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Nacoochee Mound,
Nation's First Gold Rush
Architect Richard Thornton is a member of an alliance of Creek, Choctaw and
Seminole scholars, who over the past seven years have been intensely studying
the heritage of the Muskogean peoples. Much of their activities have involved
re-examination of the archives of the early Spanish, English and French
exploration of the Southeastern United States. We have asked Richard to provide
AccessGenealogy with some of his work. As we add to these articles we will
also be providing a question and answer section for the reader to ask questions
of Richard.
One of Georgia’s most beloved
landmarks has a fascinating history
For generations of Georgians, and now the endless line
of Floridians seeking cool nights, the Nacoochee Mound
has announced to passersby that they are REALLY in the
mountains. It is the gateway to Helen, GA a tiny lumber
mill hamlet that was remade into an “alpine village” and
now is an international tourist attraction. One senses
that mankind has been in the Nacoochee Valley a long,
long time. It has that feeling of a place with history.
Its true history will surprise you.
There is a Georgia State Historical Marker that informs
tourists that the Nacoochee Mound was built by the
Cherokee Indians; was the Cherokee town of Guasile; was
visited by Hernando de Soto in 1541, and was excavated
by archaeologists from the Heye Foundation in 1915.
The only statement on the marker that is true, is about
the Heye Foundation. Those archaeologists specifically
stated that the mound was built by ancestors of the
Creek Indians – no Cherokee artifacts were uncovered.
Guasile was actually spelled “Guaxile” in the chronicles
of the de Soto Expedition. However, it is a Creek word,
meaning “Southerners.” Guaxile was probably either in
modern day Franklin or Cullowhee, North Carolina.. It is
highly unlikely that de Soto passed through the
Nacoochee Valley. There is a strong possibility,
however, that Spanish explorer Juan Pardo passed through
the valley.
Meanings of the Native American
place names in the Nacoochee Valley
There is a Georgia State historical marker in the
Nacoochee Valley that explains that Nacoochee was “a
beautiful Cherokee princess, who fell in love with a
“handsome Chickasaw brave” named Saute. Because the two
tribes were at war, the Cherokee elders refused to let
Nacoochee marry Saute. Therefore, both lovers jumped off
the cliffs of Yonah Mountain!
Most tourists assume the historical marker is factual
because it has the Great Seal of Georgia on it. Most
scholars assume that every detail of the story is
hogwash, because “everyone knows that the Chickasaws
lived 300 miles east of the Cherokees.”
Native American scholars have studied early colonial
maps. To their complete shock, the area immediately east
and south of the Nacoochee Valley (in Habersham and
White Counties) was occupied by CHICKASAWs until the
American Revolution. The area southeast of the Nacoochee
Valley (in Stephens County was occupied by APALACHEE &
YUCHI Indians until the American Revolution. Immediately
south of the Chickasaws (in Hall County) were CATAWBA
Indian villages. The words “Nacoochee” and “Saute” have
nothing to do with star-crossed lovers.
The original name of the town around the mound was
Nokose – the Creek Indian word for bear, which is
pronounced n?-koo-she. The Cherokees pronounced the
word, n?-gu-chee. The earliest European settlers wrote
down the Nacoochee. They did not know that only a few
decades before, Creek Indians had occupied the valley.
Therefore, they assumed that the word, Nacoochee, was a
Cherokee word, whose meaning had been lost.
Chattahoochee is a Hitchiti-Creek word which means Red
River. When the Alabama Creeks were forced to relocate
to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) they named the
largest river in their territory, the Red River.
The village of Saute gets its name from the Sawate
branch of the Creeks, who spoke the Hitchiti-Creek
Language, The word in English means Raccoon People.
Raccoon People, who spoke the Muskogee-Creek language
called the place, Sawakee.
The Soque River gets its name from the Soque People of
northwestern South Carolina and northeast Georgia. They
were probably related to the Zoque (Olmecs) of Mexico,
since they had the same physical appearance and
practiced many Mesoamerican customs. The Soque were one
of the most powerful ethnic groups in the region until
the late 1600s, when they were decimated by plagues and
slave raids sponsored by the Colony of Virginia. The
survivors allied themselves either to the Creeks or the
Cherokees. Many of their descendants live today among
the Snowbird Cherokees of Graham County, NC.
The unusual geology of the Nacoochee Valley
The Chattahoochee River bursts out of the Blue Ridge
Mountains at Unicoi Gap, and then races down the steep
slopes to a few hundred yards north of the Nacoochee
Mound. There is abruptly turns east and enters the
fertile Nacoochee Valley. About ¼ mile into the valley,
the river flows past the feet of an ancient volcano, now
known as Yonah Mountain. Yonah is the Cherokee word for
bear, The Chattahoochee flows gently through the
Nacoochee Valley for about five miles before turning
abruptly southeast and dropping into a geological rift
(crack in the earth) created by an ancient fault line
that runs from Hot Springs, NC to Columbus, GA.
A chain of volcanoes during the age of dinosaurs
deposited gold and several types of semi-precious stones
on the mountains. However, the altitude of Georgia’s
mountains at that time was so high, that most animals
could not survive. It is estimated that the peeks
reached to the same height as the Himalayas – too cold
for dinosaurs! Over the eons since then, the gold has
washed down the sloped of the mountains and been
deposited in alluvial sands, The ancestors of the Creek
Indians knew about gold, but thought it too soft to be a
practical metal for weapons and tools. A copper allow,
similar to brass, was their preferred metal for both
practical and artistic objects. Europeans, though,
esteemed gold far beyond its practical usage. Because
they did not corrode, gold and silver were the preferred
media of exchange in commerce. It was only after the
arrival of Europeans that the Nacoochee Valley itself,
was esteemed for anything more than a beautiful place to
live and a key corridor for regional trade.
Early history of the Nacoochee
Valley
For millions of years, the Nacoochee Valley was a
favorite grazing area for large mammals. By 10,000 BC or
earlier humans had arrived in the valley to hunt. When
the big game animals became extinct, small bands of
humans occupied the valley and lived off hunting a
variety of animals, gathering wild vegetables, roots,
fruits and nuts. Groups of bands gathered certain times
of year on the river to fish and harvest freshwater
mussels. This pattern of seasonal migration continued
until about 2000 years ago.
The Southern Highlands is one of five regions in the
world where agriculture began independently. Wild
squash, sunflowers and Jerusalem artichoke were three of
the earliest indigenous plants to be domesticated –
around 3500 BC. They still grow wild in the vicinity of
the Nacoochee Valley. By around 400 BC extensive
regional trade routes intersected in the Nacoochee
Valley and the residential population began to grow. The
people of the valley raised a variety of vegetables in
gardens, but much of their nutrition was still obtained
directly from the surrounding forests, meadows and
rivers. They did begin to build small mounds as burial
grounds and landmarks for seasonal gatherings of
families. In the period between 0 AD and 600 AD the
people adapted the pottery styles and cultural
traditions of what we call now the Swift Creek Culture.
Several more dome-shaped mounds were built during this
era. The potters of the Swift Creek Culture produced
beautiful pottery by stamping ornate designs on the wet
clay with carved wooden paddles.
The number and size of villages collapsed after 500 AD.
It is theorized that raiders from the Caribbean Sea or
Yucatan Peninsula began making slave raids on the towns
that could be reached directly from the ocean. Much of
Georgia’s Coastal Plain became nearly uninhabited in a
very short time. Simultaneously, the bow and arrow was
introduced to the region, which made warfare more
deadly, while the introduction of Mexican crops such as
corn and beans made farming more productive.
Notes About this Material
Source: Richard Thornton, an alliance of Muskogean scholars, professors and
professionals. Copyright Richard Thornton, Blairsville, GA, 2010. Used here with
permission.
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