In the 1760's and 1770's early pioneers began exploring the land west of the Appalachian Mountains that would become East Tennessee. A few permanent settlements began popping up along the Watauga River.
Fort Watauga was established near the present day town of Elizabethton.
Since the settlements were outside of the thirteen British Colonies, the settlements were not under British control. The settlers needed a basic form of government.
The "Watauga Association" was created in 1772 by several frontier settlements along the Watauga River. This became their basic form of government.
Although it lasted only a few years, the Watauga Association provided a basis for what later developed into the State of Franklin.