<P> In Cocke County, the river passes through the community of Del Rio, and receives the waters of both the Pigeon River and the Nolichucky River northwest of Cocke's county seat, Newport . The river then enters the slack waters of Douglas Lake, which is created by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Douglas Dam in Sevier County, approximately 32 miles (51 km) upstream from the river's mouth . Near Sevierville, the French Broad River receives the flow of the Little Pigeon River, which drains much of the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains . After flowing through a wide gap in Bays Mountain, it enters Knox County . It joins the Holston River to form the Tennessee at a place known as "Forks of the River" at the eastern edge of Knoxville . </P> <P> The French Broad River is believed to be one of the oldest in the world based on dating of rocks . Jeff Wilcox of UNC - Asheville described it as "a meandering river, which typically form in relatively flat landscapes ." He said this likely meant the river predated the Appalachian Mountains and was lifted up as the mountains formed, later eroding the rocks it passed through . </P> <P> The French Broad River was named by European settlers centuries ago because it was one of the two broad rivers in western North Carolina . The one which flowed into land claimed by France at that time was named the "French Broad River", whereas the other, which stayed in land claimed by England--the Colony of North Carolina--was named the "English Broad River". (The latter was later renamed simply the "Broad River"). The Indigenous Americans of this area, the Cherokee Indians, called it different names: Poelico, Agiqua (broad) in the mountains, Tahkeeosteh (racing waters) from Asheville down and Zillicoah above Asheville . The French called it the Agiqua, borrowing one of the Cherokee names . </P> <P> Douglas Dam, built on the lower French Broad by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) during the 1940s, is one of the larger TVA developments on a tributary of the Tennessee River . (The two other very large ones are Norris Lake on the Clinch River and Cherokee Lake on the Holston River .) </P>

Where did the name french broad river come from
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