Early Archaic Period larger Indian populations began to live impermanent or semi-permanent sites, and , toward the end of the period, began to cultivate some plants for food, although still relying heavily on hunting and gathering of wild food
ca. 6000 - 3000 BC
Middle Archaic Period. Subsistence hunting and gathering. American Indian groups traveled through, and may have encamped, along Rocky Broad River. Stone implements of period excavated in Chimney Rock.
5000 BC until Uriah Stones navigated up an off-shoot of the Cumberland River in 1766, what is now Rutherford County was habituated by Native Americans.
Note: axe head dating to 5000-4000 BC, middle Archaic Period was found on the property of Bob Wald rjwald1@bellsouth.net
ca. 3000 - 1000 BC
Late Archaic period. Beginnings of trade and technology. Probable movement of American Indian groups through gorge on seasonal round. More permanent base camps. ca. 1000 BC – 1500 AD Woodland Period. Pisgah phase of prehistoric Cherokee culture. (Warren Wilson and Garden Creek sites). Plant domestication and cultivation. Mound building. (Mound with artifacts excavated twelve miles southeast of Chimney Rock.)
ca. 1500 – 1850 AD
Cherokee use Hickory Nut Gap for travel between mountains and flatlands.
The Hickory Nut Hickory Nut Gorge was a sacred area, or neutral ground of Cherokee and neighboring Catawba tribes.
When the Catawba Indians ( Catawba means "river people,"the name used by themselves was Iyeye (people) or Nieye(real people ) met a Cherokee Indian in the Gorge, they could not kill each other as the Gorge was SACRED ground! ( Note: the concept of the HNG being a" sacred", " mystical, " magical", " spiritual" area is found in numerous stories of both the Cherokees and Catawba Indians. The following story of " "little people" inhabiting the Gorge and the sacred stories of the dried leaf of tobacco being a part of that sacredness in the Gorge is a fascinating study)
Myths develop - Little People. The early settlers found gold, tso-lungh (a magical, legendary tobacco), legends of talking animals ,the mysterious" Little People ”who lived among the craggy peaks of the gorge and awesome mountain from which came ominous and sometimes terrifying sounds SEE" THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF OUR MOUNTAINS
An excellent book to read for yourself, your children, and grandchildren about the Ghosts of our area is Mountain ghost Stories and Curious Tales of Western North Carolina, Randy Russell and Janet Barnett, John Blair, Publisher, Winston-Salem NC 1998. I have added it under Local Books and Authors of this site.
1540
Hernando De Soto may have traveled through gorge. Made contact with Cherokees. Explores route from Florida to Blue Ridge. (Travel through gorge dispelled by U. S. De Soto Commission – 1939)
1567
Capt.Juan Pardo may have traveled gorge. (Dispelled by U. S. De Soto Commission.)
ca.1600-Prior to European contact in the sixteenth century, the native Cherokee in North Carolina subsisted by hunting and gathering and farming. Their main crops were maize and beans
1673
English explorers James Needham and Gabriel Arthur traverse Hickory Nut Gap.
ca 1730-The earliest settlers in what is now Rutherford County probably came here around 1730. They were primarily German and Scotch-Irish. Throughout the mountains the majority were the Scotch-Irish like those that settled in the Cane Creek area and later formed Brittain Church. They brought their own ordained ministers with them. These Presbyterian Ministers were college trained and served also as educators. These settlers were becoming educated, and could read their own bibles
ca. 1760
First group of settlers arrive in Hickory Nut Gorge, predominantly Scotch-Irish. They had traveled down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania
1763, King George set-aside the land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to the Cherokee and prohibited the entry of white settlers. However, tensions between Britain and the colonies rendered the Proclamation useless, and settlers began to move westward, encroaching on Cherokee lands
ca 1770
Lost Gold on Round Top Mountain
While traveling on or near Round Top Mountain with a wagon load of gold, several Englishmen were attacked .The men prepared to ship their gold to Charleston, but Native Americans killed all but one of the Englishmen. The sole survivor, blinded in the attack, made his way back to England, where he attempted to draw a crude map to the mine. But to date, no one had found the lost gold mine. The gold is still believed by many to be hidden under some rocks or in the many caves that dot this mountain directly across from Chimney Rock.
1768:
Tryon County was formed from Mecklenburg County in 1768. Old Tryon County was divided into Lincoln and Rutherford Counties in April 1779. Rutherford County was named for Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford of Rowan County , North Carolina; Brigadier General Rutherford was a famous Revolutionary War soldier. From: http://www.rutherfordcountync. gov/history.php. See also : http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnsumner/rutherg.htm
1776 During the Revolutionary War the citizens of Rutherford County, were troubled by both Indian and Tory attacks. The Tories under Major Patrick Ferguson camped at Gilbertown and scouted the area for food and supplies. To escape Ferguson the people took refuse in the following forts: McGaughy; McFadden; Potts; Hampton; Mumfords; and Earle.
General Griffith Rutherford led 2,400 Militia to fight the Cherokee in western North Carolina. In what is now Murphy, Rutherford established his headquarters and organized soldiers from South Carolina and Virginia to crush the Cherokee." The patriot militia expedition of September 1776, led by Gen. Griffith Rutherford and known afterward as the Rutherford Trace, sought to eliminate Cherokees as a British ally and punish them for attacking white settlements. In one month, Rutherford’s men left dozens of Western North Carolina Cherokee villages in ruins with hundreds of acres of crops destroyed and livestock killed or seized. " (Michael Beadle, See http://www. smokymountainnews.com/issues/08_06/08_23_06/fr_rutherford_trace.html ).
John McFadding deeds 100 acres on “both sides of main Broad River” to Isham Revise for “forty pounds currency, white horse, two Negroes”. Revise later moves to Kentucky, then Missouri. Issues first deed of emancipation of slaves- Saline County, Missouri- 1827
1779
Rutherford County formed from Tryon County. It was named in honor of Griffith Rutherford, one of the most prominent of the Revolutionary patriots. He led the expedition that crushed the Cherokees in 1776, and rendered important services both in the Legislature and on the battlefield. It is in the southwestern section of the State and is bounded by the state of South Carolina and Polk, Henderson, McDowell, Burke and Cleveland counties
1780
The Overmountain soldiers marched through Rutherford County on October 3-5, 1780 on their way to meet Major Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain. This battle took place October 7, 1780 and was the turning point of the war. The trail of march has since become known as the "Overmountain Victory Trail." It became the second national historical trail in America when President Jimmy Carter signed it into law on October 7, 1980. This is a national historical honor for Rutherford County, as part of the trail passes through the county.
1781
"Life, following the revolutionary War, in Rutherford County was not in the best of conditions. Life offered little. Most activity took place on the farm: planting of grain, raising cattle and sheep, and growing food for the table. The loom furnished clothes for the family. Skins from animals were tanned; furs from wild animals were secured to provide additional clothing. The pioneer homes were built from the surrounding forest. Furniture and furnishings for the home were also made from the woods of the forest. The plantations and farms were small. Land could be bought for a nominal fee paid to the state for a grant. Each land owner tilled his soil, sometimes assisted by a slave or two. The farmer drove cattle and took surplus agricultural products over the best road leading from Morganton to Charleston, South Carolina. At Charleston at the market they could then buy staple products to take back home. Schooling was received in the home. The Bible was sometimes the only textbook available" from Rutherford County History http://www.rutherfordhistory.com/county.html
1785
First church in area and only the second in the county established – Bill’s Creek Missionary Baptist Church
Harris Tavern established by Dr. John Washington Harris. Becomes stagecoach stop in 1830’s. Harris Inn, later known as the Logan House, the Red Coach Inn and Pine Gables." The Harris Inn, now known as Pine Gables, is a large three-story frame building encompassing two log structures. "The two story log structures of the saddlebag variety (two log houses built on either side of a large chimney) have been raised to three stories and weather boarded. The log section to the west is approximately 30' X 21'. The log section to the East is approximately 22' X 21'. The massive hand shewn logs used for the walls are cornered with half dovetail cuts. The foundation is irregular coursed uncut rock. In ca. 1834 the two-story log structure was encased with boards. Ca. 1877 the house was enlarged with large frame building additions." See: http://www.lake-lure.com/big%20house.html
1779
North Carolina voted for the Constitution (195 to 77)
1791
In 1791 parts of Rutherford County and Burke County were combined to form Buncombe County. In 1841 parts of Rutherford County and Lincoln County were combined to form Cleveland County. In 1842 additional parts of Rutherford County and Burke County were combined to form McDowell County. Finally, in 1855 parts of Rutherford County and Henderson County were combined to form Polk County.
1785 The court house moved to the new town of Rutherfordton.
1796
Speculation Land Company founded by Tenche S Coxe Active for 125 years in development of local mountain land.
1800- John and Nancy Ann" Ashworth survey the land that was to become the Sherrill Inn. Ann an accomplished herb doctor, cast spells, cursed people who crossed her and was charged with sorcery by Cane Creek Baptist Chuch!
1804
John Ashworth Purchases large tract of land at western end of Hickory Nut Gap.
1806
First published reports of settlers seeing ghost troops of cavalry and others around and above Chimney Rock.
"Celestial battle on July 31, 1806. Mrs. Patsy Reaves reported that she and her two children had seen “a very numerous crowd of beings” atop Chimney Rock. Five years later, a husband and wife reported seeing two armies of horsemen high above the cliffs. The heavenly combatants, armed with swords, rode winged horses and slashed at each other in deadly combat. On at least three other occasions, residents reported similar sights. Many thought the end of the world was at hand." by Robert Williams "Legends of Hickory Nut Gorge
1815
The dirt road was improved and became Hickory Nut Gorge Turnpike. Also known as Drover's Road, it was used by herders to get cattle, hogs, geese, turkeys, pigs and other animals to market to be sold purchases for goods or cash needed in outlying mountain communities. See: Drover's Road
1820
The mining interest of the State is now only second to the farming interest.” So wrote a reporter of the Western Carolinian of Salisbury in 1825. But according to historians Richard D. Knapp and Brent D. Glass in Gold Mining in North Carolina (1999) the average Tar Heel did not fall victim to gold fever. Nevertheless, there was enough demand by 1830 for a Charlotte-based Miners’ and Farmers’ Journal to begin publication.
1828 Buffalo Cemetery, Lake Lure. Located in Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure. For a list of those buried here, please click here. First body in Buffalo Cemetery at Rumbling Bald Mountain Resort- Mary Russel, 94 years June 20, 1828.
1829
The General Assembly appropriated $12,000, through the Board of Internal Improvements, to complete a road through Hickory Nut Gap to Asheville.
"With the these improved roads, farmers from Western North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky had an accessible way of getting their farm products to market, and could greatly increase their supplies and profit by transporting goods by wagons.
However, the best way to market their corn was by feeding it to hogs, cattle, and turkeys. In late fall, farmers gathered their hogs, cattle, horses, mules, turkeys, or ducks for the trip to markets in Charleston, South Carolina and Augusta, Georgia. The roads were alive with livestock for the next two months. Men called drovers led these herds of animals to market. The drovers relied on helpers, usually young boys, to keep the animals moving by cracking whips tied with strips of red flannel. Depending on the type of livestock, drovers could travel six to twenty miles each day. Hogs, the most numerous animal on the turnpike, could only travel six to eight miles a day. Every eight or ten miles along the road, there would be a “stand” where animals could be fed and penned outdoors and the men could find hospitality indoors. Although this route was used by all sorts of traffic, it gradually received the named of the Drovers' Road." ( By By Alex S. Caton, Director of Education, 199 9Revised by Rebecca Lamb, Executive Director, 2001, 2003, 200 4Smith-McDowell House Museum
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