***CONGRATULATIONS TO aragorn05 FOR FTF***
Due to its unique geological formation, there has always been an Indian village in the gap of White Oak Mountain and Taylor’s Ridge in Ringgold, Catoosa County, Georgia. The gap in the mountains provided sanctuary for many years to several Southeastern tribes that preceded the Cherokee.
Taylor’s Crossroads was a Cherokee community that settled right here in Ringgold. With the discovery of several Spanish coins along the Chickamauga creekbank, there is evidence of Spanish habitation or trading contact with the local Indians at some point.
The town was named for Richard Taylor, the most outstanding Cherokee leader to live in Catoosa County. Taylor helped settle this area along with Chief John Ross. Taylor represented the Chickamauga District of the original Cherokee Nation in Washington, D.C. Richard Taylor was Catoosa County’s first entrepreneur and owned an Inn and Tavern on the Old Federal Road where he also operated a tollgate, mill, and plantation. His home was called Mount Hope and stood at the intersection of the Alabama Road and Georgia Hwy 2 where the Waffle House and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants are now. He was the great-grandson of Nancy Ward, the Beloved Woman of the Cherokees, who held great power among the Cherokees. She was also a first cousin to Dragging Canoe and used her power to help the settlers on many occasions. She was also known in pioneer history as the woman who fed and clothed General George Washington’s army when he was in Tennessee during the Revolutionary War.