Native Life: the Cherokee Path Trail

As we've seen in earlier posts, the Natives of the Eastern United States maintained a network of well-traveled paths connecting different tribes with their hunting ranges, trading partners with each other, and allies in times of war.  When they arrived in America, Settlers also made use of those paths, many of which are now part of state or federal highway systems.  Today, we'll look at the Cherokee Path.

Cherokee society was divided roughly into three main territories, the lower towns in South Carolina, the middle towns in Georgia and North Carolina, and in Tennessee, the overhill or upper towns.  Originally, the path ran from the coast to Keowee, the principal town of the Cherokee's lower towns.  From Keowee, the Path branched out, taking in the Cherokee towns in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.  White surveyors first mapped the Trail in 1730, and Settlers noticed that it made a handy road inland from Charleston to their towns further inland, reaching to what would become Columbia, South Carolina. 

During the Seven Years War, the British built Fort Loudon on the Path in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee.  During Revolutionary War, the Path made a ready transportation route for troops of both armies.  The town of Ninety-Six or 96, South Carolina was a major British garrison inland and battles happened all along the Path from English-occupied Charleston all the way to Ninety-Six.  Some of those Battles included Eutawville and Monck's Corner.

Today, the site of Keowee is under Lake Keowee in Oconee County not far from Clemson.  South Carolina Highway 11, also called the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, traces some of the Path, and portions of it have been preserved and listed as historical landmarks.