Watauga

The Watauga River rises in the Appalachian Mountains and flows west through a country of wooded ridges and valleys. Its banks lay within Cherokee territory when settlers began moving into the area in the eighteenth century. Near Sycamore Shoals, the river became the setting for agreements between the newcomers and Cherokee leaders, as well as for conflict over the land.

In 1772 James Robertson and John Boon negotiated a lease of Watauga lands with the Cherokee, and the settlers established the Watauga Association to govern their community. In July 1776 Cherokee warriors led by Old Abram of Chilhowee attacked the settlement. The inhabitants took shelter in Fort Watauga and held out until the siege was abandoned. Later that year they petitioned North Carolina for a more formal government.