The Tellico River rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, but it flows mainly through Monroe County, Tennessee. It is a major tributary of the Little Tennessee River

Little Tennessee River

The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...

 and the namesake of Tellico Reservoir

Tellico Reservoir

Tellico Reservoir, also known as Tellico Lake, is a reservoir in Tennessee, created by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1979 upon the completion of Tellico Dam. The dam impounds the Little Tennessee River and the lower Tellico River...

, a reservoir created by Tellico Dam

Tellico Dam

Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in Loudon County, Tennessee on the Little Tennessee River just above the main stem of the Tennessee River. It impounds the Tellico Reservoir....

, which impounds the lower reaches of the Tellico River and the Little Tennessee River and was famous during the 1970s for the snail darter controversy

Snail darter controversy

The snail darter controversy involved the delay of the construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River in 1973. On August 12, 1973, University of Tennessee biologist and professor David Etnier discovered the snail darter in the Little Tennessee River while doing research related to a...

.

The Tellico River and its main tributaries are renowned for their brook

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

, brown

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

, and rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

 fishing. Upstream from Tellico Lake, above Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 859 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tellico Plains is located at ....

, the Tellico is a premier trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 stream. It meanders through a mountain gorge before reaching the broad plains downstream of Tellico Plains.

Hydrography

The Tellico River rises in the Unicoi Range

Unicoi Range

The Unicoi Mountains are a mountain range rising along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States. They are part of the Blue Ridge Mountain Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Unicois are located immediately south of the Great Smoky Mountains...

 near the Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

-North Carolina state line, in the Nantahala National Forest

Nantahala National Forest

The Nantahala National Forest, established in 1920, is a national forest located in the American state of North Carolina. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee word meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges of the...

. The North Carolina side includes the Upper Tellico Off-highway vehicle

Off-road vehicle

An off-road vehicle is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks...

 area.

After the river crosses into Tennessee, it is joined by its major tributaries the Bald

Bald River

The Bald River is a river located in Monroe County, Tennessee in the Cherokee National Forest. It is a tributary of the Tellico River. Just before it empties into the Tellico, the river falls over a large waterfall, Bald River Falls, which is variously reported as being between 80 and 100 feet high...

 and North Rivers

North River (Tennessee)

The North River of Tennessee is a major tributary of the Tellico River. It rises in the Unicoi Range, which are geologically related to the Smoky Mountains to the north, in Monroe County, Tennessee inside Cherokee National Forest...

.

The Tellico River basin was logged by the Babcock Lumber Company

Babcock Lumber Company

The Babcock Lumber Company was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1887 and conducted logging operations in the eastern United States. In 1951 the company diversified into building material distribution...

 in the early 20th century. The present-day road up the Tellico River from Tellico Plains was built on the old Babcock logging railroad bed. After the Tellico River basin forests were cut, Babock sold the land to the United States Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

.

The Tellico River's rocky descent provides class III-IV whitewater

Whitewater

Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...

 recreation. The runs are especially popular during the spring because of higher water levels. The narrow extreme rapids on the Tellico River are well suited for kayaks, canoes - C1's and duckies, but not for larger rafts. There is continuous access to the river from the road, but these runs are popular:

• Trout Hatchery to Bridge above the Bald River confluence, class II-III
• The Ledges - from the Bridge above the Bald River confluence to bridge below Jared's Knee, class III-IV
• Bridge below Jared's Knee to Ranger Station, class II-III
• Ranger Station to Tellico Plains, class I-III

Etymology

According to the USGS, variant names of the Tellico River include Delaquay River, Talequo River, Terrique River, and Tellequo River.

The word "Tellico" was the name of several Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 towns, the largest of which was Great Tellico

Great Tellico

Great Tellico was a Cherokee town at the site of present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where the Tellico River emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. Great Tellico was one of the largest Cherokee towns in the region, and had a sister town nearby named Chatuga. Its name in Cherokee is more...

, located on the Tellico River near present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Tellico Plains, Tennessee

Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 859 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tellico Plains is located at ....

. In Cherokee the word is more properly written "Talikwa". According to James Mooney, the Cherokee meaning of the word was lost.

The origin of the word is actually Muskogee (Creek.) A Muskogean town named Taliko was thriving on the Tellico River when Spanish explorers visited in area in the mid-16th century. Taliko means "bean" in Muskogee.

If the Mesoamerican origin of Mississippian culture is correct then the origin of the word could also be Nahuatl. The Nahuatl word "tleco" means both "in a fire" and "to ascend." Both of these meanings could refer to Mississippian temple mounds located in Tennessee since at the top of these mounds was kept a perpetual fire within a temple. Thus "to ascend" and "in a fire" could refer to the temple mound, the most important feature of Mississippian towns, since one would have to ascend the mound to reach the fire. Since "temple mound" was nearly synonymous with "town" then this explains why it would become the generic term for "town" among the Cherokee. The Cherokees believe the mounds were actually built by a foreign group known as the Ani-kutani

Ani-kutani

The Ani-kutani were the ancient priesthood of the Cherokee people. According to Cherokee legend, the Ani-Kutani were slain during a mass uprising by the Cherokee people approximately 300 years prior to European contact. This uprising was sparked by the fact that the Ani-Kutani had become corrupt...

who once lived on the mounds and ruled over them. If true then these foreigners could have come from Mesoamerica which would explain why the word has no meaning in the Cherokee Indian language.

External links

Tellico River Gauge at Tellico Plains from American Whitewater

Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA)