Cowee', properly Kawi'yi, abbreviated Kawi', was the name of two
Cherokee settlements, one of which existed in 1755 on a branch
of Keowee river, in upper South Carolina, while the other and more
important was on Little Tennessee river, at the mouth of Cowee creek,
about 10 miles below the present Franklin, in North Carolina. It was
destroyed by the Americans in 1876, when it contained about a hundred
houses, but was rebuilt and continued to be occupied until the cession
of 1819. The name can not be translated, but may possibly mean "the
place of the Deer clan" (Ani'-Kawi'). It was one of the oldest and
largest of the Cherokee towns, and when Wafford visited it as a boy
he found the trail leading to it worn so deep in places that, although
on horseback, he could touch the ground with his feet on each side.
There is a story, told by Wafford as a fact, of a Shawano who had
been a prisoner there, but had escaped to his people in the north,
and after the peace between the two tribes wandered back into the
neighborhood on a hunting trip. While standing on a hill overlooking
the valley he saw several Cherokee on an opposite hill, and called
out to them, "Do you still own Cowee?" They shouted in reply, "Yes;
we own it yet." Back came the answer from the Shawano, who wanted to
encourage them not to sell any more of their lands, "Well, it's the
best town of the Cherokee. It's a good country; hold on to it."