The French Broad River
Headwaters
Outfitters proudly acknowledges the birth of the French
Broad River right at our property, dubbed by the locals
as "The Forks of the River." This is where its
North and West Forks merge, beginning its long and north-easterly
journey to the Gulf of Mexico. The French Broad is the
third oldest river in the world, older than the mountains
from which it flows. Only the Nile and the New River,
which is also located in North Carolina, pre-date it.
Flowing 210 miles through the mountains of Western North
Carolina makes it the longest river in North Carolina.
After dropping out of the mountains into Tennessee, it
soon joins the Holston River to create the Tennessee River.
The portion of this great waterway on which we operate
contains wide shorelines and slow-moving currents, ideal
for families or the first time canoeist. The banks are
lined with mossy sycamores, flowering dogwood, elderberry,
blackberries, tulip poplars, dozens of songbirds, and
an endless array of wildflowers and wildlife to view.
This
river inspired Wilma Dykeman to write in her book :
The French
Broad:
"Which
is the time to know the river? April along the French
Broad is a swirl of sudden water beneath the bending buds
of spicewood bushes, a burst of spring and a breath of
sweetness between the snows of winter and the summer sun.
August is a film of dust on purple asters along the country
roads of the lower river, and green stillness of heavy
shade splattered with sunlight beside the upper river.
October is to flame, A Renaissance richness of red and
amber, Septembers end and Novembers beginning."
 The
Walton War
The
State of Georgia ceded disputed land in the Yazoo Land
Fraud along with the associated problems to the United
States on 26 April 1802 for $1,250,000 and removal of
the Cherokees from Georgia at Federal expense.
Article II of the 1802 Act of Cession contained a thorn.
When stripped of the legalese, Article II required Georgia
to take responsibility for an outlaw and desperado infested
patch of land known as the Orphan Strip. North Carolina,
South Carolina, and Georgia had all previously refused
this honor. Article II led to war between Georgia and
North Carolina in 1811. The Walton War, as it's known,
was a little one-sided but a war it was nevertheless.
The Orphan Strip included the upper French Broad River
valley of what is now Transylvania County North Carolina.
Georgia established the first Walton County in the Orphan
Strip in 1803 and appointed Sheriffs, Judges and the usual
lot of Bureaucratic Parasites. Elections were held and
John Nicholson and John Aiken served as representatives
of Walton County in the Georgia Legislature at Milledgeville.
Walton County was a Georgia county until some time in
1811. As Georgia cleaned up the Orphan Strip it began
to look more attractive to North Carolina who began advancing
a claim to the Strip. Georgia protested North Carolina's
actions to the United States without success. Some time
in late December 1810 a North Carolina Militia Unit was
posted to the upper French Broad River with orders to
remove the Walton County Government. Georgia's first Walton
County died in a hail of North Carolina musket fire in
January of 1811. The major engagement was fought at McGaha
Branch about one mile south of present day Brevard near
the Wilson Bridge on U.S. Highway 276. The North Carolina
Militia killed an unknown number of the Georgians and
took about twenty-five prisoners. A second stand was made
by the survivors of McGaha Branch at Selica Hill some
three miles southwest of Brevard. The Georgians were either
shot or taken prisoner. The fate of the prisoners is still
uncertain. Sporadic snipping continued for some weeks
but the main engagements were over. The Georgia Legislature
was still prioritizing its options in the matter in 1971.
Excerpt
from a letter to the Athens, Ga. Banner Herald written
by Richard E. Irby, Jr. Used with permission of the author.
 Dragging
Canoe
"Dragging
Canoe" (Tsi'yu-gunsini), the son of Attakullakulla
(The Little Carpenter, so named for his skill at crafting
treaty language acceptable to all) and cousin of Nancy
Ward occupies much of my current research time. He was
a fierce warrior, pockmarked by smallpox when a young
child, tall and stately in appearance, and the primary
leading force in the Cherokee's resistance to white settlement
on Cherokee lands. He strongly resisted the sale of Cherokee
lands to whites and spoke at treaty negotiations vehemently
objecting to the continued sale of Cherokee land.
At
the conclusion of the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals of 1775,
Dragging Canoe spoke against the sale of Cherokee land.
He rose and said "Whole Indian nations have melted
away like snowballs in the sun before the white man's
advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except
those wrongly recorded by their destroyers. Where are
the Delawares? They have been reduced to a mere shadow
of their former greatness. We had hoped that the white
men would not be willing to travel beyond the mountains.
Now that hope is gone. They have passed the mountains,
and have settled upon Cherokee land. They wish to have
that action sanctioned by treaty. When that is gained,
the same encroaching spirit will lead them upon other
land of the Cherokees. New cessions will be asked. Finally
the whole country, which the Cherokees and their fathers
have so long occupied, will be demanded, and the remnant
of Ani-Yunwiya, THE REAL PEOPLE, once so great and formidable,
will be compelled to seek refuge in some distant wilderness.
There they will be permitted to stay only a short while,
until they again behold the advancing banners of the same
greedy host. Not being able to point out any further retreat
for the miserable Cherokees, the extinction of the whole
race will be proclaimed. Should we not therefore run all
risks, and incur all consequences, rather than submit
to further loss of our country? Such treaties may be alright
for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I
have my young warriors about me. We will have our lands.
A-WANINSKI, I have spoken."
...READ
MORE ABOUT DRAGGING CANOE HERE
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