John Sevier, too, had more honors than those of a noble soldier. In front of the courthouse at Knoxville is a plain stone monument raised in his memory (Fig. 64), and down a side street is an old dwelling, said to be an early statehouse of the commonwealth which is still associated with his name. In 1785 the state of “Franklin” was organized and named in honor of the illustrious Benjamin; but North Carolina, being heartily opposed to the whole proceeding, put an end to it without delay. Sevier, as governor of the would-be state, was imprisoned, but escaped, to the delight of his own people, who were always loyal to him. They sent him to Congress in a few years and in 1796 made him the first governor of Tennessee. He enjoyed many honors until his death in 1815, which came soon after that of his more quiet friend, James Robertson. Both of these wilderness men had much to do with planting the American flag between the Appalachian mountains and the Mississippi river. CHAPTER XIV CITIES OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS In the old days it took the traveler weeks to go from Pennsylvania or the Potomac river to the valley of east Tennessee. He might camp in the woods, living on the few provisions he could carry and on what he could shoot in the forest, or he might share the humble homes of chance settlers on the way. Now he enters a vestibuled train and is rolled over a smooth iron road along the streams and between the mountains. Starting one day, he will find when he wakes the next morning that the sun is rising over the Great Smokies, while around him are the rich rolling fields that border the Tennessee river. If the traveler wishes to see the land and learn what men have done in a hundred years, he will leave the train at Knoxville. A carriage or an electric car will carry him between blocks of fine buildings to a modern hotel, where he will find food and bed and places to read, write, rest, or do business, as he likes. Around him is a busy city stretching up and down its many hills. Before long he will wander down to the banks of the Tennessee river and see the boats tied at the wharf, or he will cross the great bridge to the hills beyond and look back over the city. [Illustration: FIG. 66. STREET IN KNOXVILLE] On those hilltops are pits dug in the woods, and some veteran of the Union or the Confederate army will tell him that these are ammunition pits. The old soldier will point across to where Fort Sanders stood, and will describe those days in 1863 when Longstreet came up and laid siege to the town, which was garrisoned by Burnside and his army.