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Keowee
Keowee (Cherokee: ᎫᏬᎯᏱ, romanized: Kuwohiyi, lit. 'Place of the Mulberry Patch') was a Cherokee town in the far northwest corner of present-day South Carolina. It was the principal town of what were called the seven Lower Towns, located along the Keowee River (Colonists referred to the lower reaches of the river as the Savannah in its lower reaches, with its mouth at the city they named Savannah). Keowee was situated on the Lower Cherokee Traders' Path, part of the Upper Road through the Piedmont. In 1752 the Cherokee established New Keowee Town nearby, off the traders' path but in a more defensible location.
Both historic sites are within present-day Oconee County, South Carolina at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. European Americans developed the town of Clemson, South Carolina, south of here after they began to populate the area.
When the Keowee River was dammed in a mid-20th century hydropower project, both former Keowee sites were submerged in the early 1970s beneath the waters of Lake Keowee. Before that, archeological excavation was conducted by specialists from the University of South Carolina to establish history and recover thousands of artifacts. Human and animal remains were also discovered at the site.
In the first half of the 18th century, approximately 2100 Cherokee inhabited sixteen towns east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.[page needed] The Cherokee people were geographically divided into three regions: the Lower Towns of the Piedmont, the Middle Towns of more mountainous areas and river valleys in Western North Carolina, which included Valley and Outer Towns; and the Overhill Towns on the far western side of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Cherokee were highly decentralized, and their towns were the most important units of government. There were seven Cherokee towns in the Lower Towns, of which Keowee was a principal one. The leaders or chiefs of each exercised substantial authority.[page needed] Keowee Town is translated as "place of mulberries." It was also known as "Old Keowee," to distinguish it from other, later towns of the same name. The first was established near here in a more defensible position. After the Cherokee moved south and west later in the eighteenth century, deeper into Georgia and Alabama, they named other towns Keowee.
During the French and Indian War (1754–1763) (the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe between Britain and France), the Cherokee allied with the British and played a significant role. The alliance was partly the result of diplomacy by Sir Alexander Cuming, who had earlier visited Keowee (the Old Towne) on March 23, 1730 and solicited the Cherokee as allies.[citation needed]
Fearing an attack by the Muscogee (Creek), their traditional enemies, the Cherokee established a new town of Keowee in 1752, further removed from the Indian Path but more defensible. Most of its inhabitants re-settled there.
As tensions rose with France in the mid to late 1750s, the English built a fort east of the old Keowee town on the Savannah River. South Carolina Governor Glen had ordered this structure and named it Fort Prince George.
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Keowee
Keowee (Cherokee: ᎫᏬᎯᏱ, romanized: Kuwohiyi, lit. 'Place of the Mulberry Patch') was a Cherokee town in the far northwest corner of present-day South Carolina. It was the principal town of what were called the seven Lower Towns, located along the Keowee River (Colonists referred to the lower reaches of the river as the Savannah in its lower reaches, with its mouth at the city they named Savannah). Keowee was situated on the Lower Cherokee Traders' Path, part of the Upper Road through the Piedmont. In 1752 the Cherokee established New Keowee Town nearby, off the traders' path but in a more defensible location.
Both historic sites are within present-day Oconee County, South Carolina at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. European Americans developed the town of Clemson, South Carolina, south of here after they began to populate the area.
When the Keowee River was dammed in a mid-20th century hydropower project, both former Keowee sites were submerged in the early 1970s beneath the waters of Lake Keowee. Before that, archeological excavation was conducted by specialists from the University of South Carolina to establish history and recover thousands of artifacts. Human and animal remains were also discovered at the site.
In the first half of the 18th century, approximately 2100 Cherokee inhabited sixteen towns east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.[page needed] The Cherokee people were geographically divided into three regions: the Lower Towns of the Piedmont, the Middle Towns of more mountainous areas and river valleys in Western North Carolina, which included Valley and Outer Towns; and the Overhill Towns on the far western side of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Cherokee were highly decentralized, and their towns were the most important units of government. There were seven Cherokee towns in the Lower Towns, of which Keowee was a principal one. The leaders or chiefs of each exercised substantial authority.[page needed] Keowee Town is translated as "place of mulberries." It was also known as "Old Keowee," to distinguish it from other, later towns of the same name. The first was established near here in a more defensible position. After the Cherokee moved south and west later in the eighteenth century, deeper into Georgia and Alabama, they named other towns Keowee.
During the French and Indian War (1754–1763) (the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe between Britain and France), the Cherokee allied with the British and played a significant role. The alliance was partly the result of diplomacy by Sir Alexander Cuming, who had earlier visited Keowee (the Old Towne) on March 23, 1730 and solicited the Cherokee as allies.[citation needed]
Fearing an attack by the Muscogee (Creek), their traditional enemies, the Cherokee established a new town of Keowee in 1752, further removed from the Indian Path but more defensible. Most of its inhabitants re-settled there.
As tensions rose with France in the mid to late 1750s, the English built a fort east of the old Keowee town on the Savannah River. South Carolina Governor Glen had ordered this structure and named it Fort Prince George.