Sandwiched between unfriendly natives to the west, Cherokee, Shawnee and Creek Native American tribes, and indifference on the part of English officials in Charleston, who considered residents of the Backcountry uncivilized, the early settlers frequently found themselves targets of Native American raids, and the local militia became an early police force, patrolling the area for possible Native American or slave troubles and controlling the seemingly numerous outlaw bands which roamed the region. Militia units, or "Beat Companies", enrolled every able-bodied man on the frontier.