Oconee War

In an attempt to end the strife between Georgians and the Creeks, George Washington sent a commission to Georgia that met with Alexander McGillivray, who was a Creek Indian leader, and over 2,000 of his warriors and chiefs at Rock Landing in 1789. This meeting was unsuccessful, and it was a year later, after bringing a delegation of chiefs to Washington, that a treaty was written that recognized the Oconee as the permanent western boundary of white settlements. Thereafter forts were built along the Oconee River to protect the white settlements and to ensure that the whites remained on the east side of the Oconee River.

In 1794, Elijah Clarke, whose stated goal was to protect the interests of Georgians, built his own forts in defiance of the Federal treaty with the Indians, on the west side of the Oconee River. Having been paid for his Revolutionary War service with land on both the east and west sides of the river, much of his activities had characteristics of a large-scale, land-grabbing venture. He formed what was called the Trans-Oconee Republic, made up of a great number of old veterans of the Revolution, and promised his followers lots of land on the west side of the river. He mapped out an area 120 miles (193 km) long on the western bank of the Oconee and erected forts along it. It was the intimidating presence of Clarke and his men along the river which kept the Creeks from any further harassment of the whites on the east side of the river. Clarke's actions prompted an angry George Washington to order his arrest and the destruction of the forts on the west side of the river. Clarke, a very popular man and Revolutionary War hero, turned himself in to his friends in Wilkes County, where he was acquitted.

Forts Marked by the Nancy Hart Chapter, NSDAR
http://www.friendsofcems.org/NSDAR/Forts.htm