Editing Catawba County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
Catawba County, formed in 1842 from [[Lincoln County, North Carolina|Lincoln County]], was named after the [[Catawba River]]. The word "catawba" is rooted in the [[Choctaw]] sound ''kat'a pa'', loosely translated as "to divide or separate, to break." However, scholars are fairly certain that this word was imposed from outside.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Catawbans: Crafters of a North Carolina County|last=Freeze|first=Gary|publisher=Catawba County Historical Association|year=1995|pages=11–13}}</ref> 
The Native Americans who once inhabited the region known as the [[Catawba people]], were considered one of the most powerful Southeastern [[Siouan languages|Siouan-speaking]] tribes in the Carolina Piedmont. They now live along the border of North Carolina, near the city of [[Rock Hill, South Carolina]]. [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] and [[German Americans|German]] colonial immigrants first settled in the Catawba River valley in the mid-18th century. An official history of the Scots-Irish and German settlement was documented in 1954, by Charles J. Preslar Jr,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/History-Catawba-County-Charles-Preslar/dp/B000BO1FOU|title=A History of Catawba County|last=Preslar|first=Charles J. Jr.|date=1954|publisher=Rowan Publishing Co.|edition=First}}</ref> and more recently by a series of three books by Gary Freeze, called [[The Catawbans (book series)|The Catawbans]].