Since season four, Outlander has seen its beloved Scottish characters starting new lives in North Carolina in colonial-era America. While Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) live off the land in a log cabin, Jamie is working to build them their dream home – a settlement called Fraser’s Ridge. The settlement is largely populated by other Scottish families who share the farm lands and build their own unique homes on the vast landscape, where Jamie additionally encourages the group to be mindful of the neighboring Cherokee.
While North Carolina is one of America’s original 13 colonies and bears a rich history from this time period, Fraser’s Ridge was not a real settlement. However, North Carolina did see notable Scottish immigration in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Fraser highland clan is also a real noble family, and records show they did largely immigrate to the Americas during this time period. The much anticipated season 7 part 2 of Outlander will see the Frasers through the American Revolution.
Outlander’s Fraser’s Ridge Is Not A Real Property
The Settlement Is Based On A Real Era
The fictional Fraser’s Ridge is located in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains region. The Ridge is built on land gifted to Jamie from Governor Tryon of North Carolina, an agent of the British Crown, at the time, King George III. Jamie in turn promises to cultivate the land and populate it with other families of settlers. While the crown is known for its acts of brutality against indigenous peoples, Jamie works to understand and honor the wishes of his Cherokee neighbors in the fictional world of Outlander.
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Fraser’s Ridge is not a real property, and Outlander’s production remains in Scotland, but it is believed to reference western North Carolina. Specifically, modern day Fayetteville was once known as Cross Creek, and was an epicenter for Scottish immigration in early America (via North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources). The British began colonizing the southeast in the early 18th century (via Library of Congress).
The communal aspects of colony life, including shared farm land and the importance of small community roles such as Claire’s healing abilities, are based on real colonial American life. Since Claire is a time traveler from the 1960s with contemporary surgical knowledge, her medicinal practices are incredibly advanced. However, the community’s reliance on her is very real, as empirical self-taught doctors among the clergy and midwives often provided primary medical care (via Colonial Society of Massachusetts).
The Real Scottish Settlements In North Carolina Explained
Cross Creek And More Were Settled By The Scottish As Early As The 17th Century
Like in the rich romantic time-travel fantasy of Outlander, North Carolina was a significant site of a number of important and pivotal historical events. The Fraser family’s settlement of North Carolina, while fictional, is based on the real 1739 Scottish highland immigration to Cross Creek, North Carolina. The area became known as the Argyll Colony, and 20,000 more Scots followed in the next 20 years (via Museum of Cape Fear). As seen in Outlander, Scottish war strategies were integral in the Patriots’ victory in the Revolutionary War and the creation of the United States.
Outside the Blue Ridge Mountains region, many Scots also settled around Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington features prominently in Outlander, where Jamie and Claire’s adopted son Fergus Claudel Fraser (César Domboy) chooses to settle with his wife. There are a number of other Scots in the area in Outlander, including Jamie’s godfather Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser (Duncan Lacroix). Many Scots went on to become landowners and local politicians.
The Real Fraser Clan Did Immigrate To America
The Frasers Immigrated To America After The Highland Clearances
Highland Clan Fraser is a real Scottish clan, and several members were involved in significant political movements across history, much like the fictional Jamie. The real Frasers did indeed immigrate to the Americas, beginning after their brutal defeat of the Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Following the battle, the British Crown committed the Highland Clearances, which forced thousands of Scots off their ancestral lands (via BBC).
While Clan culture ended as the dominant political organization of Scotland during the Union of the Crowns, modern Scots continue to embrace their culture, which is why
Outlander
maintains such a strong fan base today.
Clan Fraser made their way to Canada and the present day United States of America in waves in the 18th and 19th centuries. Clan Fraser remains connected and continues to document the noble family’s lineage across the centuries (via Clan Fraser). While Clan culture ended as the dominant political organization of Scotland during the Union of the Crowns, modern Scots continue to embrace their culture, which is why Outlander maintains such a strong fan base today.
Sources: North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Library of Congress, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Museum of Cape Fear, BBC, Clan Fraser
Based on the novel series, Outlander follows combat nurse Claire Randall from the year 1945, who is mysteriously transported back to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world and sees her life threatened. However, when Claire is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a genuine and passionate relationship is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two different men from two clashing lives.
- Release Date
- August 9, 2014
- Seasons
- 7
- Writers
- Ronald D. Moore , Matthew B. Roberts
- Directors
- Metin Hüseyin , Jamie Payne
- Showrunner
- Matthew B. Roberts
