Chapters in Athens Heritage

Chapters in Athens Heritage. The Frontier. In 1783 the Oconee River basin was the western boundary of the new United States of America. The first U.S. frontiersmen included surveyors, mapmakers, native guides, and naturalists., To entice farmers to the new territory, the U.S. government offered each family up to 1000 acres of land for free. Mapmakers and surveyors came first to the new territory to record these land grant properties. Using tools such as compasses, levels, and chains, they also determined places for mills, dams, and raceways for the water-powered industries. Naturalists were commissioned to record and collect the plants and animals that had never been seen by Europeans and colonists. These adventurers were escorted into the newly acquired lands by Creek and Cherokee guides., (captions) , The surveyors and levels and compasses to determine property lines. Chain carriers had the job of measuring distances with long lengths of chain., On December 5, 1801, Clarke County was created by the Georgia General Assembly out of the part of Jackson County in which Athens and the University of Georgia were located. It was named in honor of frontiersman Elijah Clarke ubo is credited with the Patriots 1779 defeat of six hundred British loyalists at the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilbes County, GA, This map shows Georgia extending to the Mississippi River. The US boundary extended from the coast to the Oconee River. Athens was in Franklin County, Surveyor's Chain carrier