The Native American settlement of Turkeytown (Cherokee: "Gun'-di'ga-duhun'yi"), sometimes "Turkey's Town", was named for the original founder of the settlement, the Chickamauga Cherokee chief, Little Turkey. At one point, the village stretched for approximately 25 miles along both banks of the Coosa River, and became the largest of the contemporary Cherokee towns. Turkeytown was the original site of the US military outpost of Fort Armstrong (later Fort Lovell) established in December, 1813 as ongoing protection for the area, and was originally garrisoned entirely by Cherokee soldiers.