History & Nostalgia
Home Page Photo: John Adams came from France to fight for American Independence and stayed, eventually settling in present-day Watauga County. He is buried at Mountlawn. Above: Col. Benjamin Cleveland lived in Wilkes County but often led his ranger company through the mountains. This monument is located in Cleveland County, TN. Photos by Michael C. Hardy
HARDY ON HISTORY: The High Country and the American Revolution
By Michael C. Hardy
Among the towering peaks of the High Country of western North Carolina, there runs an ancient road. For thousands of years, the tread of people has worn the road down into a discernible trace, sunken into the mountainside. The ancestors of the Catawba, Shawnee, Moneton, Yuchi, and others once used this path to trade with their neighbors, hunt, and, at times, make war. Spanish explorers in the seventeenth century probably used this path to travel from the foothills over the mountains.
When the French and Indian War ended and settlers began to push west, they found a well-worn path through the mountains, leading from the Catawba River to the Watauga River Valley. Samuel Bright saw a need for a guide, and in the 1770s, established a homestead on the North Toe River, with a secondary camp at the confluence of the North Toe River and Roaring Creek. His primary camp became known as the Bright Settlement. Bright guided travelers along the North Toe River, up Roaring Creek, through Yellow Mountain Gap, and into the Watauga River settlements. The old road became known as Bright’s Trace, or the old Yellow Mountain Road or Trail.
Bright’s Trace was not the only old road in the area. The Buffalo Trail passed through the mountains at Deep Gap, moving west through the Iron Mountains. Just south of Deep Gap is Cook’s Gap, sometimes called Boone’s Trace. This path led from the Yadkin River up the Blue Ridge escarpment into the mountains.
Each of these, and undoubtedly others, became vital routes during the American Revolution.
It is possible they were used by the Cherokee when they attacked foothill settlements in July 1776. While most of the fighting occurred along the Catawba River in present-day McDowell County, early twentieth-century historian John Preston Arthur recalled a local tradition regarding William White. Out hunting in the area, White witnessed the Cherokee capturing two men and trampling their bodies in a mud hole near Linville Falls. White quickly gathered his family, living about a mile away, and sought refuge at Fort Crider in present-day Lenoir. Another local legend was that Patriot militia pursued a band of Cherokee to a “rock cliff” around Pisgah Church but retreated due to a disparity in numbers.
The road network in the High Country was frequently used by Patriot militia as they moved through the area. In June 1776, as the British attacked Charleston, a call went out for help and militia from the Watauga River Valley responded, heading down Bright’s Trace. Waightstill Avery, traveling toward Long Island of Holston for treaty negotiations in June 1777, came close to being captured on Bright’s Trace as he neared Yellow Mountain Gap. Patriot militia from the Watauga River area, now divided into Washington and Sullivan counties, traveled down Bright’s Trace to join portions of the Burke County militia in early 1780. They were headed to Charleston, which was captured in May.
With the capture of Savannah and Charleston, the British began to push toward the interior. Under the leadership of Lord Cornwallis, by June of 1780 the British had secured Camden, Augustus, and Ninety Six. Loyalists in Western North Carolina began forming companies, expecting to meet the British as they entered North Carolina. One group of Loyalists was defeated at the battle of Ramsour’s Mill in June.
Cornwallis dispatched the force of Major Patrick Ferguson to Ninety Six with the mission of recruiting Loyalists. Learning that Charles McDowell and his Patriot militia from Burke County were operating on the North Carolina-South Carolina border, Ferguson began pursuit. With a portion of the British at Thicketty Fort, McDowell asked some of the leaders across the mountains for support. Over 400 militiamen crossed the mountains, probably using Bright’s Trace, and captured the British garrison.
The Overmountain Militiamen returned home, and Ferguson began pursuing McDowell. The two forces tangled at Cowan’s Ford and Allen’s Mountain. With the British almost in the Toe River Valley, McDowell moved his militiamen over the mountains, leaving their families behind. McDowell and the other militia commanders had already worked out a plan. They would combine their forces, sending word to other commanders in Virginia and in Wilkes and Surry counties, and pursue the British. As Ferguson moved south, McDowell crossed over the mountains. He was followed on September 25 by hundreds of militiamen under the command of John Sevier, William Campbell, and Isaac Shelby. In the foothills, they were joined by militia under the command of Benjamin Cleveland.
On October 7, 1780, the Overmountain Men found Ferguson and his force at Kings Mountain, just over the state line in South Carolina. In the ensuing battle, Ferguson was killed, and over 1,000 Loyalists were killed, wounded, or captured. Thomas Jefferson considered the battle of Kings Mountain the turning point of the American Revolution. A portion of the Patriot army escorted the prisoners to Salem, with the Overmountain Men returning to their homes. Militia from over the mountain traveled along Bright’s Trace a couple of other times, fighting at Guilford Court House, Ninety Six, and Moncks Corner.
Local action was not confined to the militia using Bright’s Trace. Ranger companies were formed that patrolled the backcountry, looking for new raids by the Cherokee, and loyalists and dissidents using the mountains to hide out. Benjamin Cleveland led one such company, moving frequently through the New River, Toe River, and across the mountains into the Watauga River Valley area.
On one of those scouts, Cleveland came across the fortified home of David Hix on the Watauga River. Hix was described as being neutral, not taking either side during the conflict. At one point, he offered shelter to a Tory named Grimes. Grimes had stolen fifty head of cattle and several horses from people on the Yadkin and was attempting to flee. Not long after leaving Hix’s, they were overtaken, and Grimes was killed near Hanging Rock. On another occasion, Hix entertained a group of refugees. Cleveland and his men were in pursuit and laid siege to Hix’s Fort. After a time, Cleveland withdrew. Thinking that Cleveland was gone, Hix and his family came out and were ambushed. Hix was wounded and captured, while his son-in-law, Mikel Asher, was killed. Hix was released and might have moved to the Banner Elk area, in a spot known as the Hix Settlement, and possibly traveled over the mountain for a time until returning to his Valle Crucis home.
Cleveland himself was ambushed and captured at one point by a Tory, Captain William Riddle. From the New River area, Riddle took Cleveland to Wolf’s Den, near what is now known as Riddle’s Knob. Word reached Cleveland’s brother Robert, who, with a party of around forty men, set off in pursuit. The next morning, Riddle’s camp was discovered, and the militia attacked, rescuing Cleveland. Riddle was later caught and hanged. Cleveland is rumored to have hanged several Tories during the war.
Following the end of hostilities, settlers began making their way into the High Country. Some settled, while others stayed but a short time before moving on. They settled in the valleys carved out by the rivers, using the existing roads until they carved out new roads in the wilderness.
Michael C. Hardy is the author of numerous books, articles, and blog posts on North Carolina history. His latest book, Western North Carolina & Eastern Tennessee in the American Revolution, was released by The History Press (Arcadia Publishing), this June. Order your copy at: arcadiapublishing.com, our local history museums, local book retailers, and online at Amazon and other digital bookstores.