In 1702 and 1703 French overtures to the Alabama and Talapoosa, and the Franco-Spanish projects for employing the Apalache against the Lower Creeks, awakened anxiety at Charles Town for the stability of the provincial Indian system. A general movement northward of the Creek tribes who formed the bulwark of Carolina seemed impending. How to protect these Indians and confirm them in the places in which they lived repeatedly engaged the attention of the government. 18 [Note 18: JCHA, January 14, 1702; January 15, 16, 19, 20, February 3, September 2, 1703]