High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Prior to the building of New Echota, the nearby town of Ustanali on the Coosawattee River, established by refugees from the Cherokee Lower Towns in northwestern South Carolina in 1777, had served as the seat of the Cherokee nation since 1788. That was the year in which Old Tassel and several other Cherokee leaders were murdered while on an embassy to the State of Franklin at that government's invitation. Which sparked an uprise of attacks from warriors all across the Nation (including not just the followers of Dragging Canoe) in the midst of the Chickamauga wars. Following the murders, Little Turkey was elected Principal Chief of the Nation and Chota was abandoned as the seat of the National Council, which was moved to Ustanali.