officially established after the state and local government donated 672 acres of public land to the federal government (the boundaries of the park excluded already existing facilities: Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, Moccasin Bend Golf Course, the WDEF radio tower, the Hamilton County firing range, and a model airplane facility). The Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park were instrumental in this process. The organization, established a decade prior to the area's designation as a National Archeological District, remained active until 2017. According to their now decommissioned website, they worked alongside the National Park Service to develop "outstanding visitor experiences at one of America's newest national park areas." In addition, they supported the National Park Service in its endeavors towards "preservation, protection, and interpretation of the cultural, historical, and natural resources of the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District..."The Friends of Moccasin Bend, a non-profit organization, served as the grass roots organizers, fund raisers, and overall advocates for the park. They ensured that the park was not lost in the shuffle of federal government bureaucracy, and continues to move forward as the valuable asset that it is to Chattanooga. After the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District officially became part of the NPS General Management Plan, Friends of Moccasin Bend merged with the already existing Friends of the Park group that had formed in 1986 for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, and in 2018 became National Park Partners: Chickamauga - Chattanooga - Moccasin Bend. National Park Partners is now working with the National Park Service to launch a capital campaign Forever Moccasin Bend for the new visitor and interpretive center on Hamm Road. History Paleo-Indian to Mississippian Periods (10500 BC – AD 1630) Native Americans used this land as a place for a home as long as 12,000 years ago. During the Paleo-Indian Period (10500–8000 BC), Moccasin Bend served as a home for Paleo-Indians. These people evidently had a highly mobile hunting and gathering way of life. The artifact markers for this period include a variety of fluted, semi-fluted, and un-fluted lanceolate projectile points. The Paleo-Indian period corresponds to the end of the Pleistocene Era. During the Woodland Period (700 BC – 1000 AD,) there were major changes evolving with the needs of the Indian people. The use of bow and arrows became the primary way of hunting and pottery became widely popular throughout the Indian tribes. From the Woodland Period,