, built a fort near present day Goodlettsville in 1779-80.  This fort or station became an important stopping place for the settlers who poured into the new frontier during the early 1800's.  A replica of the fort stands today in Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville.

The Bowen-Campbell House is part of historic Mansker's Station Frontier Life Center.  It is a two story brick mansion built in 1787 by Captain William Bowen, a veteran of both the Revolutionary War and the French and Indian Wars.  The Bowens had nine children.  One grandson, William Bowen-Campbell became the governor of Tennessee.

While the Revolutionary War was raging in the colonies, our forefathers were at odds once again with Indians who had became angry about earlier treaties.  At the same time North Carolina had virtually abandoned her distant western county while engaged in battle with the British.  Finally, North Carolina, unable to govern this territory, turned it over to the central government.  By 1784 these early Tennesseans felt deserted and set up a government patterned after that of North Carolina.  Governor Blount called a convention in 1796 to draw up a constitution.  They decide to call the new state Tennessee, after the Cherokee town Tanase, which means "old town".  On June 1, 1796, President George Washington signed the bill that added Tennessee as the 16th state.

by John (May, 2000)

John Sevier, 1796 - 1801; 1803 - 1809, Democrat.
Born in Virginia in 1745, Sevier as a young man was a successful merchant.  Coming to a new settlement on the Holston River in 1773, he was one of the first white settlers of Tennessee.  He was elected governor of the state of Franklin at the end of the Revolutionary War, and as such became the first governor in what would be Tennessee. He served 12 years as governor.  While governor he negotiated with the Indians to secure additional lands for the new state and opened new roads into the areas to encourage settlement.  At the close of his sixth term he was elected to the state senate, then to congress.  Sevier died while on a congressional mission to Creek Indian country in 1815.

by Ryan (May, 2000)

Reelfoot Lake was made by an earthquake.  The lake was formed in 1811 and 1812 when the Mississippi River backed up because of the earthquake.  Reelfoot Lake is the largest natural lake in Tennessee.
Bald Eagles nest at Reelfoot.  The lake is located in northwest Tennessee.

by Joey (May, 2000)

Davy Crockett was a celebrated hero, warrior, and backwoods statesman.
He was born in 1786 on the banks of the Nolichuckey River.
Davy helped Texas win their independence.  He was elected to Congress in 1827.
Davy Crockett died a hero death at the Alamo.

by Blake (May, 2000)
 

Tecumseh lived from 1768 through 1813.  He was a Shawnee leader.
Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa were the leaders of the expansion between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  Tecumseh was a great leader.
When he fought the British in the War of 1812 he was killed.

by Clay (May, 2000)
To find out more about Tecumseh, get the book
Encyclopedia of the North American Indian.

 by Caleb (May, 2000)

1827
Sam Houston

Sam was born in Virginia and moved to Tennessee when he was fifteen.  He went to live with the Cherokees after working as a clerk in a store.  He also taught school to pay off debts.  Sam joined the 39th Infantry and was wounded at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  In 1823 Sam Houston was elected to Congress and served two terms.  Jackson helped him get elected Governor in 1827, but he only served two years.  He fought for Texas independence and became the President of the Republic of Texas.  Sam died in 1863.

1828
Andrew Jackson elected President

Andrew Jackson was our 7th President.
He ran for president in 1828.  Andrew and his wife Rachael lived at
the Hermitage in Old Hickory.  President Jackson was a Democrat.

The Trail of Tears is a sad story about the Indians losing everything. The pioneers were called the "white man" and they were greedy for land.  They took advantage of the Indians across America that could not speak or write well.  There were five tribes in the southern states but the Cherokee Indians were the more educated.  They also had stores and homes much like the white man.  This land had gold on it.  The government wanted this land badly.  President Andrew Johnson was up for re-election and Congress took advantage of this situation.  They forced Jackson into signing a Treaty that would force the Indians to Oklahoma.  Some Indians packed up and moved westward.  Most of the Indians stayed behind hoping to fight this treaty in court.  Then the white man came during the night and made them get up and leave.   They had to leave everything but the clothes they had on.  Most of the Indians didn't even have shoes.  During this painful walk they were treated like prisoners.  Many died from thirst, hunger, or disease.  This became known as the "Trail of Tears".

by Jessica (May, 2000)

The Story of the Trail  Tears
by: R.Conrad Stein
Childrens Press Chicago 1985
 

photo/State of Tennessee Photo Svcs.

Tennessee became a state in 1796,  however, Nashville was not chosen capitol until the 1840's.  William Strickland was chosen to design the capitol building.  The Greek Revival style building is home to the House and Senate Chambers, the governor's office, and other offices. Learn more about the capitol in Tennessee State Symbols by Rob Simbeck, or visit the Tennessee State Home Page at www.state.tn.us

James K. Polk was the 11th President.  Born in 1795, he died in 1849.
He was alive during slavery. James Polk was President from 1845 through 1849.

by Zac (May, 2000)

The Capitol is built on "billy goat hill", they call it that because only a billy goat can climb it. It took 14 years to complete the Capitol building.  It has three different stones used in it's construction.  They are limestone, granite, and marble.

During the Civil War, the Capitol Building was used to hold soldiers and government workers.

The Capitol building was built by William Strickland, he was from Philadelphia and came 1,000 miles to build it.

by James (May, 2000)
Resources: Encarta '95 & Tennessee Blue Book
 

The Belle Meade Plantation was once a 5,400 acre working plantation and thoroughbred farm.
Today, you can tour the mansion built in 1853 with guides dressed up in period costume.  On the tour, guides explain the exciting historical events that happened during the family's lives.  The Carriage House and Stable have a large antique collection.  If you have a lonely summer day and are looking for something to do , ask your parents to take you to Belle Meade Plantation.
For more information about Belle Meade Plantation call (615) 356-0501

by Michelle (May, 2000)

Halleck ordered Grant and Buell to go down the Tennessee River.  Grant and 40,000 men went down to Pittsburg landing.  General Beauregard decided to attack Grant.  He wanted to destroy him with 44,000 men.  The next day Grant received 25,000 reinforcements.  He and Buell had more men than Beauregard so they made him retreat.  Finally, Halleck took over and went down south on the Mississippi River to Memphis.

by Lennon (May, 2000)

The Battle of Nashville took place in 1862.  It was a small battle in the Civil War. The Union won that battle in Nashville.  Nashville was used for hospitals and the headquarters for the Union.  A few days after the Battle of Nashville, the main battle for middle Tennessee took place in Franklin.

by Chris (May, 2000)

Sam Davis lived in Rutherford County during the years before the Civil War.  He went to school and worked on the family farm. He also liked to hunt, ride horses, and fish.  He especially loved riding his gray horse, War Bonnet.  He was eighteen years old when the Civil War began.  He joined the First Tennessee Regiment and went to war.  He fought in the Battle of Shiloh and was wounded.  He recovered from his wounds and once again was back serving the army.  He was chosen for an important mission, to be part of a group to spy on the Union armies in Middle Tennessee.  These scouts learned that Federal Troops were planning to attack Chattanooga.  Sam Davis was chosen to report this information to the officials in Chattanooga.  As he was riding War Bonnet carrying this important information, he was captured an taken to the Union commander.  Here he was given a choice. If Sam would tell the Union Army where they could capture the other scouts, he could live.  If he did not, they would hang him.  Sam replied, "If I had a thousand lives, I would lose them all here and now before I would betray my friends."  He was hanged by the Union Army on November 27, 1863.  Sam is buried in the family cemetery in Smyrna, under the trees where he liked to play as a child.

Source: Tennessee, Land, History, and Government,  p. 191

The Battle of Franklin took place on November 30, 1864 in Franklin, Tennessee. This battle lasted approximately five hours.  It started around 4:00 p.m. and ended about 9:00 p.m. This battle ranks as being one of the greatest blood baths of the Civil War.  The Union Army under General John Schofield beat the Confederate Army under General John Bell Hood to take control of the Franklin area.  Both sides suffered great losses during this battle.  The Confederate Army had 6,252 casualties while the Union Army had 2,326.

by Kyle (May, 2000)

Andrew Johnson was elected Vice President in 1865.  He was born December 24, 1808 and died July 31, 1875.  He married in 1827.  Andrew never went to school, but taught himself.
He was in office 1865-1869.

by Morgan (May, 2000)

Johnson was elected as vice president in November 1864. On April 15, 1865, Johnson became President after Lincoln's assassination. Johnson maintained a pro- Union stand determined to carry out the Reconstruction Lincoln had envisioned. The House of Representatives impeached President Johnson for political reasons, however,  Johnson was greeted as a hero when he returned home.

by Eric (May, 2000)
Resource:
The Tennessean - "A Tennessee Journey"

Ida B. Wells was a slave born in Mississippi.
She went to Fisk University in Nashville and became a school teacher.  Ida's family died of yellow fever.  Her husband was a lawyer and journalist.  Ida B. Wells helped lots of women have the right to vote.  She also became reporter, and part-owner of a Memphis newspaper!

by Dara (May, 2000)
 

The Ryman Auditorium opened in 1892. It was born out of a religious conversion in the 1880's. Captain Tom Ryman, owner of a steamboat line and former rowdy, built the Union Gospel Tabernacle to honor the Reverend Sam Jones, the evangelist who had brought Tom into the fold.

The Grand Ole Opry started there in 1943.
The Opry became very popular and soon could not hold all of the fans.  The Opry was moved to a different place.  In 1994 the Ryman was restored and is now a historical site.

by Trey (May, 2000)

Resource: Opryland USA pamphlet "The Ryman Auditorium"

The residents of Tennessee had a celebration to mark the first century for Tennessee as a state.
Tennessee became a state in 1796.  The Centennial Celebration was one of the biggest in that time.
A flag was made for the celebration, but it was not widely accepted.

by Cathleen (May, 2000)
 

The Tennessee State Flag was designed by LeRoy Reeves
of the Third Regiment, Tennessee Infantry.  Mr. Reeves had an explanation of his design.  The three stars of pure white, representing three grand divisions of the state.  They are bound together by the circle of blue field, the symbol of the three bound together in one.  The large field is crimson.  The final blue bar relieves the sameness of the crimson field and prevents the flag
from showing too much crimson when hanging limp.

The flag was adopted by the act of the General Assembly on April 17, 1905.

by Candace (May, 2000)

Alvin was born in 1887.  Alvin didn't go to college.
In 1917 Alvin was drafted to the war.  He fought in World War I.
While in the war he captured 132 prisoners and got shot 17 times but
survived all 17.  After the war he received the Medal of Honor.
There were movies made that someone played Alvin York.
Alvin died September 2nd 1964.

by Trey (May, 2000)

No other institution is more recognized for country music than WSM radio's Grand Ole Opry. Since 1925, it has featured country music acts on stage.  Edwin W. Craig was the founder of WSM.  Craig was determined that the call letters of the new radio station would be "WSM" to reflect the National Life's motto "We Shield Millions".  The station relied mostly on dinner music.  That changed on the night of November 28, 1925 when a 77 year old fiddler, Uncle Jimmy Thompson performed as part of a show called WSM Barn Dance.  Two years later the show was named "The Grand Ole Opry". The Grand Ole Opry is still aired every Saturday night.  It is the longest running radio show in history.

by David (May, 2000)

©2003 Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum

Minnie Pearl was born in 1912 in Centerville, Tennessee and died in 1996. She lived to be 84 years old.  Minnie could be heard all over the United States on the radio station WSM.  Minnie made funny jokes about being a country hick. She was known for her big hat with a price tag on it.  When she met people she would yell very loud, "How-dee! I'm so proud to be here!"

by Loreal (May, 2000)

Sarah Cannon known as Minnie Pearl offered her name in 1991 to establish the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.  Sarah Cannon became an advocate for cancer education, screening early detection and prevention after her own cancer diagnosis and treatment.  Her legacy continues through The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation in pioneering the treatment, research and funding of cancer-related services and programs.  http://www.sarahcannon.com/

The  Nashville Parthenon was built in 1897.  It was rebuilt in 1920.  It was built for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.  Today the Parthenon is used for exhibiting enormous collections of paintings and sculptures.  The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee is the only exact size replica of the original temple in Athens, Greece. I think it is neat that the Parthenon is located in our state capitol.

by Alyssia (May, 2000)

Cordell Hull was born and raised in the Upper Cumberland Region of Tennessee.  He was chosen by Franklin D. Roosevelt to be Secretary of State.  Cordell Hull worked hard for world peace.  He helped to found the United Nations, a foundation promoting world peace.  In 1945 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The land for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
was donated by Tennessee and North Carolina in 1926.  The park was established in 1930 with the help of funds given by the Rockefellers.  The President was Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Cherokee Indians were the first settlers in the Smoky Mountains.  From 1940 to now there have been over 150 different trees identified in the park.  There are 600 miles of streams and 16 peaks over 6,000 feet, including Clingman's Dome rising 6643 feet, the highest point in Tennessee.

by Jarret (May, 2000)

In 1933 President Roosevelt asked the United States Congress to begin to plan for the proper use and development of the natural resources of the Tennessee River and the smaller rivers that flow into it.  Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority.  The first thing TVA did was build dams along the Tennessee River. These dams controlled floods, generated electricity, and improved the waterway for ships to go through.  The dams also helped to control soil erosion in the Tennessee Valley.

During World War II, the city of Oak Ridge became a top secret place.  Here at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uranium-235 was produced.  This is the explosive used in the atomic bomb.  This powerful weapon was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, forcing Japan to surrender.  Today the laboratories at Oak Ridge do research into the peaceful use of atomic energy.

Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1956.  Elvis had a twin brother that died at birth. Elvis sang his first song when he was 10 years old.  On January 8, 1935 Elvis moved to Memphis, Tennessee.  Some of his famous songs are "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound dog" and "Jail House Rock".  People still visit his house in Memphis.  Elvis died in 1977.

by Derek (May, 2000)

Wilma Rudolph was born in 1940, the twentieth of twenty two children. She was a member of the Tigerbelles Women's Track Club at Tennessee State University.  The first star of the Tigerbelles was Wilma Goldean Rudolph. She was the first American woman to win three Olympic track and field gold medals in Rome, 1960.  She was honored as the top amateur athlete in 1961. Wilma became a teacher and coach. Wilma Rudolph died on November 12, 1994.

by Sheneater (May, 2000)

Dolly Parton was born in 1946.  She is a very good country music singer. Dolly has published over 500 songs.  Most of Dolly's songs have sold very well. Dolly is a popular artist today.

by Sachiho (May, 2000)

Pat Summit is the head coach for University of Tennessee Women's Basketball team.  She has coached for 25 years and is working on her 26th year.  She went to University of Tennessee at Martin and led the Lady Pacers to a 64 - 29 record over four years.  She won a gold medal in 1975.  She has done a wonderful job coaching the Lady Vols and continues to coach today.

by Jessica (May, 2000)

The 1982 World's Fair was held in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The theme was Energy Turns the World. Human energy has
sparked a metamorphosis here, and the changes brought by the 1982
Worlds Fair - a six month exposition with an energy theme - will chart the city's quality of life through the turn of the century. The Fair had a 70 acre site. A lake and park remain in the heart of the valley after the World's Fair closed in October 1982.

by Sara (May, 2000)

Alex Haley is an important part of Tennessee history.  He grew up in the small town of Henning, Tennessee about 35 miles outside of Memphis.  Mr. Haley was a successful author who wrote the book Roots about his ancestry and black history.
In 1977 a television mini-series was developed after the book.  That same year, he won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

by Tyler (May, 2000)
resource:  Writing & Resistance by Jody F. Kerr
(internet)

Rocky Top has been used at University of Tennessee football and basketball games for many years.
It became an official state song in 1982, because it was so popular.  Rocky Top was the fifth song to be honored in that manner.  The song was written by Felicia and Boudleax Bryant.
 

by Neil (May, 2000)

Dr. Stanley Cohen was the second person from Vanderbilt University
to win the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize committee recognized him for his work with Rita Levi-Montalcini in the discovery of nerve growth.  Dr. Cohen has been honored with many medical research awards.

by Ethan (May, 2000)

Dr. Rhea Seddon was born November 8, 1947 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She graduated from Central High School in 1965.  She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970.  Rhea received a doctorate of medicine in 1973 from the University of Tennessee.  Dr. Seddon was selected to be an astronaut in 1978.  she became an astronaut in 1979, and has orbited the Earth more than 100 times.  Today she is the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, Tennessee.

by Autumn (May, 2000)

The celebration was held to acknowledge Tennessee's 200th anniversary (1796-1996) of statehood.
The Bicentennial Mall was built to honor Tennessee.  It is not a shopping mall ... it shows the  history and geography of Tennessee.  They are still adding on to the mall today, in the year 2000.

by Chelsea (May, 2000)

The Tennessee Vols were undefeated in the '97-'98 season.
They won 11 regular season games plus the SEC Championship.
 and the National Championship. The Vols were the underdogs going to National Championship to the Florida State Seminoles.  The head football coach, Phillip Fulmer, helped the University of Tennessee Vols to have an undefeated season victory.

by  Joey (May, 2000)

photo/State of Tennessee Photo Svcs.

47th governor, 1995-2003          

Don Sundquist, our Tennessee Governor, comes from Memphis, Tennessee.  He is married and has three children and a grandchild.  Mr. Sundquist served in Congress 12 years.  He became our 47th Governor in January, 1995.  Governor Sundquist was reelected in 1998.  Governor Sunquist wants Tennessee to have (1) excellence in education, (2) provide economic opportunities, and (3) protect public safety, health, and the environment.

source:  State of Tennessee Home Page
www.state.tn.us

On November 14, 1998, Owner Bud Adams announced that the Oilers Football Team would become the Tennessee Titans.  It wasn't long after the announcement they revealed the new logo and uniforms.  On August 27, 1999, the Titans played for the first time in their new home, the Adelphia Coliseum.  After that night everyone in and around Nashville got a little closer because it was a magical night.

Did you know that we won every home game in the 1999 season?!
This includes our last home game against Buffalo, later known as "The Music City Miracle"! Our team played so well we made it all the way to the Super Bowl XXXIV, and we nearly won!

by Brandi (May, 2000)

resource: Tennessee Titans Yearbook 1999

Vice President Al Gore ran unsuccessfully for President in Campaign 2000.  He is ran against George W. Bush, Jr..  Mr. Gore is from Carthage, Tennessee. He is married and has four children.  He wants our schools to be better. Mr. Gore has worked hard for our environment too. Al Gore has played a big part in helping classrooms and libraries get connected on the internet.  

by Brian (May, 2000)