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The area known as "Nickajack" generally refers to the ruggedAppalachian foothills inEast Tennessee and northeasternAlabama. "Nickajack" is a corruption of theCherokee wordᎠᏂ ᎫᏌᏘ Ᏹ (Ani-Kusati-yi), which translates toCoosa Town. But it more likely referencesKoasati Town.[1]
In the late 18th century during thecolonial war with the Chickamauga, the area was inhabited byChickamauga Cherokee andMuscogee-Creek warriors residing in the "Five Lower Towns" on theTennessee River (near present-dayChattanooga). The warriors were mostlyCherokee men, led byDragging Canoe. Small groups ofShawnee and Creek lived and fought with them, in addition to occasional bands of Muskogee, who also served as allies.[2]
Renegade whites, white traders; Spanish, French, and British agents; and refugee enslaved African Americans also inhabited the area.[2]
After those wars, the settlement ofNickajack soon eclipsed the neighboring town of Running Water (Dragging Canoe's seat of operations) as the dominant town in the immediate area. It was strategically positioned near where the "Federal Road", running fromAthens toNashville, crossed over theTennessee River.[2]
Turtle-at-Home (a brother of Dragging Canoe) was a prominent resident because he owned the ferry at that crossing and had other commercial interests. In addition, Turtle-at-Home was on the council of the Lower Towns, and served as speaker of theCherokee National Council.[2]
Nickajack Cave, formerly calledTecallassee, near the site of the former town, may have been used as a hideout and cache by the Chickamauga Cherokee.
During the Civil War, its deposits ofbat guano were mined byConfederate forces. The cave became one of the leading sources ofsaltpeter for theConfederate Powderworks atAugusta, Georgia.[3] The road used to transport the material was known as the "Nickajack Trail".
TheNickajack region was a loosely defined region ofNorth Alabama andEast Tennessee where public sentiment adhered more strongly to theUnion. In the periodleading up to theAmerican Civil War, there had been increasing talk ofsecession by politicians representing the interests of wealthyplanters who had large cotton plantations in theBlack Belt. This area stretched across central and southern Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
Citizens in the more mountainous regions of North Alabama and East Tennessee, whereslave ownership was less common, often favored the Union. Many believed, as some said at the time, that rebellion would become "a war for the rich, fought by the poor." People discussed that if Tennessee and Alabama attempted to secede from the Union, the adjacent territories of East Tennessee and North Alabama should secede from their respective states. They should form a new state to be called Nickajack and stay with the Union, joined at the southeast corner of Kentucky.[4] Nothing came of the idea, althoughWinston County, Alabama discussed secession. The area's reputation as the Free State of Winston persists;Harper Lee mentioned it in her bestselling novelTo Kill a Mockingbird.
On January 7, 1861, Alabama GovernorAndrew B. Moore called delegates from Alabama toMontgomery for a convention to debate theArticles of Secession. Delegates from South Alabama wanted the convention delegates to determine the vote, while northern delegates wanted the issue put to a popular vote. Because theapportionment of delegates to the convention was based on total population (including slaves), the Southern delegates effectively voted "on behalf" of enslavedAfrican-Americans, who made up a large proportion of the population in the region. The results of the poll determined that the balance of power would shift to the North, where the population was mostly white.[citation needed]
Ultimately, the AlabamaOrdinance of Secession was passed by a vote of 61 to 39, split along geographic lines. In addition to Nickajack,Winston County, Alabama, threatened to form its ownFree State of Winston. These threats of internal separation never materialized, but men in the region fiercely resisted conscription into theConfederate Army. Many joined theUnion Army.[citation needed]