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Tellico Blockhouse Site
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Entrance sign to the Tellico Blockhouse State Historic Area
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| Location: | Vonore, Tennessee, USA |
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| Governing body: | TDEC |
| NRHP Reference#: | 75001771 |
| Added to NRHP: | 1975-08-11 |
The Tellico Blockhouse was an early American outpost located along the Little Tennessee River in Vonore, Monroe County, Tennessee. Completed in 1794, the blockhouse operated until 1807 with the purpose of keeping the peace between nearby Overhill Cherokee towns and early Euro-American settlers in the area in the wake of the Chickamauga Wars. The Tellico Blockhouse was the site where several treaties were negotiated in which the Cherokee were induced to cede large portions of land in Tennessee and Georgia. During this period, the blockhouse was the site of official liaisons between the United States government and the Cherokee (and, eventually, the Chickamauga).
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The Tellico Blockhouse site is located at the junction of Nine Mile Creek and the Little Tennessee River (now Tellico Lake), just off U.S. Route 411 between Maryville and Vonore. Fort Loudoun was located just across the river to the west, but was in ruins by the time the blockhouse was built.
Although the Tellico Blockhouse originally stood on a high bluff overlooking the Little Tennessee valley,[1] the impoundment of the river by Tellico Dam in 1979 pushed the river's present shoreline to within a few meters of the blockhouse site. The Overhill towns of Chota and Great Tellico were within a day's journey to the south. The river town of Morganton (then known as "Portville") was within walking distance, and Knoxville was just over thirty miles downstream to the north. As there were no bridges spanning the Little Tennessee until the late 19th century, blockhouse officials crossed at Niles Ferry,[1] which was located at the modern US-411 bridge.
The Tellico Blockhouse was the starting point for the Old Federal Road, which connected Knoxville to Cherokee settlements in Georgia.[1]
The second half of the 18th century saw a rapid expansion of European settlers into East Tennessee. This invariably brought them into conflict with the Cherokee, who had lived and hunted in the land for centuries. Random murders and scalpings became commonplace, and the settlers formed independent militias to carry out reprisal attacks. This violence reached a climax in 1793, when the Cherokee attacked Henry's Station in Blount County, and the settlers responded by crossing Chilhowee Mountain and sacking the Cherokee village of Tallassee.[2] Even as the Cherokee chief Hanging Maw was meeting with Governor William Blount to discuss bringing peace to the area, the chief's delegation was attacked by a band of settlers, killing several Cherokee headmen.[3]
With the violence spiraling out of control, Hanging Maw convinced Blount to construct a fort in the vicinity of the Overhill towns. The chief even donated the land.[3] The Tellico Blockhouse was completed and garrisoned by federal troops from Knoxville in 1794. John McKee, a surveyor in the area, was appointed the first Tellico Agent.[4] The agent would be the official liaison between the United States government and the Cherokee Nation.
The blockhouse itself was a crude fort that utilized earthworks and timber.[5] Sawed planking was shipped upstream from Knoxville.[6] Historian J. G. M. Ramsey gives the following description:
...a strong work, of considerable size, with a projection on each square, furnished with port-holes, and calculated to stand a siege by an enemy provided with small arms only.[7]
The original blockhouse was approximately 120x100 feet, enclosed by a palisade approximately 16 feet high. The gate was on the north wall, with the captain's quarters and guardhouse just inside the gate. The original enclosure also contained two barracks, a well, and parade grounds. A watchtower stood at the northeast corner.[8]
In 1795, Congress passed the Factory Act, which sought to improve relations with American Indians by setting up official trading posts and teaching the natives agricultural and mechanical techniques. To implement this, McKee's successor, Silas Dinsmoor, expanded the Tellico Blockhouse to nearly double its original size to incorporate a civilian half. This new section, separated by a wall from the military section, contained lodging areas for travelers and delegates and a two-story building known as the Tellico Factory. Along with a trading post where European-American tools and finished goods were traded for Native American furs and raw materials, the factory included a section where members of the new Cherokee Nation could learn mechanical arts and spinning and weaving cloth.[8][9]
In 1797, one of the first recorded Christmas celebrations in Tennessee occurred at the Tellico Blockhouse when the Little Tennessee River froze over. On the night of December 25, Dinsmoor and the federal garrison held a dinner party on the ice, later documented by Ramsey:
On the 25th, a Christmas dinner was given upon the ice, by the Federal officers, at Tellico Block-house, to a large company of gentlemen and ladies. "Contiguous to the place of entertainment, two quarters of a bear were barbecued, where the ice was found to be, in thickness, sufficient to bare fire enough to have roasted an ox, without being materially weakened by the heat."[10]
The Tellico Blockhouse probably reached the height of its activity around 1799, due to its situation along the Old Federal Road. That same year, Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans and later king of France, paid a visit to the blockhouse.[11] In 1800, several Cherokee leaders convened at the blockhouse to debate whether or not to allow missionaries into the Cherokee towns. The Cherokees hoped the missionaries would provide educational services to their children.[12]
In the early 19th century, the encroachment of settlers slowly drove the Cherokee south to the Hiwassee River and on to Georgia. As the Overhill towns along the Little Tennessee River began to disperse, the Tellico Blockhouse's influence started to wane.[4] In 1801, Colonel Return J. Meigs took over as Cherokee agent, an appointment which effectively moved the agency to Fort Southwest Point (modern Kingston, Tennessee), where Meigs was based. In 1805, the last Tellico treaty called for the removal of the blockhouse garrison south to the Hiwassee River area.[13]
Archaeologists from the University of Tennessee conducted excavations at the Tellico Blockhouse site in the 1970s, and located the fort's foundations and a number of artifacts. Due to a lack of records, officials were unable to attempt a reconstruction of the blockhouse, but managed to reinforce the foundations with authentic fill material so visitors to the site can see the fort's layout.[11] Short posts were erected to show the position of the blockhouse walls, and interpretive signs were placed at the site to explain the fort's brief history. The site is currently managed by the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area. Some of the artifacts recovered during the excavation are on display at the Frank H. McClung Museum in Knoxville.
Several treaties between the United States and the Cherokee Nation were negotiated at the Tellico Blockhouse: