Chota (Cherokee town)

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Chota (also spelled Echota; Cherokee: Itsati) was a Cherokee town near present-day Vonore, Tennessee. With a population estimated between 300 and 500, it was the largest Cherokee town in the region; Henry Timberlake's map of the Tennessee region labelled it "the metropolis." Echota became the de facto Cherokee capital around 1730, taking that title from the adjacent town of Tanasi. This probably occurred when Moytoy II of Tellico was elected Principal Chief that year (as well as created "Emperor of the Cherokees" by the British envoy), as Chota was the home of Moytoy's father. Continental forces destroyed it in 1780 during the American Revolution. The Cherokee rebuilt the town, but it did not recover its former status. In 1788 the capital moved to Ustanalli in Georgia.

The Warrior Path linked Chota to Great Tellico and Great Hiwassee towns to the south.

Today the site of Echota lies under the waters of Tellico Reservoir created by Tellico Dam. A causeway leads to a monument over the site of the council house. The monument includes pillars representing the nation and the seven clans, and the grave marker of the warrior Oconostota.