Westobou River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westobou River was the former name of the Savannah River that was derived from the Westo (also known as Westoe) native American Indians. The Westo were thought to have originally came from the northeast as result of the Iroquiocs tribe that had forced many native American groups out of the northeast through advanced weapons acquired through trade. This migration in the late landed the Westo Indians in the present area of Augusta, Georgia in what was likely to be the 1660's.
The Westobou River was large part of the life of the Westo, it supplied food sources and trade routes. The Westo were strong enough to hold off the Spanish, and this was greatly needed by the Carolina Colony. When Carolinians desired to expand its trade to Charleston, they viewed the Westo tribe as an obstacle. In order to remove the tribe, they sent a group called the Goose Creek Men to arm the Savanna (also known as the Savannah) Indians, a Shawnee tribe, who defeated the Westo in the Westo War of 1680 giving the Westo a time period of about 20 years in the area of Augusta, Georgia. As of today, the name of the river remains named after the Savanna Indians, and is called the Savannah River.
The river also inspired the company "Westobou", founded by Shane Thompson in 2003, whose father, Donnie Thompson researched and named a small subdivision "Westobou Crossing" which is located in North Augusta, South Carolina. The area of the subdivision is located marks the first natural bridge that crosses the Savannah River, thus promoting trade and allowing travel. Many native artifacts were found in the area and now belong to private collections.
"Westobou" the company, deals with arts and visual media and believes that the beauty of the area was an inspiration to what made the company what it is. With that being said, the company "Westobou" trademarked its name in June of 2007, for protection and was approved for International Class 035: Advertising, marketing and promotion services. It's controversy is in the Greater Augusta Arts Council choosing to call a major 10-day arts and music festival "Westobou". In umbrage, the company "Westobou" got the festival to add the word "Festival" to their name making it the Westobou Festival. "Westobou" the company is still dealing with the situation and plans for it to be resolved in 2008.
"Westobou" the company named after that part of the river, has served an umbrella to ventures that include tradenames such as Westobou Studio, Westobou, Brides of Augusta, Augusta Virtual Tours, and Augusta Marketing. The company "Westobou Studio" provides marketing, advertising and promotions in several areas that include: Consulting, web design, photography, virtual tours, large format printing, graphic design, screen printing, and SEO work.
