First on the Land: Native Americans in the Swannanoa Valley
by Dr. David Moore

The attack on Samuel Davidson by a band of Cherokee Indians in 1784 is the most frequently cited story about Native Americans in the Swannanoa valley. Davidson and his family weren't the first to intrude on Native land; a small Spanish army likely passed through the valley more than 200 years earlier. However, it is not through these historic accounts that we learn much about the lives of the original Swannanoans but rather through the work of archaeologists. In this talk, Dr. Moore will discuss the archaeological excavations of the Warren Wilson site and the Biltmore Mound site to illustrate more than 1500 years of Native American history in the Swannanoa valley.