Cowee was an important Cherokee town located on the Little Tennessee River north of present-day Franklin, North Carolina, one of what were called the Middle Towns. The Cherokee occupied an existing developed site; it has been described as one of the best-preserved South Appalachian Mississippian culture sites in western North Carolina and has an earthwork platform mound. The Mississippian culture flourished from about 1000CE to the 14th or 15th century.