Before the 1800s , the Chickamauga-Cherokee settled around Chickamauga Creek , where they farmed and hunted the lands . They stayed there until their forced exodus during the Trail of Tears ( 1838 ) . In the early to mid-19th century , the present town of Chickamauga was a large plantation in the rolling hills of north Georgia . When the Cherokee Nation was divided into districts and courts in 1820 , Crawfish Springs was made the capital of the new Chickamauga District . After the Cherokee removal , the first court in Walker County was held there in the former Cherokee courthouse . The local post office was Crawfish Springs
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Chickamauga, Georgia