Fort Moore-Charleston Trail: Difference between revisions

''[[United States|United States]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[United States Migration Internal|Migration]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads]]  [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]]''

[[Image:Fort Moore-Charleston Trail.png|border|right|380px]]The '''Fort Moore-Charleston Trail''' 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 Fort Moore-Charleston Trail 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 Fort Moore-Charleston Trail 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 [[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]] 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|South Carolina]] and part of [[Georgia|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 [[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]]. 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.  

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.  

The first European colonists settled in counties along this trail (north to south) as follows:<ref>North Carolina - The Counties, http://www.carolana.com/NC/Counties/nc_counties_alphabetical_order.html (accessed 7 April 2011), and South Carolina - The Counties, http://www.carolana.com/SC/Counties/sc_counties_alphabetical_order.html (accessed 7 April 2011).</ref>  

:*[[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>

:*[[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

:*[[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 Fort Moore-Charleston Trail 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:  

:*[[Great Indian Warpath]] pre-historic (overlapped by the [[Great Valley Road]] opened to European settlers about 1744).  

:*[[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]] pre-historic

:*[[Wilderness Road]] 1775

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

:*[[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]] pre-historic  

:*[[Lower Cherokee Traders' Path]] pre-historic  

:*[[Coosa-Tualoo Indian Warpath]]

:*[[Tugaloo-Apalachie Bay Trail]]  

:*[[Augusta and Cherokee Trail]] about 1777

:*[[Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path|Fort Charlotte and Cherokee Old Path]] about 1777

:*[[Upper Road]] about 1783

:*[[Unicoi Trail]] or Turnpike 1813<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>

 

''Between'' those two ends the [[Fort_Moore-Charleston_Trail|Fort Moore-Charleston Trail]] was also crossed by several other important routes:

 

:*[[Jonesboro Road]] after 1769 crossed the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail near the Burke/McDowell county border, NC. The Jonesboro Road connected New Bern, North Carolina to Jonesborough and Knoxville, Tennessee.

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

:*[[Catawba Trail]] a pre-historic route met the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The Catawba Trail connected the Lower Cherokee villages with the Cumberland Gap and [[Wilderness Road]] into Kentucky.

:*[[Old South Carolina State Road]] opened in 1747 and met the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The Old South Carolina State Road made its way to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina. A branch of the Old State Road also may have followed the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail to Fort Prince George, Keowee, and Tugaloo.<br>

'''Modern parallels.''' The modern roads that roughly match the old Fort Moore-Charleston Trail start in Toccoa, Georgia. From Toccoa, take US-123 east to Easley, South Carolina, then east on US-124 to Greenville. Go north on US-25 to SC-11. Turn east on SC-11 to Gowensville. Take SC-14 north to Landrum, then northwest on US-176/Asheville Highway to Tryon, North Carolina. Turn north and then east onto NC-108 to Rutherfordton. Take US-64 north to Lenoir, then go north on US-321 to Boone. Take US-421 to Mountain City, then turn northeast onto NC-91 to Damascus, Tennessee. From Damascus take US-58 northwest to I-81, the Interstate version of the Great Valley Road.  

The Great Valley Road was the trail leading to the north end of the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail. A few colonists settled in Washington County Virginia in the early 1750s but decided to leave for safety reasons during the French and Indian War. The Lower Cherokee Villages on the South Carolina and Georgia part of the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail inhibited most European settlements until the American Revolutionary War. Settlers prior to 1777 were most likely using trails other than the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail to reach their new homes.  

For partial lists of early settlers who '''''may&nbsp;''''' have used the Fort Moore-Charleston Trail, see histories like:  

 

 

'''''in Oconee County, SC:'''''  

*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."

'''''in Stephens County, GA:'''''  

*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.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, "Tugaloo," ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugaloo (accessed 5 April 2011).  

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

{{reflist}} {{Georgia|Georgia}}{{North Carolina}}{{South Carolina|South Carolina}}{{Tennessee}}{{Virginia}}  

[[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]]