History Chilhowee (Cherokee town)

1 history

1.1 chalahume
1.2 cherokee period
1.3 site s later history

history
chalahume

according anthropologist charles hudson, juan pardo expedition entered upper tennessee valley (then part of chiaha chiefdom) in late 1567 via pigeon river, pardo followed confluence french broad river near modern newport. expedition rested several days @ chiaha capital of olamico, hudson believes located on zimmerman s island (now submerged douglas lake). on october 13, pardo left olamico, traveling southwest across foothills of great smoky mountains en route coosa chiefdom in northern georgia. expedition crossed little river near modern walland , traversed happy valley reach chalahume in little tennessee valley on october 15. expedition notary juan de la bandera described chalahume s topographic situation similar spanish city of córdoba— grapevine-filled valley @ base of high mountains— description fits chilhowee.

hudson points out phoneme /m/ infrequent in cherokee language, , when cherokee replaced chalahume s mississippian-era occupants, retained site s name substituted w m . similar situation occurred 5 miles (8.0 km) downstream chilhowee @ citico, hudson argues satapo visited pardo expedition on october 16.

the cherokee period

the now-submerged ancient site of chilhowee

anthropologist james mooney recorded 2 cherokee legends regarding chilhowee. first told story of utlunta, ogress roamed chilhowee area devouring children before cherokee cornered , killed on slopes of chilhowee mountain. legend concerned false warriors of chilhowee, band of warriors attacked force allied city , returned chilhowee claiming had heroically killed several of village s enemies. mooney believed word chilhowee rooted in cherokee word kingfisher, although hudson s research rejects this, arguing chilhowee cherokee pronunciation of muskogean name chalahume.

chilhowee doesn t appear among overhill towns until mid-18th century, although neighbors citico , tallassee appear in earliest english records of region. colonel george chicken, visited overhill towns in 1725 in hopes of cementing alliance against creeks, met @ tanasi townhouse head men of tanasi, citico, tallassee, great tellico, , coosaw. george hunter s map of overhill country shows tallassee, citico, tanasi, , great tellico, makes no mention of chilhowee. henry timberlake visited chilhowee on peace mission in 1761 , engaged in pipe-smoking ceremony town s head men, didn t elaborate. timberlake s draught of cherokee country shows 18 dwellings , townhouse @ chilhowee, , lists yachtino town s headman. 110 warriors reportedly residing @ chilhowee represented third largest fighting contingent among overhill towns, behind citico , chota.

the encroachment of euro-american settlers tennessee valley in 1770s led increased conflict valley s cherokee inhabitants. around time, headman of chilhowee, known old abraham (or abram ), had risen prominence among overhill cherokees. when cherokee aligned british @ outbreak of american revolution in 1776, old abraham , dragging canoe (the head man @ mialoquo) led two-pronged attack against fort watauga , heaton s station, respectively. expedition disaster, , prompted virginia dispatch colonel william christian small force subdue overhill towns. christian entered little tennessee valley unopposed , made truce several older chiefs, when dragging canoe refused accept peace offering, christian burned several overhill towns, including chilhowee. in 1788, old abraham , several other chiefs tomahawked death under flag of truce son of john kirk, settler family had been massacred members of cherokee militant factions on 9 mile creek.

the site s later history

sign pointing way abrams creek campground

around 1850, brothers william , robert james established cotton , woolen mill @ mouth of abrams creek. mill used power generated creek s flow spin , weave fabric. mill closed @ outset of american civil war.

the cherokee national forest, established in 1911, protects western shoreline above chilhowee lake, , great smoky mountains national park, established in 1932, protects eastern shoreline. abrams creek, longest stream located entirely within park, named old abraham of chilhowee. campground , ranger station located along creek few miles upstream chilhowee.

when alcoa announced plans build chilhowee dam in 1955, knoxville chapter of tennessee archaeological society arranged conduct salvage excavations @ chilhowee site , tallassee site (near modern calderwood), both of flooded dam s reservoir. due greater amount of surface material @ tallassee , tallassee site s accessibility, knoxville chapter decided focus on tallassee, , conducted limited surface collections @ chilhowee.