Marshall McClung
Who were the first people to live in what is now Graham County?
The first people we have a record of living in the county are the Cherokees. They were in Graham County long before any white person ever set foot here.
In fact, we don’t know exactly when they arrived.
We have a better record on when the whites came to town – even though some of it may be questionable.
Desoto is said to have passed through Western North Carolina in 1540. Some think he may have been in Graham County, but there is no solid proof of it. Cherokee County may have been more likely where he ventured.
We do know that the famed botanist William A. Bartram was here, for he recorded in his field notes of having traveled a few miles down Tallulah Creek in 1776. He camped there for the night, with the intention of traveling downstream toward what is now Robbinsville the next morning. His plans changed when he was warned that if he “wanted to keep his hair,” that he should go back.
With hair intact, he turned back toward what is now Topton.
The first minister was Joseph A. Wiggins of the Methodist faith. An ancestor of my wife, he arrived in 1840. The same year also marked the arrival of the first doctor in Graham County, Enos Hooper – which Hooper Bald is named for. He was one of my ancestors.
Getting to Graham County was very difficult in the early days, due to the rugged, mountainous terrain and lack of roads. Journals kept by pioneers mention having to cut their way into the county, due to dense forests with large trees and thickets of underbrush.
There was a saying among locals that those who came to the county were either lost or hiding from the law. This may be at least partially true. You can shake your family tree and see what falls out.
The population of Graham County was slow to grow until logging operations by different lumber companies – such as Bemis – began and a railroad reached Robbinsville in 1925.
The Civilian Conservation Corps established a camp on Massey Branch Road that brought a number of young men here, who later married local girls and settled down. Much the same happened with men who came here to construct our local dams. They also fell for our local beauties and put down their roots.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.