Rutherford Trace
Haywood County, Haywood County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Rutherford Trace. The expedition led by Gen. Griffith Rutherford against the Cherokee, Sept., 1776, passed here, through Pigeon Gap.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In September 1776, as the Revolution raged, Gen. Griffith Rutherford led a militia expedition through Pigeon Gap and into the Cherokee heartland, part of a coordinated campaign that burned dozens of Native towns. The route his men cut became known as the Rutherford Trace. The campaign was retaliation for Cherokee raids on frontier settlements and aimed to break the nation's power in the southern mountains.
Why it matters
The expedition marks how the American Revolution was also a war on the frontier, devastating Cherokee communities and opening the southern mountains to white settlement.
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Related people
- · Griffith Rutherford
Related events
- · Rutherford's 1776 expedition against the Cherokee
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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