Editing Chattanooga, Tennessee (section)

===Early history===
The first inhabitants of the Chattanooga area were [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. Sites dating back to the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period (c. [[10,000 BCE]]) show continuous human occupation through the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic]], [[Woodland period|Woodland]], [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]]/[[Muscogee|Muskogean]]/[[Yuchi]] (900–[[Yuchi#History|1714]] CE), and [[Cherokee]] (1776–1838) periods. The Chickamauga Mound near the mouth of the [[Chickamauga Creek]] is the oldest ({{circa|750 [[Common Era|CE]]}}) remaining visible art in Chattanooga.<ref>{{cite web |last1=kunesh |first1=tom |title=Chickamauga Mound |url=http://www.moccasinbend.net/cita/chickamaugamound/index.html |publisher=Chattanooga InterTribal Association |access-date=March 15, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Citico (Hamilton County, Tennessee)|Citico]] town and mound site was the most significant [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]]/[[Muscogee]] landmark in Chattanooga up to 1915. The first part of the name "Chattanooga" derives from the [[Muskogean]] word ''cvto'' /chắtȯ/ – 'rock'.<ref>A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee, Margaret McKane Mauldin</ref> The latter may be derived from a regional suffix ''-nuga'' meaning dwelling or dwelling place. It is also believed to be derived from the Creek Indian word ''Chat-to-to-noog-gee'', meaning 'rock rising to a point', which is speculated to be a reference to Lookout Mountain.<ref>{{cite news|last=Omarzu|first=Tim|date=May 31, 2016|title=Chattanooga may mean 'rock rising to a point' — after Lookout Mountain
|url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/fyi/2015/story/2016/may/31/chattanoogmay-merock-rising-point-after-loo/368527/|work=Chattanooga Times Free Press|access-date=October 28, 2020}}</ref>

The earliest Cherokee occupation of the area dates from 1776, when [[Dragging Canoe]] separated himself from the main tribe to establish resistance to European settlement during the [[Cherokee–American wars]]. In 1816 [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|John Ross]], who later became [[Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation|Principal Chief]], established [[Ross's Landing]]. Located along what is now Broad Street, it became one of the centers of Cherokee Nation settlement, which also extended into Georgia and Alabama.<ref name=tehc />

In 1838, the U.S. government forced the Cherokees, along with other Native Americans, to relocate to the area designated as [[Indian Territory]], in what is now the state of [[Oklahoma]]. Their journey west became known as the "[[Trail of Tears]]" for their exile and fatalities along the way. The U.S. Army used Ross's Landing as the site of one of three large internment camps, or "emigration depots", where Native Americans were held before the journey on the Trail of Tears.<ref name=vott>Vicki Rozema, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y7zgcpmg8vcC&dq=trail+of+tears,+emigration+depots&pg=PA20 Voices from the Trail of Tears]. ''Voices from the Trail of Tears'', 2003. Retrieved August 19, 2009.</ref>

In 1839, the community of Ross's Landing incorporated as the city of Chattanooga. The city grew quickly, initially benefiting from a location well-suited for river commerce. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Chattanooga became a boom town. The city was known as the site "where cotton meets corn," referring to its location along the cultural boundary between the mountain communities of southern Appalachia and the cotton-growing states to the south.<ref name=tehc>Timothy Ezzell, [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=226 Chattanooga]. ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: January 17, 2013.</ref>
[[File:Chattanooga Campaign Battles November 24-25.pdf|thumb|upright=1.5|Battles for Chattanooga, November 24&ndash;25, 1863]]