Old Cherokee Path: Difference between revisions

''[[United States Genealogy|United States]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[United States Migration Internal|Migration]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[Old_Cherokee_Path|Old Cherokee Path]]''  

[[Image:Old Cherokee Path.png|border|right|380px]]The '''Old Cherokee Path''' connected the Lower Cherokee Indian villages, in particular [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo Tugaloo] just southwest of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_River Savannah River] in what is now [[Georgia]] (but also villages in [[South Carolina Genealogy|South Carolina]]), with several Indian trails, especially the [[Great Indian Warpath]] or [[Great Valley Road]] as it was called in [[Virginia Genealogy|Virginia]]. Tugaloo, Georgia was at a nexus of several other Indian trails. The Great Valley Road was one of the most significant settler migration routes in America. The Old Cherokee Path was not fully opened to European settlers until the Cherokee were forced out of South Carolina and part of Georgia in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War after the Cherokee sided with the British in that war. The Old Cherokee Path began in [[Stephens County, Georgia]] and ended in [[Washington County, Virginia]]. The length of the trail was about 150 miles (241 km).<ref name="HBG">''Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed.'' (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 852. ({{FHL|1049485|item|disp=FHL Book 973 D27e 2002}}). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50140092 WorldCat entry.]</ref>  

Scots-Irish (that is Ulster-Irish), and German farmers migrating along the [[Great Valley Road]] (sometimes called the Great Wagon Road) through Virginia began settling the counties near the north end of the [[Old_Cherokee_Path|Old Cherokee Path]] in the 1750s. However, during part of the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763 they decided to leave the Washington County, Virginia area. Some settlers after the war in Johnson County, Tennessee and Watauga County, North Carolina were pushing beyond the Proclamation line protecting Indians from intruders. Many of the re-settlers in the area became involved in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga_Association Watauga Association] (a semi-automomous government) starting in 1772.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Watauga Association," ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga_Association (accessed 8 April 2011).</ref> In turn this led to the tentative and short-lived [[State of Franklin|State of Franklin]].  

From the first contact with Europeans the [[Cherokee Indians|Cherokee Indians]] had settlements called the [http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/pickens-county/images/sheriff-01.pdf Lower Cherokee Villages] in the northwest part of [[South Carolina Genealogy|South Carolina]] and part of [[Georgia Genealogy (state)|Georgia]]. The most prominent was the town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keowee Keowee] in what became [[Oconee County, South Carolina|Oconee County, South Carolina]]. Another important town was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo Tugaloo] near what became Toccoa, Georgia. Several important Indian trails converged on these villages, including the south end of the [[Old_Cherokee_Path|Old Cherokee Path]]. The Cherokee resisted most European settlement near their villages. However, the Cherokee sided with the British during the American Revolutionary War. By 1777 Patriot forces attacked and drove the Cherokee from South Carolina, and Tugaloo, Georgia. Patriot veterans soon began to settle on former Cherokee lands. Eventually the old Indian trails in the area were improved into migration routes for European settlers.  

:*[[Washington County, Virginia]] 1750s by Scots-Irish (that is Ulster-Irish), and Germans (abandoned during French and Indian War 1754-1763)<ref>"County History" in ''Historical Society of Washington County, Va.'' at http://hswcv.org/history.html (accessed 7 April 2011).</ref>

:*[[Johnson County, Tennessee]] about 1769 mostly by English, including Scots-Irish, and Germans<ref>"Johnson County History" in ''The Original Johnson County, Tennessee Genealogy Page'' at http://jctcuzins.org/history/johnhist.html (accessed 7 April 2011).</ref>

:*[[Watauga County, North Carolina]] 1760s by Scots-Irish  

:*[[Caldwell County, North Carolina]] 1760s from Burke and Wilkes Counties, NC  

:*[[Burke County, North Carolina]] 1760s by English/Welsh, and then Scots-Irish  

:*[[McDowell County, North Carolina]] 1760s from Burke and Rutherford Counties, NC  

:*[[Rutherford County, North Carolina]] 1750s by Scots-Irish  

:*[[Polk County, North Carolina]] 1760s from Rutherford County, NC

:*[[Spartanburg County, South Carolina]] 1755 by Scots-Irish  

:*[[Greenville County, South Carolina]] 1777 by Scots-Irish, and Revolutionary War Veterans  

:*[[Pickens County, South Carolina]] 1753 by English and Scots-Irish near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Prince_George_(South_Carolina) Fort Prince George] near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keowee_(Cherokee_town) Keowee], the primary Lower Cherokee village.  

:*[[Oconee County, South Carolina]] 1784 by Germans, and Revolutionary War Veterans  

:*[[Stephens County, Georgia]] about 1777 by Revolutionary War Veterans

'''Connecting trails.''' The Old Cherokee Path linked to other trails at each end. Other trails also crossed it in the middle.<ref>''Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed.'' (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. ({{FHL|1049485|item|disp=FHL Book 973 D27e 2002}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50140092 WorldCat entry.], and William E. Myer, ''Indian Trails of the Southeast''. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the early Colonial Period" (1923). ({{FHL|54678|item|disp=FHL Book 970.1 M992i}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1523234 WorldCat entry].</ref>  

The migration pathways connected at the ''north'' end in [[Washington County, Virginia]] included:  

The migration routes connected at the ''south'' end in [[Oconee County, South Carolina]], or in Tugaloo, [[Stephens County, Georgia Genealogy|Stephens, Georgia]] included:  

:*[[Lower Cherokee Traders' Path]] a pre-historic trail connecting the [http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/pickens-county/images/sheriff-01.pdf Lower Cherokee Villages] to the Catawba Indians ([[Charlotte, North Carolina]])  

:*[[Old_Cherokee_Path]] a pre-historic trail from the [http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/pickens-county/images/sheriff-01.pdf Lower Cherokee Villages] to [[Washington County, Virginia]] on the [[Great Valley Road]] (also known as the [[Great Indian Warpath]])  

:*[[Coosa-Tugaloo Indian Warpath]] was a pre-historic path that went toward [[Birmingham, Alabama]]  

:*[[Tugaloo-Apalachee Bay Trail]] was a pre-historic trail headed for the Florida panhandle and probably [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Luis_de_Apalachee Mission San Luis de Apalachee]  

:*[[Augusta and Cherokee Trail]] was a pre-historic trail from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo Tugaloo] originally to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannah_Town,_South_Carolina Savannah Town, South Carolina] and later [[Augusta, Georgia]]  

:*[[Old South Carolina State Road|Old South Carolina State Road]] 1747 a fork of this road apparently connected [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo Tugaloo], Georgia to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Prince_George_(South_Carolina) Fort Prince George], to [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] and to [[Charleston, South Carolina]].  

:*[[Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path|Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path]] after 1765 followed the northeast side of the Savannah River from the [[Old_Cherokee_Path]] in [[Oconee County, South Carolina|Oconee County]] down to old [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Charlotte_(South_Carolina) Fort Charlotte] in northwest [[McCormick County, South Carolina]]  

:*[[Upper Road]] about 1783 (overlapping the Lower Cherokee Traders' Path) connecting [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]] to [[Macon, Georgia]]  

:*[[Unicoi Trail|Unicoi Turnpike]] opened to a few European traders 1690, but the wagon road was not opened to settlers until 1813 from near [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo Tugaloo] headed northwest to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhill_Cherokee Overhill Cherokee villages] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville,_Tennessee Knoxville] in [[Tennessee Genealogy|Tennessee]]<ref>Lowell Kirk, "The Unicoi Turnpike" at http://www.telliquah.com/unicoi.htm (accessed 3 May 2011).</ref><ref>William E. Myer, ''Indian Trails of the Southeast''. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971). ({{FHL|54678|item|disp=FHL Book 970.1 M992i}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1523234 WorldCat entry].</ref>

:*[[Rutherford's War Trace]] opended in 1776 through the same place because it overlapped the Jonesboro Road there.  

*Lewis Preston Summers, ''History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870'' (1903; reprint, Baltimore: Regional Pub. Co., 1971) ({{FHL|353261|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 H2sLp 1971; Film 162046}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/212906700 WorldCat entry].

*Frederick Van Clayton, ''Settlement of Pendleton District, 1777-1800'' (Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, c1988) ({{FHL|397544|item|disp=FHL Book 975.72 W2c}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18802872 WorldCat entry]. The old Pendleton District embraced the present counties of Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens. Includes plats and their owners taken from the "State Record of Plat Books."

*Katheryn Curtis Trogdon, ''History of Stephens County, Georgia'' (Toccoa, Ga.: Toccoa Womans Club, [c1973]). ({{FHL|160782|item|disp=FHL Book 975.813 H2t}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/623349 WorldCat entry].

*[http://gaz.jrshelby.com/cherokee-lower.htm Cherokee Lower Towns] has maps of town locations, a link to a Revolutionary War battle database, sources, and list of Revolutionary War battles involving Cherokees.  

*[http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/history/earlytrails.txt Georgia History Early Trails] describes westward migration on and route of the Lower Cherokee Traders' Path and other routes through Georgia.  

*Many of the [[US Migration Trails and Roads]]

[[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Virginia]] [[Category:Washington_County,_Virginia]] [[Category:Tennessee]] [[Category:Johnson_County,_Tennessee]] [[Category:North_Carolina]] [[Category:Watauga_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:Caldwell_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:Burke_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:McDowell_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:Rutherford_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:Polk_County,_North_Carolina]] [[Category:South_Carolina]] [[Category:Spartanburg_County,_South_Carolina]] [[Category:Greenville_County,_South_Carolina]] [[Category:Pickens_County,_South_Carolina]] [[Category:Oconee_County,_South_Carolina]] [[Category:Georgia]] [[Category:Stephens_County,_Georgia]]