"The unrelenting force surrounded the mountain, making itself known to everything in its path. It would not let go of what it captured. Nothing was able to block the pressure of its grasp. Nothing known to man had ever stopped it. This power created an increasing tightness in the pit of his stomach and a rapid intake of breath." The Sherrills belonged to a close-knit family who wanted to make a life for themselves without a repressive government telling them what they could, or could not, do. They started their lives in America just when America was first getting known to the world. English rule resisted the American colony's thirst of becoming independent. The American Revolution in the Southern states had the English gaining the upper hand in defeating the independence movement. The Sherrills joined over a thousand armed men to protect their frontier homes against an army made up of those who paid homage to King George. Part of that army was led by an English officer. He sent a message to the settlers across the mountains that he would bring fire and sword to them if they didn't cease their unruly ways. A Sherrill daughter was to become the first first lady of Tennessee.