In 1785, Georgia Governor George Mathews signed the Bourbon County Act, which organized Bourbon County, Georgia in the area east of the Mississippi River, south of the Yazoo River, east of various Native American lands and the north of the 31 degree parallel of latitude.
At this time the western boundary of the State of Georgia was at the Mississippi River (per the 1763 Treaty of Paris).
Thomas Green attempted to assemble and organize Bourbon County, but Spanish authorities resisted his efforts to occupy the territory due to the fact that the county occupied area also claimed by Spain.
The State of Georgia appointed civil and judicial officers for the new county, but under pressure from the federal government, the Georgia General Assembly repealed the act creating Bourbon County on February 1, 1788, with the intent to reduce diplomatic tensions with Spain.
The federal government opposed the existence of Bourbon County because of the unresolved Spanish claim, and because claims to the area by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Native American tribes had existed previously.