Originally published in the "Bicentennial Bites" article series by Billie R. McNamara in The Standard-Banner in celebration of Tennessee's 200th statehood anniversary (1996).
Do you find it difficult to believe that remnants of a great civilization may lie buried beneath your hayfield, your neighbor's house, your school, or the shopping center where you regularly buy groceries? For those who live in Jefferson County, the odds are very good that this is true. Why? Many anthropologists (scientists who study ancient cultures) believe that Chiaha, an important prehistoric Native American village, was located on Zimmerman's Island in the French Broad River, near present-day Dandridge. Spanish explorers, travelling through present-day Jefferson County in the 16th Century, found several villages located near the French Broad and Holston Rivers.
When he crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1540, Hernando de Soto followed the French Broad River into Tennessee. There, he found the chiefdom of the Chiaha. One of the more important place names in the Creek language, "Chiaha" is still used today. The Chiaha were ruled by a large and very powerful chiefdom, Coosa, based about 200 miles away in present-day Georgia. Another group, known as the Chiscas, lived a few miles north of Chiaha, probably on the Nolichucky River. Their settlement may have been the one destroyed in 1567 by an advance guard travelling with Spanish explorer Juan Pardo -- more than 1,500 Indians were killed. These same Spaniards also visited Chiaha, but it was spared.
The Spanish soldiers found the town guarded by a strong palisade, square towers, and numerous warriors. No women or children were in the town. After exploring the region several days, the Spaniards built a fort on the island and awaited Juan Pardo's arrival. In October, 1567, Juan Pardo visited the chief town of Chiaha, known as Olamico (also spelled "Olameco, "Lameco," and "Solameco" by Spanish chroniclers).
While some anthropologists believe Chiaha was near present-day Chattanooga, Professor Charles Hudson (University of Georgia) and others have done extensive research and make a compelling argument for the location of Chiaha's main town on Zimmerman's Island. Although Zimmerman's Island is now under Douglas Lake, photos of it give clear indications that it matched the descriptions of Chiaha written by Spaniards more than 400 years ago. One, known as "the Gentleman of Elvas," wrote this when he accompanied de Soto to Chiaha in 1540:
The town [Olamico] was isolated between the two arms of a river, and seated near one of them. Above it, at a distance of two crossbow shots, the water divided, and united a league below. The vale between, from side to side, was the width of a crossbow shot and in others two. The branches were very wide, and both were fordable: along their shores were very rich meadow-lands having many maize-fields.
The people of Chiaha were a band of Muskogean speakers, known as Coasati. Like the main town, the leader of the Chiaha was called "Olamico." A 30-foot-high mound, one of the largest ever found in East Tennessee, was located about 600 yards from the upper end of Zimmerman's Island. Most likely, Olamico was built around the mound. The Spaniards had high praise for the land near Chiaha: it was rich and broad, surrounded by beautiful rivers, where grapevines and persimmon trees grew in abundance. There were many small towns, just a few miles apart. They called the area tierra de angeles -- "a land of angels." Jefferson Countians would heartily agree!
Vast numbers of early Indians travelled throughout Jefferson County's current boundaries on their way to and from Chiaha. We may never know everything about them. Before Douglas Dam closed approximately 50 years ago, TVA sponsored archaeological excavations on Fain's Island and Zimmerman's Island. Because of time restrictions, Fain's Island was studied more thoroughly than Zimmerman's. No report was ever written about the findings, but the raw data and photographs have been preserved at the University of Tennessee. Perhaps, someday, funds will be available at a time when Douglas Lake is low enough to allow further research on Zimmerman's Island. Until then, there can be no absolute proof that the great Chiaha settlement was located here.
Two books are recommended for learning more about Chiaha and its neighbors (high school-to-adult reading level):
- Hudson, Charles, and Tesser, Carmen Chaves, eds. The Forgotten Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the American South, 1521-1704. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1994.
- Hudson, Charles. The Juan Pardo Expeditions: Explorations of the Carolinas and Tennessee, 1566-1568. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.
