A marker in downtown Ball Ground, placed by the Georgia Historical Commission in 1953, states: "Two and one-half miles to the east, near the confluence of Long-Swamp Creek and the Etowah River, is the traditional site of Taliwa, scene of the fiercest and most decisive battle in the long war of the 1740's and 50's between the Cherokee and Creek Indians.

There, about 1755, the great Cherokee war chief, Oconostota, led 500 of his warriors to victory over a larger band of Creeks. So complete was the defeat that the Creeks retreated south of the Chattahoochee River, leaving to their opponents the region later to become the heart of the ill-fated Cherokee Nation."

According to the history published on the Cherokee Nation website, Nancy Ward, who was born in 1738, accompanied her husband Kingfisher on a raid of the Creeks during the Battle of Taliwa in 1755. Kingfisher was killed in the battle, and she took his rifle and rallied the warriors to victory.