DAYS OF CHEROKEES AND PIONEERS. At the close of the Revolution, for having sided with the losing British, the Cherokees were forced to give up substantial parts of their land. In 1783, the Georgia-Cherokee boundary was established about 40 miles southeast of the Helen valley, where it remained for nearly 40 years. Referred to as the "Western Frontier", for a time this was a dangerous area for settlers who were exposed to raids by both the Cherokees and the Creeks. One of a series of forts built along this line still stands. In 1819 the Cherokees signed the last treaty before the Removal, fixing the boundary along or close to the Blue Ridge as far south as today's Neels Gap. From the gap, the boundary ran down the Chestatee River to the Creek Nation. For nearly 20 years, until the Removal in 1838, the pioneer settlers of the Helen valley lived less than 15 miles from the nearest Cherokee settlements.

Indian trails and settlements are shown on the map below, as are the locations of modern towns. The image is large, but shrinking it any further caused the loss of too much detail. Please use the scroll bars to view all of the map (or just print it); the retun link is at the bottom of the page.