Cussate

Cussate was one of the names given to the Tennessee River on early eighteenth-century maps, recalling the Coushatta people who lived along its course. An English map of 1715 showed two Coushatta villages on an island in the river, with a French fort between them. The river drew the interest of rival traders: the Carolina agent Thomas Nairn had proposed trading posts on its banks in 1708. Meanwhile, Coushatta communities were moving south toward the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, where the main body had settled by 1715.