Archeologists tell us that the Swannanoa Valley has been inhabited by humans for more than 12,000 years.

The prehistoric people who came through the Valley were hunters and gatherers who used the paths carved out by the animals to make their way through the forest in search of food.

In 1539-1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto ventured into the mountains of Northern Georgia and Western North Carolina bringing with him Old World diseases against which the native population had no immune defense. Thousands died.

Another Spaniard was commanded to explore what is today central and western North Carolina in search of rich farmland. Juan Pardo made his first expedition in 1566-67, traveling as far as present day Morganton. In 1567-68 he made a second expedition, passing through the Swannanoa Valley on his way west with instructions to find the most direct road to the silver mines in Zacatecas, Mexico.

It is believed by archaeologists that another Spaniard was commanded to explore what is today central and western North Carolina in search of rich farmland. According to Charles Hudson in his book, The Juan Pardo Expeditions, (University of Alabama Press, 1990) Juan Pardo made his first expedition in 1566-67, traveling as far as present day Morganton. In 1567-68 he made a second expedition, passing through the Swannanoa Valley on his way west with instructions to find the most direct road to the silver mines in Zacatecas, Mexico.

The second expedition turned back, learning of an intended attack by the natives of the region, and again, he led his men back along the Swannanoa River and over the Blue Ridge, eventually returning to St. Augustine, Florida.

The Cherokee were shrewd traders and did much business with the English on the eastern seaboard. With the advent of the Revolutionary War, the Cherokee sided with their trading partners, and consequently were defeated. The new government of North Carolina opened the Swannanoa Valley to white settlement.

On July 20, 1777, the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Long Island (in the Holston River) with Virginia and North Carolina, giving up all lands east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In November, 1785, the U.S. Commissioners, acting for North Carolina, negotiated a treaty with the Cherokee to establish a new boundary between whites and Indians. The main French Broad River Valley was left to the Cherokee people, but land along the Swannanoa and Toe Rivers was opened to whites.

Many treaties followed—all broken.

Map of Rutherford's Trace from www.learnnc.org, click map for larger view.