The Cherokee uprising

In 1730, a group of seven Cherokee, led by Chief Attakullakulla, traveled to London to meet with King George II to sign a treaty that would provide the Cherokee with weapons and ammunition. In exchange, the Cherokee agreed to trade exclusively with the English, not the French or Spanish, and vowed that King George’s enemies were also the enemy of the Cherokee.

By 1753, the Cherokee had become increasingly anxious over the growing French presence and their influence over their rivals, the Creeks and Choctaw. Chief Attakullakulla asked the British to build a fort to protect the trade route. Fort Prince George was constructed across the river from Keowee Town (place of the mulberry) and the fort protected the trade route from the mountains to Charleston, one of the richest in the territory.

The walls of the fort were made of pine logs 8 to 10 inches in diameter and sharpened on top. A sentry tower stood at each of the four corners with a swivel cannon in each. Log barracks could house more than 120 men. A storeroom was built to stockpile ammunition.

The Cherokee Uprising was an offshoot of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Tensions had been escalating between the Cherokee (who were firmly allied with the British) and the settlers. A group of Cherokee, returning from a battle with the French, got into a “disagreement” with some settlers over some horses, and twenty Cherokee were killed. The Cherokee retaliated by killing 23 settlers at Long Cane Creek. Rebecca Calhoun, 14, escaped into the canebrake and watched in horror as her grandmother, Catherine Calhoun, was killed. Catherine was the grandmother of John C. Calhoun. Rebecca would later fall in love and marry Andrew Pickens.

Several Cherokee hostages were being held at Fort Prince George when Chief Oconostota offered the British soldiers safe passage out of Fort Prince George if they released the Cherokee hostages, but, once the soldiers were outside the fort, the Cherokee attacked — and the Cherokee hostages were killed by the soldiers.

In 1760, Gen. Amherst (New York) sent Col. Montgomery to South Carolina to take control of the situation. Montgomery’s militia attacked the Cherokee town of Eastatoe. The Cherokee retaliated and attacked Montgomery’s militia and further embarrassed them by chasing them out of South Carolina and into Georgia. Amherst then sent Col. James Grant to settle the Cherokee issue once and for all.

Among the officers in Grant’s unit were Andrew Pickens, Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox), and William Moultrie. They camped at Fort Prince George until given the order to cross the Keowee River into Cherokee territory.

On August 30, 1761, the Cherokee met at Fort Prince George and an informal peace treaty was established. Afterwards, Thomas Sumter escorted three Cherokee chiefs to London to meet with King George III to sign a formal peace treaty. On his return, Sumter captured a Canadian officer spreading French propaganda and took him to Fort Prince George.

Dennis Chastain, historian, noted that South Carolina history began long before the Revolutionary War. South Carolina’s colonial history was lost when Fort Prince George was submerged under Lake Keowee. “If the Cherokee had sided with the French instead of the British, we would all be wearing berets and eating croissants for breakfast,” he added.

The fort and trading outpost at Ninety-Six is a National Historic site. Fort Loudon in Tennessee was reconstructed in 1980 and has more than 200,000 visitors each year — Fort Prince George is submerged under 300 ft. of water in Lake Keowee.