This cache is placed in the middle of Wacheessee (Wha-cheese-E) Town. Modern day name is Unaka, NC. Both are Cherokee Indian words/names. Wacheessee was a virile Cherokee Indian from the early 1800's who lived very nearby with a very large family. Possible as many as 42 kids. All his land was taken during the Cherokee Indian removal of 1838. The road that passes in front of the cache is now known as Joe Brown Highway (JBH), but has had many monikers over the years. It is thought to be over 1500 years old. It was originally called the Traders Path by the Indians, even those who lived here before the Cherokee. It was the main path used by Indians to trade between the midwestern nations and the coastal tribes. The white settlers then used it to travel back and forth thru the low mountain passes to the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The cannons at Fort Loundon TN (the real life fort used as example for the book and movie Last of the Mohicans) were pulled over this road by oxen all the way from Charleston, SC to Loudon,TN(then NC). It later became a toll road and was called the Unicoi Turnpike. It is one of the main routes of the Trail of Tears, infamous from the 1838 Cherokee Indian Removal. This was the route taken by the U.S. Army to take a significant portion of the Cherokee to Oklahoma. In the 20th Century, it was eventually paved and named Joe Brown Highway after a NC road commissioner. Now it is a community mixed of origninal mountain folk, retirees from Florida and Georgia and used by motorcyle enthusiast as a 'baby dragon." The name of the community, Unaka, is the Cherokee word for white, which relates to the story of the American Chestnut trees, which were wiped out by a fungal blight in the early 20th Century. One out of four trees in this area back then were Chestnut trees, which had long while blooms on them in the spring/summer, turning the mountains white. Thus the white mountains, or in Cherokee "Unaka" mountains. Unicoi is another pronunciation of Unaka, or vice-versa. The Unicoi Gap is about 20 miles down the road toward Tellico Plains, TN if you ware headed north-west. Murphy, NC is 15 miles down the road if you are headed South-east. Enjoy the scenery on your way here, as JBH curves around Hiwassee Lake, then takes to the highlands of the Lower Unakas and cuts thru Unicoi Gap before dropping into Coker Creek and intersecting TN 68 there. Don't head down to the cache without gas in the tank as the nearest gas station is 14 miles back town Murphy! No Circle K's or Exxons down here! Just beautiful mountain farms and roads. The location of the cache is at a memorial/informational plaque placed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. There are several similar plaques throughout Western NC.