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THURSDAY, JUNE 28 - JULY 4, 2018
PAGE 7B
Waterway ddventure on the Tugoloo River
BY LINDY HARRELL
Another Memorial Day weekend is now in the
books and for me it holds fond memories of an
paddling adventure along northeast Georgia’s historic
Tugaloo River Corridor.
The corridor is a 10-mile area near Toccoa that
stretches from the Panther Creek and Yonah Dam
area south to Broken Bridges at Highway 123 on the
Georgia/South Carolina border. It is the northernmost
navigable point on the Savannah/Tugaloo watershed
and is well-documented by the Smithsonian Institute
and University of Georgia as being a major crossroad
and center of commerce during the 1700 Native
American trading period.
A friend who could no longer paddle due to health
issues gifted me an Old Town Dirigo kayak. As the
happy recipient of this gift, I began the new year with
a desire to make full use of it. This gift opened my
eyes to wonderful opportunities in my own backyard.
I reside in North Georgia and read in the local
newspaper that the Stephens County Foundation would
be sponsoring their 11th paddle/float on the Tugaloo
River with archivist and exceptional story-teller Kelly
Vickers providing insights along the way to point out
and discuss historic points of interest.
The weather for the holiday weekend was
unpredictable given subtropical visitor Alberto that
recently drenched most of the Southeast and caused
much damage as it made its way northward. Despite
several cancellations, Alberto did not dampen the
spirits of the hardy group of paddlers who signed up
for the historic paddling adventure.
As the early morning mist rose from the swollen
river, kayaks and canoes of all sizes and colors trickled
into the Walker’s Landing input area just off Yohan
Dam Road in Toccoa. There were participants from
as far away as Alabama, and all were excited for what
the day had in store. In addition to the history tour,
participants were offered time with event volunteers
Jim Sullivan and Beth McDonald to discover and
discuss plant and animal life along the river.
As we entered the water around 8:30 a.m., just
south of the historic Yonah Dam, the river flowed
gracefully to the south, which made for smooth
paddling. Participants were told that the rare
yellowwood tree grows along Panther Creek as well
as six species of trillium and eight species of native
stemmed violets that are prominent along the river’s
banks.
Our guide explained that there were an estimated
14 Native American settlements along the corridor
arranged as small colonies spread over a couple of
miles; the focal points of the colonies were the tribal
council houses. These settlements were the core of
an extensive Native American trade network that
encompassed northern Florida, the Gulf of Mexico,
Mexico, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Artifacts found
along the river validate the existence of the colonies
and the trading network, according to our guide.
The Eastanollee community of Stephens County
was named for the trading area which was once
referred to as Estatoe, as well as other names
throughout history. Artifacts and historic accounts
suggest multiple and continuous site occupations of
the area that date to the early Woodland period (1220
BC).
Our guide told the group that by 1720, 150,000
deer skins were transported annually to Charleston
by packhorse following a Cherokee trail that came
through the Estatoe area. In 1730, the Cherokee
population was estimated at 60,000 and later
dwindled to 40,000 after the arrival of Europeans
and the epidemic diseases that accompanied them. It
was shared with the group that an example of the
commercial trade that a musket required 35 buckskins
as payment.
Our guide told us of Col. George Chicken
who was appointed by the then-governor of South
Carolina to supervise the Indian trade. As the group
navigated the river, the guide read several excerpts
from Chicken’s most interesting journal. According
to his journal, at the outbreak of the American
Revolution, the Cherokees allied with British forces.
The Americans responded by launching a genocidal
campaign, and in rapid succession wiped out more
than two-thirds of the Cherokee settlements in the
early 1780s. Following a recurrence of smallpox and
other misfortunes, the population was later reduced to
an estimated 9,000.
Our floating history class then continued past the
historic Prather Bridge which was in use from 1804
to 1978, the site of the Riverside homestead and
plantation where the smoke house and family cemetery
still stand.
Just south of Prather Bridge, along the Georgia
border is the Brevard Fault which our guide said is
thought by some by some to represent the geographic
suture where the once connected areas of Proto-
Africa joined Proto-North America to form Pangea, a
supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic
and early Mesozoic eras. Historic evidence shows that
rocks on either side of the fault line generally resemble
those on the other side.
Perhaps the highlight of our trip was paddling
single-file into the foliage-laden, narrow entrance to
a cul-de-sac of the river that eventually flowed into
Longnose Creek Falls and all its majestic splendor.
We then paddled by the breathtaking Longnose Creek
Falls with its broad and cascading waters that can only
be accessed at certain times when water levels are
conducive.
Our final river stop before exiting at a
friendly and inviting local family farm was at the
remains of a Tugaloo burial mound located in the
riverbed. Archaeological excavations of the Estatoe
and Tugaloo mounds were carried out by the
Smithsonian and UGA institutions between 1958
and 1960. During the excavation period, the remains
of two Cherokee chieftains were excavated from
the Tugaloo Mound and entombed in plexiglass
containers.
There were times when the whereabouts of
these plexiglass preserved specimens were in
doubt. According to Vickers, the state of Georgia
wanted to move them to the Etowah Mounds Park;
however fast-acting locals procured the chieftains for
eventual display at a planned museum in Gate Cottage
at Toccoa Falls.
The chieftains’ remains were temporarily stored
in the basement of Morrison Hall on the campus of
Toccoa Falls College. Sadly, the deadly and horrific
1977 flood of Toccoa Falls’ campus and surrounding
area destroyed the foundation of Morrison Hall and
seemingly carried the chieftains’ remains back to the
area from which they were removed.
I hope my experience discovering the history of the
Tugaloo Corridor will whet the appetite of readers to
learn more about the history of northeast Georgia. An
excellent place to begin one’s discovery is Tugaloo
Bend Heritage Park in Toccoa. The park is open
Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Group use
of the area is available by reservation. For additional
information on the park and the Tugaloo Corridor, call
(706) -282-7636 or visit www.tugaloobend.org.
As conveyed by the slogan of the organizers of the
historic paddling tour, “It is a good paddle!”