The Jocassee Gorges area was once part of the Cherokee Nation homelands. It now lies beneath the surface of the lake, near the Toxaway River. Nearby Keowee Town was a major hub in the Cherokee Path that connected Cherokee towns and villages throughout the area. Early 18th-century traders worked with the Cherokee, and delivered as many as 200,000 deerskins annually to Charleston, South Carolina. They supplied the local Cherokee in trade with European firearms, ammunition, metal tools, and clothing.
