At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, the land west of the Blue Ridge, including the Swannanoa Valley, was opened to settlement. Many land claims were made and recorded in the Burke County Court House, until 1791 when Buncombe became a county.

One of the famous stories about this early settlement tells of the death of Samuel Davidson, who was reputedly the first immigrant settler to build a dwelling in the Swannanoa Valley.

In 1784, Davidson brought his wife, baby, and slave girl from Old Fort (then Davidson’s Fort) to live in the cabin. He had a horse with a cowbell tied to its neck so it could be easily located. One night at supper, the story goes, Davidson heard the cowbell making quite a ruckus and charged outside without his rifle to see what was the matter.

He was shot and killed by a Cherokee hunting party. His wife, baby and servant managed to return to Davidson’s Fort without being pursued by the Indians. There, Samuel’s twin brother William mounted a search party, returned to the cabin, found Samuel’s body and buried it. They also found the Indians and killed them.

In less than a year, William Davidson and his wife, Rachel Alexander Davidson, along with their families and several friends crossed the Blue Ridge from the Catawba settlements to take up grants of land where Bee Tree Creek enters the Swannanoa River, forming the Bee Tree Community.