Shields, who was also a veteran of the Revolution, established a small fort along Middle Creek near what is now Dollywood. Among the first to take advantage of this was Robert Shields (1740вЂ“1802), who received a survey for a tract of land in the Pigeon Forge area from the Watauga Land Office in 1786. In 1785, Cherokee signed the Treaty of Dumplin Creek, ceding much of what is now Sevier County to the United States. Wear later served as a member of the committee that drafted Tennessee's state constitution. This 'fort' provided a safe stopover for early pioneers in the Sevier County area. A veteran of the American Revolution, Wear erected a stockade near the confluence of Walden Creek and Little Pigeon River (now Pigeon Forge City Park) in 1792. Some time after 1783, Colonel Samuel Wear became one of the first permanent white settlers in the Pigeon Forge area. Along with hunters and trappers from North Carolina, traders from Virginia passed through the valley before 1750. Indian Gap Trail brought the first Europeans to the Pigeon Forge area in the early 18th century. From Sevierville, Great Indian Warpath headed west toward the Overhill Cherokee towns along the Little Tennessee River. (US-441 closely parallels this ancient trail, although it crests the mountains at Newfound Gap rather than Indian Gap). A Cherokee footpath known as 'Indian Gap Trail' crossed the Great Smokies from North Carolina and passed through the Pigeon Forge valley en route to its junction with Great Indian Warpath in modern Sevierville. ДЇor centuries, the Cherokee used the valley where Pigeon Forge is now located as a hunting ground.

The name of the river comes from the flocks of passenger pigeons that frequented its banks at the time of the first Euro-American settlers' arrival.

The name of this forge referred to its location along the Little Pigeon River, in the vicinity of what is now the Old Mill. The name 'Pigeon Forge' comes from an iron forge built by Isaac Love (1783вЂ“1854) some time around 1820. Monument honoring Samuel Wear in Pigeon Forge City Park.

Pigeon forge tennessee