Tugaloo mound, site of Cherokee village council house.

 Upload a photo

This tree covered mound of dirt was once one of the most important spots in the Cherokee nation. This mound was built by Cherokee women carrying baskets filled with dirt and later a seven sided council house was built on top of the mound. The seven sides represent the seven clans of the Cherokee and each clan had a seating section in the house if they wished to attend. Tugaloo town was the Wolf Clan, and nearby Eastatoe (pronounced: East-ta-toe-ee.) was the Bird Clan. The village here was one of the largest of the lower towns of the Cherokee nation. There was a large area for ball play ( much like Lacrosse) where hundreds of braves from all the calns in the nation took part. The women also raised the children, cleaned and cured skins for trade,and raised the three sisters (Corn, Beans, and Squash) in the fields around the mound.
Here in 1716???1717 during the Yamasee War, 500 Creek warriors and ambassadors came to Tugaloo town trying to get the Cherrokee villages to side with them and kill all the British traders from Charles towne (Charleston SC) and attack the outlaying settlements of the British. The Cherokee listened to the Creek plans, then turned on the Creek ambassadors and murdered them all. The 500 braves retreated back to Creek country south of the Oconee River. The Yamasee War soon ended with a British victory due to the great power and size of the Cherokee nation. The British could have been swept from America if all the Indians had sided with the Yamasee, and Creek Indians.
The British government at Charles Towne set up their main fur trading station and 50 white troops and 50 black troops were left here to assist in the defense of Tugaloo Towne in return for their past loyalty in the Creek affair and as they incorrectly assumed that this was the capital of the Cherokee nation. Deer skins were traded here for European trade goods such as 35 skins for a musket. The skins were then carried on the backs of indians to Charles Towne where the skins were shipped to England to make coats.
Over the years Creek war partys raided this town while the men were away hunting deer and many women and children would be tourtured and murdered, or carried off as hostages during these raids. One such raid on Tugaloo finally drew the fury of the Cherokee and at a seven clan council meeting here it was decided to wipe out the Creek in Georgia once and for all. The Battle Of Taliwa ( near present Ballground Ga ) was the site of the Great Battle and the entire Creek village was killed, the Creek withdrew all the way into what is now Alabama.
In the late 1750's-1760's trouble broke out between the Cherokee and the British after the Cherokee responded to a British call for help fighting the Creeks again and those braves that rode horses to the British Fort Prince George at the Keeowee villiage (now under Lake Keowee)left their horses there to go on the warpath and fight the Creek. On their return they found that the British had laid claim to their horses and would not return them. Fighting broke out between the one time allies and soon 2000 British troops appeared on the ridge east of Tugaloo towne on the morning of June 12, 1761 and fired their 2 cannon into the council house putting out the ever burning fire inside and destroyed the house never to be rebuilt. The few braves that were not out hunting put up a fight but of the 140 old men and boys, around 130 men, women, and children were killed and the rest driven from the field of battle.Most of the 400 lodges and cabins were burned and the 400 women and children were drive up into Owl Swamp and on to the villages west of Currahee mountain never to return. The dead were piled up by the British and burned near the council mound.
These mounds are not burial mounds but in some cases great chiefs and holy men were buried in the floor of the council house so their great power would be nearby for the later generations to draw from their spirit. The area around the mound and town is covered with untold numbers of graves. The Cherokee did not place their dead on drying racks like the plaines indians or in movies but buried their dead in a tomb like hole in the ground with rock walls, or the grave was covered by rocks to keep animals from digging out the body.
Tugaloo Towne and the mound here could be said to be one of the most important places in the history of the United States, without Cherokee support that started here the British would have been driven back to England by the Spanish, French, and indians.