Soon far more people wanted to go than Oglethorpe could take. So
crowds of poor wretches had to be turned away, bitterly disappointed
that they could not go to this new land which, after their terrible
sufferings, seemed to them a very paradise.
The preparations took some time, and it was about the middle of
November, 1732, when at length the Anne hoisted her sails and turned
her prow towards the west. There were about a hundred and twenty
colonists on board with Oglethorpe as Governor, and it was nearly
the end of January when the colonists landed on the southern shores
of the Savannah and founded the town of the same name.
One of the first things Oglethorpe did was to make a treaty with
the Indians, for he knew how greatly the peace and safety of the
little colony depended on their friendship.
There were eight tribes of Creeks who claimed the land upon which
Oglethorpe had settled. But before he allowed the colonists to land
he himself went ashore and sought out the chieftain whose village
was close to the spot he had chosen for his town. This chieftain
was an old man of over ninety years, and at first he did not seem
at all pleased at the idea of white men settling on his land. But
Oglethorpe was kindly and friendly, he spoke gently to the old
chief, and soon won his consent to the settlement, and a promise
of friendship.
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