The Transylvania Colony was founded during 1775 by Richard Henderson, who controlled the North Carolina-based Transylvania Company. He and his investors reached an agreement to purchase a vast tract of Cherokee lands. Later on, the Wilderness Road was established going from Cumberland Gap into Southeastern Kentucky. The Watauga settlement was the site of this “real state” transaction: the Transylvania Purchase. The Watauga leaders asked the Cherokee to convert the lease of lands into a purchase.
However, this created serious disagreements and heat discussions in such a way the tribe had to appeal both Virginia and North Carolina for support to the defeat of the British. In 1780 England again invaded the southern colonies The consequence was the Battle of King's Mountain (1780), in which the British force was destroyed. As we can see, the Wataugans had a key role in the failure of the British master plan of 1780 and the following collapse of efforts to control the colonies.
After the Revolution,a group of the Wataugans wanted to create their own state of Franklin. In August 1784,a state government was hastily constructed. North Carolina, seeing most of its western lands usurped by the mountain men, contested the existence of the state. Anyways, by 1788 the state ceased to exist. The legacy of the Watauga Settlement remains as the county stands as a heritage of being part of the first community west of the Appalachians.
