Prior to 1816, the Chattooga River was part of the extensive original homeland of the vast Cherokee Nation. The treaty of 1816 was initiated when the State of South Carolina applied to the President of the United States to “extinguish” the claim of the Cherokee Nation to the land within the State boundaries

The state of  South Carolina compensated  the Cherokee Nation  $5000 for this land.

In 1974, the congress designated the Chattooga as a

"Wild and Scenic River"