Image:Fort Mountain 36011.jpg

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Legends of Fort Mountain: Prince Madoc of Wales

Welsh and Cherokee legends coincide here on Fort Mountain. Welsh legends tell of Prince Madoc, who sailed first to Mobile Bay in 1170 AD. After a brief exploration, Madoc returned to Wales, only to sail again for the New World with numerous settlers in a fleet of ships. They never returned to Wales. In the New World, they built stone forts, including this one on Fort Mountain, and warred with the local Cheyenne before deciding to move west sometime around 1186 AD. Madoc's travels, first told in print about 1584, had been told in Welsh songs and stories since the twelfth century.

In 1782, ninety-year-old Cherokee chief Oconostota told John Seiver of Tennessee about the Welsh who had once "...crossed the Great Water and landed first near the mouth of the Alabama River near Mobile..." Oconostota told that these whites had built the fortifications in this country. Other American legends tell of encounters with indians who possessed pale eyes, red hair, beards, and spoke Welsh.

Legend attributes three stone forts to Prince Madoc's people. One near DeSoto Falls, Alabama, is said to be nearly identical to the setting, layout, and method of construction of Dolwyddelan Castle in Wales, the birthplace of Madoc. From Alabama, Madoc moved to this site and hastily constructed these fortification. Retreating from Fort Mountain, these Welsh settlers built minor fortifications in the Chattanooga area before moving to the Duck River near Manchester, Tennessee, and building the fortifications now known as the Old Stone Fort.

Photo recorded at the Legends of Fort Mountain website, and copied for use at the WeRelate Legends of Fort Mountain source page.

Link to the Cherokee Heritage Project Page

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• (del) (cur) 21:42, 7 May 2010 . . BobC (Talk | contribs) . . 400×301 (24,003 bytes) (== Legends of Fort Mountain: Prince Madoc of Wales == Welsh and Cherokee legends coincide here on Fort Mountain. Welsh legends tell of Prince Madoc, who sailed first to Mobile Bay in 1170 AD. After a brief exploration, Madoc returned to Wales, only to sa)

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