History

The Wateree River originates in the fabled Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina where it is called the Catawba River. It flows through Charlotte before reaching South Carolina where its name changes to the Wateree River below Lake Wateree Dam.

The river supplies drinking water to 1.3 million people on its heavily populated lower reaches, including the towns of Morganton, Hickory, and Charlotte in North Carolina and Rock Hill, Lancaster, and Camden in South Carolina. The basin is home to threatened and endangered species such as the shortnose sturgeon, Schweinitz’s sunflower, and Carolina heelsplitter mussel. It sustains the world’s second largest population of the rare rocky shoals spider lily.

The Catawba-Wateree River has supported human communities for thousands of years. In modern times, the river has been heavily developed for energy production. It is impounded by 11 hydropower dams. Lake Wateree Dam, the last impoundment going downstream controls river flows for the 80-mile Wateree River Blue Trail. This section is the longest free-flowing section of river in the entire basin.

Rich in early Native American history, the area south of the Highway 1 Landing to below Belmont Plantation (private property), was home to the Cofitachequi Indians of the Mississippian period (A.D. 600-A.D. 1500). Archaeological evidence indicates that Hernando DeSoto visited this area in the Spring of 1540.

The Wateree Indians were one of the first groups on the East coast to encounter Europeans. They were first mentioned in writing in 1567. The Wateree Indians are believed to have been Siouan, speaking Siouan-Catawban languages. Interestingly, it is noted that their language was unintelligible to the nearby Congaree tribe. Unlike other tribes, Europeans observed that the chiefs of Wateree had a higher degree of power than other tribes in the region and that their society was matriarchal. They were ruled by female chiefs.

The Wateree are believed to have inhabited a wide area at different times in their history. The Spanish mention the Wateree far from the coast, near the settlements of the Cherokee. Later English colonists mention Wateree settlements in the upper Yadkin River area, and later settling on the Wateree River, south of present day Camden.

Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto explored the area in 1540, followed by Juan Pardo in 1567 and Englishman John Lawson in 1700. With the disappearance of the Wateree Indians, the new European settlers obtained land grants from the King of England until 1776, when the State of South Carolina assumed the right to distribute land to private owners. Early owners attempted to make the land suitable for planting as well as grazing through 1860. However, frequent flooding and minor changes in elevation stifled agricultural activity. This flooding, although detrimental to farming, allowed nutrients to renew the soil and enabled the area’s trees to thrive.

In the 18th century, King Haigler, leader of the Catawba Indian tribe, befriended the early settlers. King Haigler become known as Camden's patron saint.

In the late 1800’s, large tracts of land in the Congaree, Santee, and Wateree River systems were owned by Francis Beilder and the Santee River Cypress Lumber Company. Logging in the floodplain was confined to tracts near the main river and creek channels due to poor accessibility to the interior of the floodplain. In these areas, cypress trees were cut, girdled and dried while standing to prevent sinking during river transport before felling.

On river right, Congaree National Park borders the Wateree River Blue Trail for its final 4 miles above the confluence with the Congaree River. This portion of the Fork Swamp has only recently been part of Congaree National Park, and the park’s purchase of lands within its new boundary is not yet complete. When finished, the new tract will connect the previously-acquired 22,000 acres of Congaree National Park with the16,700-acre Upper Santee Swamp Natural Area, owned by the South Carolina Public Service Authority, creating a 45,000-acre natural corridor along the Congaree-Wateree-Santee river basins.

Though this area lacks the old-growth characteristics of other parts of the national park, it has several unique resources in its own right. The tract harbors dwarf cypress and planer tree communities not represented at all on existing park lands, and an unusual mix of sweetgum, bald cypress, water tupelo, and green ash dominates the Bates Old River ridge and swale system.

Researchers have proposed that sand ridges in the Fork Swamp could be the location of the town of Aymay (or Guiomae) visited by Hernando de Soto 1540, but its exact location remains unknown. The confluence of the two rivers may also be the site of the Congaree Indian village visited by John Lawson in 1700.
Bates Old River, accessible via an unimproved boat ramp (outside the park) off Highway 601, is the longest oxbow lake (4 miles) on the Congaree River, and provides an excellent flat-water canoeing/kayaking experience with the opportunity to see alligators, large wading birds and osprey and Mississippi kites. A causeway traces the route of historic McCords Ferry (Bates Ferry) Road across the floodplain to the site of Bates Ferry

The dry trees were then floated down river to saw mills. While operations were halted by 1915, most of the old-growth cypress trees were gone and much of the remaining forest was left relatively untouched.

Harry R.E. Hampton, outdoorsman and writer, started a long campaign in the 1950’s to protect the forests in the Congaree and Santee floodplains. In 1969, relatively high timber prices prompted private landowners to consider resuming logging operations.

As a result of an effective campaign launched by local citizens, Congress established Congaree Swamp National Monument in 1976. That designation was not enough to protect the area from the force of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. The park lost several National Champion Trees, but the overall effect opened up the canopy and was a natural stimulus for growth.

On June 1983, Congaree Swamp National Monument was designated an International Biosphere Reserve. In July 2001, it was designated a Globally Important Bird Area. In November 2003, it was designated the nation’s 57th National Park and in May 2006, portions of Cedar Creek inside the park were designated Outstanding National Resource Waters.