The exact wording differs across accounts, and later Klan-related activity elsewhere in North Carolina continued, but locally the 1958 confrontation became a boundary.

The message had been delivered in both directions.

Cole came to tell the Lumbee they should fear the Klan.

Hayes Pond told the Klan that Robeson County would resist.

What The Klan Left Behind

Objects can become historical evidence because of what people do with them.

A banner is simply cloth until a group invests it with meaning.

The Klan invested its banners with intimidation.

At Hayes Pond, the abandoned banner became evidence of retreat.

The same is true of the rally equipment left behind.