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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  De Soto Trail Marker, Franklin. Photo by Friends of the (Little Tennessee River) Greenway

  • Monument Name

    De Soto Trail Marker, Franklin

  • Type

    Marker

  • Subjects

    Colonial History

  • City

    Franklin

  • County

    Macon

  • Description

    The De Soto Trail Marker is a simple bronze tablet inset into a large stone that is roughly in the shape of a rectangle. The symbol for the National Society of Colonial Dames appears above the inscription.

    Images: View of the marker along the Little Tennessee River Greenway | Inscription

  • Inscription

    DESOTO TRAIL / NEAR THIS SPOT IN 1540 / HERNANDO DESOTO AND / HIS MEN CROSSED THIS / STREAM WHICH FLOWS / INTO THE WATERS OF / THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

    ERECTED BY THE / NATIONAL SOCIETY OF COLONIAL DAMES / OF AMERICA IN NORTH CAROLINA

  • Custodian

    Macon County

  • Dedication Date

    June 26, 1940

  • Decade

    1940s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    35.186380 , -83.373050 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      Coughlin, Ellen K. “The De Soto Expedition,” NCPedia.org, (accessed October 6, 2021) Link

      Miles, Suzannah Smith. “The Price of Gold,” WNC Magazine (Asheville, NC), January 2009, (accessed October 6, 2021) Link

      “Colonial Dames Unveil De Soto Trail Marker,” Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC), June 27, 1940

      “De Soto Trail Marker,” Pedal Pirates Cycle Crew, Hike and Bike America, hikeandbikeamerica.wordpress.com, (accessed September 10, 2021) Link

      “Macon County Monuments, Marker and Plaques,” North Carolina Colonial Dames, www.ncdames.org, (Accessed October 6, 2021) Link

      “The Contact Period in North Carolina,” Research Laboratories of Archaeology, UNC-Chapel Hill, http://rla.unc.edu, (accessed October 6, 2021) Link

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Bronze, stone

  • Sponsors

    National Society of Colonial Dames in North Carolina

  • Monument Dedication and Unveiling

    The marker unveiling highlighted a celebration of the quadri-centennial of Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto’s journey through western North Carolina. Other events of the day included a motorcade and a pageant, “Waters Flowing West,” written for the celebration by Edith Russell of Asheville. John Temple Graves II of Birmingham, Alabama was the featured speaker. Thad Eure, NC Secretary of State accepted the marker on behalf of the state.

  • Subject Notes

    In 1940 the Colonial Dames of North America placed a series of markers along what was believed to the trail taken by De Soto. The approximate route extending through portions of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. Although there is no real consensus on his route through North Carolina most historians and archaeologists now believe that De Soto’s path through western North Carolina was further east and north of Macon County.

  • Location

    The marker is located at the entrance to Big Bear Park on the Little Tennessee River Greenway, Franklin, NC.

  • Landscape

    The marker stand on grass under shady tress.

  • Relocated

    Yes

  • Former Locations

    It is not certain that the present location along the Little Tennessee River Greenway is the original location. A news article for the dedication states that it was placed near the Franklin Bridge over the Little Tennessee River.

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