Old Fort’s
Arrowhead
It is believed to be tlie largest in
the world and it marks the site
of the western outpost of white
man's pioneering efforts during
the deeade preceding the Revo¬
lutionary War.
By J. B. HICK LI >
WHAT is said lo be the largest
arrowhead in the world is one
of the things which dis¬
tinguishes Old Fort, in McDowell
County, from other western North
Carolina communities.
From 1756 to 1770, Old Fort was
the westernmost outpost of the white
man. Ten years ago the arrowhead
monument was unveiled in the center
of the town on the approximate -site
of the “old fort” that marked the
frontier in the good old days. It was
dedicated to the memory of that gal¬
lant band of men who braved the
dangers to establish another outpost
of the white man’s civilization.
The arrowhead was chiseled out of
a slab of pink granite from the Sal¬
isbury quarries and stands 14V> feet
in height on a picturesque stone base
of slightly more than 15 feet. Lo¬
cated on Highway No. 70 and near
the railway depot, it attracts atten¬
tion of tourists from all parts of the
country. The boulders of the monu¬
ment base, washed smooth during
countless years by the rippling wa¬
ters of Davidson’s Mill Creek near¬
by, stand in a basin of sparkling
water.
A brass tablet riveted to the base
bears the information:
“This marks the site of the Old
Indian Fort built A.D. 1750, the
western outpost of the United States
and of North Carolina until 1776."
Near the site of the fort still
bubbles a large spring of water, on
which these pioneers dejwnded for
their supply. Until two decades ago
when Old Fort installed a waterworks
system, large numbers of residents
continued to draw their water from
it. More than one story of heroism
and bravery is woven about this
spring; stories of volunteers risking
their lives to get water with which to
quench thirsts in the fort while the
Indians were laying siege.
I’nfortunately, most of the early
history of the community is un¬
chronicled because most of the set¬
tlers had no educational advantages
and could neither read nor write.
Hence most of that which is known of
the first settlers has lieen handed
down by word of mouth through the
generations, and very likely some in¬
accuracies have crept in and many of
the more vital facts have been for¬
gotten.
In painstaking research, however.
Miss Gertrude Dula, who served as
publicity chairman for the Old Fort
Memorial Association, assembled an
absorbing array of stories that could
be woven into an interesting, if im¬
perfect, history.
As near as can lx- learned, •John
Burg in was one of the very first set¬
tlers who pushed westward lo the
region, and erected his rude cabin of
logs. He and four brothers came to
America front Wales. He first settled
in what is now Statesville and his
brothers scattered to other parts of
the country, at least one of them go¬
ing to Georgia. John had married a
Miss Mann from the Statesville area.
Some years later two of the sons of
the Burgins who moved to Georgia
came to North Carolina to live with
their Uncle John, and married two
of his daughters— their first cousins.
Mattie Burgiu, another daughter,
married Fletcher Halford; and Mar¬
tha Burgin, a fourth daughter, mar¬
ried F. M. Harris. From these un¬
ions emerge a long line of descend¬
ants, who scattered over the width ami
breadth of the land. Margaret Nes¬
bitt, the «laughter of Mr. and Mrs.
J. N- Nesbitt, of Old Fort, who was
nine years old when she unveiled the
monument «luring the exercises at¬
tending the dedication, is a great-
Arrowhead monument, located on the
site of the historic old fort at Old
Fort. The photo was made on the
occasion of the dedication of the
marker.
grcat-great-gramldaughter on both
sides of her family, of this original
settler, according t«i the best reckon¬
ing.
The first printed record of tiny
white man having set foot in this
section is found in the North Caro¬
lina Colonial Records, giving an ac¬
count of the surveying expedition
headed by the good Moravian Bishop
Spangcnburg. This band was organ¬
ized to select a tract of 100,000 acres
which the Karl «>f Granville ba«l con¬
tracted to patent to the Moravians of
America at Bethlehem, Pa., for es¬
tablishment of a colony of Moravian
Brotherhood of North Carolina.
Although the party probably did
not reach the interior as far as tin-
site on which the fort was later es-
(I 'uiliitiftl on page Iwenty-one)
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