The Mitchell Map
The Mitchell map of 1755 was the first map to show Long Swamp as a place (albeit, under a different name). The map was compiled from the best sources of information at the time under the direction of the Second Earl of Halifax. The map remained one of the largest and most accurate depictions of North America through the 18th Century. At six and a half feet wide and four and a half feet high, it is a massive map.
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The Treaty of Long Swamp
In 1782, an expeditionary force composed of men from Georgia and South Carolina went after a group of Loyalists who were encamped near the Indian town of Long Swamp. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Waters, the leader of the loyalist group of renegade whites and Indians, fled to Florida. At least 40 of the Indians were killed in the skirmish. Pickens sent three emissaries to get the enemy to surrender in exchange for their prisoners back. After several days, they agreed and the fighting ended.
Subsequently, the Treaty of Long Swamp was signed on October 17, 1782, between a dozen chiefs, 200 warriors, and Colonel Andrew Pickens, Pickens County's namesake at the helm. This treaty defined the new Cherokee Territory as west of the Upper Chattahoochee River and north of the Savannah River. This battle proved to be the end of all Cherokee incursions into South Carolina and of the Tory attacks. After the battle near Long Swamp, the Cherokee refused to offer the Tories safe harbor.
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Willette's Travels
Colonel Marinus Willett was born in 1740 on Long Island. He fought during the Revolutionary War in the Battle of Monmouth in 1788. *
In 1790, George Washington sent him as an envoy to the Creek and Cherokee lands (what is now known as North Georgia) to try to keep the peace. The citizens of Georgia were already clamoring for the removal of the native Americans. His journey was successful and 27 Creek Indian leaders came to New York City to negotiate the Treaty of New York, establishing clear boundaries between the Creeks and the Americans.
Colonel Willett left New York on March 15, 1790, headed for Colonel Andrew Pickens plantation in Charleston, South Carolina. He arrived on April 13th and teamed up with a Cherokee named Young Corn to assist with translation.
In his journals, Willet passed through the village of Long Swamp (Neueconoheta) on April 23rd. In Willett's journal, he refers to the town of Long Swamp being on the bank of Hitower, (Hightower/Etowah) and it emptied into the Cousa River. From there he made his way to Pine Log.
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Hawkins' Travels
Benjamin Hawkins, born in 1752, in North Carolina, came from a wealthy and well-known family. He attended Princeton University and was a Senior classman when the American Revolution began.
George Washington hired him as a French translator. (Hawkins was proficient in French from his studies at school.) Like Colonel Willett, he participated in the Battle of Monmouth during the Revolutionary War.
1796 President George Washington appointed him the Principal Temporary Agent of Indian Affairs South of the Ohio River. In the broadest scope, Hawkins was a peacemaker and was working toward resolving land boundaries between the parties.
According to the Letters of Benjamin Hawkins, 1796-1806, Hawkins made his way to Long Swamp (Looccunna Heat) on Tuesday, the 28th of November, 1796. He wrote of the remains of an Indian Settlement where only peach trees, cotton stalks, and corn were left behind.
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Abandonment?
Whatever caused the village at Long Swamp to be abandoned in the six years between the travels of Willett and Hawkins can only be speculated.
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Excavation
Fast Forward to 1939, WPA Archaeologist Robert Wauchope excavated Long Swamp Village (CK-1) CK indicates Cherokee County, and the number indicates the first site excavated in the county.
The archaeological evidence showed remnants of a mound at the site, only about 4 feet high. Several houses were found, along with refuse pits, pottery, weapons, tools, animal figurines, arrowheads, and an amulet. The site was occupied on and off from the Early Mississippi Period, until European contact. In short, the archaeological record matches the historical record.
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Why Long Swamp?
Dr. John Goff, in his linguistic study, looked at the names Looccunna Heat and Neueconoheta as being Anglicized pronunciations. Sound them out. LO-CUN-NA-HEAT and NOY-CON-OH-HETA. They are quite similar in sound. Dr. Goff went on to explain that gunahita in Cherokee means long. Saluyi is Thicket and part of the word swamp. Goff presumed Long Swamp meant Long Thicket due to the absence of swampland in the immediate area.
NOTE: The Battle of Monmouth was the first successful battle of the Continental Army after the winter at Valley Forge. The British, having taken heavy losses, were forced to retreat. It was this battle that first earned Washington the title of the Father of our country.
Great read!
Thank you so much for sharing historical information on this area.
I really enjoy reading about these places that I drive by all the time and wonder how it got the name, what the abandoned buildings are, and the curious street names. Thanks!