Fort Moore, "the most important of South Carolina's early forts," was constructed in 1716 to protect the province from Indian attack and to guard the vital trading routes to the major Southern Indians. There are no extant description of a Savano Indian town to indicate the appearance of the site from about 1680 until the construction of Fort Moore except to indicate the presence of one or more traders or factories in the town prior to 1716. Excavations have exposed one half of such a factory in use from about 1710 to the late 1740's
The site of Fort Moore-Savano Town was strategic in the relations between the government of the Colony of South Carolina and a number of powerful Indian groups located along and west of the Savannah River. Indian groups associated with the town and fort include the Savano, Creek, Yuchi, Cherokee and Chickasaw. The Savano Indians occupied the bluff prior to the arrival of traders, and remained until shortly after 1716, when the fort was constructed. The fort was garrisoned until 1763 [1766], when the growing settlement of Georgia made it no longer needed.
