Blood Mountain, Elevation 4458 Ft
Union County, Union County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Blood Mountain, Elevation 4458 Ft. - Chattahoochee National Forest. In Cherokee mythology the mountain was one of the homes of the Nunnehi or Immortals, the "People Who Live Anywhere," a race of Spirit People who lived in great townhouses in the highlands of the old Cherokee Country. One of these mythical townhouses stood near Lake Trahlyta. As a friendly people they often brought lost hunters and wanderers to their townhouses for rest and care before guiding them back to their homes. Before the coming of white settlers, the Creeks and Cherokees fought a disastrous and bloody battle in Slaughter Gap between Slaughter and Blood Mountains. 144-3 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1958
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Rising 4,458 feet in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Blood Mountain held deep meaning in Cherokee tradition as a home of the Nunnehi, the immortal "People Who Live Anywhere" who sheltered lost travelers in their highland townhouses. Cherokee lore also recalls a fierce battle between Creeks and Cherokees in nearby Slaughter Gap, said to have stained the ground before European settlers arrived.
Why it matters
The mountain preserves the spiritual geography and inter-nation history of the Cherokee homeland, a landscape of story long predating white settlement.
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Themes & tags
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