16th century Few historical references to the Cheraw exist. Spanish explorer
De Soto likely passed through Cheraw towns, especially
Joara located in present-day western
North Carolina in 1540. of the
Haudenosaunee from the north, the Cheraw moved southeast and joined the
Keyauwee Indians tribe. . In 1728,
William Byrd conducted an expedition to survey the North Carolina and Virginia boundary, and reported finding two Saura villages on the Dan River, known as
Lower Saura Town and
Upper Saura Town. The towns had been abandoned by the time of Byrd's visit. He noted in his writing that the Saura had been attacked and nearly destroyed by the
Seneca 30 years before, who had been raiding peoples on the frontier from their home in present-day New York. The Saura were known to have moved south to the
Pee Dee River area. Haudenosaunee people were still attacking the region by 1726. The Cheraw were recorded living with the Catawba by 1739 and still maintaining a distinct dialect through 1743. The remnants of the tribes combined. The tribe was nearly destroyed before the middle of the 18th century and European encroachment on their old territory. In 1759 a part of Cheraw warriors, led by King Johnny, attached
Fort Du Quesne. Historian Karen Blu states that
John Reed Swanton looked at documentation of the Cheraw being in the general area of the "Croatoan Indian" community previously, and assumed they would be ancestral to them as a result, but that this is speculative and there remain no firm links between them and the Cheraw During the
Revolutionary War, the Cheraw and the Catawba removed their families to the same areas near
Danville, Virginia where they had lived earlier. Their warriors served the
Patriot cause under General
Thomas Sumter. ==Population==