Editing Robeson County, North Carolina (section)

===Early history and colonial era===
[[File:LumberRiverStatePark.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Lumber River]] as seen from the boat launch at Princess Ann near [[Orrum, North Carolina|Orrum]].]]
[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous people]] have lived in the region as early as 20,000 BC,<ref name= lumberriversp/> though little is known about those who lived there in the pre-colonial and early colonial eras.{{sfn|Lowery|2018|p=21}} Archeological excavations in the area eventually encompassing Robeson County have uncovered [[glass bead]]s—often used by Native Americans in trade, pottery, and clay pipes.{{sfn|Lowery|2018|p=34}} Archeologist Stanley Knick concluded that the land had been inhabited continuously from 12,000 BC in the early [[Paleo-Indian]] period through the [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic]] and [[Woodland period]]s and up to the present.<ref name= stilling>{{cite web| url = https://www.ncpedia.org/lumbee/origins| title = Lumbee Indians Part ii: Theories of Lumbee Origins| last = Stilling| first = Glenn Ellen Starr | date = 2006| website = NCPedia| publisher = North Carolina Government & Heritage Library| access-date = December 11, 2022}}</ref> The earliest written mention of Native Americans in the area is a 1725 map compiled by John Herbert, which identified four [[Siouan]]-speaking communities near Drowning Creek—later known as the [[Lumber River]].<ref>{{cite news| last = McDonald| first = Thomasi| title = North Carolina Tribes Clash on Recognizing Lumbees| newspaper = Indy Week| date = December 9, 2020| url = https://indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/federal-lumbee-recognition/| access-date = December 6, 2022}}</ref>

The Native American/American Indian-descent people{{efn|There are various theories on the origins of this group.<ref name= stilling/> The descendants of this community have historically described themselves as "Indian" and been labeled as such in historical documents. However, younger generations in the 21st century often identify themselves as "Native American".{{sfn|Lowery|2010|p=11}}}} in the Lumber River valley eventually coalesced into a series of farming communities collectively dubbed "[[Scuffletown, North Carolina|Scuffletown]]" by whites but known by inhabitants as "the Settlement".{{sfn|Evans|1971|pp=28–29}} The date of Scuffletown's formation is unknown{{sfn|Magdol|1973|p=261}} as was its actual location. Some scholars believe it was in the vicinity of the later town of [[Pembroke, North Carolina|Pembroke]] while others place it at [[Moss Neck, North Carolina|Moss Neck]]. Historians [[Adolph Dial]] and David K. Eliades believed it was a mobile community. Others still believe the name applied broadly to any concentration of Indians in the area.{{sfn|Dial|Eliades|1996|p=48}} 

Culturally, the Scuffletonians were similar to other Europeans in their dress and style of homes. They were Protestant Christians and spoke English,{{sfn|Evans|1971|p=28}} though they spoke an "older form", which set them apart from later settlers.{{sfn|Evans|1971|pp=28, 31}} Not viewed as Native Americans by the state of North Carolina until the 1880s, these people were generally dubbed "[[mulatto]]s" by locals and in federal documents throughout the mid-1800s to distinguish them from blacks.{{sfn|Magdol|1973|p=262}} The original Scuffletonians were joined by some whites and blacks in the mid-1700s, including some escaping enslavement.{{sfn|Evans|1971|pp=28–29}}{{efn|The true extent to which these people are actually of Native descent is sometimes disputed by some white and black Robesonians and some other indigenous groups, who assert that this community is really of mixed African and European ancestry.{{sfn|Wolfram|Reaser|2014|pp=221–223}}<ref name= rab>{{cite news| last = Rab| first = Lisa | title = What Makes Someone Native American?| newspaper = The Washington Post| date = August 20, 2018| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/08/20/feature/what-makes-someone-native-american-one-tribes-long-struggle-for-full-recognition/| access-date = December 3, 2022}}</ref>}} The earliest written record of white settlement dates from 1747 land deed applications.<ref name= registerofdeeds/>

The area eventually comprising Robeson County was not heavily settled by whites until about ten years before the [[American Revolution]], when [[Highland Scots]] moved into the area. They formed a separate community from the Scuffletonians. The immigrants encompassed a range of class distinctions, from literate and aristocratic English-speaking families to poorer [[Scottish Gaelic]]-speakers, many of whom were indentured servants. The latter were called "Buckskins" due to their reputation for wearing pants made of deer leather.{{sfn|Evans|1971|p=30}} Gaelic remained spoken in the area as late as the 1860s.{{sfn|Evans|1971|pp=30–31}} English and a few French settlers moved into the eastern portion of the eventual county.{{sfn|Sharpe|1952|p=4}} 

Despite the increase in settlement, population levels in the Lumber River valley remained low for many years, as swamps and thick vegetation divided [[arable land]] and made transportation difficult.{{sfn|Evans|1971|p=21}} The production of timber and [[naval stores]] formed a key part of the area's early economy, with logs being floated down the river for sale in [[Georgetown, South Carolina]], in the late 1700s.{{sfn|Tyner|2005|pp=24, 26}} During the [[American Revolutionary War]], control over the Lumber River valley was heavily contested by [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|British Loyalists]] and [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]].<ref name= smith>{{cite web| url = https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/robeson-thomas-jr| title = Robeson, Thomas, Jr.| last = Smith| first = Maud Thomas| date = 1994| website = NCPedia| publisher = North Carolina Government & Heritage Library| access-date = November 27, 2022}}</ref> Tensions raised by the war caused some whites to migrate out of the area, moving as far away as [[Canada]].{{sfn|Sharpe|1952|p=4}}