Rowan County, North Carolina: Background information when reading Down River

Rowan County, North Carolina

This article relates to Down River

Rowan County, North Carolina (official website), the setting for King of Lies and Down River, is seeped in fascinating early American history. According to Indian Tribal Records, theSaponi Indian Tribe was found dwelling on theYadkin River in 1701, near the present site ofSalisbury; they had moved to the area to escape attacks by their enemies, giving credence to the legend told on page 103 of Down River: "…this was all Sapona Indian country. Like most Indians, they didn't want to give up the land. … there were maybe three-hundred people living in that village. The men had been shot…but most of the women and children were still alive. They threw them in first and piled the dead on top. Legend says that so much blood soaked into the water table that the springs ran red for days after. That's where the name (Red Water) comes from."

In the video documentary, A Ramble Through History in Rowan County (click "view it online"), Dr. Gary Freeze, Professor of History, tells of George Washington's visit to Salisbury in 1791. In his diary, Washington describes Salisbury as "a pleasant village of about 50 homes and 300 inhabitants". His thank-you letter to the town is a source of local pride, now displayed in the Rowan Public Library foyer.

Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the USA, spent the year 1784 in Salisbury studying law, but local lore says his love of practical jokes and card playing ran him out of town with an outstanding hotel bill. It was, however, wiped off the books as a patriotic pardon after he led his troops to victory at the Battle of New Orleans, the final major battle ofThe War of 1812 (between the USA and the United Kingdom and its colonies).

For more history of Rowan County, read The Rowan Story, 1753-1953: A narrative history of Rowan County, North Carolina, by James S. Brawley (out of print but available in all good Rowan County libraries!).

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to Down River. It originally ran in November 2007 and has been updated for the September 2008 paperback edition. Go to magazine.