Keowee

Keowee was a Cherokee town in the north of present-day South Carolina. It lies in Oconee County, the westernmost county of South Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just north of Clemson. It was on the banks of the Keowee River and today is submerged beneath the waters of Lake Keowee (coord|34.863616|-82.901575|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline,title [cite web |url=http://sciway3.net/scgenweb/oconee-county/markers.html |title=Anderson-Oconee-Pickens County SC Historical Roadside Markers |accessdate=2007-07-15 |format= |work=] [cite web |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/sc/oconee/cemeteries/pmk/Markers/map-o.jpg|title=HISTORICAL MARKER ROAD MAP |accessdate=2007-07-15 |format=jpg |work=] ).

In the early half of the 18th century, there were approximately 2100 Cherokee inhabiting sixteen towns east of the Blue Ridge MountainsEdgar, Walter, "South Carolina: A History". University of South Carolina Press, 1998] . The Cherokee nation was divided into three sections, the Overhills, the middle Cherokees, and the Lower TownsMcFall, Pearl. "The Keowee River and Cherokee Background". Pickens, S.C. 1966] . Towns for the Cherokee were the most important units of government. There were seven Cherokee "Mother Towns," of which Keowee was one, having a substantial amount of authority. [Malone, Henry Thompson. "Cherokee of the Old South". University of Georgia Press, Athens 1956] Keowee was the principal town of the Cherokee "Lower Towns". Keowee Town is translated into "place of mullberries." It was also known as "Old Keowee" to distinguish it from other towns of the same name.

Keowee was the birthplace of the father of John Norton around 1770, a chief of the Mohawk nation, of half Cherokee and half Scottish ancestry, whose writings provide a rare Indian perspective on the early 19th century in the United States. Norton spells the town name as "Kuwoki".

William Bartram visited the town site in May, 1776 and noted no Cherokee lived at the site.cite book |author=Bartram, William |title=Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida |publisher=University of Virginia Press (by arrangement with The Beehive Press) |location=Charlottesville |year=1980 |pages= |isbn= |oclc= |doi=|id=LCC|F213 .B282 1792aLCCN|73|084|685 p330]

Role during French and Indian War

The Cherokee, along with the Keowee, played a significant role in the French and Indian War, allying with King George II and the British. The alliance came partly as a result of Sir Alexander Cuming, when he arrived at Keowee on March 23, 1730. This alliance resulted in an English fort near the town of Keowee on the Savannah River, east of Keowee. During the French and Indian War, Nathaniel Gist urged one hundred Cherokee warriors to attack the Shawnee tribe in the Ohio River region, but only if this fort would be built. The fort, ordered to be built by South Carolina governor Glen was named Fort Prince George [Woodward, Grace Steele. The Cherokees. University of Oklahoma Press, 1963] .

Current geography

The town was destroyed along with the most of the rest of the lower towns by the British during the Anglo-Cherokee War. Keowee was razed in the first British campaign, under the command of Archibald Montgomery. A second army under James Grant campaigned through the remaining lower towns and into the middle towns. [Drake, Richard B. "A History of Appalachia". The University Press of Kentucky, 2001, pg. 43]

The Keowee river is now dammed up, and the town is now under Lake Keowee. The River was dammed in order to create the lake which now serves the purpose as a coolant for Oconee Nuclear Station, which was built in 1970, part of a project costing millions of dollars in order to provide energy for upstate South Carolina. It is the first of three power plants built by Duke Power.http://www.duke-energy.com/about/plants/franchised/nuclear/oconee/]

References