Editing Cleveland, Tennessee (section)

===Early history===
For thousands of years before European encounter, this area was occupied by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. Peoples of the [[South Appalachian Mississippian culture]], beginning about 900–1000 CE, established numerous villages along the river valleys and tributaries. In the more influential villages, they built a single, large earthen [[platform mound]], sometimes surmounted by a temple or elite residence, which was an expression of their religious and political system.

This area was later part of a large territory occupied by the [[Cherokee Nation]], an [[Iroquoian language|Iroquoian-speaking]] people believed to have migrated south from the [[Great Lakes]] area, where other Iroquoian tribes arose. Their public architecture was known as the [[townhouse]], a large structure designed for the community to gather together. In some cases, these were built on top of existing mounds; in others the townhouse would front on a broad plaza. Their territory encompassed areas of [[Western North Carolina]], western [[South Carolina]], southeastern Tennessee, northeastern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and northern [[Alabama]].{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=5–6}}

The first Europeans to reach the area now occupied by Cleveland and Bradley County were most likely a 1540 expedition through the interior led by Spanish explorer [[Hernando de Soto]]. Based on their chronicles, they are believed to have camped along Candies Creek in the western part of present-day Cleveland on June 2, 1540.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=15–16}} They encountered some chiefdoms of the Mississippian culture in other areas of South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Some writers have suggested that the de Soto expedition was preceded by a party of Welshmen, but there is no supporting evidence and historians consider this unlikely.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=15–16}}

During and after the [[American Revolutionary War]], more European Americans entered this area seeking land. They came into increasing conflict with the Cherokee, who occupied this territory. The Cherokee had tolerated traders but resisted settlers who tried to take over their territory and competed for resources.<ref name=goodspeed />

Because of being defeated in repeated attacks by Americans, in 1819 the Cherokee ceded the land directly north of present-day Bradley County (and north of the [[Hiwassee River]]) to the U.S. government in the Calhoun Treaty. In 1821 the Cherokee Agency—the official liaison between the U.S. government and the Cherokee Nation—was moved to the south bank of the [[Hiwassee River]] in present-day [[Charleston, Tennessee|Charleston]], a few miles north of what is now Cleveland.{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=11}} The [[Indian agent]] was [[Return J. Meigs, Sr.|Colonel Return J. Meigs]].

By the 1830s, white settlers had begun to move rapidly into this area in anticipation of a forced relocation of the Cherokee and other Southeast tribes. Congress had passed the [[Indian Removal Act]] in 1830, under President [[Andrew Jackson]]'s direction.<ref name="goodspeed" /> In 1832, the Cherokee moved the seat of their government to the Red Clay Council Grounds in southern Bradley County. Some Cherokee had already moved to the West, where they were known as Old Settlers until reunification of the Nation. It operated there until the [[Cherokee removal]] in 1838, part of the larger forced migration of Cherokee to [[Indian Territory]] (present-day [[Oklahoma]]). This became known as the [[Trail of Tears]]. The former Cherokee seat is now preserved within [[Red Clay State Park]].

The removal was initiated by the [[Treaty of New Echota]] on December 29, 1835, although the majority of Cherokee leaders had not approved it. In the Spring of 1838, removal operations by the US military began. Headquarters for the removal were established at [[Fort Cass]] in Charleston. In preparation, thousands of Cherokees were rounded up and held in internment camps located between Cleveland and Charleston. Two of the largest were at [[Rattlesnake Springs]].{{sfn|Lillard|1980|p=12}} [[Blythe Ferry]], about {{convert|15|mi|km}} northwest of Cleveland in [[Meigs County, Tennessee|Meigs County]], was also an important site during the Cherokee removal.<ref name=goodspeed />

The legislative act on February 10, 1836, that created Bradley County, which was named for Colonel [[Edward Bradley (colonel)|Edward Bradley]] of [[Shelby County, Tennessee]], authorized the establishment of a county seat. It was to be named "Cleveland" after Colonel [[Benjamin Cleveland]], a commander at the [[Battle of Kings Mountain]] during the American Revolution.<ref name=goodspeed>"  [https://www.tngenweb.org/bradley/b_gdsp.htm ''Goodspeed's History of Bradley County, Tennessee''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511130936/https://www.tngenweb.org/bradley/b_gdsp.htm |date=May 11, 2021 }}, 1887. Transcribed for web content and maintained by TNGenWeb – Bradley County. Retrieved: December 30, 2007.</ref> The legislative body appointed to govern the county was required to meet in nearby [[Chatata]] Valley until a site was chosen for the county seat.{{sfn|Lillard|1976|pp=34–35}}

By a one-vote majority on May 2, 1836, the commissioners chose "Taylor's Place," the home of Andrew Taylor, as the county seat, due largely to the site's excellent water sources.{{sfn|Lillard|1976|pp=34-35}} Taylor, who had married a Cherokee woman and constructed a log cabin on the site next to a [[spring (hydrology)|spring]], had been given a [[land grant|reservation]] at the site.{{sfn|Snell|1986|p=4}} A permanent settlement had been established there in 1835, and became a favored stopping place for travelers.{{sfn|Bradley County Historical Society|1992|p=31}} The other proposed location for the city was a site a few miles to the east, owned by a wealthy Cherokee named Deer-In-The-Water.{{sfn|Snell|1986|p=4}}

Cleveland was formally established as the county seat by the state legislature on January 20, 1838.{{sfn|Snell|1986|p=5}} That year the city was reported to have a population of 400; it was home to two churches (one Presbyterian, the other Methodist), and a private school for boys, the Oak Grove Academy. The city was incorporated on February 4, 1842, and elections for mayor and aldermen were held shortly afterward on April 4 that year.<ref name=snell>William Snell, "Cleveland," ''An Encyclopedia of East Tennessee'' (Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 1981), pp. 108–111.</ref>

While the overwhelming majority of early inhabitants of Cleveland earned their living in agriculture, by 1850 the city also had a sizeable number of skilled craftsmen and professional people.{{sfn|Bradley County Historical Society|1992|p=31}} On September 5, 1851, the railroad was completed through Cleveland.{{sfn|Bradley County Historical Society|1992|p=233}} After copper mining began in the [[Copper Basin (Tennessee)|Copper Basin]] in neighboring [[Polk County, Tennessee|Polk County]] in the 1840s, headquarters for mining operations were established in Cleveland by [[Julius Eckhardt Raht]], a German-born businessman and engineer.{{sfn|Bradley County Historical Society|1992|p=216}} Copper was delivered from the basin to Cleveland by wagon, where it was loaded onto trains.{{sfn|Bradley County Historical Society|1992|p=31}} The city's first bank, the Ocoee Bank, was established in 1854.{{sfn|Snell|1986|p=9}}