I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3158
To designate the Cherokee Overhill Territory in Polk, McMinn, Monroe, 
and Meigs Counties in Tennessee as a National Heritage Area. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2005
Mr. DUNCAN (for himself and Mr. WAMP) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To designate the Cherokee Overhill Territory in Polk, 
McMinn, Monroe, and Meigs Counties in Tennessee as 
a National Heritage Area.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 
shall apply: 
(1) HERITAGE
AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 
Area’’ means the Cherokee Overhill Territory Na-
tional Heritage Area established in section 3(a).
(2) MANAGEMENT ENTITY.—The term ‘‘man-
agement entity’’ means the Tennessee Overhill Her-
itage Association, or its successor entity. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The National Park Service has defined a 
National Heritage Area as ‘‘a place designated by 
the United States Congress where natural, cultural, 
historic, and recreational resources combine to form 
a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape arising 
from patterns of human activity shaped by geog-
raphy.’’. 
(2) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
24 National Heritage Areas have been designated by 
Congress to commemorate, conserve, and promote 
such irreplaceable cultural landscapes. 
(3) National Heritage Area designations en-
courages residents, government agencies, nonprofit 
groups, and private partners to collaboratively plan 
and implement programs and projects that recog-
nize, preserve, and celebrate many of America’s de-
fining landscapes without compromising traditional 
local control over and use of such landscapes.
(4) National Heritage Area designations include 
limited technical assistance and financial assistance 
from the National Park Service, primarily through 
planning and interpretive assistance and expertise 
and by connecting the management entity of the Na-
tional Heritage Area with other Federal agencies. 
(5) Federal financial assistance provides valu-
able seed money that covers basic expenses, such as 
staffing, and leverages other money from State, 
local, and private sources by means of dollar-for-dol-
lar match requirements. 
(6) Polk, McMinn, Monroe, and Meigs Counties 
(which collectively comprise an area known as the 
‘‘Cherokee Overhill Territory’’) qualify as a distinc-
tive landscape that is rich in cultural, natural, and 
historic sites and resources that reflect the State 
and Nation’s Native American peoples and heritage, 
early frontier settlement by the British, and the In-
dustrial Revolution in the Southern Mountains. 
(7) The Overhill region’s fascinating heritage is 
revealed by unique sites and resources, including—
(A) Fort Loudoun, built in 1756 as one of 
the earliest British fortifications on the western 
frontier, which played a significant role in help-
ing Great Britain secure the trans-Appalachian
region from France during the Seven Years 
War before surrendering to Cherokee attack in 
1760; 
(B) Fort Armistead, founded in 1832 to 
stop intrusion by gold prospectors on Cherokee 
land and finally serving as a camp for more 
than 3,000 Cherokee deportees on the Trail of 
Tears; 
(C) the Unicoi Turnpike, a National Mil-
lennium Flagship Trail that was used as an ar-
tery of trade before written history, was later 
improved to become the first direct wagon road 
connection across the Southern Appalachians in 
1813, and served as the first leg of the journey 
for deported Cherokees on the Trail of Tears in 
1838; 
(D) Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, the 
only tribally owned museum in Tennessee and 
the site of the birthplace of Sequoyah, creator 
of the Cherokee Syllabary; 
(E) the Old Line Railroad, an historic rail-
road built in 1890 to serve the copper mines in 
Polk County, with historic structures on the 
line that include the Hiwassee Loop, the third 
longest rail loop in the world;
(F) Blythe Ferry, the site of a major en-
campment on the Trail of Tears, where over 
9,000 Cherokee people camped before crossing 
the Tennessee River on the way to Oklahoma; 
(G) the restored Burra Burra copper mine, 
a State-owned historic industrial site and mu-
seum; 
(H) the Ocoee Powerhouses and Flume 
line; 
(I) the awe inspiring natural resources 
that include the Tellico, Hiwassee, Ocoee, 
Conasauga, and Tennessee Rivers, several 
lakes, the spectacular Cherohala Skyway, the 
Ocoee Scenic Byway (providing fishing, white-
water rafting, kayaking, birding, nature photog-
raphy, boating, hiking, and more); 
(J) and numerous historic downtowns. 
(8) The designation of the Cherokee Overhill 
Territory as a National Heritage Area would enable 
local governments and nonprofits to access Federal 
and other funding to maintain, develop, interpret, 
and promote the distinct qualities that integrate the 
area and make it special.