Day One- Digging Deeper

Pre-Clovis Peoples: 14,510 yr BP (Before Present)
At archaeological site SV-2 (Near Saltville, VA), pre-Clovis people appear to have butchered and processed  a mastodon.This evidence show that prehistoric people were living in Southwest Virginia in some of the earliest stages of human history. Pre-clovis tribes would stalk into the Saltville valley where the animals would roam to the salt marshes. 
Structure- Hunter/ Gatherer
Infrastructure- Chief of small bands. Those will plenty to eat
Superstructure- Gods of nature

Spanish Exploration: Spring of 1567
Spanish exploration in the new world was done for can be called the "Three Gs." God, Gold And Glory.  The gold would go to Spain to help the country fight its wars in Europe, God would be spread to the natives, and the Glory would be for the men who helped in these endeavors. A force of 15- 25 men set out from Fort San Juan (near present day Morganton, North Carolina) led by Sargent Hernando Moyano de Morales. Morales' men trek into Southwest Virginia as far as present day Chilhowie or Saltville, VA. On this raid, the Spanish burned the Chisca Indian village of Maniatique. The present day location of Maniatique is debated, but the raids did capture a young girl named Luis Mendez. Mendez described to the Spanish the processes the Indians used to extract the salt from the brine, and where the salt creeks were.  Too, Mendez and her husband, Juan De Ridas, would have a child. This child is thought the first person born of European decent in North America.
Structure- Exploring
Infrastructure- Conquistadores with rank. 
Superstructure- The Christian God could save the souls of the natives

Dr. Thomas Walker Expedition: Winter and Spring of 1750

On July 12, 1749, the Loyal Land Company was founded with Dr. Thomas Walker as a leading member. At the age of 64, Walker would journey to the western areas of Kentucky and Tennessee to map out the border between Virginia and North Carolina westward. This controversial mapped border would forever bear the title of the "Walker Line" and today stand as the separating point between the two states. Beside the Walker Line, Dr. Walker's main object was to survey and sell tracks of land for the Loyal Land Company in Southwest Virginia as far north as Roanoke and in the Holston River areas. Realizing the forests of Southwest Virginia could be timbered for use in the east, the Loyal Land Company sold land to settlers cheaply, and bought the timber.
Structure- Exploring new frontiers
Infrastructure- Those who owned land
Superstructure- Christianity

Early Settlers 
Once tracts of land were surveyed settlers began flocking to Southwest Virginia seeking cheap land and freedom from the confines of the eastern cities.  They brought with them European ways, but they also adapted to a lifestyle different from those in larger towns and cities in the East. Men formed militias to fend off Indian attacks. Forts, like the one at Fort Blackmore in then Fincastle County, were built to provide protection when local Indians went on raids trying to chase away the settlers and capture their food stores.  Itinerant ministers like John Emory moved with the settlers helping spread Methodism during the Second Great Awakening in the late 1700's and early 1800's
Structure- Settling new frontiers. Timbering, Surviving 
Infrastructure- Those who owned land

Superstructure- Evangelical Christianity

                                     

For More Information 
Pre-Clovis 
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/nativeamerican/woodlandindians.html

Spanish Exploration 
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/berrysite/files/1997-southeastern_archaeology.pdf
(word search Pardo Expedition. Note: Hernado Moyano de Morales is referred to only as Hernando Moyano)

Thomas Walker Expedition
http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/lewisandclark/students/projects/adventurers/walkerbio.html

Settlers
https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE190404
http://www.danielboonetrail.com/historicalsites.php?id=85