Other early forts in the area included Willson's Station at the confluence of the East and Middle Fork of the Little Pigeon and Wear's Fort at the junction of the Southeastern and Tuckaleechee Trail and Indian Gap Trail. He was joined the following year by Samuel Newell (1754–1841), who established Newell's Station along Boyd's Creek, and Joshua Gist, who settled near the creek's mouth. Hugh Henry (1756–1838) erected a small fort near the mouth of Dumplin Creek in 1782 known as Henry's Station. Sevier defeated the Cherokee at the Battle of Boyd's Creek and proceeded to destroy several Cherokee settlements along the Little Tennessee.Ī temporary truce secured by James White in 1783 led to an influx of Euro-American settlers in the French Broad valley. John Sevier, fresh off a victory against the British at King's Mountain, launched a punitive expedition against the Cherokee. During the Revolutionary War, the Cherokee, who had aligned themselves with the British, launched sporadic attacks against the sparse settlements in the Tennessee Valley. Europeans like Thomas were mainly in the area in search of animal furs, which they exchanged for manufactured goods.Īs settlers began to trickle into East Tennessee, relations with the Cherokee began to turn hostile. 1735–1818), the most notable of these early traders, was well respected by the Cherokee and may have lived at the Overhill town of Chota at one time. Plaque honoring Sevierville pioneer Spencer Clack at the Sevier County CourthouseĮuropean long hunters and traders arrived in the Sevierville area in the mid-18th century. The various Cherokee trails crossing Sevier County brought the first Euro-American traders and settlers to the area. This second branch forked again at modern-day Pigeon Forge, with the main trail turning east en route to Little River and the other branch, known as Indian Gap Trail, crossing the crest of the Smokies to the south and descending into the Oconaluftee area of North Carolina. The other branch, known as the Tuckaleechee and Southeastern Trail, turned south along the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River. The main branch crossed the French Broad and continued along Dumplin Creek to the Nolichucky basin in northeastern Tennessee. A section of the Great Indian Warpath forked at the mouth of Boyd's Creek, just north of Sevierville. At the time of this first excavation, the mound was located on a farm owned by the McMahan family, and was thus given the name "McMahan Indian Mound."īy the early 18th century, the Cherokee controlled much of the Tennessee side of the Smokies and had established a series of settlements along the Little Tennessee River. An excavation in 1881 unearthed burial sites, arrowheads, a marble pipe, glass beads, pottery, and engraved objects. This mound was approximately 16 feet (5 m) high and 240 feet (73 m) across. īetween 12 A.D., during the Dallas phase of the Mississippian period, a group of Native Americans established McMahan Mound Site, a relatively large village centered on a platform mound and surrounded by a palisade just above the confluence of the West Fork and the Little Pigeon River. Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human inhabitants of what is now Sevierville. Tennessee Historical Commission sign marking the site of the McMahan Indian Mound, 1200-1500 A.D.
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