Newsletter Vol 20.No. 2

Jocassee Journal Information and News about the Jocassee Gorges www.dnr.sc.gov Fall/Winter 2019 Volume 20, Number 2 Students and teachers from Liberty Elementary’s third-grade class gather on the observation platform atop Sassafras Mountain to learn about the state’s highest point at 3,553 feet. (SCDNR photo by Greg Lucas) Liberty Elementary third-graders scale Sassafras Mountain Students count hawks, write journals himself a retired school teacher, was there that day counting while visiting highest point in S.C. different species of hawks. Students were taught about flight patterns and migration from him, and they were allowed By Brenda Kingrea to help him “count” the birds! They also learned about September 25 dawned bright and clear, and the “kettling,” a term that birders use to describe a group of third graders at Liberty Elementary in Liberty could hardly birds wheeling and circling in the air. contain their excitement as they loaded the busses for Finally, the students settled down for a writing Sassafras Mountain! session, armed with plenty of information and in this setting, Not only were lunches packed, but also writing they found it was easy to write a reflective selection, filled journals and all the materials they needed for a reflective with words describing their emotions at the time. writing lesson. Parents and teachers alike were heard saying that Greg Lucas, an educator with the South Carolina this might just be the best field trip they have ever taken! Department of Natural Resources, gave the students If you haven’t headed up the mountain yet—why are you pertinent information to their Third Grade State Standards, waiting? The view is exquisite, the atmosphere is so pure, but the stories he wove along the way made it so much and the view is indescribable! All this, right in our own fun the students hardly realized they were gaining a lot of county! local history and geography. To top it off, Ed Moorer, site (Brenda Kingrea is a third-grade teacher at Liberty coordinator for the Sassafras Mountain Hawkwatch and Elementary School.) Rare Cherokee artifact now housed in Pickens Museum Fascinating story is behind how amulet arrived at local museum By Dennis Chastain At some point in the millennium that the Cherokees are thought to have occupied this region, a Cherokee craftsman was assigned the task of carving a stone amulet to be worn exclusively during certain ceremonies. The story of how that rare artifact, (known by experts as a spatulate ceremonial amulet), made its way to the Pickens County Museum is a story that played out over more than a hundred years. This rare Cherokee amulet, now on display at the Pickens In February of this year I received a phone call County Museum, was donated to the museum by the from Tom Bowen who lives near Seneca. He told me a Bowen family. (Photo by Dennis Chastain) story that still leaves me rubbing my chin and scratching my head. The story involves his wife’s father, who lived on the Keowee River on the Oconee County side of the by the Cherokees, but unfortunately he died in a tragic river, the site of the principle Cherokee Town, Keowee. woods fire before he could do that. For several years around the turn of the 20th century, After I had listened to the Bowens’ compelling the father had been visited by a small group of Cherokee story, I asked, “So how can I help you?” Tom explained Indians from western North Carolina. They asked if they they were getting on up in years and wanted to make sure could camp there, fish in the river and cut river cane to that the rare artifact would be preserved after they were make their now famous split-cane baskets. According to gone. I told them that I would be glad to help and that Tom Bowen’s wife, Tody, “It must have been around I thought, based on their description of the artifact, it 1898, or ’99; maybe as late as 1900.” Her father told should be in a museum. I told them that my wife, Jane, the small party that would and I would come over and photograph the amulet and be fine. And over the next send the photos to several several years, he and the archaeologist friends of mine Cherokees developed a “The father had been visited by a small to authenticate it, and maybe friendship based on mutual group of Cherokee Indians from western get some suggestions on respect. North Carolina. They asked if they could which museums to approach On the occasion of about displaying it. the little band of Cherokees’ camp there, fish in the river and cut river I sent the photos to my old final trip, they presented him cane to make their now famous split-cane pal, now retired archaeologist Tommy Charles, along with with a hand-carved stone baskets.” amulet, which they told him Chris Judge, formerly the had been hidden away when South Carolina Department of their ancestors were rounded Natural Resources’ (SCDNR) up and marched off to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears staff archaeologist and now at the Lancaster campus of in 1838. They wanted him to keep it in trust because University of South Carolina, along with Dr. Johannes none of their fellow Cherokees knew its significance and Loubser in Atlanta, who is widely considered one of the they feared that it faced an uncertain future. According region’s foremost experts on rock art. To make a long to Tody Bowen, “He never told any of us children any of story short, I authenticated the artifact based on Tommy’s this, or even that the artifact existed.” But he did tell Tom expert advice, and agreed with him that it should be Bowen about it and presented it to him. He told Tom the displayed in the Pickens County Museum, which we both essential elements of the story and asked him to keep it in consider to be one of the state’s best local museums. trust. He said that later on he would tell him more about I passed all this along to the Bowens and they agreed, the significance of the medallion as it had been told to him Continued on page 4 2 Water quality monitoring in Jocassee Gorges helps understand overall watershed health opportunities. Since the start of the program in July 2017, Volunteers encouraged to get certified there have been 183 monitoring events across 37 sites in and help manage water resources the Seneca River watershed, which encompasses Jocassee By Zach Nemec Gorges. E. coli is a common fecal indicator bacteria, which means it is used as the standard for which we measure If you have had the chance to explore Jocassee the potential threat of pathogens, viruses, and bacteria Gorges, you have probably witnessed some picturesque to create unsafe conditions for swimming, drinking, and waterfalls and cold mountain more. Volunteers monitor streams. Although these for E. coli as a way to alert waterways may look pristine, local agencies of the need how can one really tell if the for follow-up in typically water is clean? How could unmonitored headwater one describe their health, streams. Certified volunteers and health over time, in also measure pH (a measure ways that can be tracked and of acidity), dissolved shared? Fortunately, there oxygen, water temperature, are some dedicated stewards air temperature, and that have been monitoring conductivity. the Gorges’ streams using Even though the water the citizen science water quality of this watershed is quality program, South considered good relative Carolina Adopt-A-Stream to state standards, there (SCAAS). are plenty of places within SCAAS was Jocassee Gorges that have developed and is not yet been monitored or coordinated in a partnership not monitored in a while. If between the South Carolina you are a certified volunteer Department of Health and and want to monitor the Environmental Control and waterways of the great Clemson University’s Center and beloved Jocassee for Watershed Excellence. Gorges, please e-mail me, Certified volunteers collect Zach Nemec, at znemec@ water quality data on clemson.edu. Also, if you chemical, bacterial, and want to become certified, biological parameters, as please e-mail me. More well as assess stream habitat information, including condition. Data is put into a training events can be found statewide database that helps at the SCAAS website, www. establish a baseline record Dissolved oxygen and water temperature data were collected scadoptastream.org. I will for watersheds throughout over time at an Eastatoee Creek monitoring site using South look to report regularly on South Carolina. The data is Carolina Adopt-A-Stream protocol. (Photo courtesy of citizen science collected shared and viewable for all Zach Nemec) water quality and habitat audiences, anywhere in the data through this journal; world, simply excluding the names of the volunteers. You in turn, I hope that these articles inspire you to join this can access the database at https://bit.ly/2Pw73BZ; here is movement and get involved in the management of our where you can find the closest monitoring site to you! shared water resources! Thanks for reading and being great Watershed health is important to both Jocassee stewards. Gorges and beyond; these streams flow into Lake Jocassee, (Zach Nemec is a watershed scientist with the Clemson Lake Keowee, and Lake Hartwell; these reservoirs University Center for Watershed Excellence. He is originally provide hundreds of thousands of residents with clean from the Greater Cleveland Metro area and enjoys hiking, drinking water, energy in our homes, and safe recreational fishing, and cooking.) 3 Winter loon research set on Lake Jocassee Study to look at common loons wintering in Southeastern reservoirs By Kay Wade During February and March of 2020, a study of the winter behavior of the Common Loon will be led by Studying common loons in freshwater environments such Dr.

Load more