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The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Archeological excavations have found Native Americans lived near the shoals since prehistoric times, and gathered there. As Europeans began settling the Trans-Appalachian frontier, the shoals proved strategic militarily, as well as shaped the economies of Tennessee and Kentucky. Today, the shoals are protected as a National Historic Landmark and are maintained as part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park.Carroll Van West, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 28 June 2009.Polly Rettig and Hugh Lawing (form preparation), . 11 February 1976. Retrieved: 28 June 2009. PDF file.
Explorer James Robertson (later a founder of Nashville) identified the alluring flatlands at Sycamore Shoals, known as the Watauga Old Fields, in 1770, and led a group of colonists to the area shortly thereafter. In 1772, the Watauga settlers established the Watauga Association, one of the first constitutional governments west of the Appalachian Mountains and the "germ-cell" of what would later become the state of Tennessee.
In 1775, Richard Henderson and Daniel Boone negotiated the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, in which Henderson's Transylvania Company purchased a large part of modern Kentucky and part of Tennessee from the Cherokee. The following year, the Watauga settlers successfully repelled one arm of a Cherokee group contesting land near Fort Watauga in a struggle that saw the creation of numerous stories surrounding figures such as Nancy Ward and John Sevier. In 1780, at the height of the American Revolutionary War, the frontier militia known as the Overmountain Men mustered at Sycamore Shoals as it prepared to march across the mountains en route to victory over British loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
By the 1760s, such as Julius Dugger and Andrew Greer were operating stations in the Watauga Valley in the vicinity of Sycamore Shoals. In 1769, William Bean, known traditionally as Tennessee's first permanent white settler, built a cabin at the confluence of Boone's Creek and the Watauga, about downstream from the Shoals. Around the same time, John Honeycut was operating out of a hut at the mouth of Roan Creek (about 20 miles upstream from the Shoals, now part of Watauga Lake).Samuel Cole Williams, Dawn of Tennessee Valley and Tennessee History (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Press, 1937), pp. 338–348. Early hunters and explorers called the flats around Sycamore Shoals the Watauga "Old Fields," as they were full of Arundinaria rather than trees, resembling once-cultivated fields that had for years lain fallow.
The Watauga settlers believed (or claimed to have believed) that they were on lands that were part of the British domain, as the Watauga River is part of the watershed of the Holston River, the latter being established as the boundary between British and Cherokee lands by the 1770 Treaty of Lochaber. In 1771, however, a survey by John Donelson discovered that the Watauga settlements, along with the nearby Nolichucky settlement and an area east of Long Island of the Holston known as Carter's Valley, were on lands still claimed by the Cherokee. British Superintendent of Indian Affairs John Stuart thus ordered the Watauga settlers to vacate the valley and return to British territory.John Finger, Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 2001), pp. 43–64.
The Carter Mansion, the oldest frame house standing in Tennessee, may be the only surviving material link to the Watauga Association. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion was built between 1775 and 1780 by John Carter and his son Landon. John and Landon Carter were both prominent in political and military affairs, serving during the American Revolution and several conflicts with Native Americans. When Tennessee was admitted into the United States in 1796, Carter County was named for Landon Carter, and the county seat of Elizabethton was named for his wife, Elizabeth Maclin Carter. The finely detailed interior and over-mantle paintings place the mansion among the most significant historic houses in Tennessee.
The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, sometimes called the "Transylvania Purchase" (after Henderson's Transylvania Company, which had raised money for the endeavor), basically consisted of two parts. The first, known as the "Path Grant Deed", regarded the Transylvania Company's purchase of lands in Southwest Virginia (including parts of what is now West Virginia) and northeastern Tennessee. The second part, known as the "Great Grant," acknowledged the Transylvania Company's purchase of some of land between the Kentucky River and Cumberland River, which included a large portion of modern Kentucky and northern Tennessee. The Transylvania Company paid for the land with 10,000 Pound sterling of trade goods. After the treaty was signed, Boone proceeded northward to blaze the Wilderness Road, connecting the Transylvania Purchase lands with the Holston settlements.
In July 1776, the Cherokee invaded the Nolichucky, Holston, and Watauga settlements. Although the settlers were chased out of Carter's Valley and the Nolichucky valley, the Holston settlers managed to thwart Dragging Canoe at the Battle of Island Flats (at modern Kingsport) on July 20. The following day, a Cherokee contingent led by Old Abraham of Chilhowee reached Fort Watauga. The Wataugans, led by John Carter, James Robertson, and John Sevier, were well-prepared, having been warned of the invasion by Nancy Ward. Ward also used her powers as a Cherokee Beloved Woman to spare the life of Lydia Russell Bean (wife of early settler William Bean), who had been captured during the invasion and had been sentenced to be burned at the stake. The Cherokee laid siege to Fort Watauga for about two weeks before retreating. A relief force led by William Christian arrived at Fort Watauga a few weeks later and attacked the Overhill towns. The following year, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island, ceding the Sycamore Shoals area to the United States.
On September 25, a force of 400 Virginians led by William Campbell, 240 Sullivan Countians led by Isaac Shelby, and 240 Washington Countians led by John Sevier gathered at Sycamore Shoals. After being supplied with food, money, and gunpowder by locals, the force marched across the Appalachian Mountains, linking up with several North Carolina and South Carolina militias along the way. On October 7, the Overmountain Men engaged and defeated Ferguson's loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Overmountain Men suffered less than 100 casualties while killing 157 in the loyalist force (including Ferguson), wounding 163, and capturing another 698. The victory forced Cornwallis to temporarily abandon his invasion of North Carolina.
Google Maps one half-mile from the mouth of Gap Creek at Watauga River, where Tennessee historian J. G. M. Ramsey recorded within his Annals of Tennessee as where Fort Watauga had once stood.
In 1964, Sycamore Shoals was designated a National Historic Landmark, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. As part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations, the state of Tennessee decided to reconstruct Fort Watauga. The state purchased Sycamore Shoals, a small island within the shoals, and an undeveloped stretch of land along the south bank of the Watauga River for the reconstructed fort and the accompanying state park that would interpret it and maintain the shoals.Brian Compton, " Revised History of Fort Watauga," pp. 14–18. East Tennessee State University Department of History (Master's thesis), May 2005. Retrieved: 18 June 2009. PDF file. Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park opened in 1975. In 1980, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds for the creation of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, which connects Sycamore Shoals with Kings Mountain National Military Park.
Today, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park hosts various annual reenactments regarding the siege of Fort Watauga and the mustering of the Overmountain Men. A walking trail follows the south bank of the Watauga, allowing easy access to the Sycamore Shoals, with various interpretive signs explaining the various historical events along the way. In recent years, the relatively low waters along the shoals (which are easy to wade across) have become a popular spot for fly fishing.Stanford Dailey, " Fly Fishing On the Watauga River in Winter." Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, 4 February 2009. Retrieved: 28 June 2009.
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