Valley River
Encyclopedia
The Valley River is a tributary of the Hiwassee River
that begins as a pair of springs in the Snowbird Mountains of Cherokee County, NC and descends 2,960 ft (902 m) in elevation in approximately forty miles (64.3 km) to enter the Hiwassee embayment at Murphy, NC. The Valley River flows generally southwest, roughly paralleling US 19 between Topton, NC, and Murphy, NC having a total watershed of 120 m2 (11.15km2)
. Earlier in the Paleozoic the area was the site of shallow seas which resulted in large limestone deposits. The Alleghenian orogeny caused both uplift and the metamorphism of rock at the highest pressure points within the various Appalachian mountain chains. The Snowbird and Unicoi Mountains which border the Valley River contain silver
, gold
, copper
, limestone
, sandstone
, marble
, brown iron
ore in minable quantities. The erosion of the mountains over a 480 million year period allowed the Valley River to carve a broad flat valley with rich fertile soil.
Marble, NC is the site of high quality of white, gray, pink and blue marble which was discovered almost immediately after the removal of the Cherokee in 1838-1839 and has been quarried intermittently ever since.
Near Rhodo, NC is Silvermine Creek, said to be the location of a small silver deposit. Silvermine Creek is a tributary of the Valley River. Silvermine may derive its name from the following story:
In the counties west of the Blue Ridge, there has been as yet no exploration to any depth beneath the surface of the ground, with perhaps the single exception of the old excavations in the county of Cherokee. According to the most commonly received Indian tradition, they were excavated more than a century ago, by a company of Spaniards from Florida. They are said to have worked there for two or three summers, to have obtained a white metal, and prospered greatly in their mining operations, until the Cherokees, finding that if it became generally known that there were valuable mines in their country, the cupidity of the white men would expel them from it, determined in solemn council to destroy the whole party, and that in obedience to that decree no one of the adventurous strangers was allowed to return to the country whence they came. Though this story accords very well with the Indian laws which condemned to death those who disclosed the existence of mines to white men, yet I do not regard it as entitled too much credit.
Talc has been mined in Cherokee County since at least the 1850s .
By 1000 AD the Cherokee had moved into the area settling into a series of evolving towns that came to be known as the Valley Towns. During the Pisgah phase
of the Cherokee (1000 to 1500) the Valley River was known first as the “Gunahita” or “Long River” to the Cherokee, then later as “Konehetee” or Valley River. The Valley River, along with the Hiwassee River was the location of the Valley Towns, one of six (6) subsets of the Cherokee nation identified by the South Carolina
British
by 1700. The Cherokee towns of Conoske, Tomatly, Little Telliquo and Nayowee were all located along the Valley River.
The confluence of the Valley and Hiwassee Rivers was called Tlanusi’yi, ‘The Leech Place’ by the Cherokee, and was home to a legendary giant leech that ate the ears and noses of its Cherokee victims.
Juan Pardo
followed in 1567 traversing the area on the way to building a fort on the Catawba River near Charlotte, NC
The first permanent settlement of Europeans in the area was a Baptist missionary outpost near Peachtree, NC on the Hiwassee River in 1817.
The Valley River saw a succession of administrative and political changes as the counties of western North Carolina were formed and subdivided. In 1753 the Valley River was part of the as yet surveyed western end of Anson County, NC. Jacques Nicolas Bellin's Map of Carolina and Georgia of 1757 shows but does not label the Valley River. The Map of Georgia and Carolina by Bellin shows the Valley Towns of Euforsee, Comastee, Little Telliquo, Cotocanahuy, Nayowee, Tomatly, and Chewohe http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gamaps/ga1757map.htm
In 1768 the Valley River became part of Tryon County, NC. In 1779 the Valley River became part of Rutherford Co., NC. In 1791 the Valley River became a part of Buncombe County, NC. In 1808 Haywood County, NC, which was to contain the Valley River, was carved from Buncombe County. In 1828, Macon County, NC which was to contain the Valley River was carved from Haywood County. Until 1835, the lands around the Valley River all belonged to the Cherokee.
The 1835 Treaty of Echota ceded the land to the state of North Carolina
. Beginning in 1838 at Fort Butler, the Cherokee were marshaled for removal to Oklahoma
. The Cherokee were forcibly removed on the order of President Andrew Jackson
, despite a ruling in favor of the Cherokee by the US Supreme Court. The march would be known as the Trail of Tears
. In 1839, Cherokee County, NC, which now contains the Valley River, was constituted from Haywood County and a land lottery was held, opening the land to permanent European settlement.
The town of Murphy, at the confluence of the Valley and Hiwassee Rivers was founded in 1835. The town of Andrews was founded on the Valley River in 1890 as the railroad moved up the valley. The town of Marble founding date is uncertain, as is Rhodo and Topton, the other two communities along the Valley River.
for locals and tourists alike.
The State of North Carolina has identified nine tributaries of the Valley River as having some form of impairment, including the entire Valley River between Gipp Creek and Hiwassee Lake. Most of the impairments are minor and result from runoff from pasture or impervious surfaces.
US 19 traverses the Valley River valley providing panoramic views from the Unicoi to the Snowbird Mountains. Historic sections of Murphy and Andrews have been restored and bring some tourism to the area, as does a large flea market
, and the recreational opportunities provided by the Hiwassee Lake.
Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in northern Georgia and flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee...
that begins as a pair of springs in the Snowbird Mountains of Cherokee County, NC and descends 2,960 ft (902 m) in elevation in approximately forty miles (64.3 km) to enter the Hiwassee embayment at Murphy, NC. The Valley River flows generally southwest, roughly paralleling US 19 between Topton, NC, and Murphy, NC having a total watershed of 120 m2 (11.15km2)
Geology
The Valley River’s origin dates thousands to the uplifting of the Appalachian chain during the Paleozoic Era, Devonian Period, in an event known as the Alleghenian orogenyAlleghenian orogeny
The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....
. Earlier in the Paleozoic the area was the site of shallow seas which resulted in large limestone deposits. The Alleghenian orogeny caused both uplift and the metamorphism of rock at the highest pressure points within the various Appalachian mountain chains. The Snowbird and Unicoi Mountains which border the Valley River contain silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, brown iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore in minable quantities. The erosion of the mountains over a 480 million year period allowed the Valley River to carve a broad flat valley with rich fertile soil.
Marble, NC is the site of high quality of white, gray, pink and blue marble which was discovered almost immediately after the removal of the Cherokee in 1838-1839 and has been quarried intermittently ever since.
Near Rhodo, NC is Silvermine Creek, said to be the location of a small silver deposit. Silvermine Creek is a tributary of the Valley River. Silvermine may derive its name from the following story:
In the counties west of the Blue Ridge, there has been as yet no exploration to any depth beneath the surface of the ground, with perhaps the single exception of the old excavations in the county of Cherokee. According to the most commonly received Indian tradition, they were excavated more than a century ago, by a company of Spaniards from Florida. They are said to have worked there for two or three summers, to have obtained a white metal, and prospered greatly in their mining operations, until the Cherokees, finding that if it became generally known that there were valuable mines in their country, the cupidity of the white men would expel them from it, determined in solemn council to destroy the whole party, and that in obedience to that decree no one of the adventurous strangers was allowed to return to the country whence they came. Though this story accords very well with the Indian laws which condemned to death those who disclosed the existence of mines to white men, yet I do not regard it as entitled too much credit.
Talc has been mined in Cherokee County since at least the 1850s .
Indigenous Settlement
The settlement of the area by indigenous people occurred between 8000 and 1000 BC. Two miles (3.2 km) east of the terminus of the Valley River in Murphy, NC lies the Peachtree Mound, an Archaic Indian Mound excavated by the Smithsonian in 1933. A second mound, the Andrews Mound is located on private property on the Valley River near Andrews, NC. The Andrews Mound is believed to be of the Qualla Phase (1500 to 1850) of the Cherokee.By 1000 AD the Cherokee had moved into the area settling into a series of evolving towns that came to be known as the Valley Towns. During the Pisgah phase
Pisgah Phase
The Pisgah Phase is an archaeological phase of the South Appalachian Mississippian culture in parts of Northeastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Northwestern South Carolina.-Location:...
of the Cherokee (1000 to 1500) the Valley River was known first as the “Gunahita” or “Long River” to the Cherokee, then later as “Konehetee” or Valley River. The Valley River, along with the Hiwassee River was the location of the Valley Towns, one of six (6) subsets of the Cherokee nation identified by the South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by 1700. The Cherokee towns of Conoske, Tomatly, Little Telliquo and Nayowee were all located along the Valley River.
The confluence of the Valley and Hiwassee Rivers was called Tlanusi’yi, ‘The Leech Place’ by the Cherokee, and was home to a legendary giant leech that ate the ears and noses of its Cherokee victims.
European Settlement
Hernando De Soto was the first European to enter the area on May 25 to 30, 1540. De Soto’s march paralleled the Valley River on an old Indian trail (today US 19) from the Cherokee town of Xuala (modern Tryon, SC) to the Cherokee town of Gauxule (modern Asheville, NC) . Though no clear record exists, De Soto probably passed near the Cherokee Valley Towns of Conoske, Tomatly, Little Telliquo and Nayowee.Juan Pardo
Juan Pardo (explorer)
Juan Pardo was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was active in the later half of the sixteenth century. He led a Spanish expedition through what is now North and South Carolina and into eastern Tennessee. He established Fort San Felipe, South Carolina , and the village of Santa Elena on...
followed in 1567 traversing the area on the way to building a fort on the Catawba River near Charlotte, NC
The first permanent settlement of Europeans in the area was a Baptist missionary outpost near Peachtree, NC on the Hiwassee River in 1817.
The Valley River saw a succession of administrative and political changes as the counties of western North Carolina were formed and subdivided. In 1753 the Valley River was part of the as yet surveyed western end of Anson County, NC. Jacques Nicolas Bellin's Map of Carolina and Georgia of 1757 shows but does not label the Valley River. The Map of Georgia and Carolina by Bellin shows the Valley Towns of Euforsee, Comastee, Little Telliquo, Cotocanahuy, Nayowee, Tomatly, and Chewohe http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gamaps/ga1757map.htm
In 1768 the Valley River became part of Tryon County, NC. In 1779 the Valley River became part of Rutherford Co., NC. In 1791 the Valley River became a part of Buncombe County, NC. In 1808 Haywood County, NC, which was to contain the Valley River, was carved from Buncombe County. In 1828, Macon County, NC which was to contain the Valley River was carved from Haywood County. Until 1835, the lands around the Valley River all belonged to the Cherokee.
The 1835 Treaty of Echota ceded the land to the state 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...
. Beginning in 1838 at Fort Butler, the Cherokee were marshaled for removal to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The Cherokee were forcibly removed on the order of President Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, despite a ruling in favor of the Cherokee by the US Supreme Court. The march would be known as the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
. In 1839, Cherokee County, NC, which now contains the Valley River, was constituted from Haywood County and a land lottery was held, opening the land to permanent European settlement.
The town of Murphy, at the confluence of the Valley and Hiwassee Rivers was founded in 1835. The town of Andrews was founded on the Valley River in 1890 as the railroad moved up the valley. The town of Marble founding date is uncertain, as is Rhodo and Topton, the other two communities along the Valley River.
The Valley River Today
The Valley Rivers winds through a pastoral scene in an area that remains largely rural and agricultural. The lower reaches are navigable in a canoe but there is little activity on the river beyond fishing. At Murphy, the Konehette (“valley” in Cherokee) Park borders the Valley River, providing a greenwayGreenway (landscape)
A greenway is a long, narrow piece of land, often used for recreation and pedestrian and bicycle user traffic, and sometimes for streetcar, light rail or retail uses.- Terminology :...
for locals and tourists alike.
The State of North Carolina has identified nine tributaries of the Valley River as having some form of impairment, including the entire Valley River between Gipp Creek and Hiwassee Lake. Most of the impairments are minor and result from runoff from pasture or impervious surfaces.
US 19 traverses the Valley River valley providing panoramic views from the Unicoi to the Snowbird Mountains. Historic sections of Murphy and Andrews have been restored and bring some tourism to the area, as does a large flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
, and the recreational opportunities provided by the Hiwassee Lake.