THE HISTORY OF YADKIN COUNTY

In 1673, Abraham Wood, a prominent trader of Fort Henry, now Petersburg, Virginia, sought to open up the back country for more extensive Indian trade and in May of that year he sent out a scouting expedition of two Englishmen, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur. In a nine-day journey west and south they crossed the Blue Ridge and sighted the Great Smoky Mountains. On June 18, Arthur went south along the Trading Path which crossed the Shallow Ford and which later became the Great Wagon Road. Arthur reported his party had reached Yattken Town at Yattken River (the first mention of Yadkin). The meaning of the work Yadkin, derived from Yattken, or Yattkin, a Siouan Indian work, is unknown. In Siouan terminology it may mean "big tree" or "place of big trees."

The Indians in this area for the most part were peaceful farmers. They planted corn, beans, pumpkins, potatoes, and some other vegetables. Fruits, game, and fish were plentiful. In addition to small game, wild pigeons and turkeys abounded. Some of the fish-falls constructed by the Indians may still be found on the Yadkin River. The estimated Indian population in the state of North Carolina in the year 1600 was: Cherokees, 6,000; Cheraw, 1,200; Keyauwee, 500; and Catawba, including Sugeree and Waxhaw, 5,000. The Catawbas, at one time, claimed the area drained by the Catawba River, from its headwaters into South Carolina and from the Broad River to the Yadkin River.