LOCAL LEGENDS OF TENNESSEE

LOCAL LEGENDS OF TENNESSEE

For the more important legends localized in Tennessee see the stories The
Hunter in the Dăkwă′, The Nest of the Tlă′nuwă, The Removed Townhouses,
The Haunted Whirlpool, Ûñtsaiyĭ′, and Uʻtlûñ′ta.
BUFFALO TRACK ROCK : This rock, of which the Indian name is now lost, is
indefinitely mentioned as located southwest from Cumberland gap, on the
northern border of the state. According to Wafford, it was well known some
eighty years ago to the old Cherokee hunters, who described it as covered with
deep impressions made buffalo running along the rock and then butting their
heads, as though in mad fury, against a rock wall, leaving the prints of their
heads and horns in the stone.
CHATTANOOGA : This city, upon Tennessee river, near the entrance of the creek of
the same name in Hamilton county, was incorporated in 1848. So far as is known
there was no Cherokee settlement at the place, although some prominent men of
the tribe lived in the vicinity. The name originally belonged to some location
upon the creek. The Cherokee pronounce it Tsatănu′gĭ, but say that it is not a
Cherokee word and has no meaning in their language. The best informants
express the opinion that it was from the Chickasaw (Choctaw) language, which
seems possible, as the Chickasaw country anciently extended a considerable
distance up the Tennessee, the nearest settlement being within 80 miles of the
present city. The Cherokee sometimes call the city Aʻtlă′nuwă′, “Tlă′nuwă
(Hawk) hole,” that being their old name for a bluff on the south side of the riverat the foot of the present Market street. From this circumstance probably
originated the statement a magazine writer that the name Chattanooga
signifies “The crow’s nest.”
CHICKAMAUGA : The name of two creeks in Hamilton county, entering Tennessee
river from opposite sides a few miles above Chattanooga. A creek of the same
name is one of the head-streams of Chattahoochee river, in White county,
Georgia. The Cherokee pronounce it Tsĭkăma′gĭ, applying the name in
Tennessee to the territory about the mouth of the southern, or principal, stream,
where they formerly had a town, from which they removed in 1782. They state,
however, that it is not a Cherokee word and has no meaning in their language.
Filson, in 1793, erroneously states that it is from the Cherokee language and
signifies “Boiling pot,” referring to a dangerous whirlpool in the river near ,
and later writers have improved upon this translating it to mean “Whirlpool.”
The error arises from confounding this place with The Suck, a whirlpool in
Tennessee river 15 miles farther down and known to the Cherokee as Ûñtiguhĭ′,
“Pot in the water” (see number 63, “Ûñtsaiyĭ′, the Gambler”). On account of the
hard fighting in the neighborhood during the Civil war, the stream was
sometimes called, poetically, “The River of Death,” the term being frequently
given as a translation of the Indian word. It has been suggested that the name is
derived from an Algonquian word referring to a fishing or fish-spearing place, in
which case it may have originated with the Shawano, who formerly occupied
middle Tennessee, and some of whom at a later period resided jointly with the
Cherokee in the settlements along this part of the river. If not Shawano it is
probably from the Creek or Chickasaw.
Concerning “Chickamauga gulch,” a canyon on the northern stream of that
name, a newspaper writer gives the following so-called legend, which it is hardly
necessary to say is not genuine:
The Cherokees were a tribe singularly rich in tradition, and of course so wild,
gloomy, and remarkable a spot was not without its legend. The descendants of the
expatriated semi-barbarians believe to this day that in ages gone a great serpent made
its den in the gulch, and that yearly he demanded of the red men ten of their most
beautiful maidens as a sacrificial offering. Fearful of extermination, the demand was
always complied with the tribe, amid weeping and wailing the women. On the
day before the tribute was due the serpent announced its presence a demoniacal
hiss, and the next morning the fair ones who had been chosen to save the tribe were
taken to the summit of a cliff and left to be swallowed the scaly Moloch.C HILHOWEE : A mountain and station on the north side of Little Tennessee river,
in Blount county. The correct Cherokee form is Tsûʻlûñwe′ĭ, applied to the lower
part of Abrams creek, which enters the river from the north just above. The
meaning of the word is lost, although it may possibly have a connection with
tsûʻlû, “kingfisher.” It has been incorrectly rendered “fire deer,” an interpretation
founded on the false assumption that the name is compounded from atsi′la,
“fire,” and aʻwĭ′, “deer,” whence, Chil-howee. For legends localized in this
vicinity, see the stories noted above. Chilhowee occurs also as the name of a
stream in the mountains of southwestern Virginia.
LENOIR : On the north bank of the main Tennessee, at the junction of the Little
Tennessee, in Loudon county. The Cherokee name is Wa′gĭnsĭ′, of which the
meaning is lost, and was applied originally to an eddy in the stream, where, it
was said, there dwelt a large serpent, to see which was an omen of evil. On one
occasion a man crossing the river at this point saw the snake in the water and
soon afterward lost one of his children.
MORGANTON : On a rocky hill on the old Indian trail on the west side of Little
Tennessee river, above and nearly opposite Morganton, in Loudon county, are,
or were a few years ago, four trees blazed in a peculiar manner, concerning
which the Indians had several unsatisfactory stories, the most common opinion
being that the marks were very old and had been made Indians to indicate the
position of hidden mines.
NASHVILLE : The state capital, in Davidson county. The Cherokee name is
Dăgû′năwelă′hĭ, “Mussel-liver place,” which would seem to have originated in
some now forgotten legend.

NICKAJACK : A creek entering Tennessee river from the south about 15 miles
below Chattanooga. Near its mouth is a noted cave of the same name. The
Cherokee form is Nĭkutse′gĭ, the name of a former settlement of that tribe at the
mouth of the creek; but the word has no meaning in that language, and is
probably of foreign, perhaps Chickasaw, origin. The derivation from a certain
“Nigger Jack,” said to have made the cave his headquarters is purely fanciful.
SAVANNAH : A farm on the north bank of Hiwassee river at a ford of the same
name, about 5 miles above Conasauga creek and Columbus, in Polk county.
Here are extensive remains of an ancient settlement, including mounds,cemetery, and also, some seventy years ago, a small square inclosure or “fort” of
undressed stone. According to a tradition given to Wafford, the Cherokee once
prepared an ambush here for a hostile war party which they were expecting to
come up the river, but were themselves defeated the enemy, who made a
detour around the Black mountain and came in upon their rear.
TENNESSEE : The Cherokee form is Tănăsĭ′, and was applied to several localities
within the old territory of the tribe. The most important town of this name was
on the south bank of Little Tennessee river, halfway between Citico and Toco
creeks, in Monroe county, Tennessee. Another was on the south side of
Hiwassee, just above the junction of Ocoee, in Polk county, Tennessee. A third
district of the same name was on Tennessee creek, the extreme easterly head of
Tuckasegee river, in Jackson county, North Carolina. The meaning of the name
is lost. It was not the Indian name of the river, and does not mean “Big spoon,”
as has been incorrectly asserted.

 

Source:
Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney