The Death of John Lawson
About this illustration
Drawing by Baron Christoph Von Graffenried. Image courtesy of North Carolina State Archives, Division of Archives and History.
- Date created
- Copyright unknown.
- Original image housed by North Carolina State Archives, Division of Archives and History
See this illustration in context
- Colonial North Carolina: Colonial North Carolina from the establishment of the Carolina in 1663 to the eve of the American Revolution in 1763. Compares the original vision for the colony with the way it actually developed. Covers the people who settled North Carolina; the growth of institutions, trade, and slavery; the impact of colonization on American Indians; and significant events such as Culpeper's Rebellion, the Tuscarora War, and the French and Indian Wars. (Page 3.6)
- Among the Tuscarora: The strange and mysterious death of John Lawson, gentleman, explorer, and writer:
They've taken his clothes,...
- Search LEARN NC for American Indians, Christoph von Graffenried, colonial, drawings, exploration, history, John Lawson, North Carolina, and Tuscarora Indians.
In the classroom
- See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
Baron Christoph Von Graffenried’s drawing, The Death of John Lawson, depicts Von Graffenried, his servant, and John Lawson being held captive by Tuscarora Indians shortly before Lawson’s death. In the center of the drawing, the three prisoners sit, hands bound, near a fire. The Tuscarora dance and play drums in a semi-circle on the right, and one Indian stands in the center, holding what appear to be a hatchet and a knife, near two dead animals impaled on sticks. Four Tuscarora in a line on the left seem to be guarding over the prisoners. A few Indian buildings are scattered across the top and bottom of the drawing.