The Legend of Fort Mountain - Part II

Posted by Leslie Horacek (Brussels, Belgium) on 22 October 2004 in Landscape & Rural.

The Legend of Fort Mountain continues…

The legends about a prehistoric white race are the most popular of all. They are based on tales handed down by word of mouth among the Cherokee Indians. Ancient tribal chiefs said their early forbears passed along to posterity these stories that people with fair skins, blond hair and blue eyes occupied the mountain areas until Cherokee invaders finally dispersed them with great slaughter. The Indian tales referred to the white tribesmen as “moon-eyed people” because it was said they had keen eyesight at night but were nearly blind in daylight.

Some historians give a measure of credence to a very old legend that a man named Prince Madoc led 200 adventuresome Welshmen from Wales in 11 ships in the year 1170 and landed on what is now the Alabama coast near Mobile. The story relates that the hips returned to Wales for more settlers, leaving Prince Madoc and his 200 followers to establish a colony. Repeated attacks by Indians drove the Welshmen far to the north until they found refuge in what is now the north Georgia mountain area. There they lived in peace for many years, so the story goes, until the Cherokees killed many of them and intermarried with the survivors.