 In late 1770 or early 1771, Robertson returned to the Old Fields with sixteen families in tow.Robertson's settlement, which became known as the Watauga Settlement, grew quickly.The Watauga settlers believed (or claimed to have believed) that they were on lands that were part of the British domain, as the Watauga River is part of the watershed of the Holston River, the latter being established as the boundary between British and Cherokee lands by the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber.