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The following list comes from five sources: One is the excellent wall plaque in the Clay County Historical and Arts Council Museum on South Main Street and Davis Loop, a block south of the town square. It contains the names of creeks and branches having Cherokee names in Clay County. Two others are books by Bill Sharpe, A New Geography of North Carolina and Margaret Freel, Our Heritage… 1540 to 1955. Also, an excellent web site which lists 189 creeks and branches in Clay County: www.hometownlocator.com
This section tells the origins and locations of 32 names (listed alphabetically) of some roads, waterways and villages that grew up alongside some of them. There are many others.
Blair CreekCherokee planter George Blair lived where this Creek crossed the Unicoi Turnpike, coming from the southeast out of Georgia into Clay County. This Creek is south of Hayesville and crosses NC Highway 69 near the T.V.A. Power Substation, then flows north into the Hiwassee River near Myers Chapel Road.
Brasstown Creek “Brasstown” is an English mistranslation of Cherokee Itseyi or Echoee, which is properly translated as “New Green Place” or “Spring Place.” One explanation of the name is that the Cherokee settlement of Brasstown was near the head of a creek in Towns County, Georgia, south, adjacent to Clay County, where “Indians turned up a rich lode of gold and, thinking it was brass, they called the site of their strike, ‘Brasstown’, and built a village there” (Ibid.).
Chairmaker BranchA legend tells that a man who lived near this branch made wooden chairs. Years passed and no one remembered his name, so where he lived and worked became known as “Chairmaker Branch,” which is located on Tusquittee Road, seven miles northeast of Hayesville.
Cherry Mill CreekNamed for pioneer Mr. John Tucker Cherry, who settled in 1844 just outside of what is now Hayesville on this small stream and built a grist mill. The Creek is near the TVA substation off NC Highway 69 South, approximately 1.5 miles from the Hayesville town square.
Chunky Gal MountainOne theory of the origin of this mountain, 10 miles east of Hayesville, is that “Chunky” probably refers to a traditional Indian game, tehunge or gatayusti, played with rolled stone disks and spears. Another story hinges on the obvious, that it was named for a Cherokee woman called, “The Chunky Gal,” who lived near the head of Shooting Creek, southeast of Hayesville, at the time of westward removal. In 1974, the newspaper reported another origin through an Indian legend:
A beautiful dark-eyed, buxom Indian maiden, living on Shooting Creek, loved a handsome brave from Wauyahs Village, now a section of Macon County. Her father objected to their announced marriage, so the couple decided to elope. Even though her father discovered their plan, the eloping couple ran away and made their way up a rugged mountain toward the brave’s village. But, at the cap of the mountain, where they stopped to rest, her father and his swift-footed braves caught them. Taking his resistant daughter back to her village, the waiting and envious skinny maidens ridiculed her and called her, “the chunky gal.” (Ibid.).
Compass CreekA legend says that this Creek was named for pioneer Robert Henry, a surveyor and Revolutionary War veteran, who, while surveying, accidentally dropped his compass in the stream he was crossing (see more about Robert Henry in the Chapter on Pioneering Families). This Creek is a tributary of the Tusquittee Creek and is located about 6.5 miles northeast from the Hayesville town center.
Downings CreekA creek named for Richard Downing, a Cherokee planter, who remained in the area after the1838 removal of his people. The Creek is approximately three miles east of the Hayesville town center.
Eagle CreekThe Cherokee Wahahlah, or “Eagle,” lived near the head of this fork of Shooting Creek at the time of the Cherokee removal.
Fires CreekA “Garden of Eden” for trout fishing, this Creek was named for a white settler named Fires, who first lived there. It is located northwest of Hayesville.
Geisky Branch A branch of Shooting Creek, southeast of Hayesville, named for the Cherokee “Old Kitagiskee” and his son Johnson Kitagiskee.
Hothouse BranchNamed for the tributary near the mouth of Shooting Creek where the gatiyi or “hothouse”, a name for the Cherokee Townhouse, once stood. This waterway converges with Shooting Creek at a point on Old U. S. Highway 64 East about a mile north of the Old Shooting Creek Bridge.
Hiawassee River Named for an old Indian, Hiawatha, who lived at the head of the river, which was a cold spring. This river runs from Georgia through Lake Chatuge and flows through Hayesville on its way north to the Little Tennessee River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, which leads to the Ohio River, then to the Mississippi River.
Hurricane Creek Named for a big windstorm in the early 1900s that felled most of the trees along that Creek. It flows into Tusquittee Creek, northeast of Hayesville off Cold Branch Road, approximately 7.5 miles from the town square.
Jackrabbit MountainCherokee Jack Rabbit lived at the foot of this mountain near the mouth of Shooting Creek in l838, the year of the westward removal. The area where he lived is now covered by Lake Chatuge and today is a part of the water adjacent to the Jackrabbit U. S. Forest Service Campground.
Julia KnobPioneer Robert Henry built a house at the foot of this mountain for his good slave Julia, when he had set her free. She cleared land and lived in freedom, and is buried beside Mr. Henry. It seems that her good disposition and character were so widely admired that a mountain was named for her. It is located in the Tusquittee Community about seven miles north of the Hayesville town center.
Licklog CreekNamed for the practice by the pioneering Davis Family, who felled trees and cut notches in the logs, putting salt in them for their and horse and cattle to lick. They lived near this Creek, approximately five miles on U.S. Highway 64 East.
Medlock CreekNamed for the early settler, Ben Medlock, who lived on this Creek near Tusquittee Road, about 5 miles northeast out of the Hayesville town center.
Muskrat BranchThis branch at the head of Shooting Creek was named for the Cherokee, “Old Muskrat” and his sons, John and Johnson Muskrat, who lived here at the time of the westward removal. It is at the foot of Chunky Gal Mountain off Old U. S. Highway 64 East, approximately 10 miles from Hayesville.
Peckerwood Creek Named for Chiulahstah (Cherokee for “woodpecker”), whose full name was Jim Peckerwood. He lived with his wife Sally on this tributary of Tusquittee Creek at the time of the westward removal of the Cherokee Indians from this area. Tradition says that he is buried near the headwaters of this creek, which traverses the northern portion of Downings Creek Road. It is one of the largest streams that feed into Tusquittee Creek.
Potrock BaldThis mountain was named for a large rock, hollowed out by an Indian medicine man and used it to steep his potion of medicinal herbs. Indians drank the healing beverage during the time of the Green Corn Dance. The rock was carried to the top of the mountain during the round-up of the Cherokees before the westward emigration. This mountain is located approximately 10 miles northeast of Hayesville and one mile east of Tusquittee Bald Mountain. Potrock Bald and Tusquittee Bald are the two highest peaks in the County.
Qualla Creek This creek was named for a Cherokee Indian maiden. Its headwaters start in a gap of a mountain near Qualla Road and flows south to within a half mile of the Hayesville’s western town limit, where it joins the Hiwassee River.
Sapsucker BranchNamed for Chawchaw (Cherokee for “Sapsucker”), whose home was situated along this branch of Tusquittee Creek. This Branch converges with Peckerwood Creek along Downings Creek Road, approximately six miles east of Hayesville.
Settiwig Bottoms This location is named in honor of Sewituwakee, a Councilman and Aquohee District Court Judge for the Cherokee Nation, and a leader of one of the emigration detachments on the “Trail of Tears.” He lived at the upper end of the river’s bottomland, which now is a large farm, located near the junction of Brasstown Creek and the Hiawassee River.
Shooting Creek Town Shooting Creek, or Dustayatunyi (Cherokee for “Where it was Struck by Lightening”), was an historical Cherokee town located in the Shooting Creek Valley, which today includes both Shooting Creek and Elf Communities, approximately 6.5 miles southeast of Hayesville. The Shooting Creek Townhouse, the name for the Indian government building, was at the mouth of Hothouse Branch, a tributary of Shooting Creek (Ibid.). Another story of the origin of the name says, “…the pioneers met on the creek to hold shooting matches using muzzle-loaded rifles,” competing to be the “best sharpshooter.” Prizes for best marksmanship might be a side of beef, a deer or a bear, and whiskey, and sometimes gold coins (Ibid.). This custom is practiced today throughout the County and is known as a “Turkey Shoot,” but using targets.
Smack Ass Gap Local workers in the mining era named this gap, when transporting corundum from a mine in Elf Community to Hayesville by a loaded wagon and a team of horses. To make the horses pull harder on a dirt road through this Gap, the teamster would smack them on their rumps. It is located approximately five miles east of Hayesville on U. S. Highway 64.
Sunday BranchNamed for Kotaquoskey (Cherokee for “Sunday”), who lived on this tributary of Tusquittee Creek at the time of the westward removal. Another name associated with it is Stamey Cove.
Sweetwater CreekProbably named by the Cherokees; however, others say that early white settlers named it because everybody living along the creek raised sorghum cane and made molasses. It is located on the new U. S. Highway 64 West about 4 miles from the Hayesville town square.
Tuni Creek Named for “Old Tuni,” a Cherokee woman, who lived at the mouth of this headwater of Tusquittee Creek at the time of the westward removal
Tusquittee BaldA Cherokee Indian legend named this mountain “the place where the water dog laughed” (Charles F. Price, Where the Water-Dog Laughed, 2003). This beautiful feature can be seen from almost every vantage point in the County. It is the highest peak, 5,249 feet, in the County and the Tusquittee range, all part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The peak has also been referred to as “Rafters of Heaven” and is a favorite hiking place using various developed trails (see Chapter on Outdoor Recreation for more about these trails).
Tusquittee Town (then) / Tusquittee Community (now) Tusquittee, or Da’sKwitun’yi (Cherokee for “Place of the Rafters”), was a traditional Cherokee town situated at the junction of Tusquittee Creek and the Hiwassee River, northeast of today’s downtown Hayesville. Old “Tusquittee Town” has always been considered part of the Hayesville area (Cherokee Scout and Clay County Progress, November 27, 1974—for a few years these newspapers were one).
Vineyard Mountain This mountain is located in Shooting Creek Valley, east of Hayesville, and honors an abandoned enterprise started by an unknown Englishman, who covered the mountainside with grape vines. His enterprise failed and he returned to England.
Walker BranchNamed for a Supreme Court Judge in the Cherokee Nation, Richard Walker, who resided near Warne, North Carolina, which is west of Hayesville today.
Whether the legends and names of landmarks originate with Native Americans or the early settlers, both are the heritage in Clay County. As during the era when Native Americans enjoyed living here, today most of the streams in Clay County are also fishermen’s favorite places to go angling and relaxing. The rushing waters welcome canoers and rafters, while hikers find their way over the numerous mountain trails, some used by ancient Indians and their Cherokee descendants. The peaks and ridges still contain various species of wild game, such as deer, boar, grouse, turkey, and squirrels. In recent years, coyotes have migrated into the area and are taking a toll on wild game and fowl, which is competition for modern hunters.
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