Long before Harry Potter, upstate South Carolina had its own Wizard Owl. We know him as General Andrew Pickens, but the Cherokee knew him as Skyagunsta, or “Wizard Owl” as a tribute to his skill as a warrior.

Pickens, the stern old Presbyterian, was also known as the “Fighting Elder”. He was a veteran Indian fighter and he took part in several decisive battles against the British during the American Revolution, including the battle of Cowpens that turned the tide of the war in favor of the Americans. He, along with Thomas Sumter, the “Gamecock”, and Francis Marion, the “Swampfox”, were the fathers of the guerrilla tactics that enabled the outgunned and outnumbered American army to defeat the larger and better equipped British Forces. An elder and a warrior, a farmer and a trader, a tactical genius and a man of true courage, Pickens was respected by the Cherokee as a soldier, although he was their enemy.

The Andrew Pickens Ranger District was named after this early South Carolina military and political leader. His final home at Tamassee is located at the eastern edge of the district. The General Pickens District began with land acquired in 1914 in what was called the Savannah Purchase Unit under the authority of the 1911 Weeks Act. It became part of the Sumter National Forest by presidential proclamation in 1936. Andrew Pickens played an important role in the history of the state and the nation.