Editing Newport, Tennessee (section)

===Early settlement===
The [[Great Indian Warpath]] passed through what is now Newport en route to the ancient [[Cherokee]] hunting grounds of northeastern Tennessee.<ref name="Carolyn Sakowski 1993">Carolyn Sakowski, ''Touring the East Tennessee Backroads'' (Winston-Salem: J.F. Blair, 1993), 233-242.</ref> The Warpath crossed the Pigeon River at a point approximately {{convert|0.2|mi|1}} east of the McSween Memorial Bridge (US-321), in an area where the river is normally low enough to walk across.<ref name="Newport, Tennessee 2007">Tennessee Historical Commission marker at the north end of McSween Memorial Bridge along US-321 in Newport, Tennessee. September 4, 2007.</ref> The first European traders to the area, arriving in the mid-18th century, called this point along the Pigeon River the "War Ford".

[[File:Newport-tennessee-war-ford.jpg|left|210px|thumb|Historical marker along US-321 in Newport, recalling the site of War Ford]]

During the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]], the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British, and launched sporadic attacks against early Euro-American settlers in the [[Holston River|Holston valley]]. In the waning months of the conflict in 1782, a detachment led by Gen. Charles McDowell of [[North Carolina]] crossed the mountains into what is now Tennessee to join up with [[John Sevier|Col. John Sevier's]] local forces and initiate an aggressive campaign against the hostile Cherokee. In August of that year, Sevier crossed the Pigeon at War Ford, attacking and killing several Cherokee camped along the river's banks. This assault was one of the final engagements of the Revolution.<ref name="Newport, Tennessee 2007"/><ref name="J.G.M. Ramsey, 1999">J.G.M. Ramsey, ''Annals of Tennessee'' (Johnson City: Tennessee Overmountain Press, 1999), 279.</ref>

At the close of the Revolution, the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the Newport area, ensconcing themselves in the vicinity of the strategic river fords. Peter Fine established a ferry on the north bank of the French Broad in the early 1780s, and in 1783 John Gilliland settled opposite Fine's Ferry in what is now Oldtown. Shortly thereafter, Emanuel Sandusky, a Polish immigrant, established a farm on the land where the Cocke County Memorial Building now stands, and Samuel O'Dell settled at the junction of the Pigeon River and Cosby Creek. Sometime in the 1790s, the Gilliland family donated {{convert|50|acre|m2}} of land for a town square and courthouse to be situated opposite Fine's Ferry on the banks of the French Broad, and the town of '''New Port''' was born.<ref>Evelyn Parrott Graham, Rolfe Godshalk (editor), ''Newport'' (Newport, Tennessee: Clifton Club, 1970), 35.</ref><ref>Carolyn Sakowski, ''Touring the East Tennessee Backroads'' (Winston-Salem: J.F. Blair, 1993), 234-240.</ref>

For nearly a quarter-century, the residents of the Newport area lived under constant threat of attack from Cherokee crossing the mountains from North Carolina. Shortly after the arrival of the first Euro-American settlers, Peter Fine sought to quell this threat by leading a [[punitive expedition]] against the Cherokee town of [[Cowee]] in North Carolina, which Fine captured and burned. The Cherokee responded by stealing Fine's livestock and attempting to herd them back to North Carolina. Fine gave chase and managed to retrieve the livestock, but on the return march he was ambushed and his brother, Vinet, was killed. The Cherokee were in pursuit, and Vinet's body was hidden in a hole in a frozen creek for later retrieval. The creek melted and the body was lost. The creek was named Fines Creek. Shortly thereafter, two O'Dells were killed, one of Sandusky's daughters was kidnapped, and several others settlers were killed or scalped.<ref>Evelyn Parrott Graham, Rolfe Godshalk (editor), ''Newport'' (Newport, Tennessee: Clifton Club, 1970), 35-36.</ref>

To provide defense against these sporadic attacks, the early settlers erected a series of forts in the area. Wood's Fort guarded the Forks-of-the-River just downstream from Newport, and McCoy's Fort and Whitson's Fort defended the area to the south.<ref name="J.G.M. Ramsey, 1999"/> Other installations included Huff's Fort at what is now Del Rio. With Sevier's victory at the [[Boyds Creek, Tennessee|Battle of Boyds Creek]] and the ensuing Treaty of Dumplin in 1785, Cherokee influence in the area began to wane. In the 1790s, the Cherokee signed a series of treaties which essentially ceded most of the land on the Tennessee side of the [[Great Smokies]] to the U.S. government. By 1800, Cherokee attacks in the Newport area had been drastically reduced.