History of Guntersville

History of Guntersville. . (Side A) This area's proximity to the Tennessee River and Indian trails made it a crossroads for early habitation, settlement, and trade. Archaeological studies reveal it was first inhabited about 12,000 years ago by Paleo-Indians. They were followed by various tribes of Native Americans. The Cherokees arrived in the late 1700s and called the area Kusa-Nunnahi, meaning Creek Path. In 1785, John Gunter became the first white man to settle here. He married the daughter of the local Cherokee chief. He was given land here and raised a large family (Will Rogers is his great grandson). Gunter and his wife died in 1835 and are buried near their old home site. General Andrew Jackson came through the area in October 1813 and recruited several Cherokees to help him fight the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. John Gunter's son, Edward, established a ferry here in 1818. As the small village grew, it became known as Gunter's Landing. (Continued on other side), (Side B) (Continued from other side) Gunter's Landing was involved in the tragic removal of Indians during the late 1830. The John Benge Detachment of more than 1,000 Cherokees crossed the river in Guntersville in early October 1838 on their way to the Oklahoma Territory in what has become known as the Trail of Tears. John Allan Wyeth, the town's most famous citizen, was born in a log cabin near here in 1845 and later became president of the American Medical Association. Guntersville was practically destroyed during the Civil War by Union raids and cannon bombardments. One building to survive is the Col. Montgomery Gilbreath home which still exists. By the 1890s, the town had become a major port for commercial and passenger steamboats traveling between Knoxville and Decatur. The area was forever changed in 1939 when the TVA constructed Guntersville Dam a few miles south and created Lake Guntersville.