In 1769, the house of burgesses of the colony of Virginia represented to Lord Bottetourt, "That they have the greatest reason to fear the said line," (meaning the boundary line, which the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations have referred to, in the map annexed to their Lordships report) "if confirmed, would constantly open to the Indians, and others _enemies_ to his Majesty, a free and easy ingress to the heart of the country on the Ohio, Holston's river, and the Great Kenhawa; whereby the settlements which may be attempted in these quarters will, in all probability, be utterly destroyed, and _that great extent of country_ [at least 800 miles in length] _from the mouth of the Kenhawa_ to the _mouth of the Cherokee river_ extending Eastward as far as the Laurell Hill, _so lately ceded to his Majesty, to which no tribe of Indians at present set up any pretensions, will be entirely abandoned to the Cherokees_; in consequence of which, claims, _totally destructive_ of the true interest of his Majesty, may at some future time arise, _and acquisitions justly ranked among the most valuable of the late war be altogether lost_." From the foregoing detail of facts, it is obvious, 1st. That the country _Southward_ of the _Great Kenhawa_, at least as far as the Cherokee river, originally belonged to the Shawanesse. 2d. That the Six Nations, in virtue of their conquest of the Shawanesse, became the lawful proprietors of that country. 3d. That the King, in consequence of the grant from the Six Nations, made to his Majesty at Fort Stanwix in 1768, is _now_ vested with the undoubted right and property thereof. 4th. That the Cherokees _never_ resided, nor hunted in that country, and have _not_ any kind of right to it. 5th. That the House of Burgesses of the colony of Virginia have, upon good grounds, asserted, [such as properly arise from the nature of their stations, and proximity to the Cherokee country], that the Cherokees had not any just pretensions to the territory _Southward_ of the Great Kenhawa. And lastly, That neither the Six Nations, the Shawanesse nor Delawares, do _now_ reside, or hunt in that country.