STATESVILLE — Fort Dobbs State Historic Site will offer a glimpse life from 250 years ago on April 12-13. North Carolina found itself engaged in a global struggle for empire between England and France, which included dozens of American Indian tribes, including the Cherokee, They had been allies of the British when the war started, but they found themselves fighting their former friends as a cycle of violence and retaliation spiraled into war.
The April “War for Empire” event will allow visitors to meet soldiers, American Indians and civilians as they were in the 18th Century. The French and Indian War history of North Carolina will be shown through encampments, trades demonstrations and battle re-enactments. Vendors of reproduction period items will also be on hand. 
The programs will run 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday, with highlighted activities throughout each day, including a battle re-enactment at 1:30. Admission is $2 per person. Children under 5 years old get in free.
The educational program at this state historic site gives life to North Carolina’s past experiences and traditions and demonstrates the value of living history to students and adults.
For more information, call 704-873-5882 or visit www.fortdobbs.org.  Fort Dobbs is the only state historic site dedicated to the period of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), also known as the Seven Years War. It is North Carolina’s only link to a war for empire that crossed five continents and lasted nearly 10 years, and is part of the Division of State Historic Sites.