Editing McDowell County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
Archaeological excavations performed by Dr. David Moore during the early 1980s, revealed artifacts and other evidence that the earliest inhabitants of McDowell County lived there from the [[Woodland period]] and [[Mississippian culture]] era, from 250 to 1500 AD. Dr. Moore discovered this material in an area close to the [[Catawba River]], in and around an unusual topographical site known as Round Hill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNC-RLA Archaeology of NC - Woodland - Appalachian Miss - Eastern Fringe |url=http://rla.unc.edu/archaeonc/time/wood_App_Miss_E_Fringe.htm |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=rla.unc.edu}}</ref> Both the historic [[Cherokee]] and [[Catawba people|Catawba]] Indians were Native American peoples known to live in what is now McDowell County, and they had been there long before any Europeans. These Native Americans were living in this section for centuries before the Spanish [[Juan Pardo (explorer)|Juan Pardo]]'s 1566 expedition to the interior region from the Atlantic coast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=McDowell County (1842) |url=https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/mcdowell-county-1842/ |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=North Carolina History Project |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the next two years, Pardo traveled from the Spanish colony on an island, through what are now South Carolina and [[Western North Carolina]] and into southeastern Tennessee. His expedition traveled through the area that is now McDowell County. His purpose was to acquire territory for Spain and establish forts for an alternative interior route to central Mexico. The Spanish mistakenly believed that the Appalachians connected to a range there, where they had established silver mines.<ref name="Hudson2005">{{cite book|author=Charles Hudson|title=The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Exploration of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NyAD-F3Q85kC|date=July 28, 2005|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5190-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title = 16th Century Spanish Invasions of Southwest Virginia | journal = Historical Society of Western Virginia Journal | date = 2009 | first = Jim | last = Glanville | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 34–42| url = http://www.holstonia.net/files/Conquistadors2.pdf | access-date = December 27, 2013}}</ref>

Pardo also hoped to find precious metals during his expedition, in which he stopped at several Native American villages. Pardo and his men built a log blockhouse, Fort San Juan, at a [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]] chiefdom known as [[Joara]] at the headwaters of the [[Catawba River]], a site north of present-day [[Morganton, North Carolina]]. They wintered over at Joara.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Identifying Fort San Juan: A Sixteenth-Century Spanish Occupation at the Berry Site, North Carolina | journal = Southeastern Archaeology | date = 2006 | first = Robin A. Jr. | last = Beck |author2=Moore, David G. |author3=Rodning, Christopher B. | volume = 25 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–77| url = http://www.tulane.edu/~crodning/beckmoorerodning2006.pdf | access-date = December 27, 2013}}</ref> Pardo directed his forces to establish five more forts in the interior, including one at [[Chiaha]], in present-day southeastern Tennessee. The Native Americans raided the Spanish newcomers and killed all but one of the soldiers in the garrisons, burning all six forts in 1568. Pardo had already left for Spain by then. The Spanish gave up their efforts to settle the interior.<ref name="Marker">{{cite web |url=http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=N-47|title=Marker: N–47 – FORT SAN JUAN|work=North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program |publisher=North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources |access-date=August 17, 2013}}</ref><ref name="NY Times">{{cite news|title=Fort Tells of Spain's Early Ambitions|author=John Noble Wilford|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/science/fort-tells-of-spains-early-ambitions.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 23, 2013|access-date=August 17, 2013}}</ref>

In 1748, "Hunting" John McDowell received a land grant from the colony of North Carolina for property known today as [[Pleasant Gardens (North Carolina)|Pleasant Gardens]], including acreage that originally extended from Swan's Pond (Catawba County) up the Catawba River west to present-day Marion and into the region known as Buck Creek. McDowell went hunting with his friend Henry Weidner, and the two came upon a lush green valley with thousands of acres of what they thought was virgin forest. They were both interested in the land, and McDowell won a wrestling match to decide who should apply for it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=asheville.com news: Historic McDowell County House Endangered |url=https://www.asheville.com/news/mcdowell0605.html |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=www.asheville.com}}</ref>

McDowell settled here with his family, and received two more land grants. established residence here family, and subsequently received two land grants. He is noted in Max Dixon's book, ''The Wataugans,'' as being instrumental in Jacob Brown's purchase of one of the last remaining pieces of acreage along the [[Nolichucky River]] in eastern Tennessee. McDowell hosted negotiations with the Cherokee from that area on his farm in North Carolina.

His son, Joseph McDowell, fought in the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]]. McDowell County is named in his honor. Today, McDowell's home survives, one of the few remaining that was built by its namesake.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2016 |title=Joseph McDowell, Not to Be Confused with Joseph McDowell |url=https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2016/05/18/joseph-mcdowell-not-to-be-confused-with-joseph-mcdowell |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources}}</ref>

The settlement of what was known as Old Fort took place nearby; this became for a time the westernmost outpost of colonial society. These early [[American pioneer|pioneers]] established a community protected by a series of forts that were used into the early 19th century. 
[[Image:Marion Carson House.jpg|thumb|left|Historic [[Carson House (Marion, North Carolina)|Carson House]]]]

In 1793, Colonel John Carson built a plantation house near Buck Creek in the Pleasant Gardens community. It is known as the historic [[Carson House (Marion, North Carolina)|Carson House]]. He also operated gold mines in the southern part of the county. Colonel Carson had contributed to the Patriot cause in the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Carson House |url=https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll8/id/3758 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=digital.ncdcr.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Marion, the county seat of McDowell County, was planned and built on land selected by the first McDowell County Commissioners when they met on March 14, 1844, at the Carson House. It was not until 1845, however, that Marion was designated as the county seat by the state legislature. The settlement was named after [[Francis Marion]], the [[American Revolutionary War]] hero known as the "Swamp Fox."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Crawford |first2=Amy |title=The Swamp Fox |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-swamp-fox-157330429/ |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

He was the subject of the dramatic movie ''[[The Patriot (2000 film)|The Patriot]]'' (2000). The historic movie [[The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film)|''The Last of the Mohicans'']] (1992), based on a novel by [[James Fenimore Cooper]], was set in New York state, but it was filmed along the shores of [[Lake James]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Last of the Mohicans |url=https://www.asheville.com/event/the-last-of-the-mohicans/ |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=Asheville.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the [[Carolina Gold Rush]] period of the early 19th century, the south county area was known for its gold production. The banks of the Muddy Creek and mines at Vein Mountain were productive areas. Many mines and thriving gold rush towns such as Brackettown no longer exist; scattered ruins and abandoned cemeteries mark once-active sites of the gold rush period. An old mine in Woodlawn is from this period.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Traveler |first=Blue Ridge |title=Plan a Golden Getaway to the Heart of the Carolina Gold Rush |url=https://www.blueridgetraveler.com/blog/plan-golden-getaway-heart-carolina-gold-rush/ |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=Blue Ridge Traveler |language=en}}</ref>

McDowell County was first formed in 1842 from parts of [[Burke County, North Carolina|Burke County]] and [[Rutherford County, North Carolina|Rutherford County]]. It was named for [[Joseph McDowell, Jr.|Joseph McDowell]], a Revolutionary War leader and hero of the [[Battle of King's Mountain]]. He was elected and served one term as a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]], from 1797 to 1799.<ref>{{Cite web |title=McDowell County {{!}} NCpedia |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/mcdowell |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=www.ncpedia.org}}</ref>

In 1861, parts of McDowell, Burke, [[Caldwell County, North Carolina|Caldwell]], [[Watauga County, North Carolina|Watauga]], and [[Yancey County, North Carolina|Yancey]] counties were combined to form [[Mitchell County, North Carolina|Mitchell County]]. McDowell County is rich in [[American Civil War]] History.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mitchell County {{!}} NCpedia |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/mitchell |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=www.ncpedia.org}}</ref>