The Tennessee Valley Authority, charged with building a series of dams to generate hydroelectricity and control flooding in the 1930s, initially wanted to build Fort Loudoun Dam downstream from the mouth of the Little Tennessee, thus creating a reservoir that would expand across both the upper Tennessee River and lower Little Tennessee River, but engineers were unable to locate a suitable downstream site for a dam.
 They instead built the dam about a mile upstream, and made plans to build a dam at the mouth of the Little Tennessee—known as the Fort Loudoun Extension—which would divert water to the Fort Loudoun reservoir and increase that dam's generating capacity.
 Due to lack of funding, however, the Fort Loudoun Extension project was shelved until the 1960s.

TVA revived interest in the Fort Loudoun Extension—renamed the Tellico Dam project—in 1964, although they met immediate opposition from a  group of citizen activists that included environmentalists, historical conservationists, and Native Americans.
 Construction of the dam began in 1969, but litigation stalled its completion until 1979, allowing the University of Tennessee to conduct extensive excavations at sites throughout the Tellico Basin.
 As a result of these excavations, several sites were added to the National Register of Historic Places for their archaeological potential, among them Bussell Island, designated 40LD17.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, charged with building a series of dams to generate hydroelectricity and control flooding in the 1930s, initially wanted to build Fort Loudoun Dam downstream from the mouth of the Little Tennessee, thus creating a reservoir that would expand across both the upper Tennessee River and lower Little Tennessee River, but engineers were unable to locate a suitable downstream site for a dam.  They instead built the dam about a mile upstream, and made plans to build a dam at the mouth of the Little Tennessee—known as the Fort Loudoun Extension—which would divert water to the Fort Loudoun reservoir and increase that dam's generating capacity.  Due to lack of funding, however, the Fort Loudoun Extension project was shelved until the 1960s.
TVA revived interest in the Fort Loudoun Extension—renamed the Tellico Dam project—in 1964, although they met immediate opposition from a  group of citizen activists that included environmentalists, historical conservationists, and Native Americans.  Construction of the dam began in 1969, but litigation stalled its completion until 1979, allowing the University of Tennessee to conduct extensive excavations at sites throughout the Tellico Basin.  As a result of these excavations, several sites were added to the National Register of Historic Places for their archaeological potential, among them Bussell Island, designated 40LD17.
Bussell Island