This area was part of the homelands of the historic Cherokee people, which extended into western Virginia, North and South Carolina, and northeastern Georgia, long before these colonies or states were founded. By the time Euro-American explorers arrived in the area in the 18th century, the Cherokee had established several towns along the Little Tennessee. They included Tanasi, the name source for the state of Tennessee, Chilowhee, and Chota, the "mother town" of the Overhill Cherokee in the mid to late 18th century. The English traders and colonists referred to these places as the Overhill Towns, because they crossed the Appalachian Mountains from the east to reach them. Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe came from Mialoquo, which was located just north of the site of the modern US-411 bridge. Tuskegee, which developed adjacent to Fort Loudoun, was the birthplace of Sequoyah (c. 1770–1843), creator of the written Cherokee syllabary.