Old Cherokee Path: Difference between revisions

[[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|South Carolina]]), with several Indian trails, especially the [[Great Indian Warpath]] or [[Great Valley Road]] as it was called in [[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), French Huguenots, and German farmers began settling the area near what would become Fort Charlotte in the 1750s. Some of these early colonists near Long Cane Creek were killed by Cherokee Indians in 1760.<ref>"McCormick County" in ''South Carolina State Library'' at http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/mccormick-county (accessed 24 March 2011).</ref> As a result, the British military constructed Fort Charlotte between 1765 and 1767 to help protect local colonists from hostile Indians. The fort was then turned over to South Carolina. The Old Cherokee Path probably followed older Indian trails. Fort Charlotte was built at or became the nexus of several trails along the Savannah River in South Carolina and Georgia.  

As roads developed in America settlers were attracted to nearby communities because the roads provided access to markets. They could sell their products at distant markets, and buy products made far away. If an ancestor settled near a road, you may be able to trace back to a place of origin on a connecting highway.  

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

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

:*[[Pickens County, South Carolina]] 1753 by English and Scots-Irish  

:*[[Old South Carolina State Road]] opened in 1747 and met the Old Cherokee Path near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The Old South Carolina State Road zig-zagged its way to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.

=== Settlers and Records  ===

For partial lists of early settlers who '''''may&nbsp;''''' have used the Old Cherokee Path, see histories like:  

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*[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.org/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.  

*Wikipedia contributors, "Great Wagon Road," ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wagon_Road (accessed 7 April 2011).