The most thorough coverage of this subject that I'm aware of was a doctoral dissertation by Charles Walker (founder of the Heritage Rose Foundation). From that dissertation (which I have somewhere, but will have to search for), is this publication:

Walker, Jr., C. A. and D. J. Werner. 1997. Isozyme and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analyses of Cherokee rose and its putative hybrids 'Silver Moon' and 'Anemone'. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 122(5):659-664.

Here's the abstract of the article:
Two banding patterns were revealed by phosphoglucomutase (PGM) isozyme analysis of 24 accessions of Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata Michx.) from eight southeastern states, based on the presence (in 5 accessions) or absence (in 19 accessions) of an additional slow-migrating band. RAPD analysis of these accessions showed a corresponding division into the same two groups determined by PGM analysis, except for two accessions with unique RAPD phenotypes. Field-grown accessions showed distinguishing morphological characters corresponding to the groupings from the isozyme and RAPD analyses. Those in the predominant isozyme and RAPD groups, as well as the two with unique RAPD phenotypes, exhibited smooth lateral stems, while those in both nonpredominant groups exhibited markedly bristly laterals. These results suggest that the 24 accessions are ramets of two major clones with one clone predominating and that, contrary to long-standing belief, the Cherokee rose has not naturalized by reseeding in the southeast. PGM and RAPD analyses of putative Cherokee rose hybrids Anemone and ÂSilver Moon showed that ÂAnemone is likely to be such a hybrid but that ÂSilver Moon is not. Historical records revealed that widespread vegetative propagation of the Cherokee rose was initiated in 1820-21 and that L. Wiesener, not J.C. Schmidt, was the originator of ÂAnemoneÂ.
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Then from the introduction to the paper:

The Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata Michx.) was believed to be a U.S. native when it first came to the attention of plant enthusiasts in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Lindley, 1820). This belief persisted into the 20th century and is so stated in the resolution adopting it as the Georgia state flower (General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1916). Although it is now acknowledged to be a native of China, the circumstances of its entry into the United States remain obscure. It has long been reported to be naturalized widely in the southern states (Bailey, 1925; Radford et al., 1968; Torrey and Gray, 1838-40). Confusion between this and another Chinese native, the Macartney or Chickasaw rose (R. bracteata J.C. Wendl.), may have influenced this belief. However, personal observation since 1972 has revealed no evidence of reseeding of the Cherokee rose as if it were native, suggesting that it is not naturalized in the sense of Jackson (1928) but is persistent at dwellings and other sites of deliberate planting. In contrast, reseeding of the Macartney rose has infested ~201,000 ha in Texas, and much effort has been devoted to its control (Garoian et al., 1984).
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Then in the discussion at the end of the article is this:

Search of the early literature. A large volume of material relating to the Cherokee rose was discovered in 19th century literature, some of it apparently unseen by previous writers on this rose. Of particular relevance to the present study is an 1820 letter to the American Farmer from C. E. Rowand, who had been using it for hedging on his plantation near Charleston, S.C., since about 1808 and highly recommended it to his fellow planters, offering to send "any quantity of the cuttings" free of charge, except freight (Rowand, 1820). In 1826, a list of 50 recipients of RowandÂs largesse of 1820-21 was published in the American Farmer, revealing that material had been sent to Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Matanzas, probably in Florida, as well as to Edinburgh, Scotland (Skinner, 1826). General John Joor of Wilkinson County, Miss., began experimenting with the Cherokee rose as a hedge plant about 1822. Only 30 years later, Benjamin Wailes (1852) estimated that >1000 miles of Cherokee rose hedges existed in the Mississippi counties of Adams and Wilkinson alone. Given these circumstances, it is not difficult to see how later writers would interpret ubiquity as naturalization.

Two early records reveal the presence in the southeast of Cherokee rose plant with smooth laterals like the predominant group in this study. One plant, Grown by William W. Anderson (1820) of Stateburg, S.C. had an "oblong-ovate hispid germ seated upon a short smooth peduncle," apparently indicating a smooth flowering stem. Another plant was sent by James Wilson from Savannah, Ga., to the Glasgow Botanic Garden, where it flowered in 1828 for what was said to be the first time in the British Isles. A depiction of it shows smooth laterals (Curtis, 1828). This trait, together with the origin of the plants, suggests that these two plants belong to the predominant group in this study. Lindley (1820), after having examined only two herbarium specimens of it, described as R. hystrix a form of R. laevigata with bristly laterals. Results of this study suggest that a high percentage of the Cherokee rose plants now growing in the southeast are ramets of the same clone and may have been propagated from cuttings distributed by Rowand from Charleston in 1820-21.
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The whole article, and the entire dissertation are well worth reading, but I thought these bits may be of use here.

Malcolm

Thanks for this, Malcolm.

Back in the 90's we once had a really long thread on this question, called "On the Banks of Certain Rivers." We always cut them off at a hundred posts back then, because everybody had dial-up and it would take 5-10 minutes to open up the thread.
Looking up every conceivable way to get the Cherokee Rose to the US, it looked like it came on trading ships. Back then, the trading ships were made to stop at Canton, China, and stay on an island. This went on from 1780.
Jon of Wessex started that thread. I told him he ought to write a book about it, but it's still on his list of things to do.
Here's the story:

Reading the above abstract supplied by Dr Manners, I'm intrigued by the absence of any direct reference to the French botanist, Andre Michaux. His writings give firsthand indication that R. laevigata had become naturalized in sections of the southeastern U.S. by the late 1700s, thereby insinuating a much earlier introduction of the rose to North America. Michaux and his documentation became so closely aligned with the rose that many sources continue to identify the variety as Rosa laevigata Michaux (the Rosa laevigata Michx referenced twice in the above abstract).

Below is a link to info about a very recent study by the botanist Stephen Elliott (published posthumously) that may provide additional info on the interesting history of the Cherokee Rose in the American South.

Interesting! I see Charles Walker was the presenter of that paper! I had not heard about it.
Malcolm

Stephen Elliot authored the scientific text "Flora of the Carolinas" and was very important in his day. His papers are at Harvard and he believed that the Cherokee Rose was native.
The posthumous paper of his was one of two manuscripts that he left when he died suddenly. It was read IIRC at the Charleston Horticultural Society and appeared in several newspaper of the time.

Michaux was also in Charleston a bit before Elliot's time; there is mention in a paper of his first arrival by boat. He called the Cherokee Rose (roughly translated) the non-descript rose and by that time in his career, he had a pretty strong handle on what had and hadn't been described.

Then let's add Audubon to the mix. The most beautiful Audubon plate that you've never seen was one that featured the Cherokee Rose (as painted by Maria Bachman) and onto which Audubon painted (surprise!) one of his birds. Problem was that he painted several birds there, only he only had a single dead bird, and it turned out that that bird was the only one of its kind. Locals from se Pennsylvania tried many times to find more of the birds kin in the cedar copses where it breathed its last breath, but it was never found alive, again. The other oddity was that Audubon painted birds on plants known from where they lived, so did Audubon know something about the temporary range of the Cherokee Rose?

Very interesting, all of this. Thanks, Malcolm! Thanks, folks.
Melissa

Windeaux -- do you have access to the Elliott article? I've been trying to get it, and I can go to your link for the abstract of Charles's talk, but apparently the full text is not available, and of course, the abstract does not fully reference the Elliott paper. Thanks.
Malcolm