The origin of the word , Nottely , is not known for certain , but appears to be derived from the Hitchiti-Creek word '' Note-le '' , which means , " People on the Other Side . " In 1715 the Cherokees invited leaders of all the major Creek provinces to a diplomatic conference in the nearby town of Tugaloo , at the head of the Savannah River . All of the Creek leaders were murdered in their sleep . This act of treachery precipitated a 40-year-long war between the Creeks and the Cherokees . Initially , all the branches of the Creeks were involved , but only the Kowita branch fought the war continuously . By the 1750s , the Kowita Creeks alone had gained so much military prowess that they were consistently defeating the Cherokees in battle . One Creek war leader bragged that he had sent women and boys into battle , but still captured another Cherokee town . By 1755 the Kowita Creeks had destroyed all of the Cherokee towns and villages in the Nottely and Hiwassee Valleys . The 1755 John Mitchell Map labels the entire region " Deserted Cherokee settlement . " In 1763 the Cherokees lost all of their territory in North Carolina , east of the 80th longitude line , which runs through Murphy , NC . This was punishment for the Cherokees switching sides in the French and Indian War . The Creeks agreed to give back their recently regained lands in North Carolina and Georgia , in return for most of the land in Alabama , which had been taken from the French by the British . Some small Cherokee settlements such as Choestoe ( Rabbit ) and Chota ( Frog in Creek ) returned to the Nottely River Basin . In 1838 , the Cherokees were removed from Georgia and were forcibly deported to the Indian Territory ( Oklahoma . ) A historical marker near the Nottely River describes a massive battle in 1755 on Blood Mountain between the Cherokees and the Creeks , in which the Cherokees won all of northern Georgia . After the Cherokee Trail of Tears , the Nottely Basin slowly filled with settlers , many of whom were from Scotland or Ulster . The region was isolated from the remainder of the State of Georgia until the 1920s , when the first paved highways were constructed . Improved highway access during the early 21st century resulted in a population boom . Many of the new residents migrated from Florida in the aftermath of a series of severe hurricanes on the Gulf Coast . The Nottely River Basin is still farmed intensively . It is known for both sorghum syrup and several varieties of vegetables
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Nottely River