Editing Watauga, Tennessee (section)

==History==

Some of the earliest European pioneers in Tennessee settled in the vicinity of Watauga in the mid-18th century. [[William Bean]], traditionally recognized as Tennessee's first white settler, built his cabin at the mouth of Boone Creek, {{convert|7|mi|0}} downstream from modern Watauga, in 1769.<ref>Paul Hellman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EQ-R4O2L3nEC&q=jacksboro,+tennessee+%22andrew+jackson%22 Historical Gazetteer of the United States]'' (Taylor and Francis, 2005), p. 1016.</ref> The [[Watauga Association]], an early frontier government, operated out of nearby [[Elizabethton, Tennessee|Elizabethton]] in the 1770s.

When the [[East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway|East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad]] (ET&V) was built in the 1850s, a railroad stop known as Carter's Depot, or Carter's Station, was established at what is now Watauga, where a [[Trestle bridge|trestle]] had been erected to carry the tracks across the [[Watauga River]]. Carter's Depot consisted of a water tank, several storage buildings, a telegraph office,<ref name=piston>William Garrett Piston, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=U_f1nSPxnmkC&dq=%22watauga%2C+tennessee%22+carter%27s+depot&pg=PA51 Carter's Raid]'' (The Overmountain Press, 1977), p. 51.</ref> and a post office.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=6U4ZAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22carter%27s+depot%22&pg=PA26 List of Post Offices in the United States]'' (John C. Rives, 1857), p. 26.</ref>

The trestle at Carter's Depot held immense strategic importance during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], as the ET&V was part of a vital supply line connecting [[Virginia]] with the rest of the South. The trestle was among those targeted by the [[East Tennessee bridge burnings]] in November 1861, though the conspirators found it too heavily guarded by [[Confederate States Army|Confederates]]. In late December 1862, General [[Samuel P. Carter]] conducted a raid into the region, overwhelming the Confederate detachment at Carter's Depot before destroying the trestle.<ref name=piston /> On October 1, 1864, a skirmish took place at Carter's Depot, with [[Union Army|Union]] forces under General [[Alvan Cullem Gillem|Alvan C. Gillem]] pushing Confederates led by [[John C. Vaughn]] across the river.<ref>John David Smith, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=leVNe6APgDQC&dq=%22carter%27s+station%22+watauga&pg=PA208 Black Soldiers in Blue: African American Troops in the Civil War Era]'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2004), p. 208.</ref>