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Rising to over 5,500 feet above sea level, Snake Mountain is the tallest mountain in Watauga County, North Carolina. It is 19 feet taller than its sister mountain to the southeast, Elk Mountain, and 200 feet higher than Rich Mountain lying directly to the south. The mountain's rocky crags that twist and turn along its highest ridges resemble the scales of a prehistoric sea serpent, hence the name "Snake Mountain."
Snake Mountain was considered a sentinel, or landmark, to the West by hunters and early pioneers as they made the journey to the "dark and bloody grounds" of Kentucky. Daniel Boone and countless others who came after him, were mesmerized by the intricate systems of ridges and valleys through which the buffalo and Redman had passed for thousands of years before the white man came. Cherokees, Creeks, and Shawnees visited in search of the buffalo. Several trails from both the North and East converged at Snake Mountain. The Buffalo Trail and Indian path extended across the Blue Ridge Mountains all the way to the coast of North Carolina.
By early 1755, there were several hundred families living in Watauga, Alleghany and Ashe counties. They came from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the coastal areas. Several families made their home in the meadow just below Snake Mountain and their descendents still reside in the area today.
These lush meadows were favorite campsites for tired travelers as they made their way westward. Where the trails met beneath the mountain, a thriving community evolved and became known as the Trading Grounds. One could find a blacksmith shop, post office, corrals for holding livestock, and a country store or two. Trade, as it is now known, was actually a part of North Carolina until 1796 when Tennessee was admitted to statehood and the boundary between North Carolina and Tennessee was finally surveyed.
Trade has a colorful past -- shootouts were numerous -- becoming almost legendary. Today, Trade remains just a friendly, sleepy reminder of its past.
For a more complete history see "Sentinel To The West" by E.W.Wadsworth, which appears in the Watauga Democrat published July 27, 1978.
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