There they had settled along the Wateree River, near the site of what developed as present-day Camden, South Carolina.
The name Wateree may come from Catawban wateran, "to float on the water"[1] or from yeh is-WAH h'reh / ye iswąʔre.
In 1670, English colonists and explorers mentioned the Wateree as inhabiting the area of the upper Yadkin River, to the northwest of their later habitat.
[1] The British observed that the chiefs of the Wateree had a higher degree of power than those of other Indian tribes of the region.
Originally a large tribe, the Wateree had their power broken during the Yamasee War of 1715 against Carolina colonists.