In the earliest periods of settlement, the British traders and Cherokee enjoyed peaceful relations. Most of the British colonists settled in the coastal areas, where they had more contact with Algonquian-speaking peoples. A treaty signed in 1730 resulted in a greater influx of white traders and settlers to Cherokee Territory.

As conflict and tension increased, the British built defensive forts along the frontier, including the "Block House" near the future Tryon. Tensions with the Cherokee continued after Britain defeated France in the large war. The Cherokee were resisting repeated incursions into their territory by English colonists.

In 1767 William Tryon, governor of the North Carolina Colony from 1765 to 1771, traveled to the area and negotiated a peace treaty with the Cherokee. They established a boundary line between a location near Greenville, South Carolina, and the highest point on White Oak Mountain (renamed Tryon Peak by the settlers). Settlers, though, did not commit to the boundary. With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, some Cherokee hoped to expel the white settlers from their lands.

In the spring of 1776, Cherokee met on Round Mountain and planned an attack on the "Block House", Earl's Fort in Landrum, South Carolina, and Young's Fort near the current town of Mill Spring, North Carolina. Aware of the plans, a Cherokee named Skyuka went to the "Block House", where he warned his friend Capt. Thomas Howard of the impending attacks. Howard and the assembled local militia took a trail toward Round Mountain, where they met and defeated the Cherokee at a gap in the valley, now known as Howard Gap. Settlers honored Skyuka by the naming of Skyuka Creek, Skyuka Road, and the YMCA Camp Skyuka on Mount Tryon.

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