Cherokee County AlArchives History .....Brief History Of The Area Which Became Cherokee County 1972 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: David Norton http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006057 June 1, 2008, 9:21 am BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AREA WHICH BECAME CHEROKEE COUNTY ALABAMA Only a brief factual summary will be included in this narrative - just basic information one would expect any one to know about the origin or formation of his or her native county. More detailed information is easily available elsewhere should it be needed. Cherokee County is located in the northeastern portion of Alabama adjacent to the state of Georgia, one of the thirteen original states of the United States of America. The original land grant or charter by George III to James Edward Oglethorpe the founder of the state of Georgia, in 1732 in fact included our county until the present boundry line between Georgia and Alabama was fixed in 1802. Technically, the county was a part of the original thirteen colonies. Actually we were only a wilderness area in the Cherokee and Creek Indian area of our state as now known. Prior to Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 and Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts in 1620, Hernando de Soto made a journey through Cherokee in July 1540 and claimed our area for Spain, however, Spain established no permanent Spanish settlements in the years after their explorations. The English claimed our area in the 17th century, but did no colonizing here. Our area was then in the Province of Carolina by the charters of 1663 and 1665. English traders were frequenting the area as early as 1687. After Rene de la Salle's exploration of the Mississippi, the French, too, claimed our area. In 1763 France was defeated by the British in the French and Indian War and by the terms of the peace treaty (Treaty of Paris) the French holdings were ceded to Great Britain. At the end of the Revolutionary War (1783), Britain ceded the Alabama area to the United States, with the exception of West Florida. When the War of 1812 broke out between Great Britain and the United States of America, the U.S. Government established Fort Armstrong on what is now Williamson Island (1 1/2 miles south of Cedar Bluff). The British had previously used this site in the Revolutionary War as a base of supply. The Historical Society, at this point (1972), is inclined to believe this was the site of Acpactoniche, an aboriginal Indian village on De L'Isle's map of 1703. The Society has yet to prove this conclusively. After 1802 our area was ceded by Georgia to the United States which established it as the Mississippi Territory. After the Creek Indian War of 1812-1814 settlers began to pour into the area from almost all southeastern states. The Cherokee area was first settled by groups largely from South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia after 1810. The eastern half of the Mississippi Territory was named the Alabama Territory on March 31, 1817. St. Stephens was the Territorial Capitol. After a constitution was drawn up at Huntsville, Alabama, we became a state on December 14, 1819. The capitol was moved from Huntsville to Cahaba in 1820, and later to Tuscaloosa. Finally, Montgomery became the capitol city of our area in 1845. Cherokee and DeKalb Counties were formed at the same time by the Alabama Legislature on January 9, 1836 from land taken over when the Cherokee Indians were moved out of the State after the Cherokee Cession of December 19, 1835. For a short period thereafter Cherokee County was a part of St. Clair County. The counties of Baine, now Etowah; Benton, now Calhoun; and DeKalb, were in part subsequently formed therefrom. The area of Cherokee County is approximately 577 square miles or 382,728 acres in which were located an estimated 500 Archaic, Eastern Woodland and Mississippian Period Indian sites; perhaps as many as 150 being village sites dating from about 4,000 B.C. to 1800 A.D. The area south of the Coosa River was the home or hunting area of the Cherokee Indians. They were of Iroquoian lineage and one of the largest tribes in the U.S. This land to the north of the Coosa River was held by them from about 1300 A.D. until March 24, 1832, when they were moved west. Our county name 'Cherokee,' of course, came from the name of the Indian tribe that occupied the northeastern section of the State, but the word itself had some meaning. The best that has been made in translating the word, is that it meant 'Cave People.' We know that they frequently lived in caves in this area. For example, A.J. Pickett, our earliest Alabama historian, reported as early as October 1850 evidence of Indian occupation or habitation of five caves in the walls of Little River Canyon. The remains of Rock City (outside of present-day Chattanooga) are thought to have been a dwelling place of the Cherokees by some historians. In summary, our county area was occupied by the Indians from about 4000 B.C., possibly as early as 7000 B.C. until 1838. Spain claimed the area in 1540, the British from about 1660, the French from about 1680, and the English again in 1763. Great Britain ceded the area to the United States in 1783, where it has remained except during the period 1861 - 1865 when it was a part of the Confederate States of America. This would make Six Flags Over the Cherokee County Area: Spain Great Britain (twice) France United States of America (twice) Confederate States of America State of Alabama Additional Comments: from: Cherokee County Heritage, March 1972, Vol 1, Book 1. Pages 20, 21, 22, author(s) unknown (probably Cherokee County (Ala) Historical Society Committee) Article has been edited to shorten details not considered germane to actual historical development of the county. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/cherokee/history/other/briefhis314gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb