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WNC Wagon Train to parade down Main Street Saturday

Nation's oldest wagon train to spend four nights in Jackson County

By Lynn Hotaling

The nation's oldest wagon train will pass through downtown Sylva this weekend.

Horses and wagons taking part in the 45th annual Western North Carolina Wagon Train will parade down Main Street at 11 a.m. Saturday on its way from Andrews to Brevard.

Some 85 wagons and about 300 riders are expected to be part of this year's wagon train. Participants gathered in Andrews Monday and will finish their journey July 4 with a 9:30 a.m. parade in Brevard.

Members of this year's wagon train will spend four nights and five days in Jackson County. After Saturday's downtown parade, the group will travel to Cullowhee to camp on Grady Parker's property in Speedwell community. The group plans to spend both Saturday and Sunday nights there, though the wagon train will camp at Tommy Beutell's Brinkley Farm near Tuckasegee in case of rain.

Horses and wagons will hit the road again Monday, July 1, and travel via N.C. 281 to the Jamie Clarke farm in Canada community. The group will camp at the Clarke farm, which is located near the Jackson-Transylvania county line, until Wednesday, July 3, before traveling the final 23 miles to Brevard.

The need for good roads through the mountains connecting East Tennessee and WNC was the initial purpose for organizing the wagon train, which was known as the Tellico to Murphy Wagon Train.

It began in 1958 as a journey from Tellico Plains, Tenn., to Murphy. The trip generated a lot of interest, and its 67 wagons and 325 horseback riders arrived in Murphy on July 4 to cheers and applause from a crowd of thousands. The train followed that same route for five years.

When the wagon train incorporated as a non-profit group in 1963, it took the name "WNC Wagon Train" and established its headquarters in Andrews. Since that time the wagon train has followed a number of routes, always ending with a Fourth of July parade in a designated town. Traditionally, the train travels the original route from Tellico Plains to Murphy every five years.

Back to Archive: 06/27/02.