>>> NAMED FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS WHO INHABITED THE
CATAWBA RIVER VALLEY LONG BEFORE EUROPEAN EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS
ARRIVED, THE WAXHAW IS AN AREA RICH IN HISTORY.
THE MUSEUM OF THE WAXHAWS TELLS THAT STORY, AND PERIOD ACTORS AT
THE NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE AND THE SECREST HOMESTEAD HELP BRING
THAT HISTORY TO LIFE.
PRODUCER DEREK LONG HAS MORE.
>> THIS AREA IS NAMED AFTER THE WAXHAW INDIAN TRIBE.
AND THE WAXHAW INDIANS INTERACTED A LITTLE BIT WITH THE
EARLY EUROPEAN EXPLORERS THAT FIRST CAME HERE.
THE WAXHAW INDIAN TRIBE IS SAID TO HAVE DIED OUT OF SMALLPOX
DISEASE, AND THEN THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIBE WAS ABSORBED INTO
THE CATAWBA INDIAN TRIBE LOCAL HERE.
WE HAVE A GREAT COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS THAT PEOPLE STILL FIND
AROUND HERE ON LOCAL FARMS.
THE EARLY SETTLERS HERE WERE MOSTLY PRESBYTERIAN
SCOTCH-IRISH, AND THEY CALLED THIS THE GARDEN OF THE WAXHAWS.
>> MANY OF THOSE SETTLERS WOULD HAVE TRAVELED HERE IN WAGONS
LIKE THIS ONE ON DISPLAY.
>> THIS WAGON WAS GIVEN TO US BY THE HOWIE FAMILY, A LOCAL
FAMILY, AND IT WAS IN GREAT SHAPE.
IT HAD BEEN DISASSEMBLED AND STORED IN THIS FAMILY'S BARN FOR
MANY YEARS.
>> THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR'S VIOLENCE IMPACTED THIS REGION.
>> ONE INCIDENT THAT TOOK PLACE NEAR WAXHAW DURING THE
REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS BUFORD'S MASSACRE.
BUFORD IS A SMALL COMMUNITY ABOUT 15 MILES FROM HERE.
>> BRITISH TROOPS AND LOYALISTS UNDER COLONEL TARLETON DEFEATED
PATRIOT FORCES LED BY COLONEL ABRAHAM BUFORD, INFLICTING OVER
250 CASUALTIES, MANY IT IS BELIEVED AFTER BUFORD ATTEMPTED
TO SURRENDER.
YOU'LL ALSO FIND EXHIBITS ABOUT WHAT HELPED THIS AREA GROW, FROM
COTTON TO GOLD.
>> GOLD WAS ACTUALLY FOUND IN THE LATE 1700s IN NORTH
CAROLINA.
AT ITS PEAK, THERE WERE 130 ACTIVE GOLD MINES, 30 OF THEM
RIGHT HERE IN UNION COUNTY.
>> YOU CAN EVEN TRY YOUR HAND AT GOLD PANNING HERE.
EXHIBITS AND ARTIFACTS TELL ABOUT UNION COUNTY'S CIVIL WAR
HISTORY.
>> AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR, UNION TROOPS CAME THROUGH THIS
AREA AND TERRORIZED SOME LOCAL FAMILIES, AND WE EVEN HAVE A
DOOR THAT IS SAID TO HAVE BULLET HOLES FROM SOME OF SHERMAN'S
TROOPS THAT CAME THROUGH.
YOU'LL ALSO LEARN ABOUT OUR SEVENTH PRESIDENT, ANDREW
JACKSON AND SOME DAYS EVEN GET TO TALK TO HIM.
>> ANDREW JACKSON IS FROM THE WAXHAWS.
WE KNOW HE WAS BORN IN THE WAXHAWS.
THERE'S A DISPUTE ABOUT WHETHER HE WAS ACTUALLY BORN IN SOUTH
CAROLINA OR NORTH CAROLINA.
NOW, ANDREW JACKSON WOULD SAY MY MOTHER ALWAYS TOLD ME I WAS BORN
IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
AND HE MAY WELL HAVE BEEN.
WE CAN'T PROVE IT.
I JUST SAY HE WAS FROM THE WAXHAWS.
>> ONCE YOU TOURED THE MUSEUM, CHECK OUT THE OUTDOOR EXHIBITS.
>> WE DO HAVE AN INDIAN VILLAGE HERE THAT IS VERY UNIQUE.
AND IT WILL GIVE YOU A GLIMPSE OF HOW LIFE WAS FOR THE WAXHAW
INDIANS.
THE INDIANS OF THIS AREA DID NOT LEAVE IN TEPEES LIKE SOME PEOPLE
WOULD BELIEVE.
THEY ACTUALLY LIVED IN STRUCTURES MADE OUT OF BARK.
WE HAVE SEVERAL ORIGINAL STRUCTURES FROM THIS COUNTY THAT
HAVE BEEN PRESERVED AND PLACED AT OUR HOMESTEAD, SUCH AS A
SPRING HOUSE AND A BLACKSMITH SHOP AND A BARN.
>> AND THE CENTERPIECE, THE EARLY 1800s HOMESTEAD FROM THE
SECREST FAMILY.
>> THIS LOG HOUSE BELONGED TO MY FAMILY.
AND MY GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER, ETHAN SECREST, BUILT THE CABIN
AROUND 1830, AND HE LIVED IN THIS CABIN WITH SEVEN CHILDREN
AND HIS WIFE, ELIZA, AND IT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR SIX
GENERATIONS.
>> THE THIRD SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH, THEY HAVE A LIVING
HISTORY DAY TO HELP VISITORS UNDERSTAND WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN
THE EARLY TIMES.
>> SO IT WAS MY PASSION TO HAVE SCHOOLCHILDREN COME HERE AND SEE
HOW LIFE WAS IN THE 1830s.
YOU KNOW, YOU CAN STUDY ABOUT IT IN BOOKS, BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY
COME AND SEE THINGS HAPPENING AND INTERACT WITH DOCENTS, YOU
REALLY REMEMBER THINGS LIKE THIS BETTER THAN IF YOU'RE JUST
READING IT OFF THE PAGE.
>> THIS IS DEREK LONG FOR "NORTH CAROLINA WEEKEND."