Fort Donelson National Battlefield: Ethnographic Overview and Assessment
Bowker Lee D, Greer D, Lee AL. 2013. Fort Donelson National Battlefield: Ethnographic Overview and Assessment. Ethnographic Overview and Assessment. NPS: Fort Donleson National Battlefield. Dover, Tennessee
The Fort Donelson National Battlefield (FODO) Ethnographic Overview and Assessment (EOA) includes a review of literature, map resources, and primary source materials that inform the ethnohistory of the park and the region. No previous ethnographic or folklife-related research touching on Fort Donelson or the surrounding area was identified in the literature review. Previous historic works specific to the area are few, and those available primarily chronicle activities and people associated with the Civil War as played out at Forts Donelson, Henry, and Heiman. This study includes an archaeological overview of the Southeastern Culture Area prior to European exploration to provide a framework for the interpretation of prehistoric occupation of the Fort Donelson study area.1 The ethnohistorical overview draws upon previous works, available and pertinent literature, and primary source data to document the people and events that helped shape the ethnographic landscape of Fort Donelson National Battlefield. A selected annotated bibliography identifies works of particular interest for this study, and a complete list of references is also included. The appendix contains abstracted transcripts of recorded interviews with 10 community consultants. The majority of park property lies within Stewart County, Tennessee, and is the primary focus of the EOA, but summary information on Calloway County, Kentucky, the site of Fort Heiman, is presented herein. The former Fort Henry site now lies submerged under Kentucky Lake. The ethnohistory provides the context for park development, land acquisition, and people with historic and traditional associations with the park property. The area encompassing the Fort Heiman unit of the park was only sparsely occupied prior to and after the Civil War and living populations with ties to the land and resources in that unit have not been identified. Therefore, the primary focus of the ethnographic overview and assessment is Fort Donelson in Dover, Stewart County, Tennessee.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bowker Lee, Dayna; Greer, Donna; Lee, Aubra
- Date of Issue
- 2013-09
- Publisher
- NPS: Fort Donleson National Battlefield
- Units
- FODO
- Keywords
- African Americans, Battlefield, Byrd, Cemetery, Cession of Indian Lands, Cherokee, Cherry, Chickasaw, Civil War, Confederate, Cultural Interaction, Cumberland, Earhart, Education, Fort Donelson, Fort Heiman, Fort Henry, Free State, Freedmen, Gentry, Grant, Iron Industry, Lancaster, Land Grants, Land Ownership, Mississippi, Mockabee, Nolin, Population, Religion, River, Roeder, Skinner, Slavery, Slaves, Stewart County, Tennessee, Troops