Serving Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, Abingdon and beyond!
of Sycamore Shoals"
As you stand on the grounds of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, you stand on the very lands where historical events of monumental significance have taken place. It is here, that families came together, made their homes, formed a new government, bought & traded land from the Cherokee, and ultimately, fought for the freedom we hold so dear today.
Now, celebrating 30 years of outdoor drama at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, comes Liberty!, opening on Thursday, July 10 and running for three weekends, Thursday-Saturday each week July 10-12; July 17-19; July 24-26.
Please call (423) 543-5808 for additional information.
The series of events that unfolded at Sycamore Shoals were critical to state and national history in the 18th century. These dramatic chapters in America's westward expansion set the tone for a number of events that helped propel the British colonies towards independence and a democratic form of government.
Sycamore Shoals was the site of the first permanent American settlement outside the 13 original colonies. It was here that the Watauga Association, the first majority-rule system of American democratic government was formed when, in 1772, the settlers elected five of their number to "govern and direct for the common good of all the people." These Articles of the Watauga Association invested in those elected representatives the legislative, judicial and executive functions of their fledgling government.
Sycamore Shoals was a busy area as the 1700's drew to a close, as it became a hub for pioneers from North Carolina and Virginia, who were pushing westward and settling along the Watauga River. Trails connected the Watauga Settlement to Fort Patrick Henry and Fort Robinson near present day Kingsport, Sapling Grove (Bristol), Wolf Hills (Abingdon,VA) and Rocky Mount, located between Johnson City and Bristol, which later became the territorial capital of the Southwest Territory.
It was at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775 that the largest private real estate transaction in the nation's history took place, the Transylvania Purchase. A company led by Richard Henderson of North Carolina bought 20 million acres of land, stretching from the Cumberland River watershed to the Kentucky River. The Transylvania Company paid the Cherokees 2,000 pounds sterling and goods worth an additional 8,000 pounds for the land.
Prior to the deal being closed, Native Americans totaling more than 1,200 spent weeks in counsel at Sycamore Shoals debating the merits of the deal. Cherokee warrior Dragging Canoe was firmly against giving up the land and resisted the deal but was overridden by Chief Little Carpenter who ignored his misgivings and signed the deed amid great ceremony and celebration.
The settlers constructed a stockade, Fort Watauga, opposite Sycamore Shoals and it became a refuge for them when, less than a year after the Transylvania deal, Dragging Canoe, aided by English agents, waged war against the pioneers, determined to drive them from the lands they had purchased.
The slate of leaders at the fort reads like a roster of state and national historical figures. The commanders included Col. John Carter, Capt. James Robertson, who would found Nashville, a few years later, and Lt. John Sevier, the man who would be Tennessee's first governor.
A band of warriors under Old Abram of Chilhowee laid siege to the fort for approximately two weeks but when the settlers refused to surrender, the Indians gave up and departed.
Perhaps the most significant event associated with Sycamore Shoals was the muster of the "Overmountain Men" militia who fought and defeated a Loyalist army at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
The British were gaining an upper hand in the South during the fall of 1780. With Lord Cornwallis'' defeat of General Gates at Camden, SC the Carolinas had no defense except for Patriot militia. British Major Patrick Ferguson was given command of the Loyalist militia in the Carolinas. If the "rebels" did not cease their opposition to the Crown, he threatened to "march his army over the mountains, hang the leaders and lay waste their country with fire and sword." Colonels Isaac Shelby and John Sevier decided on a plan to gather militia units from the Overmountain settlements and attack Ferguson.
On September 25, 1780, approximately 1,100 men gathered at Sycamore Shoals and marched in pursuit of Major Ferguson and his Loyalists. These "Overmountain Men", as they became known, caught Ferguson on October 7 at King's Mountain in South Carolina and soundly defeated the British forces with Ferguson being killed in the hour-long battle.
The victory of the "Overmountain Men" at King's Mountain is considered by many historians to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Indeed, Sir Henry Clinton, commander of British forces in America, later pronounced Ferguson's defeat at King's Mountain as "the first link in a chain of events that followed each other in regular succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America."
Years later Thomas Jefferson called the event "that memorable victory the joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success, which terminated the Revolutionary War with the seal of independence."
Now, celebrating 30 years of outdoor drama at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, comes Liberty!, opening on Thursday, July 10 and running for three weekends, Thursday-Saturday each week July 10-12; July 17-19; July 24-26.
Please call (423) 543-5808 for additional information.
The series of events that unfolded at Sycamore Shoals were critical to state and national history in the 18th century. These dramatic chapters in America's westward expansion set the tone for a number of events that helped propel the British colonies towards independence and a democratic form of government.
Sycamore Shoals was the site of the first permanent American settlement outside the 13 original colonies. It was here that the Watauga Association, the first majority-rule system of American democratic government was formed when, in 1772, the settlers elected five of their number to "govern and direct for the common good of all the people." These Articles of the Watauga Association invested in those elected representatives the legislative, judicial and executive functions of their fledgling government.
Sycamore Shoals was a busy area as the 1700's drew to a close, as it became a hub for pioneers from North Carolina and Virginia, who were pushing westward and settling along the Watauga River. Trails connected the Watauga Settlement to Fort Patrick Henry and Fort Robinson near present day Kingsport, Sapling Grove (Bristol), Wolf Hills (Abingdon,VA) and Rocky Mount, located between Johnson City and Bristol, which later became the territorial capital of the Southwest Territory.
It was at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775 that the largest private real estate transaction in the nation's history took place, the Transylvania Purchase. A company led by Richard Henderson of North Carolina bought 20 million acres of land, stretching from the Cumberland River watershed to the Kentucky River. The Transylvania Company paid the Cherokees 2,000 pounds sterling and goods worth an additional 8,000 pounds for the land.
Prior to the deal being closed, Native Americans totaling more than 1,200 spent weeks in counsel at Sycamore Shoals debating the merits of the deal. Cherokee warrior Dragging Canoe was firmly against giving up the land and resisted the deal but was overridden by Chief Little Carpenter who ignored his misgivings and signed the deed amid great ceremony and celebration.
The settlers constructed a stockade, Fort Watauga, opposite Sycamore Shoals and it became a refuge for them when, less than a year after the Transylvania deal, Dragging Canoe, aided by English agents, waged war against the pioneers, determined to drive them from the lands they had purchased.
The slate of leaders at the fort reads like a roster of state and national historical figures. The commanders included Col. John Carter, Capt. James Robertson, who would found Nashville, a few years later, and Lt. John Sevier, the man who would be Tennessee's first governor.
A band of warriors under Old Abram of Chilhowee laid siege to the fort for approximately two weeks but when the settlers refused to surrender, the Indians gave up and departed.
Perhaps the most significant event associated with Sycamore Shoals was the muster of the "Overmountain Men" militia who fought and defeated a Loyalist army at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
The British were gaining an upper hand in the South during the fall of 1780. With Lord Cornwallis'' defeat of General Gates at Camden, SC the Carolinas had no defense except for Patriot militia. British Major Patrick Ferguson was given command of the Loyalist militia in the Carolinas. If the "rebels" did not cease their opposition to the Crown, he threatened to "march his army over the mountains, hang the leaders and lay waste their country with fire and sword." Colonels Isaac Shelby and John Sevier decided on a plan to gather militia units from the Overmountain settlements and attack Ferguson.
On September 25, 1780, approximately 1,100 men gathered at Sycamore Shoals and marched in pursuit of Major Ferguson and his Loyalists. These "Overmountain Men", as they became known, caught Ferguson on October 7 at King's Mountain in South Carolina and soundly defeated the British forces with Ferguson being killed in the hour-long battle.
The victory of the "Overmountain Men" at King's Mountain is considered by many historians to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Indeed, Sir Henry Clinton, commander of British forces in America, later pronounced Ferguson's defeat at King's Mountain as "the first link in a chain of events that followed each other in regular succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America."
Years later Thomas Jefferson called the event "that memorable victory the joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success, which terminated the Revolutionary War with the seal of independence."