The Legend of Issaqueena Falls

 

Did you hear of a legend about a woman who rode 96 miles to warn her lover of a surprise attack upon his town? How about the legend of a woman who leapt nearly 100 feet from a waterfall—and lived? Join us for today’s episode on the legend of Issaqueena.  

 

Let’s get cracklin’, shall we?

 

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Many families, day trippers, and novice hikers make their way to view the Stumphouse Tunnel and beautiful Issaqueena Falls located on Cane Creek near Walhalla, South Carolina, close to where Georgia, North, and South Carolina all meet. Visitors can park at the Stumphouse Tunnel, walk in and view the uncompleted tunnel (be sure to bring your muck boots and flashlights—it’s dark and wet!), and can then picnic or hike down an easy 0.3 mile trail to view the gorgeous Issaqueena Falls. 

 

The Stumphouse Tunnel is the result of many failed attempts to connect a simpler railroad route  from Charleston, South Carolina, to the nation’s interior through the formidable Stumphouse Mountain. Legend states that Stumphouse Mountain received its name from moonshiners who hid and dropped off their illegal wares inside tree stumps, or was named after stories from the Cherokee Native Americans, namely a story involving a Native American maiden, Issaqueena or Cateechee, and her lover, whom we’ll talk about today. 

 

Sources for today’s story are: Many! As always, refer to the episode show notes at www.talesfromthehearth.com for links to all of the resources for today’s episode.

 

A primary resource for this episode is a long poem entitled Cateechee of Keowee by Abbeville, South Carolina, minister Dr. James Walter Daniel, published in 1898. Please note that this source is the most popular version of the legend in South Carolina, but is a highly romanticized and anglicized tale. 

 

A great resource that gives historical facts behind the legends is Cherokee Myths and Legends: Thirty Tales Retold by Terry L. Norton.

 

Another resource is a book entitled Forgotten Tales of South Carolina by Sherman Carmichael.

 

You can view many photos and links to information about Issaqueena, Issaqueena Falls, the Stumphouse Tunnel, Ninety Six, and other tidbits from today on our Pinterest board located at https://www.pinterest.com/TalesfromtheHearth/Issaqueena.

 

The One Takeaway I hope you get from this story is: Don’t believe everything you hear.

 

Now, I hope you enjoy the Legend of Issaqueena.

 

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The Stumphouse Tunnel is located off of Stumphouse Tunnel Road near Walhalla and Mountain Rest, South Carolina.  It is 25 feet high, 17 feet wide, and stretches 1,617 feet long into the face of Stumphouse Mountain, and is the result of many failed attempts to make a railway tunnel through the mountain. Work on the tunnel first started in 1856, and continued off and on well into the 1940s until the challenging work was finally abandoned.

 

After the final failed attempt, a professor in the dairy department at nearby Clemson University (known as Clemson A&M College at the time) proposed using the tunnel to cure blue cheese, due to its stable and ideal temperature and humidity properties. It wasn’t until 1951 that Clemson purchased the tunnel and used it to develop the South’s very first blue cheese. Shortly thereafter, in the 1970s, it was designated a local historic landmark and conservation area, with picnic tables and trails added for the public. Clemson University no longer cures cheese in the tunnel, but you can view some brown bats and—according to some—ghosts. 

 

It is rumored that at least ten workers died during the dynamiting and construction of the Stumphouse Tunnel, and there are unexplained paranormal activities as a result. Stumphouse Mountain is also reported to be a sacred place for the Cherokee tribe and is the resting place of many of its people, who are no longer “at rest” due to the many attempts to tunnel through the mountain, repeatedly disrupting the countryside and disturbing the rest of any resident spirits.

 

If you visit the Stumphouse Tunnel, make time for an easy 15-minute there-and-back hike (on a well-traveled and maintained trail) down to view the Issaqueena Falls. They are named after the Native American woman who jumped off of them. I do not recommend anyone jump off of them—they are nearly 100 feet tall, and people have died by slipping off the edge. 

 

The primary resource for many of the legends is the long poem Cateechee of Keowee by J.W. Daniels that was published in 1898. This version of the tale is considered to be a combination of previously published stories and legends combining Issaqueena and Cateechee. 

 

All of the legends differ slightly in their renditions but agree on the detail that although Issaqueena was a Native American, she was not a member of the Cherokee tribe. The consensus is that she lived with the Cherokees but may have been a slave or an adopted daughter. She may have been Choctaw, because according to linguists, the name “Issaqueena” is very close to the Choctaw word “isi-okhina” that translates to “deer creek.” Issaqueena is her Choctaw or true name, while Cateechee or Kitichee is considered to be her name while living with the Cherokee. For the purposes and clarity of this telling, we will use Cateechee primarily as her name, as it is commonly used in the references themselves.

 

In Cateechee of Keowee by Reverend Daniel, Captain James Francis and his sons, Allan and Henry, created a trading post with the Cherokee in 1750 in the area of today’s town of Ninety Six, located in Greenwood County, South Carolina. The town and area was then known as Cambridge. Allan, one of the Captain’s sons, fell in love with a beautiful Choctaw slave named Cateechee. She was a slave to the Cherokee Chief Kuruga, and there was nothing to be done but to conduct their romance in secret. 

 

Cateechee learned that Chief Kuruga planned to attack the Ninety Six post and harm all within it—including her lover and his family. She found the fastest horse available and escaped from her town in Keowee, South Carolina, and rode all the way to the trading post to warn them of the impending attack. Along the 96 mile journey, she named the creeks and landmarks that crossed her path—Mile Creek, Six Mile Creek, Twelve Mile River, Eighteen Mile Creek, Three and Twenty Creek, Six and Twenty Creek, and then finally—the post at Ninety Six. All of these areas are still named as such today in honor of Cateechee (or Issaqueena, as she is commonly known in the area). 

 

The settlers were able to prepare and ward off the attack due to Cateechee’s bravery, and she and her lover, Allan Francis, were able to marry. Their happiness would not last long, however, as Chief Kuruga’s memory was long—and his retribution swift. He kidnapped the two lovers and kept them as slaves for two long years, but saw to it that Allan Francis learned the ways of the Cherokee warriors. Finally, Cateechee and Allan (with their new baby) made their escape and attempted to head west towards the mountains, as opposed to the east towards Ninety Six. They found a makeshift shelter in a hollow stump near the location of today’s Stumphouse Mountain. They were pursued, however, and were split up when Allan was able to hide at the bottom of the falls, where he waited with his canoe. Cateechee and the baby dodged arrows and outran the Cherokee warriors until they were backed up against the edge of the falls with nowhere else to go. To the warriors’ astonishment, Cateechee leapt over the edge of the falls—nearly a 100-foot drop—and presumably to her certain death. When the warriors left, Allan cried out for Cateechee. She and the baby emerged from a ledge behind the falls and made their getaway with Allan back to the town of Cambridge (now known as Ninety Six). They all lived happily ever after. 

 

This legend takes place during the very real Anglo-Cherokee War that occurred in the Carolinas and Tennessee from 1758-1761. This was a series of skirmishes between the Cherokee and British, who had previously been allies against the French during the French and Indian War. 

 

According to substantiated facts, the trading post at Ninety Six, guarded by Captain James Francis, warded off two attacks by Native Americans in February and March of 1760. Captain Francis sent a message to local leaders that a Cherokee woman had warned them in advance of the attack. In Reverend Daniel’s popular story, the real Captain James Francis is incorporated into the story by having his son, Allan, fall in love with the woman who saved the fort.  

 

However, also according to history, Cateechee could not have named these places in 1760 because they were already documented on maps by George Hunter as early as 1730. The landmarks of Mile Creek, Six Mile town (and mountain), Twelve Mile River, Eighteen Mile Creek, Three and Twenty Creek, Six and Twenty Creek, and Ninety Six were supposedly named for their proximity from the area of a trading post (perhaps the same post as the Cherokee settlement of Keowee that was located near present-day Clemson University) and later location of Fort Prince George. Fort Prince George wasn’t built until 1753, however, was abandoned by 1768, and was lost for good when the entire area was flooded to build Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station in 1968. Both the fort and the Cherokee town of Keowee are now submerged under man-made lakes. So although it’s still unclear how the numbering landmarks were named exactly, it seems unlikely that Issaqueena (or Cateechee) originated the naming during her legendary ride. 

 

There is, however, no record that Allan Francis, Cateechee/Issaqueena or Chief Kuruga existed. Reverend Daniel’s popular legend of Cateechee/Issaqueena is considered to be just that—a work of fiction.

 

Other versions of the story introduced Issaqueena’s lover as a silversmith named David Francis, who took shelter with Issaqueena in a hollow tree near the present-day Stumphouse Mountain to escape the Cherokee after her “betrayal.” After leaping off of the falls, Issaqueena and David relocated together to Alabama. Yet another version had Issaqueena and Francis living together as outcasts in a log cabin built on top of stumps on the site of present-day Stumphouse Mountain, and thus originating the name “Stumphouse Mountain.”  

 

Whenever I’ve visited Issaqueena falls, I’ve seen one or two poisonous copperheads lurking at the bottom. They are always facing the falls and swimming against the flow of the creek, so I’d like to think that they embody the spirits of the Cherokee who pursued Issaqueena and Francis, still waiting in vain to claim her body from the falls.  

 

So it appears that the legend may have just been a great story based upon the fact that a Cherokee woman had warned the residents of the Ninety Six fort of an impending attack. If this tale is taken as historical fiction, I love the idea of making it a love story built around a very real woman who saved lives. Although it is an interesting and inspiring story, this particular tale is problematic in its cultural appropriations and misrepresentations of the Cherokee and all Native Americans. Nonetheless, it is a part of local folklore and should not be forgotten.

 

That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed today’s story about the Legend of Issaqueena.