The migration of Scotch-Irish, German, Swiss, Dutch and French immigrants to the Catawba Frontier began around 1750, some coming during the 1740’s. At the time this migration began, the area west of the Catawba River was a wilderness. Only a few white men had ventured to come west of the South Fork River. The few who dared to brave the dangers of a pathless forest land were trappers and hunters It was a land, beautiful in its primitive state; and it was a land which filled with awe the white man who found himself a stranger to its solitude. It was a region with fertile soil for farming, wild game for hunting, fish filled streams for fishing and an abundance of timber and wood for erecting a cabin, providing heat, and, for cooking. If the pioneer was awed by the silence of its forests and frightened by its existing dangers, he found comfort in knowing there were available resources for building a home and providing food for his family.
Source: Cheryville.com – W. T. Robinson – A History of Cherryville
Catawba Families, Culture and History 