page_title: Monroe County, Tennessee
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Monroe County, Tennessee / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Chota Memorial in Monroe County, Tennessee. Taken by John T Frost on Oct 23, 2005. For inclusion in the Wikipedia article "Oconostota".
context_page_description: Monroe County is a county on the southeastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 44,519. Its county seat is Madisonville.
context_section_description: During the early part of the 18th century, the Cherokee Nation occupied territory and established towns or villages extending through much of what is now described as the Upper and Deep South. European Americans tended to refer to these areas by geography: Lower Towns, Upper Towns and the Overhill Towns, ranging from the Piedmont of the Carolinas to across the Appalachian Mountains in present-day Tennessee, and down into Georgia and what developed as Alabama.
  The Overhill Towns had developed along the Little Tennessee and Tellico rivers throughout Monroe County, Tennessee. These included Chota, Tanasi (the name source of "Tennessee") and Great Tellico, which at various times were each considered the Cherokee principal town. Also in this area were Citico, Toqua, Tomotley, Mialoquo, Chilhowee and Tallassee.
  Archaeological excavations at the Citico site suggest the area was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers.  Artifacts uncovered from the Icehouse Bottom site near Vonore date to as early as 7500 B.C., during the Archaic period. These earliest occupants were from indigenous cultures that preceded the Cherokee, who are believed to have migrated south from the Great Lakes area approximately in 1000 CE. Theirs is an Iroquoian language, and most other Iroquoian tribes have historically been in the Great Lakes area.
  The British had established Fort Loudoun on the Little Tennessee River in 1756, as part of an agreement with the Cherokee, during the French and Indian War. This was theNorth American front during the Seven Years' War between Britain and France. After relations soured between the British and Cherokee in 1760, the Cherokee laid siege to the fort, and killed most of its garrison.
  Monroe County was established in 1819 after the signing of the Calhoun Treaty, in which the Cherokee ceded claims to lands stretching from the Little Tennessee River south to the Hiwassee River.  The county was named for President James Monroe.
  Some of the state's first gold mines were located in Monroe County.  Placer mining took place on Coker Creek (near Tellico Plains) in the early 1830s.
  Monroe County was one of the few East Tennessee counties to support secession at the outbreak of the American Civil War.  On June 8, 1861, the county voted in favor of Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession by a margin of 1,096 to 774.
  In the early 20th century, the Babcock Lumber Company conducted extensive logging operations in the Tellico Plains area.  During the same period, the Aluminum Company of America began building a string of dams along the Little Tennessee, among them Calderwood, Santeetlah and Cheoah, to power its aluminum smelting operations in nearby Alcoa.
  The last major project was the construction of Tellico Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority, completed in 1979, which was for flood control, hydroelectric power, and recreation related to the large Tellico Reservoir. This water body was created in the lower 33 miles of the Little Tennessee River. Although the project had been opposed by many residents in the county, where several communities were abandoned before the flooding and owners relocated, others supported the project. In addition, the project was found to threaten an endangered species, and the snail darter controversy delayed completion of the dam for some time. The TVA project has provided numerous new economic and recreational opportunities.
caption: Chota Memorial
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