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1760 - Catawba Nation Declines

Of the many thousands of Indians who lived in the Piedmont just 50 years ago, only 1,000 remain. The diseases brought by settlers, and the battles with neighboring tribes and whites, have claimed many lives. Some Indians unite with other nearby tribes, such as the Wateree and Cheraw. By joining together, they become the Catawba Nation, with 500 warriors and 2,500 people.

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1780 - Change of Command

August 16, 1780 - More than four years after colonists proclaimed their independence from Britain, fighting continues. Soldiers in the Southern American army, commanded by General Horatio Gates, are defeated by British troops at Camden, South Carolina. Soon Gates will be replaced by Nathanael Greene, who will spend time in Charlotte.Gen.

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1766 - Colonial Physicians

Dr. Joseph Kennedy becomes the first physician to practice medicine in Mecklenburg County. Second is Dr. Ephraim Brevard. In just a few years, both men will become important leaders as the colonists fight for their freedom from British tyranny.

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1750 - Establishing Roots

The self-sufficient, hard-working settlers believe that adults and children alike should learn to read so they can study the Bible. They begin to build churches so they can worship as a community.

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1780 - Andrew Jackson

April, 1780 - Andrew Jackson is just 13 years old, but knows how to find his way through the tangled trails surrounding his home at Waxhaw on the North-South Carolina border. Revolutionary War Major William R. Davie needs help, and enlists young Andy as his scout and messenger.

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1767 - A President Born

March 15, 1767 - Andrew Jackson is born at Waxhaw, on the border between North and South Carolina. Though his father died before Jackson's birth, this working-class descendant of Scots-Irish immigrants will be elected to the highest office in the U.S. He will become its seventh president in 1828.

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1711 - Lawson's Violent End

September 16, 1711 - There are bitter arguments between the Indians and white settlers over hunting and trading practices. Englishman John Lawson, who surveyed and wrote about North Carolina a decade previously, is killed in the eastern part of the state by a tribe of Indians called the Tuscaroras.

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1767 - Land Grants

Jan. 15, 1767 - Lord Augustus Selwyn agrees to sell 360 acres of land to Abraham Alexander, Thomas Polk and John Frohock. Since there is no American currency yet, the price is determined in British units of money, called pounds. The price for the land is 90 pounds. The land lies where the future downtown Charlotte will flourish.

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1740 - Rural Settlers

The rivers of the Piedmont are difficult to navigate from outside areas, and this interior region becomes known as the Backcountry. Swiss and French settlers from Charleston, South Carolina slowly begin to make their way here. They join the English settlers.

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1700 - The Lawson Expedition

English surveyor John Lawson travels north and west from coastal Charleston, South Carolina, by way of the Santee, Wateree and Catawba rivers. Roads are still 50 years away. His voyage takes him 1,000 miles as he maps the rough terrain. Soon, English rulers will decide where they want colonists to settle.

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