Weiss Lake Property Daytrip to the Chieftain’s Museum – Center Point Of Present Rome

About 20 miles from your Weiss Lake property of The Bluffs you will find Chieftain’s Museum, the center point of Rome, Georgia, stands on the banks of Oostanaula River. Along with this river, the two other rivers Coosa and Etowah also converge together at this point. This center point suggests perfect holiness of mind and spirit, so Major Ridge, the leader of the Cherokee Nation built his famous Ridge Home on the banks of these converged rivers. Just near the Chieftain’s Museum lies the famous Myrtle Hill, at the confluence point of Etowah and Oostanaula River. It is this Major Ridge’s home that is today more commonly known as Chieftain’s Museum.

History of Major Ridge, the owner of Chieftain’s Museum

The museum depicts the story of Major Ridge who had struggled consistently to adapt to the white man’s culture and all the time trying to retain his Cherokee heritage. An exotic 19th century clapboard plantation home, the Chieftain’s Museum exhibits Major Ridge’s biography and also the lifestyle of Cherokee people of those times. On the south of the Ridge Home, ran a ferry, which provided him with the main means of livelihood. He also earned significantly from a plantation and general store.

The original Major Ridge’s Home was a two-storied, dogtrot style log house. After the Ridge’s started inhabiting the home, they added glass windows, shutters, porches and clapboard sidings and painted the entire structure white. This stately home along with an extensive fruit orchard also included huge acres of plantation, which comprised of corn, vegetable and cotton productions.

After the death of Major Ridge, the house passed through several hands and ultimately got donated to the Junior League Associations. This famous house is presently run by the Chieftain’s Museum Association, which is a non-profit organization.

Spectacular mission of Chieftain’s Museum

The Chieftains Museum features severl interest and unique features.  Out of those special features, the staircase is worth mentioning. It portrays the finest craftsmanship and excellent creativity. The cutaway upstairs shows a little segment of the original log cabin, and the museum boasts of an impressive collection of books, statues and memoranda. The books narrate the tale of the famous Ridge family and as a whole about the Cherokee Nation of Georgia.

The main mission of Chieftain’s Museum is to preserve and also interpret the heritage represented by the original Chieftain’s home and campus. Today the museum features American Indian artifacts, photographs, artwork and furniture that depict the tale of the history of the area, people and Major Ridge. In 2002, the museum officially became an official historic and interpretive site of the National Park Service’s Trail of Tears National Historic Trial. This newly added relationship significantly increases public awareness of the site.

Today the Chieftain’s Museum is proud to present the program of “Native Lands: Indian and Georgia”, which is a major presentation exploring the culture and history of the Creek, Cherokee, and the Mississippian Indians.