As we go back and try to reconstruct this place, remember that many species of plants and animals are no longer there. Here's an excerpt from www.jocassee.com that gives some old place-names and tells a story about two tribes named after local animals. We know the green birds were the now extinct Carolina parakeet, captured for all time in loving detail by John James Audubon. I wonder about the "brown viper."

South of what is now Lake Jocassee Dam was once Keowee Village or Keowee Town, the capital of the Lower Cherokee Indians. Keowee Village was located just across the Keowee River (Oconee side) near the confluence of Crowe Creek and Keowee River. In 1690 James Moore led a British expedition through the area in search of gold.

Current area names are derived from the Cherokee language (Blue, 1997). Names such as "Jocassee," "Keowee," "Toxaway," "Eastatoee," and "Oconee" reflect the Native American history of the area. Keowee meant "The Place of the Mulberry" and "Uk-OO-Na" (Oconee) meant "watery eyes of the hills." This word undoubtedly described the many springs, streams and creeks that drain off the Blue Ridge Escarpment.

The Vale of Jocassee was home to the Cherokee Indian Nation. It now lies some 300 feet beneath the surface of Lake Jocassee, near the Toxaway River and Whitewater River confluence, approximately one-half mile north of Jocassee Dam. Jocassee and its meaning are derived from the legend of a Cherokee maiden. Chief Attakulla and his Oconee tribe, known as the "Brown Vipers," lived on the west side of the Whitewater River. The Eastatoees, a rival tribe, lived on the east and were called the "Green Birds." It is likely that the Green Birds received their name from the Carolina parakeet (Conoropsis carolinensis), a species that became extinct in 1904. This was the only endemic parrot of North America. The Eastatoee area was the last site the species was recorded in South Carolina. Legend has it that a young warrior named Nagoochee lived among the Green Birds but was not afraid to enter Brown Viper hunting grounds. One day while hunting in Brown Viper territory (probably the area known as Musterground today), Nagoochee fell and broke his leg. Nagoochee was convinced he would perish in the wilderness, when he heard the singing of Jocassee, Chief Attakulla's daughter. Jocassee took Nagoochee back to her father's lodge and nursed him back to health. They fell in love and Nagoochee stayed with the Oconee tribe. Later during a fight between the tribes, Jocassee's brother, Cheochee, killed Nagoochee. When Cheochee returned from battle with Nagoochee's head dangling from his belt, Jocassee didn't say a word. She slipped into a canoe and onto the water. As Jocassee still gazed at the head of her lover, she stepped into the water. Legend claims that she did not sink but walked across the water to meet the ghost of Nagoochee. The name Jocassee means "Place of the Lost One."