Fourth Stop: War Creek
Where CR-9/1 meets CR-12/4 (Berwind Lake Road), you have reached War Creek. On War Creek approximately 1.5 miles downstream from present-day Berwind Lake in the Wildlife Management Area of the same name, the Cherokees found an enemy war camp, recently abandoned.
This camp was located at the confluence of a right-hand tributary of War Creek upstream of the present-day village of Warriormine. It is in the geological rift which continues northwestward through a gap in a knife-edged mountain and along the Little Slate Creek valley. This spot was a crossroads of trails established in prehistoric times. The very abundant cultural artifacts that have been found here over the last two centuries bear witness to this fact.
Expedition Voices
Captain William Preston recorded the excitement that accompanied the discovery of a recently abandoned enemy camp at War Creek:
“Tuesday [2nd of March] a number of the Indians went out early to make what discoveries they could of ye Enemy. At about 10 oClock some of them returned & bespoke that they had seen a large camping place of ye Enemy where they had been about 3 days ago with many signs of horses which had been stolen by them.”
