The History of Lake Keowee
In 1971 Duke Power constructed Lake Keowee for the possibilities of hydroelectric power. Keowee is an important form of power for the northwestern part of South Carolina. It was the first lake that was developed as part of the Keowee-Toxaway Complex. This complex includes Jocassee, Bad Creek and Keowee hydroelectric stations.
Under this lake is the site of the capital of the lower Cherokee. The village of Keowee consisted of a population of 1721. There was 168 men, 155 women, and 127 children. The people of this village held social events and town meetings in in a council house. It was a domed house and these types were usually built with large timbers and could hold hundreds of people. The other houses that were uses as living quarters were smaller were not found close to the council house, but farther away. Most of the time the center of the Cherokee villages were elevated on higher ground because there were chances of flooding. The smaller houses, which usually only contained one family, were made of a series of upright posts, clay and thatch. The South Carolina Governor, James Glen, began the construction of Fort Prince George in 1753 to keep the Lower Cherokees safe from the French. They Built it across river from the town of Keowee. He protected them so he would later be able to trade with them.
There were extensive archaeological excavations of the fort in the 18 month period before Keowee was flooded as part of the Keowee-Toxaway project. The fort included numerous buildings, a palisade, an earthen wall and a dried out mote, all of the fort was excavated except the mote, which had a little bit of excavation was done, but this area was sampled. During that project the members of the archaeological team found three skeletons that were thought to be Indians. These three skeletons provided a historical base for an incident that happened at the fort during the first war against the Cherokee in 1760. There were 22 Indians that were detained as hostages, soldiers killed the remaining fourteen, three escaped and the other five died.