{{short description|River in Georgia, United States}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox river | name = Coosawattee River | native_name = | image = Coosawattee River, Ellijay.JPG | image_caption = The Coosawattee River in [[Ellijay, Georgia|Ellijay]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], October 2013 | subdivision_type1 = [[Country]] | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = [[U.S. state|State]] | subdivision_name2 = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] | subdivision_type3 = [[County (United States)|County]] | subdivision_name3 = [[Gilmer County, Georgia|Gilmer]], [[Gordon County, Georgia|Gordon]], & [[Murray County, Georgia|Murray]] | length_mi = 49.3 | length_ref = <ref name="NHD"/> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = [[Cartecay River]] | source1_location = [[White Path, Georgia]] | source1_coordinates= {{coord|34.729|-84.347|display=i}} | source1_elevation = {{Convert|3079|ft|abbr=on}} | source2 = [[Ellijay River]] | source2_location = [[Blue Ridge, Georgia]] | source2_coordinates = {{coord|34.860|-84.331|display=i}} | source2_elevation = {{convert|1699|ft|abbr=on}} | mouth = [[Oostanaula River]] | mouth_location = at [[Carters Lake (Blue Ridge Mountains)|Carters Lake]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|34.6050863|-84.6332661|display=inline,title}}<ref name="gnis"/> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|1073|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gnis"/> | river_system = | basin_size_mi2 = 860 | tributaries_left = Coley Creek, Harris Creek, Camp Branch, Lewis Branch, Camp Branch, [[Talking Rock Creek]], Duke Creek, Dry Creek, [[Salacoa Creek]], and [[Crane Eater Creek]] | tributaries_right = [[Mountaintown Creek]], Tails Creek, Goble Branch, Woodring Branch, Fisher Creek, Willbanks Branch, Mineral Springs Branch, Rock Springs Branch, Sugar Branch, Noblet Creek, Dry Creek, and Vanns Creek }}
The '''Coosawattee River''' is a {{convert|49.3|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}<ref name="NHD">U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630110913/http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ |date=2016-06-30 }}, accessed April 27, 2011</ref> [[river]] located in northwestern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], United States.<ref name="gnis"}>{{gnis|355303|Coosawattee River}}</ref>
==Description== [[File:Coosaheadwatersmap.png|left|thumb|upright=.8|Map of the [[Coosa River]] headwaters, showing the Coosawattee River]]
The river is noted as beginning at the [[confluence]] of the [[Ellijay River|Ellijay]] and [[Cartecay River|Cartecay]] rivers in the city of [[Ellijay, Georgia|Ellijay]] in central [[Gilmer County, Georgia|Gilmer County]]. The river flows west through the foothills in the [[North Georgia mountains]] region and is a tributary of the [[Oostanaula River]] (It in turn is a tributary of the [[Coosa River]]). Primary tributaries of the Cooswattee River include [[Mountaintown Creek]], Tails Creek, Cole Creek, Goble Branch, Harris Creek, Camp Branch, Lewis Branch, Woodring Branch, Fisher Creek, [[Talking Rock Creek]], Willbanks Branch, Mineral Springs Branch, Rock Springs Branch, Sugar Branch, Duke Creek, Noblet Creek, Dry Creek, [[Salacoa Creek]], Vanns Creek, and [[Crane Eater Creek]]
In [[Murray County, Georgia|Murray County]], the river is impounded by [[Carters Dam]], forming [[Carters Lake (Blue Ridge Mountains)|Carters Lake]] behind the dam. (The lake is located mostly in Gilmer County). Completed in 1977, Carters Dam is the tallest earthen dam east of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Carters Lake|url=https://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Recreation/Carters-Lake/|website=US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District|publisher=[[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]|access-date=15 December 2015}}</ref> The Coosawattee River leaves the dam flowing west (directly into the [[Carters Dam|Reregulation Reservoir]]). It serves as the Murray-[[Gordon County, Georgia|Gordon County]] line before entering Gordon County.
Near [[New Echota]], a late capital of the [[Cherokee Nation (1794-1907)]] before [[Indian Removal|removal]] in 1838, the Coosawattee meets the Conasauga River. They form the [[Oostanaula River]], a tributary of the [[Coosa River]].<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/c.pdf | title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins | publisher=Winship Press | last=Krakow | first=Kenneth K. | year=1975 | location=Macon, Georgia | pages=51 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>
This area was the center of [[Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)|Cherokee Nation]] territory in north Georgia and southeastern [[Tennessee]]. In the early 1820s, after having migrated from eastern Tennessee after being forced by the United States to cede their lands there, they made [[New Echota]] their capital.
The Coosawattee Foundation was established in 1987 to protect and preserve Native American resources, primarily in the American Southeast. In addition to conducting excavations, it has initiated a variety of educational programs and lobbied for policy and programs to support this mission. It is based in Calhoun, Georgia.<ref>[http://www.coosawattee.org/contact.html Coosawattee Foundation]</ref>
==In popular culture== *American writer [[James Dickey]] used the Coosawattee River as the basis of his fictional "Cahulawassee River" in his debut novel, ''[[Deliverance (novel)|Deliverance]]'' (1970).<ref>{{Cite web | last=Gatling| first=William| date=2010-06-30| title=Deliverance and the Coosawattee| url=https://www.gapaddle.com/deliverance-and-the-coosawattee/| access-date=2020-09-29| website=Georgia Canoeing Association| language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Filming Locations for Deliverance (1972), in Georgia| url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/d/Deliverance.php| access-date=2020-09-29| website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | date=2010-12-22| title=Brown's Guide to Georgia| url=http://www.brownsguides.com/blog/coosawattee-river-gorge/| access-date=2020-09-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222063750/http://www.brownsguides.com/blog/coosawattee-river-gorge/| archive-date=2010-12-22}}</ref> It was adapted as a [[Deliverance|1972 feature film]] of the same name, directed by [[John Boorman]].
==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Georgia (U.S. state)|Rivers}}}} * [[List of rivers in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Coosawattee River}}
{{Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state)}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Rivers of Gilmer County, Georgia]] [[Category:Rivers of Murray County, Georgia]] [[Category:Rivers of Gordon County, Georgia]] [[Category:ACT River Basin]]