And within minutes, the rally that was supposed to intimidate the Lumbee collapsed.

Klansmen ran.

Some fled into nearby woods and swampy ground.

Others sought protection around vehicles or from law enforcement.

Klan banners and rally materials were left behind.

Then photographers captured one of the most memorable images of the night: Lumbee men smiling with a Klan banner taken from the field.

A symbol designed to frighten them had become proof that the threat had failed.

The confrontation became known as the Battle of Hayes Pond.

It made national headlines, drew attention to the Lumbee struggle for recognition and respect, and gave the Klan exactly the opposite image from the one it had intended to create.

But the night makes sense only when placed inside a much longer story about the Lumbee, Robeson County, segregation, federal recognition, and a white supremacist movement that badly misjudged the community it tried to intimidate.