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Cherokee Agency
Broadway St.
Charleston
Directions: I-75 Exit 33. Proceed on TN 308/
Lauderdate Memorial Hwy toward
Charleston. Go 3 miles and turn left on U.S. 11. Go 1.3 miles and turnright on Cass St. Travel a short distance, then left on
Broadway St.
Established around 1820-1821, the Cherokee Agency was located just south of the
Hiwassee
River at the present-day site of
Charleston. It was the third and final location of the Cherokee Agency on the
Hiwassee
River. This Federal Government office served as a headquarters’ for day-to-day operations with the Cherokee Nation. All travelers wishing to pass through Cherokee territory, and all businessmen wishing to trade with the Cherokee, were required to stop and apply for a permit before entering Cherokee territory.
Story of interest
Fort
Cass - Just west of the Cherokee Agency office – a four mile stretch -- was
Fort
Cass. The fort served as the headquarters of the U.S. Army in the Cherokee Nation from 1836-1838. It is best known for the period of the forced removal when Major General Winfield Scott commanded the Army of the Cherokee Nation from May-November 1838. The majority of the 2,200 federal troops involved in
the removal were stationed in and around
Fort
Cass including the First and Second Artillery Regiments, the Fourth Infantry Regiment, and six companies of Dragoons attached to the Fourth Infantry and a battalion of U.S. Marines. Other federal and state units including the Fourth Artillery stationed at Fort Butler, North Carolina, the Third Artillery stationed at Ross’s Landing, and the First and
Second
Tennessee militia regiments occasionally brought Cherokee prisoners to
Fort
Cass during the round–up from June through October 1838. Around Fort Cass and to the south in an area 12 miles long and four miles wide the U.S. Army detained nearly 15,000 thousand Cherokee in open camps during the summer of 1838.
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