The Beginnings of the Volunteer State Tennessee was a remote place in
1810. By 1850, some of the most influential people in America had come
from Tennessee, such as Sequoyah, David Crockett, the filibuster William
Walker and the slave trader Isaac Franklin. Learn about the state's
first steamboats and its initial telegraph message. Read newly
discovered accounts from the Trail of Tears. Hop along the Nashville and
Chattanooga Railroad and relive the glory and tragedy. Author and
columnist Bill Carey details these stories and more on early history in
The Volunteer State.