The name of Wachacha is a well-known name among our local Cherokees here in Graham County.
I have been told by some of the Cherokees that the name means the sound a grasshopper makes.
I first heard of Charlie Wachacha when visiting some rocks with strange foot prints made by some hoofed animal when the stones were soft. Dale Holder had taken Hoot Gibbs, Ronnie Postell and me to see the strange prints.
Dale said his father Theodore took him to this area when he was around 10 years old. Theodore had gone with his mother and grandmother to check on their sheep that grazed in the area when he was a small boy also. They showed him the strange footprints in the rocks.
They also visited Charlie Wachacha on this trip and it is possible that he had either told or showed them the footprints. Theodore said this was around 1913.
Charlie lived in a small cabin in a flat below what is now Wachacha Bald – elevation 4,380 feet – which is said to be named for him. The forest fire lookout atop the mountain also goes by this name. Charlie had a rail fence that was head high to keep out livestock that roamed free then. He was credited with growing some of the largest heads of cabbage any one had seen at the time. A granddaughter of Charlie’s also contributed more about him. Charlie was born around 1890 and was the son of Welch Wachacha and Boxie Condren Wachacha. Charlie was a World War I veteran, having served in the U.S. Army. He took his basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C.
After serving in World War I, Charlie died on Dec. 16, 1928 at the age of 38. He is buried in Graham County.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He has published two books, Mountain People – Mountain Places, as well as More Mountain People, Mountain Places, and is retired from the Graham County Rescue Squad. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.