Nickajack Cave in Marion County, Tennessee, has been shaped by Cherokee history, industry, war, tourism, and conservation. Named for the nearby Chickamauga Cherokee town destroyed in 1794, it became a saltpeter mine beginning in 1800 and grew into one of the Confederacy’s largest sources of a key gunpowder ingredient during the Civil War until Federal occupation halted operations in late 1863 or early 1864. Later it drew tourists by steamer and rail before commercial tours ended in the late 1940s. Flooded after Nickajack Dam was built in 1967, the cave lost unique species but now serves as a wildlife refuge and major gray bat maternity roost.