upper Tennessee River. The numerous Cherokee towns in this area were recorded by British colonist Henry Timberlake during his 1761-1762 Expedition to the Overhill region. He created a highly detailed map, "Draught of the Cherokee Country" (see on this page), and a memoir recording many details of the chiefs and the populations of the towns. After continuing conflicts during the American Revolutionary War, the United States moved to enforce Indian Removal of most of the Cherokee and other Southeast tribes by the late 1830s to Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River. European Americans settled in much of the area, initially cultivating it for agriculture. In the early 20th century, the Tellico River basin was logged by the Babcock Lumber Company. The present-day road along the Tellico River from Tellico Plains was built on the old Babcock logging railroad bed. After cutting most of the standing Tellico River basin forests, Babock sold the land to the United States Forest Service. 21st century uses The Tellico River's rocky descent provides class III-IV whitewater recreation. The runs are especially popular during the spring because of higher water levels. The narrow extreme rapids on the Tellico River are well suited for kayaks, canoes, C1s and duckies, but not for larger rafts (although rafts can and do run the section from just above Baby Falls to the bridge below Jared's Knee, but usually in late winter/early spring or during periods of very high water; Baby Falls was first ran by a raft in the early 1990s). While there is continuous access to the river from the road, these runs are popular: Trout Hatchery to Bridge above the Bald River confluence, class II-III The Ledges - from the Bridge above the Bald River confluence to bridge below Jared's Knee, class III-IV Bridge below Jared's Knee to Ranger Station, class II-III Ranger Station to Tellico Plains, class I-III Etymology According to the United States Geological Survey, variant names of the Tellico River include Delaquay River, Talequo River, Terrique River, and Tellequo River. The latter spelling was used by Henry Timberlake on his map, "Draught of the Cherokee Country", based on his 1761-1762 Timberlake Expedition to the Overhill Cherokee. The word "Tellico" was the name of several Cherokee towns, the largest of which was Great Tellico, located on the Tellico River near what developed as present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee. In Cherokee the word is more properly written