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The history of Rome, Georgia extends to thousands of years of human settlement by ancient Native Americans. Spanish explorers recorded reaching the area in the later 16th century, and European Americans of the United States founded the city named Rome in 1834, when the residents of the area were still primarily Cherokee, before their removal on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory. The competition for resources among its diverse inhabitants led to both innovation and strife. Its location at the confluence of three rivers enabled Rome to develop as a crossroads for trade and transportation. The city was later designated as the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia. Today, Rome is the largest city in Northwest Georgia, and is a regional center of healthcare, education, and manufacturing.〔(New Georgia Encyclopedia ): Article on Rome, Georgia〕 ==Native American era== Preceded by numerous other cultures, the people of the Mississippian culture inhabited the area from about 1000 CE. These people are believed to have suffered high mortality rates and mostly died off in the late 16th century due to exposure to new infectious diseases carried by the Spanish expeditions. Specific information about events in the area of Rome before the Spanish expeditions in the 16th century is unknown, due to the native inhabitants' lack of written records; archeological excavations and linguistics have provided insight to the cultures. Historians debate whether Hernando de Soto was the first Spanish explorer to encounter Native Americans in the area now known as Rome, but they widely agree that he passed through the region with his expedition in 1540.〔(Article on De Soto's trail through North Georgia ), FloridaHistory.com.〕 In 1560, Tristán de Luna sent a detachment of 140 soldiers and two Dominican friars north along de Soto's route. This group established relations with the Coosa chiefdom and assisted the Coosa in a raid against the rebellious province of Napochín, in what is now known as Tennessee.〔(Article on Tristan de Luna's trail through North Georgia ), Our Georgia History〕 Exposed to unfamiliar European diseases, within 20 years these mound builders were gone, replaced by the Creek.〔(''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' ): Article on De Soto and De Luna's explorations in Georgia.〕 The Abihka tribe of Creek in the area of Rome later became part of the Upper Creek, and merged with other tribes to become the Ulibahalis. They later migrated westward into Alabama, settling in the general region of Gadsden,〔Waselkov, Gregory A. and Marvin T. Smith "Upper Creek Archaeology" in McEwan, Bonnie G., ed. ''Indians of the Greater Southeast: Historical Archaeology and Ethnohistory'' (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000) p. 244-245〕〔Ethridge, Robbie Franklyn ''Creek Country: The Creek Indians and Their World'' (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: UNC Press) p. 27〕 By the mid-18th century, the Cherokee people had moved into the area, pushed by European-American encroachment. In the 18th century, a high demand in Europe for American deer skins had led to a brisk trade between Creek and later Cherokee hunters and white traders. A Cherokee village named Chatuga was established near the confluence of the Coosa River after their migration westward during the Cherokee–American wars (1776-1794). The Cherokee referred to this area as "Head of Coosa." Several Cherokee leaders settled here, developing plantations, including chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rome City Commission Archives )〕 In the mid-20th century, the Junior League bought Ridge's house for preservation and in 1971 adapted it as a museum known as the Chieftains House. It is now officially the Chieftains Museum (Major Ridge Home) and has been designated by the Department of Interior as a National Historic Landmark. The Head of Coosa Cherokee allowed a few white traders and some settlers (primarily from the British Colonies of Georgia and Carolina) to trade here. They were later joined by missionaries and more settlers. After the American War of Independence, most new settlers came from the area of the U.S. state of Georgia east of the Proclamation Line of 1763, by which Britain had tried to preserve the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains for Native Americans. Encroachment soon began on these Cherokee lands by European Americans. The United States and Georgia executed the Compact of 1802, in which Georgia sold its claimed Western lands to the United States. (In colonial times, it claimed territory extending west from its coastal colony.) In exchange the United States agreed to ignore Cherokee land titles and remove all Cherokee from Georgia. The commitment to evict the Cherokee was not immediately enforced. Through the 1820s and 1830s, chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross led efforts to stop their removal, including several Federal lawsuits. During the 1813 Creek Civil War, most Cherokee took the side of the Upper Creek Indians against the more traditional the Red Stick Creek Indians. Before they moved to Head of Coosa, Chief Ridge commanded a company of Cherokee warriors as a unit of the Tennessee militia, with Chief Ross as adjutant. This unit was under the overall command of Major Andrew Jackson, and supported the Upper Creek. In 1829, gold was discovered near Dahlonega, Georgia, starting the first gold rush in the United States. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, which fulfilled the Compact of 1802, was prompted by the gold discovery as well as President Andrew Jackson's already stated strong support for removal. In 1831 Georgia's General Assembly quickly passed legislation claiming all Cherokee land in Northwest Georgia, prior to their vacating it. This entire territory was called Cherokee County until additional legislation in 1832 divided the territory into the nine counties that exist today.〔(Historical Atlas of Georgia Counties ): Cherokee Territory/County〕〔(Act Dividing Original Cherokee County )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Rome, Georgia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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