Beautiful Girl

The area of present-day Fayetteville was historically inhabited by various Siouan Native American peoples, such as the Eno, Shakori, Waccamaw, Keyauwee, and Cape Fear people. They followed successive cultures of other indigenous peoples in the area for more than 12,000 years. After the violent upheavals of the Yamasee War and Tuscarora Wars during the second decade of the 18th century, the North Carolina colony encouraged English settlement along the upper Cape Fear River, the only navigable waterway entirely within the colony. Two inland settlements, Cross Creek and Campbellton, were established by Scots from Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Merchants in Wilmington wanted a town on the Cape Fear River to secure trade with the frontier country.