The county was traversed by a road built upon a traditional Cherokee trading path , which ran north to south through the county , passing through Unicoi Gap . It served as a line between European-American settlers and the Cherokee until after the Indian cessions and Indian Removal in the 1830s , when it fell solely into the hands of the whites . When the Cherokee were expelled by US forces from their villages , they were forced temporarily into " removal forts . " One had been constructed in what is now Hiawassee , the county seat . They were forced to travel what is known as the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River , a journey during which many Cherokee died
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Towns County, Georgia