The intervening hill and
forest country abounded in hostile Indians. The settler or trader who
undertook to traverse this region took his life in his hands, and the
settlements themselves were subject to perennial attack.
In 1788, after the collapse of an attempt of the people of the
"Western District" to set up an independent State by the name of
Franklin, the North Carolina Assembly erected the three counties
included in the Cumberland settlement into a superior court district;
and the person selected for judge was a close friend of Jackson, John
McNairy, who also had been a law pupil of Spruce Macay in Salisbury.
McNairy had been in the Tennessee region two years, but at the time of
receiving his judicial appointment he was visiting friends in the
Carolinas. His description of the opportunities awaiting ambitious
young men in the back country influenced a half-dozen acquaintances,
lawyers and others, to make the return trip with him; and among the
number was Jackson. Some went to assume posts which were at McNairy's
disposal, but Jackson went only to see the country.
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