Patchwork 250 is a new initiative from WSLS 10 that tells Virginia’s story, one piece at a time. Like a quilt made of many patches, every person, story, and tradition adds something special to our history. Join us as we celebrate 250 years by sharing the stories that make our region unique, one patch at a time.
Many Americans remember the American Revolution as the American colonies fighting for their independence from the British Empire.
However, there were other conflicts during the revolutions as well. Here in Virginia, the Cherokee wars of 1776 saw battles between the Cherokee Native Americans and settlers in the region.
Much of Southwest Virginia was held by the Cherokee tribe, but settlers were starting to infiltrate land the natives claimed as their own.
“Even though they’re not making their towns here so much, they’re viewing the arrival of settlement filling up the New River Valley and beyond as a threat because it’s getting closer and closer to where their towns are, and they do still claim this land,” historian Walter Bailey said.
Rising tensions led to raids by the Cherokee, but this didn’t stop Virginians from expanding and building forts across the New River Valley and what would eventually be Tennessee.
The Cherokee were compelled to sign a peace treaty, but a faction led by Cherokee Chief Dragging Canoe decided to try to put an end to the expansion by making raids on forts and other settlements.
Bailey says that the Cherokee tribe was supported by British loyalists in the colonies. While the Cherokee remained loyal to the British, they didn’t get the same treatment.
“They remained allied to the British side, but they didn’t get, like, say, British troops or even Loyalist troops to join them to defend their homelands,” Bailey said.
After several battles, a brain trust of governors took action, bringing together an army led by William Christian of Christiansburg.
Christian’s offensive forced the Cherokee to surrender and sign a treaty.
“In a treaty that was dictated pretty much in the summer of 1777, called the Avery Treaty, William Christian, William Preston, and Evan Shelby, along with North Carolina commissioners, meet with most of the Cherokee leaders, not Dragging Canoe, but most of them, and they force them to give all this up,” Bailey said.
This treaty opened the door to American expansion, spearheaded by explorers like Daniel Boone.
Literally shaping the way our country looks to this day.
“Part of what was dictated to the Cherokee in the Avery Treaty was a clear path to the Cumberland Gap, an unobstructed access to a new Virginia County that was also established in 1776 from Fincastle County,” Bailey said.
Want to discover more stories that make Virginia unique? Visit the Patchwork 250 page to explore the full quilt of our region’s history, one patch at a time.