Paul Teague

Celebrating America's Revolutionary War heritage, a portion of the Overmountain Victory Trail will be certified during a ceremony Saturday in Happy Valley.

The event is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. along the Yadkin River Greenway at the Happy Valley bridge. The keynote speaker will be Caldwell County native and former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill, who introduced legislation creating the Overmountain Victory Trail while he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The half-mile portion certified trail was created through public and private contributions, along with the work of Caldwell County Pathways, Inc., a non-profit organization that is converting more than a mile of donated land in the area into greenway.

During the fall of 1780, revolutionary forces from North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, known as the Overmountain Men, marched across the Blue Ridge Mountains. The men traveled along the Yadkin River and through Happy Valley before setting up camp in what is now downtown Lenoir.

Joining additional forces from the west at Quaker Meadows in present day Morganton, the Overmountain Men made their way to Kings Mountain to battle those loyal to England and under the command of British Maj. Patrick Ferguson.

On Oct. 7, 1780, the revolutionary forces surrounded Ferguson and his troops on Kings Mountain, winning a decisive victory. Three months later, American troops defeated the British in Cowpens, S.C., effectively thwarting English efforts to control the South.

"Some people say it was the turning point in the Revolutionary War," Caldwell County Pathways board member Merlin Perry said.

The certification is one of three scheduled for Saturday. Additional ceremonies are planned in Surry and Wilkes counties. The trail is a part of the U.S. National Trails System.