In the summer of 1776 as Patriot leaders met in Philadelphia to draft the Bill of Rights, settlers on the Watauga were already fighting for freedom.
They were stringing to hold the land they had settled on while the native Cherokee were struggling to preserve their way of life.
Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, the Siege of Fort Watauga will be re-lived by more than 150 history re-enactors, who will gather at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area for the annual event.
The Siege of Fort Watauga is a live retelling of the Cherokee attack brought on the settlers of the Watauga valley in the summer of 1776. At Sycamore Shoals, Fort Watauga offered protection to nearly 200 settlers during a two-week siege led by Cherokee War Chief, Old Abram, and 300 warriors.
The event lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The weekend of activities will feature militia camps, British encampment, and a Native American camp. Also, there will be demonstrations of 18th century frontier law, colonial merchants selling period wares in “Sutler’s Row”.
Among the displays and demonstrations will be a Cherokee weapons display, corn shuck dolls, flint and steel fire starting, lead and pewter casting, 18th century surveying, tavern keeping, wool processing, leather work, Colonial women’s clothing, hand sewing, knitting, flax processing, colonial music, storytelling, open hearth cooking, flintlock firearms demonstrations, and much more.
Each day will feature an attack on Fort Watauga by the Cherokees at 1 p.m. attack on fort Watauga is recreated both days at 1 p.m. May 17 and 18.
The event is sponsored by The Washington County Regiment of North Carolina Militia and The Friends of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area.