The Grave of Trahlyta - A Cherokee Indian Princess

Trahlyta is the name of a princess of Cherokee legend. She lived in the North Georgia Mountains near Dahlonega. It is said that Trahlyta drank from a nearby Fountain of Youth and never grew old was of unimaginable beauty. A Cherokee warrior called Wahsega courted her, but Trahlyta rejected his attentions. This angered Wahsega and he kidnapped her. He kept her a prisoner in an unknown place away from her home in the mountains. Trahlyta grew more and more homesick but the warrior showed no concern and she grew weaker each day. Crying tears of pure gold as she lay dying, Trahlyta asked to be buried in the mountain paradise from which she had come. "Strangers, as they pass by, may drop a stone on my grave and they too shall be young and happy, as I once was." she said, "What they wish for shall be theirs."

The historical marker at her grave reads, "custom arose among the Indians and later the Whites to drop stones, one for each passerby, on her grave for good fortune." Today there is a pile of stones standing at about five feet high. You'd be surprised at how many Georgia natives pass it by and never pay any attention to it. They don't even know it's there.

Trahlyta's "fountain of youth" is now known as Porter Springs, the site of her home is known as Cedar Mountain, and her final resting place is called Stonepile Gap. The magic springs, named Porter Springs, is 3/4 miles northeast of Trahlyta's grave.

Trahlyta's Grave Marker (This is what it actually says)
 
This site of stones marks the grave of a Cherokee princess, Trahlyta. According to legend, her tribe, living on Cedar Mountain, north of here, knew the secret of the magic springs of eternal youth from the Witch of Cedar Mountain.

Trahlyta, kidnapped by a rejected suitor, Wahsega, was taken far away and lost her beauty. As she was dying, Wahsega promised to bury her here near her home and the magic springs. Custom arose among the Indians and later the Whites to drop stones, one for each passerby, on her grave for good fortune. The magic springs, now known as Porter Springs, lie 3/4 miles northeast of here.

Supposedly, on two different occasions, the Highway Department has attempted to move the grave during road construction. Both times at least one person died in an accident while moving the pile. The stone grave is still in the same place today that it always has been. Porter Springs, in the late 1800's and early 1900's, was site of a health spa. It is said that people came from all over the world to sit in and drink the water. The hotel burned down in the early 1900's, but the springs still run at the foot of the mountain.

I don't why the springs weren't named after her, but there is a Trahlyta Lake and a Trahlyta Falls.


Video of the Grave



The Legend in Story and Song