Mansker's Station
 

Mansker's Station, also referred to as Mansker's Fort, was founded by Kasper Mansker. The men and their families had settled in the North Carolina Territory (now Middle Tennessee) in 1780. Today the Mansker's Station Historic Site is located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. 

The Neely family did not live inside Mansker's Fort. They fled there during Indian raids because the fort provided more protection than alone in their house at Neely's Bend. They also visited the other settlers and their families.

The homes consisted of log cabins, which the settlers built themselves. The picture above depicts the type of dwelling Mary would have lived in when she first moved with her family from Augusta County, Virginia to Neely's Bend, where her father William hoped to raise cattle and farm.
The families at the fort were close knit. Indians often used Middle Tennessee as hunting grounds but in the summer of 1780 there were numerous raids into the region by Cherokee and particularly Shawnee Indian tribes.
Because of the Indian raids, the men were cautious about venturing too far from the fort. But by late summer 1780, they mounted a hunting party. Mary accompanied the men to Neely's Salt Lick. While the men from Mansker's Station hunted for game, Mary and her father William worked to extract salt from Neely's Salt Lick.

Shawnee Indians attacked Neely's Salt Lick after the men from Mansker's Station had left with their game, killing William and capturing his 19-year-old daughter, Mary. Find out what happened on this fateful day...