Indians of Burke County and western North Carolina - Tapa blanda

Originally published in response to a local interest in “Indians,” a topic encouraged by ongoing archaeological excavations in Burke County, this small booklet was written as a brief overview of how and when Native Americans came to live in western North Carolina. This includes a little geology and geography, a bit of prehistoric terminology, a few dates spanning thousands of years with a smattering about archaeology. An intended purpose of this discussion is to encourage further research into the prehistory of Native Americans (wherever they may be) and the preservation of a heritage that had (and continues to have) an important impact on the history of these United States.

After retiring from Western Piedmont Community College as Dean of Planning & Research (following years as an instructor in world history and anthropology), Larry Clark served as an educational consultant and began to explore non-fiction and fiction writing. For more than a decade he periodically wrote about Burke County for a local newspaper, the News Herald. A collection of these stories was later published as "Burke County: Historic Tales from the Gateway to the Blue Ridge" by The History Press of Charleston. With a continuing interest in anthropology he also became interested in discovering the Native Americans who once lived in the region. This resulted in his limited publication of "Indians of Burke County and Western North Carolina" at a time when archaeologists were excavating a large native town near his home. What happened next, during these "digs" at the Berry site, excited everyone involved -- and began to rewrite the history of early colonial America. Spanish artifacts were uncovered among several cabins constructed in 1567 by soldiers under the command of Captain Juan Pardo who was under orders to claim the Carolinas for King Philip II and the Empire of Spain. Having followed the earlier trail of Captain Hernando de Soto, this Spanish settlement, Fort San Juan, has been documented as the first inland European colony in the southeast -- some twenty years before England's "Lost Colony" arrived on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, and four decades before the English settled at James Town, Virginia. Clark became so fascinated with the idea of Spanish conquistadors marching through this region that he wrote "Of Eagles & Wolves," a stage play about the Pardo expedition into western North Carolina. Further research about sixteenth century Spain and their expanding empire resulted in a book entitled "Spanish Attempts to Colonize Southeast North America: 1513 - 1587," scheduled for publication in late 2010 by McFarland & Company.