Editing Bradley County, Tennessee (section)

==History==
[[File:Cleveland-tennessee-meleeny-bell1.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Meeleny Bell, located on the former Bradley County Courthouse from 1893 to 1963.]]
{{See also|Cleveland, Tennessee#History}}
Indigenous peoples occupied this territory, especially along the waterways, for thousands of years before European contact. The first Europeans to see this area were likely [[Hernando de Soto|Hernando De Soto]] and his expedition on June 2, 1540, while traveling through the Southeast interior of the North American continent.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=15-16}} They encountered peoples of the [[South Appalachian Mississippian culture]].

The historic [[Muscogee Creek]] and [[Yuchi]] occupied areas of what became Tennessee. The Yuchi town of Chestowee was located on the south bank of the lower [[Hiwassee River]]. They later moved from Tennessee into Georgia and South Carolina under pressure from the [[Cherokee]], who were rising to power in the region. Cherokee warriors from the Middle Towns destroyed Chestowee in 1714, encouraged by English [[fur trade]]rs from South Carolina. Archeological surveys suggest that Chestowee was located at what is known as the Rymer archeological site, identified in later studies as within the European-American J.P. Rymer farm.{{sfn|Corn|1959|p=4}}

The Cherokee became predominant in this area and referred to a large region in present-day Bradley County as ''[[Chatata]],'' meaning "clear water".{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=37}} The Yuchi, while speaking a different language, allied with the [[Muscogee Creek]] when moving into their territory in Georgia and Alabama.

In anticipation of forced removal of the Cherokee by treaty cession in this area north of the Hiwassee River, white settlers began to move here. In 1821, the Cherokee Agency, the official liaison between the U.S. Government and the Cherokee Nation, was moved to present-day [[Charleston, Tennessee]].{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=11}} Between 1832 and 1838, the Cherokee moved their capital to the Red Clay Council Grounds, on the southern border of Bradley County with Georgia; it served as the Cherokee capital and the last council grounds of the Cherokee Nation-East.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=12}} This property is now a state park, [[Red Clay State Park]].

The [[Cherokee Removal]] began after some of their leaders signed the [[Treaty of New Echota]], signed on December 29, 1835. The government had earlier tried to persuade them to move to Indian Territory; these leaders signed the treaty while trying to gain the best conditions for their people, as they believed it was inevitable.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=12}}

General [[Winfield Scott]] was directed to remove the Cherokee from the Southeast, and set up the headquarters at [[Fort Cass]] in Charleston.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=12}} Several internment camps were established in Bradley County in the valleys between Charleston and Cleveland, Tennessee, where the Cherokee were held in preparation for the journey westward. This became known as the [[Trail of Tears]].{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=12}} Two of the largest internment camps were located at [[Rattlesnake Springs]].<ref name=tfp>{{cite news|last=Higgins|first=Randall|date=August 24, 2011|title=Drive seeks $95,000 for historic Bradley site Rattlesnake Springs|url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/news/story/2011/aug/24/drive-seeks-95000-for-historic-bradley-site/57149/|work=[[Chattanooga Times Free Press]]|location=Chattanooga, Tennessee|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=February 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225014159/https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/news/story/2011/aug/24/drive-seeks-95000-for-historic-bradley-site/57149/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===European-American development of Bradley County===
Bradley County was established by the legislature on February 10, 1836.<ref name="goodspeed"/> It was named to honor [[Edward Bradley (colonel)|Colonel Edward Bradley]] who served in the [[War of 1812]].{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=17}} The first election in Bradley County took place on April 2, 1836.<ref name=hometown16>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Our Hometown 2016|url=http://clevelandbanner.com/stories/our-hometown-2016,39825|work=[[Cleveland Daily Banner]]|location=Cleveland, Tennessee|date=August 6, 2016|access-date=September 13, 2019}}</ref> On May 2, 1836, the location for the county seat of Cleveland was chosen.<ref name=goodspeed>"  [http://www.tngenweb.org/bradley/b_gdsp.htm Goodspeed's History of Bradley County, Tennessee]," published in 1887. Transcribed for web content and maintained by TNGenWeb - Bradley County. Retrieved: December 30, 2007.</ref> On January 20, 1838, Cleveland, which had a population of 400, was formally recognized by the state legislature as the seat of Bradley County.<ref name=snell>William Snell, "Cleveland," ''An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee'' (Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 1981), pp. 108-111.</ref> Cleveland was incorporated on February 2, 1842.<ref name=snell/>

Like most East Tennessee counties, the voters of Bradley County were largely opposed to secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, the county's residents voted against secession -  1,382 to 507.<ref>{{cite book|last=Temple|first=Oliver Perry|date=1899|title=East Tennessee and the Civil War|url=https://archive.org/details/easttennesseean00tempgoog|publisher=R. Clarke Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/easttennesseean00tempgoog/page/n227 199]|author-link=Oliver Perry Temple|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> No major battles were fought in Bradley County, but several major skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops took place there. In 1864, Confederate soldiers failed in an attempt to destroy a Union train near the [[Tasso, Tennessee|Tasso]] community, an effort that resulted in destroying a Confederate train instead.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jameson|first=W.C.|date=1997|title=Lost and Buried Treasures of the Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSJ8uAEACAAJ|publisher=Lyons Press|pages=76–79|isbn=1493040758|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The bridge over the [[Hiwassee River]] was burned on November 8, 1861, by members of the [[East Tennessee bridge burnings|East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy]] led by [[Alfred Cate]].<ref>Temple, ''East Tennessee and the Civil War'', pp. 370-406.</ref> On November 4, 1862, a train accident south of Cleveland near the Black Fox community killed 17 members of the [[33rd Regiment Alabama Infantry]], who were being transported to Chattanooga.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/stri/historyculture/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=157391 ''W.E. Mathews Preston Diary and Regimental History'', SPR393, Alabama Dept. of Archives and History], page 14.  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225031354/http://www.nps.gov/stri/historyculture/loader.cfm?csModule=security%2Fgetfile&PageID=157391 |date=February 25, 2014 }}</ref> Union soldiers under the command of [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] camped at Cleveland, Tasso, and [[Blue Springs Encampments and Fortifications|Blue Springs]] on multiple occasions during the latter half of the war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hardy|first=Lucina Welch|date=March 1962|title=An Album of Historical Memories: Chatata - Tasso, Bradley County, Tennessee, 1830 -1961|publisher=Hardy & Randolph|page=53}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Shemo|first=Christina|date=October 14, 2005|title=Legends abound|work=Cleveland Daily Banner}}</ref> The city of Cleveland was occupied by the Confederate Army from 1861 to 1863.<ref>"[https://tnmap.tn.gov/civilwar/Civil%20War%20Trails%20Installation%20Sites%20with%20descriptions.pdf Tennessee Civil War Trails Program]," June 9, 2011, pp. 1-2. Accessed: March 12, 2015.</ref>