On March 23, 1713, the Tuscarora Indian stronghold known as Neoheroka fell to colonial militiamen. As a result of the action, 950 Indians were killed or captured.
The conflict was years in the making. As European settlers encroached on Indian land to meet the needs of the growing colony of North Carolina, tensions escalated between the two groups. In 1711, the Tuscaroras, who controlled most of the land between the Neuse and Roanoke Rivers, began a war with the colonists.
In 1713, the government of North Carolina appealed to South Carolina for assistance. That colony sent Colonel James Moore, who marched his combined force of North and South Carolina militia and allied Indians to Neoheroka. He had been informed that the Tuscarora tribe had placed its largest concentration of warriors at a fort there, on a branch of Contentnea Creek in what is now Greene County.
Archaeological investigations of the fort have revealed a series of interconnected bunkers and tunnels supplied by large quantities of provisions. The fort covered an acre and a half and had high palisades.
The fall of Neoheroka signaled the end of concerted Indian resistance to colonists. By the end of the Tuscarora War, about 200 whites and 1,000 Indians had been killed. An additional 1,000 Tuscaroras were sold into slavery and more than 3,000 others forced from their homes.
Other related resources:
- An overview of the Tuscarora War from Historic Bath
- The Tuscarora Indians and other articles related to the Tuscarora War on NCpedia
- Resources on Native American Heritage from the State Library of North Carolina
- Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site in Mount Gilead, which interprets Native American history in North Carolina and has a variety of resources related to the Cherokee