Fort Cass encompasses present-day Charleston and much of the surrounding countryside, along US Hwy 11, south of the Hiwassee River. Located at the site of the U.S. Agency to the Cherokee Nation from 1819 to 1834, Fort Cass was established on January 1, 1835, as the U.S. Army headquarters for the Cherokee removal. During the summer of 1838, nine concentration camps housing Cherokee rounded up by military forces for removal to Indian Territory, including the camp at Rattlesnake Springs, occupied the corridor between present-day Charleston and Cleveland.
