Eastatoee Valley

Front: Human settlement in this valley dates to the Clovis people, present as early as 13,000 years ago. By the early 1700s, the valley was part of a cluster of Cherokee Lower Towns. Near here was the town of Eastatoee, which had more than 200 houses c.1760. Valley residents included Cherokee leader Seroweh and European trader James Beamer, who interpreted and mediated with the Cherokee. Reverse: Conflicts with Europeans and other tribes weaked Eastatoee, which was destroyed in 1760 and rebuilt. The Cherokee abandoned the town in 1776, when it was burned by Patriot forces. Sustained white settlement in the valley began in 1784, when the state first issued land grants in former Cherokee territory. Descendants of some of those 18th c. settlers still live in the valley.