The
“Chattooga”
or “Chatuga” – translated as “we crossed
here” or “I have crossed” or even
“he drank by sips.”
-origin is either Creek or
Cherokee
A
National Wild And Scenic River = designated as such on
-
1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act:
aimed at preserving nation’s premier waterways.
- Rivers are classified under following categories:
Wild – unspoiled, undammed, with
primitive surroundings, and accessible only by trail.
= management seeks to preserve the river and its immediate environment in a natural, wild and primitive condition while providing water-oriented recreation opportunities in a primitive setting
Scenic – undammed, with undeveloped
shoreline, and accessible by road.
= management will enhance and
maintain the high-quality scenery, provide river-oriented recreation and minimize
impacts from existing roads and bridges that carry traffic across the corridor
Recreational – easily accessible by road,
with some development and preexisting dams allowed.
= management shall provide
compatible outdoor recreational opportunities and water-oriented recreational facilities
and utilize other resources which maintain or enhance the quality of wildlife,
fisheries, scenic, or recreational values.
Of
57 miles: 40 are wild, 2 are scenic, and 15 are recreational.
River
is enclosed within a protective 15,000 acre corridor extending approx. ¼ mile
from river banks in both directions.
The
entire Chattooga watershed totals some 180,795 acres, or roughly 278 square
miles.
The
Chattooga watershed is part of the Southern Appalachian ecosystem, which spans
six national forests all together.
Outlined by
mountains in SC, GA, NC, TN, and VA, plus
Source: “A Guide to the
Suggested
Activities:
1.
Use attached map as visual description of area to orient participants to region
and its creation.
2.
Discuss the effects government can have to positively help the environment.
3.
As a group, try to identify which part of the River you are on in the
classification set by the Act of 1968 by Congress.
4.
Use your own creativity and the information included.
Over
130 diff. species of trees have been identified in this region – more than
anywhere else in
2
names connected with the flora are William Bartram and Andre Michaux
6
different natural environments have been identified within the river corridor:
River
Bank Zone – soil is usually rocky or sandy.
Trees include sycamore, sweetgum, and persimmon. Shrubs
Floodplain
Forests – found between the river bank zone and slope forests, and have
usually been altered to some degree by humans due to their attractiveness to
agricultural activities in the past.
Hardwoods include sweetgum, red maple, tulip-poplar, dogwood, sourwood,
and sassafras. Conifers include
shortleaf pine, white pine, and
Cove Forests – rare due to relative absence of streams flowing
north. Handful found, most
notably southwest of Ellicot Rock in
Slope
Forests – occur up slope from damper cove forests. Hardwoods include hickories, tulip-poplar,
black oak, northern oak, white oak, black gum, red maple, beech, sourwood,
dogwood, and black locust. Shrubs
include rosebay rhododendron,
Ridge
Tops and
Pitch-pine
Communities – Dry southern-exposed communities usually found on a ridge top
or high slope separating coves. Trees
include southern red oak, blackjack oak, post oak, pitch pine, scarlet oak,
blackgum and sourwood. Shrubs include
horse sugar, sweetfern, bristly locust, and blueberry.
Cliffs
and Gorge Walls – Cliffs and large areas of exposed rocks occur at numerous
points along the river, particularly at the Chattooga Cliffs and several points
below Woodall Shoals. These rock
communities are generally classified as either wetter or drier, depending upon
the amount of seepage or spray which contacts the area. The wetter communities generally feature
hemlock and sphagnum moss, while the drier usually features white pine and rock
spikemoss.
The
same conditions which contribute to the tremendous diversity of plants also
helps maintain a wide range of animal life in the river corridor.
Animals
lost to the region and have not yet made a return or are at present being
reintroduced:
Red and Gray wolves,
White-tailed deer, mountain lion, and beaver
– hunted out but have been reintroduced
Most
mammals are nocturnal and can only be seen at night (so get those tracking
guides out!)
Black
Bears are mostly transplants and although the area has potential to be prime
bear habitat, the management of the three area forests has not been
sufficiently consolidated to protect the needed habitat.
Due
to the diversity of the region and its plant life, birds abound. Many are here all year round, but there is a large population that make the area a stop over during
migration. (check field guides for specifics and
identification)
Because
the Chattooga lies within a major migration corridor, birding is especially
good in the spring, when a veritable tide of passerine song birds moves through
the area, all of which follow the budding of trees up the gorge and corresponding
insect hatch.
*
The relative inaccessibility of much of the gorge makes it good wild turkey
country, especially for nesting, since turkey will abandon nests disturbed in
any way *
Snakes
and other reptiles/amphibians thrive in this area due to the warmth and wetness.
*
More than two dozen snake species are present.
The most notable is the Northern Water snake which is often times mistaken
for being poisonous and thus dangerous and killed *
*
Only two poisonous snakes in the region are the Timber rattler and the
Copperhead (look for distinguishing pit viper features on the head: eyes on the
side, V shaped head, etc.) *
The
Appalachian Forest is an essentially deciduous forest type, characterized by
many northern hardwood species; this forest sometimes referred to as the
Appalachian Greenbelt, extends all the way to
Not
many years ago the forests here and elsewhere in the southern
The
diverse nature of the forests here accompanied by a corresponding diversity
of soil types greatly influences the number and variety
of wildflowers.
A
number of plants found in the Chattooga watershed are PETS species – Proposed, Endangered, Threatened,
and Sensitive species. (examples include the Mountain Camellia, Oconee Bells, whorled pogonia, Piedmont Strawberry,
The
Oconee Bells (or Shortia plant) was discovered by Andre Michaux, a French
botanist, near the junction of the Horsepasture
and Toxaway rivers (now buried underneath the waters of
*
The
Suggested
Activities:
1. Attempt to identify trees and wildflowers
with appropriate field guides.
2. Identify the different forest regions using
above descriptions and flora identification
3. Make a contest for groups to spread out and
find certain species of trees and to race to see who can identify all of them
first (following LNT principles).
4. Use your own creativity and information
provided.
The
warm temperatures and high humidity make the Chattooga gorge some of the finest
salamander country in the world
(the husky shovel-nosed salamander is found only in the Chattooga region and
no where else).
*
The
Other
reptiles and amphibians present include newts, frogs, toads, turtles, lizards,
and skinks (use field guides for
Most
notable animals in the region are fish.
The area has more than twenty species of fish.
Three
species of Trout occur in the Chattooga watershed. Brook
trout, a native species, normally occur only in the
Impacts
on trout: Industrial use of the area.
Building of roads and other structures that create an increase of silt
in the
Suggested
Activities:
1. Make a bingo game or an activity in finding
certain animal tracks throughout the day.
2. Discuss industrial and/or environmental
concerns or conditions that have had a positive or negative impact on the
animals of the region.
3. Use field guides and play a type of serades
that mimic certain animals native to the area.
4. Use your own creativity and information
provided.
The
Most
of the
- Chattooga
drainage is mostly composed of meta-sediments – sandstones and shales – laid
down approx. 600 to 750 million years ago.
- Mountains
themselves were the product of continental collision over 350 million years ago
- * According
to some geologists, portions of the
Once
the mountains were uplifted, water became the primary natural agent at work on
the land.
- Though the
rock of these mountains was very erosion resistant – a fact which helps explain
the deep narrow valleys and steep slopes of the region – the inexorable forces
of weather and water wore away at the jagged peaks through the millennia,
lowering and rounding them.
Geologists
believe the Chattooga may have undergone at least one major change in flow
direction. In the past flowing into
the
The
geological processes are still very much at work and can explain the large
boulders that are found in the river.
The
Chattooga Gorge rock is primarily metamorphic, and consists predominately
of crystalline schists (a comparatively
Minerals
present occur in three types:
Muscovite = shows itself as sparkling
flakes of mica in the river sands
Amphibole = dark, iron-rich mineral
that oxidizes and lends the local soils their characteristic red color
White quartz & feldspar = apparent in distinctive veins intruded into other
granite rock
Rarer
minerals found:
Garnets = appear as small, glassy,
red grains
Soapstone or steatite = white-to-green talc, easily carvable and used by early
native inhabitants to make bowls and pipes
Native American History
The first humans to come into the Chattooga country were probably bands of Paleo-Indians who likely followed
animal trails down through Rabun Gap or came up from coastal lowlands to this region twelve thousand or so years ago.
- These people were nomadic and had a hunter and gatherer society, feeding off the plentiful flora and fauna.
- There is no direct evidence of these individuals. What evidence that has been found in this area (prior to that of the Cherokee Indians) includes thousand year old Etowah artifacts as well as even older Connestee artifacts dating to around the third or fourth century AD
Cherokee were the inhabitants when Europeans first arrived on the scene.
The Chattooga most likely represented the “boundary” between the Cherokee and their war loving neighbors to the south, the Creek.
By the time the significant contact with the English
ensued in the 17th century, the Cherokee had established themselves along the great mountain barrier dividing the English
settlements on the east coast from the French or Spanish along the
* “Cherokee” has no meaning in the tribe’s native language. Probably originated from sources outside their nation.
- They called themselves “Ani Yunwiya” = “principle, or real people” *
They were Native American mountaineers, holding at their cultural peak and area of about 40,000 square miles comprised mostly of mountainous lands that would become parts of VA, TN, GA, AL, KY, NC, & SC.
* The Chattooga area must surely have been important to them, if we are to judge by the fact that in 1715 their nation’s eastern corner and most sacred town was at Tugaloo, not many miles downstream from the confluence of the Chattooga and the Tallulah rivers *
Their principle crops were the “three sisters;” corn, beans, and squash.
Though exceedingly warlike, they were, like most Native Americans, a profoundly spiritual people with highly developed ceremonial observances intended to ensure their continued fidelity to the Immortals of the mountains and waters.
Much of the Spirituality and culture would have been lost if not for the efforts of the ethnographer, James Mooney; who had the prescience to gather much invaluable information from the Cherokee about their land, history, and beliefs in the last years of the nineteenth century, just as such priceless lore was disappearing.
Weather conditions from May to September are often ideal for float trips, extended hikes, fishing and overnight camping along the river.
Rain showers can be frequent in early summer.
Daytime temps. earlier in
the season, from March through April, and later, from October through November,
are usually suitable for fishing, hiking, and hunting, though cold
water temperatures and chilly nights occur.
Average annual air temperature for the entire river
is 60.
- Temp. reaches 90, on average, 24 days a year, and plunges to
freezing or below about 74 days each year
The mountain slopes to the north can get up to 50
inches of snow a year; the river itself averages only 3.5 inches.
Average wind speed is 8 ½ mph.
Rainfall:
October and November are usually the driest months, often a time of
“Indian Summer.”
- Rainfall
gradually increases into March, peaks, then moderates into June.
- Late June
can bring a wet period that lasts until early Sept., during which time
thunderstorms can be frequent.
Two “Climate Belts” or “Thermal Zones” for the
region:
Northern Half – affected by higher elevations with
cold winters and mild summers.
- Rainfall usually exceeds 80 inches a year. (Except
for the
Southern Half – climate of the humid continental type. Winters are cool, and summers relatively hot.
* Cherokee divided the year into just two basic periods:
“gogi” = warm time from April to October, when they lived outside both night and day
“gola” = the cold time in between *
* Other terms of the Cherokee for the seasons:
“when turkey cocks gobble” = May
“strawberry time” = June
“time of rutting bucks” = late fall, when hickory nuts and acorns littered the forest floor
Suggested Activities:
1. Identify different rocks and mineral found in the area using the proper field guides (make a game out of it!)
2. Observe the climate and the weather and have a discussion on the weather and where it fits in with the averages.
3. Find certain conditions of the environment and attempt to identify times of the seasons like the Cherokee.
4. Use your creativity and information provided.
Not far from where Hwy 28 crosses the river today lies the remains of a small Cherokee village:
- in their mountainous homelands, there were few flood plains large enough to support large population centers as were common in other parts of the SE.
- Cherokee usually clustered in smaller settlements near rivers and streams where sources of fish and game were abundant. These settlements usually consisted of a few family dwellings constructed of clay and thatch and some accompanying small ceremonial structures nearby. This was what Chattooga town was.
Careful study of Chattooga town has revealed a village of no more than ten to fifteen widely scattered dwellings and a population just under a hundred souls.
- Excavation has revealed the remains of a townhouse or council house; unearthing this impt. ceremonial structure constitutes a major find - * no other Lower Town council house has ever been investigated *
- This structure was the center of all-important political and ceremonial occasions. Its circular structure was about 45 to 50 feet in diameter and made of wattle and daubing; it was supported by eight central posts and was most likely covered with bark shingles or a thatched roof.
By 1740s or 1750s,
of Cherokee/British relations.
- the town’s abandonment also reflects the scourge of smallpox
that swept inland after its introduction into the
1816 – date the Cherokee formally relinquished their control of their last holdings in SC.
1838 – Cherokee Removal Act: effectively eliminated the Cherokee from their ancestral mountain homeland.
- this act led to the infamous “Trail of Tears” where approx. 4,000 Cherokee died of exposure and disease as they were impounded and suffered a forced march to Oklahoma.
- a small group of Cherokee escaped and hid out in the
mountains. This group eventually became
known as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, whose descendants now reside in
Cherokee,
Cherokee Lore
Cherokee had a tendency to attach a story or a legend to any prominent rock or bend in the river in the “Old Cherokee Country.”
They believed that if you followed the streams and springs far enough back would lead to the underworld of spirit beings.
There were tales of “water cougars” and “spearfinger ogres” who haunted the deep mountain fastnesses.
The sound of the falls and rapids of their mountain rivers they referred to as the voice of “Long Man,” the river god, who spoke a language that spiritual people could understand.
As a people almost obsessively concerned with the purity and the health of the human spirit, one of their most important observances was the “going to the water” rite, a ceremonial immersion in the river believed to purify and make clean the living soul.
Cherokee – Virginia, North and
Personal and Place Names
Amiable; gentle; = Ga li’la hi Bear =
attractive
Blossom = Ad si’la Butterfly = Ka ma’ma
Eagle Place = Wa
hi li’yi Enchanted
Expert = Si na’sta First in the Dance = A yun’li Forest Water = A ma da’hi
In the Oaks = Ta la’hi In the Pines = Na tsi’hi In the Woods = A da’hi
Lookout Place = A ha hi’na
Peacemaker = Ga hi sti’ski Place of Friends = Un a li’yi Rock Ledge = Us ta wa’li
Squirrel = Sa la’li Star = Na’kwi si They Run to Her = Ga ti’tla
Town House = Ga ti’yi Water Side = Am ai yul’ti Young Beaver = Ta yan i’ta
Young Deer = Awi ni’ta
Cherokee Creation myth:
The great mountains that spanned their domain, the Blue Wall or the Great Blue Hills of God as they termed them, had been formed when the original sky beings overpopulated their land in the heavens and turned their eyes toward the earth, which at the time was nothing but water. The sky beings people and animals sent down a water beetle in search of land, who promptly began diving to the great ocean’s bottom to bring up mud; this mud grew and grew until it became the lands of earth. Since the earth was still soft and muddy, the great grandfather buzzard flew down to dry the wet earth by beating his wings down low over the land. By the time this mythic bird reached the Cherokee lands, he had grown very tired. Flying low to the ground, the great wing beats made impressions upon the soft earth, forming the hills and hollows of the Cherokee land.
European History
Recorded history in this region begins in 1540
with Hernado De Soto who came from
- upon entering this land, the Spanish described it as the poorest they had seen for corn and observed that the inhabitants lived on wild roots, herbs and on the game they took with bows and arrows.
- Some
speculate that
-
The English did not make significant contact with the Cherokee until sometime around 1670 after the first colony was established at Charles Town.
The first advances into Cherokee land came by river and land routes that followed Indian trading paths (the "Cherokee Path”).
The
- by the early 1700s, exports had already exceeded 50,000 hides annually
- traders offered the Cherokee a variety of items as compensation: fire-arms, ammunition, iron axes, knives, hoes, glass trade beads, mirrors, clothing, and, unfortunately, rum, despite its early prohibition
The Cherokee sided with the British in the French and Indian conflicts, but made the mistake of siding with the English in the American Revolution, which eventually forced the Cherokee into more treaties and land cessions.
According to the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River Proposal document, it was the quest for gold in the 1700s that first brought white men into this area.
- gold mining eventually declined because of no success and the settlers that remained turned to agriculture and located their farms and villages away from the river, back between the main mountain ranges.
The two early naturalists to the area were William Bartram and Andre Michaux.
- the Bartram Trail is named for Bartram – a noted botanist, artist, traveler, and writer, who traveled usually alone by foot or on horseback
- Bartram’s book Travels
of William Bartram, published in 1791, actually recounts his crossing the
Chattooga and of the high mountains between the headwaters of the
- Bartram discovered the Fraser Magnolia during his crossings, which he found in the Chattooga watershed not far from Rabun Bald
- Michaux did not have as much luck in the area, and eventually retreated due to poor guides and being near starvation. However, he did discover the now famous “Oconee Bells” native to the Chattooga region.
When King George II issued the Georgia Crown Charter
in 1732, the northern boundary between Georgia and North
- in 1811, Andrew Ellicott came to survey a boundary and did so by inscribing on a boundary marker rock “NC-GA” and therefore creating Ellicott Rock
- the original rock was lost. Later surveyors found and marked another rock, roughly 500 feet down river with the letters “Lat35/AD1813tNC+SC.” This rock became known as the “Commissioner’s Rock” and in 1973 Ellicot’s Rock was listed in the National Register of Historic Places w/in a 3,584 acre National Forest Scenic Area.
The earliest known settlement in the Chattooga Gorge occurred in 1830, near the Monroe House, where about 50 acres of land were cleared. Other early settler activity later scattered around Burrel’s Ford and around the present day location of Hwy. 28 bridge.
For a long time, the mainstream of society simply bypassed the mountaineers (name of settlers in this region) whom lived a life of subsistence and got by any way they could.
- the early white settlers were principally Scotch-Irish who
had emigrated from the north of
Black Diamond (or
- the project was chartered in 1852, but failed due to construction costs, terrain, and Civil War.
- today the remains of the Stumphouse Tunnel can be found just north of Walhalla along Highway 28
By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the area began to be logged and the “cut-out and get-out” era that followed brought a brief boom of prosperity to some mountain areas.
- most of the Chattooga drainage was cut over with no provision for reforestation.
- Also, the practices of building dams temporarily, only to dynamite them later to send logs down river ravaged the landscape and caused flooding and erosion of much of the once untouched river basin
The Weeks Law of 1911 authorized the Forest Service to begin buying up these ravage, cut over and abandoned “lands that nobody wanted” for the protection of watersheds.
- this is how much of the three national forests surrounding the Chattooga was acquired.
The Civilian Conservation Corp did much work in this
area during the 1930s including: built the
In Oct. 1968 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act became law and paved the way to the future protection of the Chattooga