Keowee
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Keowee
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[edit] Basic Info and Background
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 east of Clemson. It was on the banks of the Keowee River and today is submerged beneath the waters of Lake Keowee. In the early half of the 18th century, there were approximately 2100 Cherokee inhabiting sixteen towns east of the Blue Ridge Mountains[1]. The Cherokee nation was divided into three sections, the Overhills, the middle Cherokees, and the Lower Towns[2]. Towns for the Cherokee were the most important units of governement. There were seven Cherokee "Mother Towns," of which Keowee was one of them, having a substantial amount of authority.[3] Keowee was the principal town of the Cherokee "Lower Towns". Keowee Town is translated into "place of mullberries."[2] 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, 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".
[edit] 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[4].
[edit] Current Geography
The town was destroyed along with the rest of the lower towns by the British during the 18th century. 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[2]. It is the first of three power plants built by Duke Power.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Edgar, Walter, South Carolina: A History. University of South Carolina Press, 1998
- ^ a b c McFall, Pearl. The Keowee River and Cherokee Background. Pickens, S.C. 1966
- ^ Malone, Henry Thompson. Cherokee of the Old South. University of Georgia Press, Athens 1956
- ^ Woodward, Grace Steele. The Cherokees. University of Oklahoma Press, 1963
- ^ http://www.duke-energy.com/about/plants/franchised/nuclear/oconee/
