USA > Alabama > Alabama history > Part 3
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Charles Weatherford, a thrifty Scotch peddler, met, admired, and married this buxom grass widow. He made his home on the Alabama river, a little below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. He prospered in store and farm; bought negroes and fine horses; built his far-famed race- track, upon which he trained his blooded steeds. His native tact, his marriage with Sehoy, the half-sister of McGillivray, his race-track, and his prosperity made him a popular man, and drew about him the leading warriors of the tribes.
2. Early Life .- In this home of plenty was born and reared his distinguished son William, who was called La mo chat'tee, the Red Eagle.
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Bold, gifted, and eloquent, William was a born leader of men. In the company of his uncles, Alex- ander McGillivray and LeClere Milfort, he learned how the whites had wronged his mother's people. Wars with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and occa- sional attacks on the whites, gave him something of a soldier's training.
He heard Te cum'seh's war speech at Tookabat- cha, and advised against his plans. When he found the Creeks determined to go to war, he was very sad. His brother John, his half-brother David Tate, and others of his blood were friendly to the whites. His property was in danger. No matter on which side he fought he was bound to suffer. The war came on. He could not stand an idle watcher. He joined the Creeks.
3. Massacre of Fort Mims .- Fort Mims was situ- ated in the Tensaw settlement near the Alabama river. Major Daniel Beasley, a brave but over-confi- dent officer, was in command of it. The excited people had gathered there for protection. The defeat of the Americans at Burnt Corn had filled the country with alarm. In the fort were five hundred and fifty-three people-old men, women and children, negroes, friendly Indians, and soldiers,-against whom Hopiee (Ho pi' ve) Tus ten nug' gee or Far- Off Warrior, Peter McQueen, High-Head Jim, Hillis Hadjo, the prophet, See' ka boo, the Shawnee, and Weatherford led a thousand painted warriors.
False rumors had so often alarmed the people in the fort that when two negroes reported signs of Indians, one was whipped, and the other, tied to be
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whipped, looked upon the awful conflict until he met death by the hands of the foe against whom he had vainly warned his master.
On the morning of August 30, 1813, in Fort Mims, happy children were playing, and young men and maidens were dancing and rollicking. General Thomas S. Woodward* says that Major Beasley was drunk, and called Jim Cornells a coward for report- ing the Indians to be near.
At ten o'clock Major Beasley wrote General Clai- borne that he could defend the fort against any force the Indians might bring against it. At twelve o'clock when the drum beat for dinner and the soldiers were off their guard, Weatherford and his warriors rushed suddenly upon the fort and gained the prin- cipal gateway before it could be closed. Fearful was the attack and desperately brave was the de- fense.
For five dreadful hours the battle raged. The blood-thirsty savages, mad with slaughter, spared neither women nor children. The massacre of the helpless and innocent was contrary to the orders of Weatherford. When he found that he could not stop it, he rode away in sorrow. It is said that he never recalled the scene without a shudder of horror.
Only about forty of the inmates of the fort escaped death. The fires that glowed in the evening over the burning fort charred the sealped and mutilated remains of five hundred people, while more than a
*General Thomas S. Woodward, a half-breed Indian, lived during the Creek War. He wrote many valuable letters on the history of the times.
Aug. 30, 1813
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hundred bodies of dead Indians lay around the stock- ade lines and in the woods.
Ten days afterward Captain Kennedy with his company arrived on the scene. He found buzzards, dogs, and other animals eating the dead bodies. Two long ditches were dug, and into them were placed the remnants of bones and flesh. The earth was thrown over these remnants, and the burial was done.
4. Battle of Holy Ground .- The country was aroused as never before nor since. Jackson soon marched from the north, Floyd from the east, ('lai- borne and Push må ta' ha from the south and the west.
The homes of Weatherford and the prophets were at E co na cha' cả, the Holy Ground, on the Alabama river in the present county of Lowndes. The prop- erty and families of many Indians had been gathered there. The place was supposed to be safe from at- tacks of the whites. It was strongly fortified, and the prophets had surrounded it with enchanted circles within which they declared no white man could pass and live. A bold garrison of native war- riors, commanded by Weatherford and cheered by the fanatical speeches of the prophets, defied attack.
Dec. 23, 1813
On December 23, 1813, General Claiborne attacked the town. The Indians saw their prophets killed and the white men crossing the enchanted lines. They became panic-stricken and began to flee. Weather- ford could not rally them and was himself compelled to flee. Mounted on Arrow, his splendid charger, he galloped to the river's brink. Finding himself hotly pursued, he spurred his horse over a fifteen-foot
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precipice into the river; horse and rider sank out of sight, but quickly arose. The horse swam the river, bearing his master beyond the reach of pursuit.
The town was burned. Its spoils were given to Pushmataha and his men, who had nobly aided in the attack.
Rain and cold made severe suffering for the sol- diers during the few days following, but the brave fellows were glad to have taught the Indians that the Holy Ground was not, as the prophets said, "the grave of the white man."
5. Surrender of Weatherford .- General Jackson's victories following closely upon this one broke the power of the Creeks in northern Alabama. Weather- ford saw that the Creek cause was hopeless. Jack- son demanded his surrender as a condition of peace. Weatherford knew the deep-seated hatred toward him; that he was called "the murderer of Fort Mims"; that death would likely befall him if he sur- rendered. He was a brave man, and he wished to save the women and children from starving and his nation from being wiped out of existence. He pro- ceeded to the tent of General Jackson and surren- dered. He said that he was willing to die, but he begged for soldiers to be sent into the woods for the starving women and children of the war-party.
General Jackson admired his manly courage, respected the feelings that prompted his surrender, and cheerfully talked with him about the war and the troubles it had brought. Weatherford accepted the terms of surrender, and used his influence to have all the Creeks accept them. Fearing that he
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would be killed by soldiers who had lost relatives and friends at Fort Mims, some of the American officers guarded him carefully until he could be sent beyond the reach of immediate danger.
6. Private Life and Death .- After the war Weath- erford lived quietly and honorably on his Little River farm in the lower part of Monroe county. His name, once a terror to the settlers, was an honor to the private life of the citizen. He died in the spring of 1826. The Red Eagle, a beautiful poem by A. B. Meek, takes William Weatherford for its hero.
1826
7. Early Life of Pushmataha .- It is not really known who were the forefathers of Pushmataha, but he was born in 1765 somewhere in eastern Mis- sissippi, probably near Ma- con on the bank of Nox'u- bee river. In raids against the Osage Indians beyond the Mississippi, he was discovered to be a brave and wise man, and was made chief of the Choc- taws. At one time he lived Pushmataha near Meridian, and after- ward in Clarke county, Mississippi, near the headwaters of Bnekatunna creek.
1811
8. Friendship for the Whites .- When Tecumseh visited the Choctaws, Pushmataha followed him from place to place, and argued earnestly against his
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WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATAHA
designs. Pushmataha's influence was so great that Tecumseh could not persuade the Choctaws to go to war. It has been said that the Choctaws, as a nation, never in war shed the blood of a white man. A small band of them joined the Creek war-party. Pushmataha afterwards captured the members of this band. He compelled them to pass between the high banks of a sunken road, and, while passing, they were shot to death by his orders.
The "Tombigbee Settlements" were surrounded by Indians, and were completely separated from friends in Georgia and Tennessee. The Creeks and the tribes related to them occupied the country from the Oconee to the Alabama rivers. The Cherokees lived along the Tennessee. The Chickasaws held northwest Alabama and northern Mississippi. The Choctaws dwelt in central and southern Mississippi. The Choctaws and Creeks were still disputing over possession of the region between the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee rivers. The whites were in extreme danger, and there was much fear lest the Choctaws should forget their long-standing friend- ship and unite with the Creeks. Had they done so, the Chickasaws and Cherokees would probably have done likewise, the whites would all have been killed, and the history of Alabama would have been entirely changed.
At the outbreak of the Creek War Pushmataha offered himself and his people as allies of the whites. He led his warriors in the battle of the Holy Ground, and did other important service for the Americans. :
He was a true patriot, ever watchful for the good of
1813
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his tribes, and ever anxious to preserve friendly relations with the white settlers. He was much admired by the Americans. General Jackson pro- nounced him the bravest man he ever saw.
9. Vanity and Popularity .- Pushmataha was very vain. Entering a company of whites, he would ask, "Do you know who I am? I am General Pushma- taha." His vanity, however, did not lessen his popu- larity among the Choctaws nor among the whites. His timely aid saved the whites from destruction, and they honored him in life and in death.
10. Death and Burial .- Pushmataha's great weak- ness was drunkenness. He probably brought on his death by a long drunken spree, though quinsy is Dec. 24, named as the disease which killed him. He died 1824 in Washington City, having gone there with a com- mittee of his people on business with the United States government. General Jackson visited him on his deathbed, and heard his request, "When I am gone, let the big guns be fired over me." He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery with mili- tary honors. His body was attended to its last resting-place by the great men of the country. The big guns were fired over his grave.
The inscription on his tombstone reads, "A war- rior of great distinction, wise in council, eloquent in an extraordinary degree, and on all occasions and under all circumstances the white man's friend."
11. Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek .- Six years after the death of Pushmataha, by the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaws very unwill- ingly ceded to the United States all their lands east
Sept. 27, 1830
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WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATAHA
of the Mississippi river. They were advised to pre- pare for removal to hunting-grounds in regions west of the Mississippi. In the great War between the States they aided the South, thus proving their devo- tion to the friends of their fathers.
Colonel John McKee was the United States agent to the Chickasaws. He encouraged them to remain friendly to the whites, and kept them from joining the Creek war-party.
SUMMARY
William Weatherford, the gifted nephew of Alexander McGil- livray, was half brother to David Tate. Hle opposed the war counsels of Tecumseh, but joined the Creeks at the outbreak of the war. He helped to inspire the attack on Fort Mins, but would have checked the terrible massacre of the whites. He commanded the Indians at the battle of Holy Ground, and was present at the battle of Calebee. To save his people from starva- tion, he surrendered to Jackson and helped to bring about peace between the Creeks and Americans. He lived honorably and quietly after the war, and died in 1826.
Pushmataha, the eloquent chief of the Choctaws, also opposed the war counsels of Tecumseh, but sided with the whites when the war began. He kept the Choctaws ever faithful to the whites, fought bravely as their ally, and was honored grate- fully by the American people.
QUESTIONS
1. Sketch the family history of William Weatherford. 2. Why did he join the Creeks instead of the whites in the Creek War? 3. Describe the Massacre of Fort Mims, and its effect upon the country. 4. Describe the battle of Holy Ground. 5. Give an account of the surrender of Weatherford. 6. Give a brief sketch of his life after the war. 7. Who was Pushnataha? 8. How did he regard the counsels of Tecumseh? 9. Tell of his friend- ship for the whites. 10. Describe his death and burial. 11. What were the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek? 12. Who kept the Chickasaws from joining with the Creeks?
CHAPTER V
SAMUEL DALE (1772-1841)
1. Early Life .- Samuel Dale was called the Daniel Boone of the Southwest because of his daring deeds as a backwoodsman. Born in Virginia and removed early to Georgia, he was familiar with all the hard- ships and rich adventures of border life. His father · and mother died before he was twenty years old, leaving him heavily in debt to take care of seven brothers and sisters The Indians were constantly about him, killing his neighbors, burning homes, destroying crops and cattle, and threatening every interest dear to his heart. Food was scarce, but experience had taught Dale how to meet boldly and confidently every danger and difficulty.
1796
He made good crops and paid his debts. In the winter of 1796, he became a wagoner in Savannah, Georgia, but returned to his farm in the spring. met success in business, and used his profits for buying goods. These he exchanged among the Creeks for ponies and cattle, hides and tallow, which he sold to his American neighbors.
He hauled a great many families from Georgia to the Mississippi Territory. His cantion and bravery fitted him to protect the lives and property of movers. He kept several wagons on the road, and established a trading-post so as to have return loads of Indian products. He served as guide to the
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United States commissioners, Harris and Easley, in marking out the public road through the Cherokee nation.
He could not keep out of the border wars. He acted as scout and aided his fellow Georgians in beating back the Creeks, who were forever disput- ing, and with good reasons, the rights of the whites to advance into their territory and occupy their lands.
2. Tecumseh Arouses the Indians .- Dale was pres- ent at the annual grand council of the Creeks at Tookabatcha on the Tallapoosa river. Teenmseh, the celebrated chief of the Shawnees in the North, and his brother Francis were there. They wished to arouse the Creeks to war against the whites. Benjamin Hawkins, the United States agent, was present, but did not understand the anger of the Creeks towards the Americans. He supposed that civil war might arise among the Indians, but he would not believe that the Creeks could be persuaded to take up arms against the whites.
Tecumseh, with twenty-four warriors of his tribe, marched for several nights in perfect Tecumseh silence into the great square, took the pipe offered by the Great Warrior of the Creeks, passed it to his war- riors, who passed it from one to the other until it went to all; and then in silence and single file they marched back to their cabin, around which they
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danced, without saluting any one, the dance of the northern tribes. These strange actions filled the Creeks and their Choctaw visitors with awe and wonder.
Every morning after the council had met together, Tecumseh would send word that he would on that day make his "talk." Later in the day he would send another message that "the sun was too far advanced in the heavens, and he would wait until the next day for his "talk'." Mr. Hawkins grew impatient and left, but Dale had a warm friend, Will Milfort, a half-breed, whom he had nursed through a spell of sickness, who promised to report when Tecumseh was ready to talk. Milfort kept his word, and Dale was present.
Before their visit to the council Tecumseh and his followers repeated the mysterious marching, making scowling faces, turning to all points of the compass, circling round and round, burning tobacco and sumac. When they reached the council, the Shaw- nee war-whoop was raised. Tecumseh then began his talk. He spoke slowly at first and deliberately; but soon his words poured, his bright eyes flashed, his frame shook, his face showed his changing feel- ings, and the tones of his voice aroused the passions of war. His listeners clutched their knives and waved their tomahawks in the air.
The speech committed the Creeks to war-war so cruel to the whites and so fatal to the Creeks.
3. Battle of Burnt Corn .- Dale had settled in Clarke county, Alabama, in 1808. When the Creek War broke out he raised a company and joined
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Colonel James Cal'ler to head off and capture Peter McQueen and High-Head Jim, who were returning from Pensacola with army supplies furnished by British agents and Spanish citizens.
The forces met and fought the Battle of Burnt July 27, Corn, so called from the name of the creek on which 1813 it occurred. The battle opened with advantage to the Americans, but after the Indians had been driven from their camp, the Americans began to gather the spoils and to catch the Indian ponies. The Indians fired from the woods upon the whites in the open, charged with yells, and threw them into confusion and flight. The brave deeds and daring efforts of the officers failed to check the rout of the Ameri- cans. With the loss of the battle went the greater loss of respect for American valor and arms. It was afterward considered a disgrace to have been in this battle.
: 4. Defense of Fort Madison .- A horrible massacre Sept 2, had occurred at Fort Sinquefield (sink'field) in 1813 Clarke county. Those who survived fled to Fort Madison, ten miles away, which General Claiborne feared to be too weak for defense. He gave to Colo- nel Joseph Carson, in command, the privilege of leaving the fort and going to Fort St. Stephens. Colonel Carson thought that he had positive orders to leave, and as his bugle blew calling out the troops, Captains Dale and Evan Austill had another bugle Sept. 8, 1813 sounded calling for volunteers to defend the fort with the women and children who could not leave. About eighty volunteers remained. General Flour noy (flur noy') wrote to Dale, advising that they
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leave the fort and go to Mount Vernon. Dale replied, "There are many women and children here whom I have sworn to defend I have a gallant set of fellows with me, and when you hear of the fall of Fort Madison you will find a pile of yellow hides here to tan if you can get your regulars to come and skin them." Colo- nel Carson soon returned. The fort was not attacked. William Weatherford had visited it as a spy and had reported to the Jeremiah Austill Indian leaders that it was too strong to be taken.
Nov. 12, 1813
5. The Canoe Fight .- Jeremiah Austill, James Smith, and Sam Dale were the heroes of the cele- brated "Canoe Fight," which took place on the Alabama river above French's Landing. The In- dians had been making raids around Fort Madison, and Dale obtained permission from Colonel Carson to drive them away. Taking with him seventy men, he began to scour the country for Indians. After crossing the Alabama river a skirmish fire took place between his forces and the Indians hidden in the canes. Sending the larger body of his men back to the western bank, he and eleven others remained on the eastern side.
As Dale and his men, from their dangerous posi- tion, looked upon the river they saw floating down the current a large flat-bottomed canoe in which were a chief and ten painted warriors. The Indians
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were about to land, but seeing the whites on the bank ready to stop them, they backed out into the river. Two Indians slipped out of the canoe and swam to shore. James Smith killed one of them as he reached the bank. 1
The Indians on land for some unknown reason ceased firing and went away. A negro, Caesar, had a small dugout in which he could carry three men. Dale stepped into it, and called for volunteers to attack the Indians in the large canoe. Jeremiah
The Canoe Fight
Austill and James Smith followed. All wanted to go, but the little canoe would hold no more.
Whites and Indians knew that the combat would be a fight to the death. As the canoes neared each other, the chief recognized Dale and shouted, "Now for it, Sam Thlucco." Rifles, clubs, and oars were plied desperately. Austill was in the prow .of the
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little canoe and was knocked down by the chief in the first onset. A second time he was knocked down, only to rise again for bloody battle with his enemies. Smith and Dale were dealing death with clubbed rifles. Nobody flinched. Every Indian was killed. One fell into the water during the fight. When the onset closed eight dead bodies were lifted from the Indian canoe and pitched into the river, while the Americans on shore shouted long and loud in honor of the victory. No other naval battle, ancient or modern, ever displayed greater individual valor and daring.
Captain Dale and his companions returned to their nine friends left on the eastern side, and carried them in the bloody canoes to the western bank.
6. Dale a Farmer .- Dale became a farmer after the close of the Creek War. He furnished General McIntosh a thousand bushels of corn for the starving forces of Major Woolfolk at Fort Jackson, for which he was never paid by the United States.
The destitute Indians and immigrants imposed upon him for supplies for which they never paid, and finally forced him to fail in business.
7. Trip to New Orleans .- Late in December, 1814, business carried Dale to Fort Hawkins, Georgia. At the request of Colonel Hawkins and General Mc- Intosh, he agreed to carry an order from the secre- tary of war to General Jackson at New Orleans. He bought Paddy, a stoutly-built pony, for the trip. In eight days he was in New Orleans. When he reached Jackson's headquarters the battle of New Orleans had begun. For the first time in his life
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Dale beheld a regular, pitched battle between large numbers of civilized forces. He was spellbound by the awful grandeur of the scene.
General Jackson was so astonished at Dale's speed in bringing the dispatches that he sent him back to Georgia with other dispatches. As Dale reached Fort Decatur on the Tallapoosa, wet and almost frozen, General McIntosh helped him from Paddy, put his arms around him, carried him to the fire, gave him food and hot coffee, and kept him quiet until he was rested and warm. Dale then delivered the dispatches and told of the glorious battle at New Orleans. The old general wept and shouted for joy. Officers and men came rushing to the door, and Dale had to tell the story over and over until daylight, while the delighted patriots shouted with wildest huzzas.
He went on to Milledgeville, delivered his dis- patches, and then returned to Dale's Ferry on the Alabama river, where he again took up business.
8. Public Services .- Governor Hohes had great confidence in Dale. He sent him commissions in blank, and permitted him to appoint justices, sher- iffs, constables, and other civil officers.
After the Creek War Dale's life was full of work and honors. He was a delegate to the convention that met at the house of John Ford, an old settler, on the Pearl river, to divide the Mississippi Terri- tory, the western portion to form a State and the eastern to constitute Alabama Territory. He served many years in the general assembly of Alabama, be- ginning as a delegate to the first assembly that met
Jan. 1815
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at St. Stephens. He was a member of the legislative committee that met General LaFayette at the Chat- tahoochee and escorted him to Montgomery. With George S. Gaines he helped to remove the Choctaws to their new homes on the Arkansas and Red rivers.
9. Later Life .- Dale bought from an Indian two sections of land in Lauderdale county, Mississippi, and lived there during his last years. He served several terms in the general assembly of Mississippi. He visited Washington during Jackson's adminis- tration, and spent many pleasant hours alone with the President, talking over campaigns and other matters of interest in those wonderful years.
Dale met most of the great men of the times. Cal- houn, Clay, Webster, Benton, William R. King, and others showed him much attention and captured his honest heart. He was not educated in books, but he knew men and the country, and his opinions were expressed in words that instructed his listener. The great politicians loved to talk with him, and they valued highly the information which he gave them. He was a manly and worthy pioneer who loved his country and loved it well.
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