Sycamore Shoals
Sycamore Shoals | |
Nearest city | Elizabethton, Tennessee |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°20′33″N 82°15′21″W / 36.34250°N 82.25583°W |
NRHP reference No. | 66000721[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 |
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the
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.[3]
In 1775,
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 River and 11 miles (18 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 (13 km) before entering its Boone Lake impoundment.
History
Prehistory and early history
Excavations in the flats around Sycamore Shoals have uncovered evidence of significant habitation dating back to the Woodland period (ca. 1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D.) and continuing sporadically through much of the Mississippian period (ca. 900–1600 A.D.).[3] 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and Erwin).[4] By the late 17th century, the Mississippian-period inhabitants had largely vanished, and had been replaced by the Cherokee, who used Sycamore Shoals as a gathering place and hunting camp.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,
Settlement
In the Spring of 1770, James Robertson, possibly fleeing the turmoil created by the
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
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
Treaty of Sycamore Shoals
The defeat of the
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 Grant 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 20,000,000 acres (81,000 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.[10]
Fort Watauga
The Transylvania Purchase and the accompanying Watauga and Nolichucky purchases violated the
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
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 Men, 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)[12] 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.[13]
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.[13]
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park
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,[14] one half-mile from the mouth of Gap Creek at Watauga River, where Tennessee historian J. G. M. Ramsey recorded within his Annals of Tennessee as where Fort Watauga had once stood.
In 1964, Sycamore Shoals was designated a National Historic Landmark, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. 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.[15] 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.[16]
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Carter County, Tennessee
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b Carroll Van West, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 28 June 2009.
- ^ a b c d Polly Rettig and Hugh Lawing (form preparation), Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga — National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. 11 February 1976. Retrieved: 28 June 2009. PDF file.
- ^ Charles Hudson, The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566–1568 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 2005), pp. 26–29.
- ^ a b c Samuel Cole Williams, Dawn of Tennessee Valley and Tennessee History (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Press, 1937), pp. 338–348.
- ^ "Early History of Carter County, 1760-1861", p.3. Frank Merritt. East Tennessee Historical Society, Knoxville, Tennessee. 1950.
- ^ a b c John Finger, Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2001), pp. 43–64.
- ^ Williams, Dawn of the Tennessee Valley, p. 370.
- ^ W. Calvin Dickenson, Watauga Association. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 28 June 2009.
- ^ a b Samuel Cole Williams, "Henderson and Company's Purchase Within the Limits of Tennessee." Tennessee Historical Magazine Vol. 1 (1919) pp. 5–23.
- ^ a b Finger, pp. 64–71.
- ^ Samuel Cole Williams, Lost State of Franklin (New York: Press of the Pioneers, 1933), p. 2.
- ^ a b Finger, pp. 84–88.
- ^ https://maps.google.com/maps?q=elizabethton+star&hl=en&ll=36.334095,-82.262038&spn=0.000004,0.002411&sqi=2&hq=star&hnear=Elizabethton,+Carter,+Tennessee&t=h&vpsrc=6&fll=36.334436,-82.261419&fspn=0.001264,0.002411&z=19&layer=c&cbll=36.334095,-82.262038&panoid=4HfTWyzLHGLE5fTWkTpXlg&cbp=12,116.81,,0,0 Google Maps
- ^ Brian Compton, "Revised History of Fort Watauga," pp. 14–18. East Tennessee State University Department of History (Master's thesis), May 2005. Retrieved: 18 June 2009. PDF file.
- ^ Stanford Dailey, "Fly Fishing On the Watauga River in Winter." Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, 4 February 2009. Retrieved: 28 June 2009.