The Tellico Blockhouse was a United States fortification constructed in 1794 and used through 1807, serving primarily as a check against white settlement deeper into Cherokee lands. It also housed the Tellico Factory, a trading post and diplomatic station for interactions between the Cherokee and the federal government. Built during uncertain times amid fears of European meddling in the West, the site was intended to foster peaceful ties with the Cherokee and curb frontier violence. Its garrison of American soldiers symbolized military power and the government's intent to keep order between newly arrived settlers and native people. The factory inside the fort brought spinning wheels, cottonseed, looms, and agricultural training to the Cherokee to ease pressures on local ecosystems caused by the fur trade and to encourage adoption of lifestyles similar to those of their neighbors. By 1807, few Cherokee remained in the Little Tennessee River Valley, so the army moved the garrison to the Hiwassee River, though a few soldiers stayed at the blockhouse through December 1811 while official gatherings took place elsewhere.