Myth and History

Rossville and Ross' Landing and ferry grew up together in the years following the War of 1812. John Ross, a veteran of that war and future chief of the Cherokee Nation, founded commercial ventures both at the Tennessee River and along the Federal Road, just south of the river, taking full advantage of personal and professional relationships he and his father had established with merchants in the North, and most especially with the family of U.S. Indian Agent Return J. Meigs. Ross built both his home and a warehouse directly on the Federal Road, providing easy commerce to the steady streams of traffic, but there is no trace of either of these buildings at their original sites today. To find the John Ross House, one has to venture a little farther afield, to the quiet springs lurking just south of the main road. W. Jeff Bishop develops a new narrative surrounding this historic Native American home.