Legend of Fort Mountain - Part I

Posted by Leslie Horacek (Brussels, Belgium) on 21 October 2004 in Landscape & Rural.

Mystery Shrouds Fort Mountain

The trail to the north of this site leads to the mysterious and prehistoric wall of loose rocks from which Fort Mountain takes its name. Many generations of explorers, archaeologists, geologists, historians, and sight-seers have wondered about the identity of the unknown builders and the purpose of their handiwork.

From the brink of a cliff on the east side of the mountain, the wall extends 885 feet to another precipice on the west side. Its highest parts measure about seven feet but generally it rises to a height of two or three feet. There are 29 pits scattered fairly regularly along the wall, with the ruins of a gateway at one point. Speculation regarding the builders and their purpose covers a wide field. It includes references to sun-worship and last-ditch defense by prehistoric white people, bloody warfare between rival Indian tribes, defense fortifications for Spanish conquistadores hunting gold, and a honeymoon haven for Cherokee Indian newlyweds.

Nobody knows which of the many legends and theories is true and which false. The true answer still lies buried somewhere in antiquity and may never be unearthed.