Sycamore Shoals
Encyclopedia
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River
in Elizabethton
, in the U.S. state of Tennessee
. The shoals have long been a significant landmark in the prehistory and history of the Trans-Appalachia
n region, first as an early Native American
habitation site and Cherokee
gathering place, and later as the site of numerous events critical to the establishment of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky
and the settlement of the Trans-Appalachian frontier in general. Today, the shoals are protected as a National Historic Landmark
and are maintained as part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.
Explorer James Robertson (later a founder of Nashville
) identified the alluring flatlands at Sycamore Shoals, known as the Watauga Old Fields, in 1770, and led a group of colonists to the area shortly thereafter. In 1772, the Watauga settlers established the Watauga Association
, one of the first constitutional governments west of the Appalachian Mountains
and the "germ-cell" of what would later become the state of Tennessee.
In 1775, Richard Henderson
and Daniel Boone
negotiated the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, in which Henderson's Transylvania Company purchased a large part of modern Kentucky and part of Tennessee from the Cherokee. The following year, the Watauga settlers successfully thwarted one arm of a Cherokee invasion at Fort Watauga
in a struggle that saw the creation of numerous legends surrounding figures such as Nancy Ward
and John Sevier
. In 1780, at the height of the American Revolutionary War
, the frontier militia known as the Overmountain Men
mustered at Sycamore Shoals as it prepared to march across the mountains en route to victory over British loyalist
s at the Battle of Kings Mountain
.
and 11 miles (17.7 km) downstream from Wilbur Dam
. While managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
, the shoals are located within the municipal boundaries of Elizabethton. Beyond the shoals, the Watauga flows for another 8 miles (12.9 km) before entering its Boone Lake
impoundment.
(ca. 1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D.) and continuing sporadically through much of the Mississippian period
(ca. 900–1600 A.D.). In 1567, a contingent of the Juan Pardo
expedition passed through the Nolichucky River
valley to the south and attacked a fortified Chisca village (the village was probably located between modern Jonesborough
and Erwin
). By the late 17th century, the Mississippian-period inhabitants had largely vanished, and had been replaced by the Cherokee, who used Sycamore Shoals as a gathering place and hunting camp.
By the 1760s, long hunters such as Julius Dugger and Andrew Greer were operating stations in the Watauga Valley in the vicinity of Sycamore Shoals. In 1769, William Bean
, known traditionally as Tennessee's first permanent white settler, built a cabin at the confluence of Boone's Creek and the Watauga, about 15 miles (24.1 km) downstream from the Shoals. Around the same time, John Honeycut was operating out of a hut at the mouth of Roan Creek (about 20 miles upstream from the Shoals, now part of Watauga Lake
). Early hunters and explorers called the flats around Sycamore Shoals the Watauga "Old Fields," as they were full of cane
rather than trees, resembling once-cultivated fields that had for years lied fallow.
In the Spring of 1770, James Robertson, possibly fleeing the turmoil created by the Regulator Movement in his home state of North Carolina, made an excursion into the Watauga Valley. He met John Honeycut, who pointed him to the Old Fields. Robertson later described the Old Fields as a "Promised Land" where fertile fields had already been cleared of the dense forest that dominated most lands in the region. Robertson planted crops and built a small cabin and corn crib, and returned to North Carolina to notify family and friends of his discovery. 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
. In 1771, however, a survey by John Donelson
discovered that the Watauga settlements, along with the nearby Nolichucky settlement and an area east of Long Island of the Holston known as Carter's Valley, were on lands still claimed by the Cherokee. British Superintendent of Indian Affairs John Stuart
thus ordered the Watauga settlers to vacate the valley and return to British territory.
, where they negotiated a 10-year lease for the lands in the Watauga Valley. Being outside the authority of the Virginia and North Carolina colonial governments, the settlers lacked any official means of dealing with criminals and carrying out basic government functions, such as registering land deeds. Thus, in May 1772, the settlers drafted the Articles of the Watauga Association— one of the first written constitutions west of the Appalachian Mountains
. The Watauga Association consisted of a five-man court that held sessions in a courthouse at Sycamore Shoals. The Association is often considered the root of state government in Tennessee, especially since many Wataugans went on to play prominent roles in the failed State of Franklin
in the 1780s and in the Southwest Territory and Tennessee state governments in the 1790s. While writers such as later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
romanticized the Watauga Association as a microcosm of the American Revolution
, modern historians point out that the Wataugans never claimed to be independent of the British Crown, and tried to associate themselves with Virginia.
The defeat of the Shawnee
in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774 emboldened land speculators in North Carolina, who believed much of what is now Kentucky and Tennessee would soon be under British control. One such speculator, Richard Henderson (1734–1785), learned from his friend Daniel Boone that the Cherokee were interested in selling a large part of their land on the Trans-Appalachian frontier, and Henderson quickly set up negotiations with Cherokee leaders. Between March 14 and March 17, 1775, Henderson, Boone, and several associates met at Sycamore Shoals with Cherokee leaders Attakullakulla, Oconastota, Willanawaw, Doublehead and Dragging Canoe
, the latter of whom sought unsuccessfully to reject Henderson's purchase of tribal lands outside the Donelson line, and departed the conference vowing to turn the lands "dark and bloody" if settlers attempted to settle upon them. The rest of the negotiations went fairly smoothly, however, and the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals was signed on March 17, 1775. At the same conference, the Watauga and Nolichucky settlers negotiated similar purchases for their lands.
The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, sometimes called the "Transylvania Purchase" (after Henderson's Transylvania Company, which had raised money for the endeavor), basically consisted of two parts. The first, known as the "Path deed," regarded the Transylvania Company's purchase of lands in Southwest Virginia (including parts of what is now West Virginia
) and northeastern Tennessee. The second part, known as the "Great Grant," acknowledged the Transylvania Company's purchase of some 20000000 acres (80,937.2 km²) of land between the Kentucky River
and Cumberland River
, which included a large portion of modern Kentucky and northern Tennessee. The Transylvania Company paid for the land with 10,000 pounds sterling
of trade goods. After the treaty was signed, Boone proceeded northward to blaze the Wilderness Road
, connecting the Transylvania Purchase lands with the Holston settlements.
The Transylvania Purchase and the accompanying Watauga and Nolichucky purchases violated the Royal Proclamation of 1763
, and the Virginia and North Carolina assemblies rejected their legality. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
in the months after the treaty was signed, the settlers aligned themselves with the colonies, whereas the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British. The Watauga and Nolichucky settlers organized themselves into the "Washington District"
and formed a Committee of Safety
, which set out to purchase arms and ammunition. The Committee also oversaw the construction of various forts, including Fort Caswell (later called Fort Watauga) at Sycamore Shoals.
In July 1776, the Cherokee invaded the Nolichucky, Holston, and Watauga settlements. Although the settlers were chased out of Carter's Valley and the Nolichucky valley, the Holston settlers managed to thwart Dragging Canoe at the Battle of Island Flats (at modern Kingsport
) on July 20. The following day, a Cherokee contingent led by Old Abraham of Chilhowee reached Fort Watauga. The Wataugans, led by John Carter, James Robertson, and John Sevier, were well-prepared, having been warned of the invasion by Nancy Ward. Ward also used her powers as a Cherokee Beloved Woman to spare the life of Lydia Russell Bean (wife of early settler William Bean), who had been captured during the invasion and had been sentenced to be burned at the stake. The Cherokee laid siege to Fort Watauga for about two weeks before retreating. A relief force led by William Christian
arrived at Fort Watauga a few weeks later and attacked the Overhill
towns. The following year, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island, ceding the Sycamore Shoals area to the United States.
, took part in various engagements throughout the war, including the Siege of Charleston
(historian Samuel Cole Williams dubbed the siege's Washington County participants the first "volunteers" of Tennessee) and the Battle of Musgrove Mill
. In late 1780, Major Patrick Ferguson
led an army of loyalists into the Appalachian Mountains to cover Cornwallis'
invasion of North Carolina. Ferguson sent a message to the frontiersmen in Southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee, ordering them to give up their arms or face destruction.
On September 25, a force of 400 Virginians led by William Campbell, 240 Sullivan Countians led by Isaac Shelby
, and 240 Washington Countians led by John Sevier gathered at Sycamore Shoals. After being supplied with food, money, and gunpowder by locals, the force marched across the Appalachian Mountains, linking up with several North Carolina and South Carolina militias along the way. On October 7, the Overmountain Men engaged and defeated Ferguson's loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Overmountain Men suffered less than 100 casualties while killing 157 in the loyalist force (including Ferguson), wounding 163, and capturing another 698. The victory forced Cornwallis to temporarily abandon his invasion of North Carolina.
In the 20th century, various entities began to acknowledge the importance of Sycamore Shoals in the history of Tennessee and the Trans-Appalachian frontier. In 1909, the Daughters of the American Revolution
placed an obelisk
, constructed from local river rock and set on a concrete base, at the intersection of West G Street and Monument Place in Elizabethton, where historian J. G. M. Ramsey
suggested Fort Watauga had once stood. In the 1960s, Sycamore Shoals was designated a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places the following decade. As part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations, the state of Tennessee decided to reconstruct Fort Watauga. The state purchased Sycamore Shoals, a small island within the shoals, and an undeveloped stretch of land along the south bank of the Watauga River for the reconstructed fort and the accompanying state park that would interpret it and maintain the shoals. Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park opened in 1975. In 1980, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for the creation of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
, which connects Sycamore Shoals with Kings Mountain National Military Park
.
Today, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park hosts various annual reenactments regarding the siege of Fort Watauga and the mustering of the Overmountain Men. A walking trail follows the south bank of the Watauga, allowing easy access to the Sycamore Shoals, with various interpretive signs explaining the various historical events along the way. In recent years, the relatively low waters along the shoals (which are easy to wade across) have become a popular spot for fly fishing
.
Watauga River
The Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 60 miles long with its headwaters on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain and Peak Mountain in Watauga County, North Carolina.-Hydrography:...
in Elizabethton
Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site both of the first independent American government located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British American colonies.Elizabethton is also the...
, in the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. The shoals have long been a significant landmark in the prehistory and history of the Trans-Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n region, first as an early Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
habitation site and Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
gathering place, and later as the site of numerous events critical to the establishment of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and the settlement of the Trans-Appalachian frontier in general. Today, the shoals are protected as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
and are maintained as part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.
Explorer James Robertson (later a founder of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
) identified the alluring flatlands at Sycamore Shoals, known as the Watauga Old Fields, in 1770, and led a group of colonists to the area shortly thereafter. In 1772, the Watauga settlers established the Watauga Association
Watauga Association
The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee...
, one of the first constitutional governments west of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
and the "germ-cell" of what would later become the state of Tennessee.
In 1775, Richard Henderson
Richard Henderson (American pioneer)
Richard Henderson was an American pioneer and merchant who attempted to create a colony called Transylvania just as the American Revolutionary War was starting.-Early life:Henderson was born in Hanover County, Virginia...
and Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
negotiated the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, in which Henderson's Transylvania Company purchased a large part of modern Kentucky and part of Tennessee from the Cherokee. The following year, the Watauga settlers successfully thwarted one arm of a Cherokee invasion at Fort Watauga
Fort Watauga
Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee...
in a struggle that saw the creation of numerous legends surrounding figures such as Nancy Ward
Nancy Ward
Nanyehi , known in English as Nancy Ward was a Ghigau, or Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nation, which meant that she was allowed to sit in councils and to make decisions, along with the other Beloved Women, on pardons...
and John Sevier
John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
. In 1780, at the height of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the frontier militia known as the Overmountain Men
Overmountain Men
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings...
mustered at Sycamore Shoals as it prepared to march across the mountains en route to victory over British loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
s at the Battle of Kings Mountain
Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive battle between the Patriot and Loyalist militias in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War...
.
Location
The Sycamore Shoals is located at just over 23 miles (37 km) upstream from the mouth of the Watauga River, and approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream from the river's confluence with the Doe RiverDoe River
The Doe River is a naturally flowing river in northeast Tennessee that forms in Carter County near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park.-Hydrography:...
and 11 miles (17.7 km) downstream from Wilbur Dam
Wilbur Dam
Wilbur Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Watauga River in Carter County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The dam impounds Wilbur Lake, which extends for about up the Watauga to the base of Watauga Dam...
. While managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is a Cabinet-level agency within the government of the U.S. state of Tennessee, headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation....
, the shoals are located within the municipal boundaries of Elizabethton. Beyond the shoals, the Watauga flows for another 8 miles (12.9 km) before entering its Boone Lake
Boone Lake
Boone Lake is a reservoir in Sullivan and Washington counties in northeastern Tennessee, formed by the impoundment of the South Fork Holston River behind Boone Dam....
impoundment.
Prehistory and early history
Excavations in the flats around Sycamore Shoals have uncovered evidence of significant habitation dating back to the Woodland periodWoodland period
The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
(ca. 1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D.) and continuing sporadically through much of the Mississippian period
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
(ca. 900–1600 A.D.). In 1567, a contingent of the Juan Pardo
Juan Pardo (explorer)
Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina , and the village of Santa Elena on...
expedition passed through the Nolichucky River
Nolichucky River
The Nolichucky River is a major stream draining the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and east Tennessee. The river is long.-Hydrography:...
valley to the south and attacked a fortified Chisca village (the village was probably located between modern Jonesborough
Jonesborough, Tennessee
Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...
and Erwin
Erwin, Tennessee
Erwin is a town in and the county seat of Unicoi County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area...
). By the late 17th century, the Mississippian-period inhabitants had largely vanished, and had been replaced by the Cherokee, who used Sycamore Shoals as a gathering place and hunting camp.
By the 1760s, long hunters such as Julius Dugger and Andrew Greer were operating stations in the Watauga Valley in the vicinity of Sycamore Shoals. In 1769, William Bean
William Bean
William Bean born was a Longhunter and pioneer. He and his wife, Lydia Russell, were Tennessee's first permanent European-American settlers.Bean was a friend of Daniel Boone...
, known traditionally as Tennessee's first permanent white settler, built a cabin at the confluence of Boone's Creek and the Watauga, about 15 miles (24.1 km) downstream from the Shoals. Around the same time, John Honeycut was operating out of a hut at the mouth of Roan Creek (about 20 miles upstream from the Shoals, now part of Watauga Lake
Watauga Lake
Watauga Lake, located southeast of Elizabethton, Tennessee, was created by the Tennessee Valley Authority with the completion of the TVA Watauga Dam and Reservoir....
). Early hunters and explorers called the flats around Sycamore Shoals the Watauga "Old Fields," as they were full of cane
Arundinaria
Arundinaria, commonly known as the canes, is the sole genus of bamboo native to South Africa and eastern North America and the only temperate bamboo in North America. The genus is endemic to the eastern United States from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Ohio and Texas...
rather than trees, resembling once-cultivated fields that had for years lied fallow.
Settlement
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
Treaty of Lochaber
The Treaty of Lochaber was signed on October 18, 1770 by British representative John Stuart and the Cherokees. Based on the terms of the accord, the Cherokee relinquished all claims to property from the North Carolina and Virginia border to a point near Long Island on the Holston River to the mouth...
. In 1771, however, a survey by John Donelson
John Donelson
Col. John Donelson , explorer and adventurer, was, with James Robertson, co-founder of Fort Nashborough in 1780, which would eventually become the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Donelson was the father of Rachel Jackson, the wife of seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. His...
discovered that the Watauga settlements, along with the nearby Nolichucky settlement and an area east of Long Island of the Holston known as Carter's Valley, were on lands still claimed by the Cherokee. British Superintendent of Indian Affairs John Stuart
John Stuart (loyalist)
John Stuart was a Scottish-born official of the British Empire in North America. He was the superintendent for the southern district of the British Indian Department from 1761 to 1779; his northern counterpart was Sir William Johnson.Born in Inverness, by 1748 Stuart had emigrated to South...
thus ordered the Watauga settlers to vacate the valley and return to British territory.
The Watauga Association
In 1772, the Watauga settlers, hoping to keep control of the land they had been developing, sent James Robertson and James Bean to ChotaChota (Cherokee town)
Chota is a historic Overhill Cherokee site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. For much of its history, Chota was the most important of the Overhill towns, serving as the de facto capital of the Cherokee people from the late 1740s until 1788...
, where they negotiated a 10-year lease for the lands in the Watauga Valley. Being outside the authority of the Virginia and North Carolina colonial governments, the settlers lacked any official means of dealing with criminals and carrying out basic government functions, such as registering land deeds. Thus, in May 1772, the settlers drafted the Articles of the Watauga Association— one of the first written constitutions west of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
. The Watauga Association consisted of a five-man court that held sessions in a courthouse at Sycamore Shoals. The Association is often considered the root of state government in Tennessee, especially since many Wataugans went on to play prominent roles in the failed State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...
in the 1780s and in the Southwest Territory and Tennessee state governments in the 1790s. While writers such as later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
romanticized the Watauga Association as a microcosm of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, modern historians point out that the Wataugans never claimed to be independent of the British Crown, and tried to associate themselves with Virginia.
Treaty of Sycamore Shoals
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774 emboldened land speculators in North Carolina, who believed much of what is now Kentucky and Tennessee would soon be under British control. One such speculator, Richard Henderson (1734–1785), learned from his friend Daniel Boone that the Cherokee were interested in selling a large part of their land on the Trans-Appalachian frontier, and Henderson quickly set up negotiations with Cherokee leaders. Between March 14 and March 17, 1775, Henderson, Boone, and several associates met at Sycamore Shoals with Cherokee leaders Attakullakulla, Oconastota, Willanawaw, Doublehead and Dragging Canoe
Dragging Canoe
Tsiyu Gansini , "He is dragging his canoe", known to whites as Dragging Canoe, was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee against colonists and United States settlers...
, the latter of whom sought unsuccessfully to reject Henderson's purchase of tribal lands outside the Donelson line, and departed the conference vowing to turn the lands "dark and bloody" if settlers attempted to settle upon them. The rest of the negotiations went fairly smoothly, however, and the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals was signed on March 17, 1775. At the same conference, the Watauga and Nolichucky settlers negotiated similar purchases for their lands.
The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, sometimes called the "Transylvania Purchase" (after Henderson's Transylvania Company, which had raised money for the endeavor), basically consisted of two parts. The first, known as the "Path deed," regarded the Transylvania Company's purchase of lands in Southwest Virginia (including parts of what is now West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
) and northeastern Tennessee. The second part, known as the "Great Grant," acknowledged the Transylvania Company's purchase of some 20000000 acres (80,937.2 km²) of land between the Kentucky River
Kentucky River
The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The river and its tributaries drain much of the central region of the state, with its upper course passing through the coal-mining regions of the Cumberland Mountains, and its lower course passing through the...
and Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
, which included a large portion of modern Kentucky and northern Tennessee. The Transylvania Company paid for the land with 10,000 pounds sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
of trade goods. After the treaty was signed, Boone proceeded northward to blaze the Wilderness Road
Wilderness Road
The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Fort Chiswell in Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened,...
, connecting the Transylvania Purchase lands with the Holston settlements.
Fort Watauga
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, and the Virginia and North Carolina assemblies rejected their legality. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
in the months after the treaty was signed, the settlers aligned themselves with the colonies, whereas the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British. The Watauga and Nolichucky settlers organized themselves into the "Washington District"
Washington District, North Carolina
The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains, officially existing for only a short period of time , although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent governing entity since the spring of 1775...
and formed a Committee of Safety
Committee of Safety (American Revolution)
Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community...
, which set out to purchase arms and ammunition. The Committee also oversaw the construction of various forts, including Fort Caswell (later called Fort Watauga) at Sycamore Shoals.
In July 1776, the Cherokee invaded the Nolichucky, Holston, and Watauga settlements. Although the settlers were chased out of Carter's Valley and the Nolichucky valley, the Holston settlers managed to thwart Dragging Canoe at the Battle of Island Flats (at modern Kingsport
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
) on July 20. The following day, a Cherokee contingent led by Old Abraham of Chilhowee reached Fort Watauga. The Wataugans, led by John Carter, James Robertson, and John Sevier, were well-prepared, having been warned of the invasion by Nancy Ward. Ward also used her powers as a Cherokee Beloved Woman to spare the life of Lydia Russell Bean (wife of early settler William Bean), who had been captured during the invasion and had been sentenced to be burned at the stake. The Cherokee laid siege to Fort Watauga for about two weeks before retreating. A relief force led by William Christian
William Christian (Virginia)
William Christian was an "Indian fighter", Continental soldier, militiaman and politician from Virginia who served in the era of the American Revolution. He was a signatory to the Fincastle Resolutions and founder of Fort William...
arrived at Fort Watauga a few weeks later and attacked the Overhill
Overhill Cherokee
The term Overhill Cherokee refers to the former Cherokee settlements located in what is now Tennessee in the southeastern United States. The name was given by 18th century European traders and explorers who had to cross the Appalachian Mountains to reach these settlements when traveling from...
towns. The following year, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island, ceding the Sycamore Shoals area to the United States.
The Overmountain Men
In 1776, the Washington District sent a petition to the North Carolina Assembly asking to be annexed. In November of that year, North Carolina agreed, and the district was admitted to the state as Washington County. Washington County militiamen, who along with the Holston and Southwest Virginia militiamen comprised a frontier militia known as the Overmountain MenOvermountain Men
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings...
, took part in various engagements throughout the war, including the Siege of Charleston
Siege of Charleston
The Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the American Southern Colonies. After about six weeks of siege, Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln...
(historian Samuel Cole Williams dubbed the siege's Washington County participants the first "volunteers" of Tennessee) and the Battle of Musgrove Mill
Battle of Musgrove Mill
The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 19, 1780, occurred near a ford of the Enoree River, near the present-day border between Spartanburg, Laurens and Union Counties in South Carolina...
. In late 1780, Major Patrick Ferguson
Patrick Ferguson
Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scottish officer in the British Army, early advocate of light infantry and designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis, in which he aggressively recruited Loyalists and harshly treated Patriot...
led an army of loyalists into the Appalachian Mountains to cover Cornwallis'
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
invasion of North Carolina. Ferguson sent a message to the frontiersmen in Southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee, ordering them to give up their arms or face destruction.
On September 25, a force of 400 Virginians led by William Campbell, 240 Sullivan Countians led by Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...
, and 240 Washington Countians led by John Sevier gathered at Sycamore Shoals. After being supplied with food, money, and gunpowder by locals, the force marched across the Appalachian Mountains, linking up with several North Carolina and South Carolina militias along the way. On October 7, the Overmountain Men engaged and defeated Ferguson's loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Overmountain Men suffered less than 100 casualties while killing 157 in the loyalist force (including Ferguson), wounding 163, and capturing another 698. The victory forced Cornwallis to temporarily abandon his invasion of North Carolina.
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
placed an obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
, constructed from local river rock and set on a concrete base, at the intersection of West G Street and Monument Place in Elizabethton, where historian J. G. M. Ramsey
J. G. M. Ramsey
James Gettys McGready Ramsey was an American historian, physician, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods...
suggested Fort Watauga had once stood. In the 1960s, Sycamore Shoals was designated a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places the following decade. As part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations, the state of Tennessee decided to reconstruct Fort Watauga. The state purchased Sycamore Shoals, a small island within the shoals, and an undeveloped stretch of land along the south bank of the Watauga River for the reconstructed fort and the accompanying state park that would interpret it and maintain the shoals. Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park opened in 1975. In 1980, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for the creation of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail is part of the U.S. National Trails System. It recognizes the Revolutionary War Overmountain Men, Patriots from what is now East Tennessee who crossed the Great Smoky Mountains and then fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain in South...
, which connects Sycamore Shoals with Kings Mountain National Military Park
Kings Mountain National Military Park
Kings Mountain National Military Park is a National Military Park near Blacksburg, South Carolina, along the North Carolina/South Carolina border...
.
Today, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park hosts various annual reenactments regarding the siege of Fort Watauga and the mustering of the Overmountain Men. A walking trail follows the south bank of the Watauga, allowing easy access to the Sycamore Shoals, with various interpretive signs explaining the various historical events along the way. In recent years, the relatively low waters along the shoals (which are easy to wade across) have become a popular spot for fly fishing
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
.