USA > Alabama > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 6
USA > Georgia > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 6
USA > Mississippi > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 6
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1540
* Portuguese Narrative and Gareellasso.
+ Portuguese Narrative and Garcellasso
. - 1
CHAPTER II. Part 1, 1541 1541
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ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA.
handsome barge which had a tilted top at the stern-under which she took a seat upon soft cushions. Many principal Indians likewise entered similar barges, and accompanied her to the western side, in the style of a splendid water proces- sion. When De Soto first discovered the Mississippi, a Chief approached from the other side with two hundred handsome canoes of great size, filled with painted and plumed warriors, who stood erect, with bows in their hands, to protect those who paddled. The boats of the Chiefs and principal men had tops,-like that of the Georgia Queen,-decorated with waving flags and plumes, which floated on the breeze from poles to which they were attached. They are described by the journalists to have been equal to a beautiful army of gallies .*
CHAPTER II. Part 1.
The natives worshipped the sun, and entertained great ven- eration for the moon, and certain stars. Whether they also believed in a Great Spirit is not stated. When the Indian ambassadors crossed the Savannah to meet De Soto, they made three profound bows towards the east, intended for the sun ; three towards the west, for the moon ; and three to the Governor.t Upon the east bank of the Mississippi, all the Indians approached him without uttering a word, and went through precisely the same ceremony ; making, however, to him three bows, much less reverential than those made to the sun and moon. On the other side of that river, he was sur- rounded by the Chief and his subjects. Presently, his Indian majesty sneezed in a loud manner. The subjects bowed their
* Portuguese Narrative, p. 729.
+ Gareellasso de la Vega, p. 256.
1541
72
ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA.
heads, opened and closed their arms, and saluted the Chief with these words, "may the sun guard you"-" may the sun be with you"-"may the sun shine upon you," and "may the sun prosper and defend you."* About the first of March, annually, the natives selected the skin of the largest deer, with the head and legs attached. They filled it with a va- riety of fruit and grain, and sewed it up again. The horns were, also, hung with garlands of fruit. This skin, in all re- spects resembling a large buck, was carried by all the in- habitants to a plain. There it was placed upon a high post, and just at the rising of the sun, the Indians fell down on their knees around it, and implored that bright luminary to grant them, the ensuing season, an abundance of fruits and provisions, as good as those contained in the skin of the deer.t This was the practice upon the coast of East Florida, and, doubtless, it was observed all over the country. It was cer- tainly a very practical mode of asking favors of the sun.
1564
When a Chief or Prophet died upon the St. Johns, he was placed in the ground, and a small mound, of conical form, was erected over him. The base of this mound was surrounded with arrows, stuck in regular order. Some sat, and others kneeled around it, and continued to weep and howl for the space of three nights. Chosen women next visited the mound for a long time, every morning at the break of day, at noon, and at night. # Indeed, great respect appears to have been paid
* Garcellasso de la Vega, pp. 439-440.
t Le Moyne, plate 35. # Le Moyne, plate 40.
CHAPTER II. Part 1. 1341
Indians bearing in a chair, a young girl, who has been selected as one of the future wives of the king, Drawn from life, by Jacob le Moyne, in 1564.
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ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA.
to the Chief when alive, and to him a cruel sacrifice was ac- CHAPTER customed to be made. The first born male child was always II. Part 1. 1564 brought out before the Chief, who sat upon a bench on one side of a large circle. Before him was a block, two feet high, and near it stooped the young mother, weeping in great agony. The child was brought forward by a dancing woman, placed upon the block, and a Prophet dashed out its brains with a club ; at the same time, many females danced, and raised their voices in song."
If a Chief desired to marry, he was accustomed to send his principal men to select, from the girls of nobility, one of the youngest and most beautiful. Painted with various colors, and adorned with shells and pearls, the chosen one was then placed in a sedan chair, the top of which formed an arch of green boughs. When placed by his side, on an elevated seat, great pomp and ceremony, an array of ornaments of all kinds, and music and dancing, characterized the affair, while she and her lord were fanned with beautiful feathers.
The treatment of diseases in that day, were few and simple. The doctor sometimes scarified the patient with shells and fishes teeth, and sucked out the blood with his mouth. This he spurted in a bowl, and it was drunk by nursing women who stood by, if the patient was an athletic young man, in order to give their children the same vigor. It was customary, also, to smoke the patient with tobacco and other weeds, until perspiration ensued and re-action was produced.t
1564
15€4
* Le Moyne, plate 3-4.
+ Le Moyne, plate 20.
1
شرق
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THE MUSCOGEES OR CREEKS.
PART II. THE MODERN INDIANS OF ALABAMA, GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
CHAPTER IT has been seen that the Indians living in that part of II. Part 2. 1540 July September Alabama through which De Soto passed, were the Coosas, inhabiting the territory embraced in the present counties of Benton, Talladega, Coosa, and a portion of Cherokee ; the Tallases, living upon the Tallapoosa and its tributary streams ; the Mobilians, extending from near the present city of Mont- October - gomery to the commercial emporium which now bears their name ; the Pafallayas or Choctaws, inhabiting the territory of November the modern counties of Greene, Marengo, Tuscaloosa, Sumpter and Pickens; and, in the present State of Mississippi, the Chickasaws, in the valley of the Yalobusha ; and the Alaba- April 1541 mas, upon the Yazoo. It will, also, be recollected, that this remarkable Spaniard overrun the rich province of Chiaha, in the territory of the present north-western Georgia, and that he there found the Chalaques, which all writers upon aboriginal history decide to be the original name of the Cherokees.
1540 March April May
The invasion of De Soto resulted in the destruction of an immense Indian population, in all the territory through which he passed, except that of Georgia, where he fought no battles.
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THE MUSCOGEES OR CREEKS.
The European diseases, which the natives inherited from the CHAPTER Spaniards, served, also, to thin their population. Again, the II. Part 2. constant bloody wars in which they were engaged afterwards, among each other, still further reduced their numbers. And while the bloody Spaniards were wandering over this beauti- ful country, the Muscogees were living upon the Ohio .* They heard of the desolation of Alabama, and after a long time came to occupy and re-people it. The remarkable migration of this powerful tribe, and that of the Alabamas, will now, for the first time, be related, and that, too, upon the autho- rity of a reliable person, who must here be introduced to the reader.
Le Clerc Milfort, a young, handsome, and well educated Frenchman, left his native country, sailed across the Atlantic, made the tour of the New England States, and came, at length, to Savannah. A love of adventure led him to the Creek na-
1775
* Alexander McGillivray, whose blood was Scotch, French and In- dian, who was made a Colonel in the British service, afterwards a Spanish Commissary with the rank and pay of Colonel, then a Brigadier General by Washington, with full pay,-a man of towering intel- lect and vast information, and who ruled the Creek country for a quarter of a century,-obtained the information that the Creeks were living upon the Ohio when De Soto was here in 1540. He was informed, upon the best traditional authority, that the Creek Indians then heard of De Soto, and the strange people with him ; and, that, like those whom they had seen in Mexico, they had " hair over their bodies, and carried thunder and lightning in their hands."
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THE MUSCOGEES OR CREEKS.
CHAPTER tion, and in May, 1776, he arrived at the great town of II. Part 2. 1776 May Coweta, situated on the Chattahoochee river, two miles below the present city of Columbus. There he became acquainted - with Colonel McGillivray, the great Chieftain of the nation, and accompanied him to the Hickory Ground, upon the banks of the Coosa. Fascinated with the society of this great man, the hospitality of the Indians, and the wide field afforded for exciting enterprise, Milfort resolved to become a permanent inmate of McGillivray's house, then situated at Little Tallase, 1780 May 5 four miles above Wetumpka. Hle married his sister, was created Tustenuggee, or Grand Chief of War, and often led Indian expeditions against the Whig population of Georgia, during the American Revolution A fine writer, and much of an antiquarian, he employed some of his leisure hours in pre- paring a history of the Creeks. Remaining in the nation twenty years, he resolved to return to France. In 1796 he sailed from Philadelphia, and it was not long before he was among the gay people from whom he had so long been absent. Bonaparte, at length, heard of this adventurous man, and honored him with an audience. He desired to engage his services in forming alliances with the Alabama and Mississippi Indians, for the purpose of strengthening his Louisiana pos- sessions. But, finally giving up those possessions, and turning his whole attention to the wars in which he was deeply en- gaged with the allied powers, he still retained Milfort, con- ferring upon him the pay and rank of General of Brigade, but without active employment. In the meantime, General
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1776 July
THE MUSCOGEES OR CREEKS.
Milfort had published his work upon the Creek Indians .* In CHAPTER 1814, his house was attacked by a party of Russians, who II. Part 2. 1814" had heard of his daring exploits in assisting to repel the allied invaders. He barricaded it, and defended himself with despe- ration. His French wife assisted him to load his guns. At length he was rescued by a troop of grenadiers. Shortly after this, General Milfort closed, by death, a career which had been full of event in the savage as well as the civilized world. His wife, at an advanced age, was recently burned to death in her own house at Rheims.t
When Milfort arrived among the Creeks, the old men often spoke of their ancestors, and they exhibited to him strands of pearl which contained their history and constituted their ar- chives. Upon their arrangement depended their signification ; and only principal events were thus preserved. One of their chaplets sometimes related the history of thirty years. Each year was rapidly distinguished by those who understood them. The old men, therefore, with the assistance of these singular records and strong memories, were enabled to impart to Milfort a correct tradition, the substance of which we give.į
Hernando Cortez, with some Spanish troops, landed at Vera Cruz, in 1519. Hle fought his way thence to the City
* Memoire ou coup d'œil rapide sur mes differens voyages et mon sejour dans la nation Creck, by Le Clere Milfort, Tastanegry ou Grand Chef de Guerre de la nation Creek et General de Brigade ou service de la Republique Francaise. A Paris .. 1802.
+ Extract from a Paris paper, published by Galignani. # Milfort, p. 47.
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THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
CHAPTER of Mexico. In the meantime, Montezuma had assembled his II. Part 2. 1519 forces from all parts of his empire to exterininate the invad- ers. The Museogees then formned a separate republic on the north-west of Mexico. Hitherto invincible in war, they now ral- lied to his aid, engaging in the defence of that greatest of abori- ginal cities. At length Cortez was successful-Montezuma was killed, his government overthrown, and thousands of his subjects put to the sword. Having lost many of their own warriors, and unwilling to live in a country conquered by for- eign assassins, the Muscogees determined to seek some other land. The whole tribe took up the line of march, and conti- 1520 nued eastward until they struck the sources of the Red river. The route lay over vast prairies, abounding with wild animals and fruits, which afforded them all the means of subsistence. In journeying down the banks of the Red river, they discov- ered salt lakes and ponds, which were covered with fowl of every description. Consuming months upon the journey, they finally reached a large forest, in which they encamped. The young men, sent in advance to explore the country, re- turned in a month, and annoumneed the discovery of a forest on the banks of the Red river, in which were beautiful sub- terranean habitations. Marching thither, they found that these caves had been made by buffalo and other animals who came there to lick the earth, which was impregnated with salt. A town was here laid out, houses constructed, an ex- tensive field enclosed, and corn, which they had brought with them, planted. Subsisting by the chase and the products of the earth, they passed here several years in health and tran-
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79
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
quillity. But even in this remote retreat they eventually CHAPTER found those who would molest them. The Alabamas, who II. Part 2. seem also to have been wandering from the west, attacked a party of Muscogees, who were hunting, and killed several of them. The Muscogees abandoned their town, which they believed did not afford them sufficient protection from the buffalo and human foes. They resumed their march in the direction of the camps of the Alabamas, upon whom they Probably in 1527 had resolved to be revenged. Traversing immense plains, they reached a grove on the Missouri river, having shaped their course in a northern direction from their last settlement. Here they came upon the footprints of the Alabamas. The most aristocratic among the Muscogees, called the Family of the Wind, passed the muddy river first. They were followed by the Family of the Bear ; then by that of the Tiger; and thus, till the humblest of the tribe had crossed over. Resum- ing the march, the young warriors and the Chiefs formed the advanced guard ; the old men were placed in the rear, and those of an age less advanced on the flanks, while the women and children occupied the centre. Coming within the neighbor- hood of the enemy, the main party halted, while the Tuste- Probably in 15:8 nuggee or Grand Chief of War, at the head of the young war- riors, advanced to the attack. The Alabamas, temporarily dwelling in subterranean habitations, were taken by surprise, and many of them slain. Forced to abandon this place, and retreat from the victors, they did not rally again until they had fled a great distance down on the eastern side of the Missouri. After a time they were overtaken, when several
80
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
CHAPTER bloody engagements ensued. The Muscogees were triumph- II. ant, and the vanquished retreated in terror and dismay to the 'Part 2. banks of the Mississippi. The enemy again coming upon them with invincible charges, precipitated many of them into the river. Thus, alternately fighting, constructing new towns, and again breaking up their last establishments, these two war- like tribes gradually reached the Ohio river, and proceeded along its banks almost to. the Wabash." Here, for a long time, the Muscogees resided, and lost sight of the Alabamas, who had established themselves upon the Yazoo, and were there living when De Soto, in 1541, attacked their fortress.f The Museogees abandoned their home in the 1520 to 1535 north-western province of Mexico about the period of 1520, had consumed fifteen years in reaching the Ohio, and were there residing when the Spanish invasion occurred. How long they occupied that country Milfort does not in- form us; but he states that they finally crossed the Ohio and Tennessee, and settled upon the Yazoo-thus continuing to pursue the unfortunate Alabamas. Delighted with the genial climate, the abundance of fruit and game with which it abounded, they established towns upon the Yazoo, constructed subterranean habitations, and for some years passed their time most agreeably. It is probable the Alabamas had fled before their arrival, for the Spaniards had so thinned the number of the latter that it was folly to resist the Muscogees, who had conquered them when they were much stronger.
* Milfort, pp. 234-259. + Other Indian traditions in my possession.
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81
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
· Milfort states that the Alabamas finally advanced to the river CHAPTER which now bears their name. Here, finding a region charming II. Part 2. in climate, rich in soil, convenient in navigation, and remote from the country of their enemies, they made permanent es- tablishments, from the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa some distance down the Alabama.
Remembering how often they had been surprised by the Muscogees, and how insecure from their attacks was even a distant retreat, the Alabamas sent forth young warriors west- ward, to see if their foes were still wandering upon their heels. It happened that a party of the latter were reconnoitering east- ward. They met, fought, and some of the Muscogees were killed. In the meantime, the latter tribe had learned what a delightful country was occupied by the Alabamas, and this new outrage, coupled with a desire to go further south-east, induced them to break up their establishments upon the Yazoo. Without opposition the Muscogees took possession of the lands upon the Alabama, and also those upon the Coosa and Tallapoosa. The Alabamas fled in all directions, Supposed to seeking asylums among the Choctaws and other tribes. be in 1620
Gaining a firm footing in the new region, enjoying good health, and increasing in population, the Museogees advanced to the Oekmulgee, Oconce, and Ogechee, and even established a town where now reposes the beautiful city of Augusta. With the Indians of the present State of Georgia, they had combats, but overcome them. Pushing on their conquests, they reduced a warlike tribe called the Uchees, lower down upon the Savannah, and brought the prisoners in slavery to
6
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82
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
CHAPTER the Chattahoochie." In 1822, the Big Warrior, who then ruled II. Part 2. the Creek confederacy, confirmed this tradition, even going further back than Milfort,- taking the Muscogees from Asia, bringing them over the Pacific, landing them near the Isthmus of Darien, and conducting them from thence to this country. "My ancestors were a mighty people. After they reached the waters of the Alabama and took possession of all this country, they went further,-conquered the tribes upon the Chattahoochie, and upon all the rivers from thence to the Savannah,-yes, and even whipped the Indians then living in the territory of South-Carolina, and wrested much of their country from them." The Big Warrior concluded this sen- tence with great exultation, when Mr. Compere, to whom he was speaking, interposed an unfortunate question :- " If this is the way your ancestors acquired all the territory now lying 1822 in Georgia, how can you blame the American population in that State for endeavoring to take it from you?" Never after that could the worthy missionary extract a solitary item from the Chieftain, in relation to the history of his people.t
*Milfort, pp. 269-263. Bartram's Travels in Florida, pp. 53, 54, 461. Also traditional MS. notes in my possession.
+Rev. Lee Compere's MS. notes, in my possession. This gentle- man was born in England, on Nov. 3d, 1790. He came to South Carolina m 1817. The Baptist Missionary Board and that of the Gene- ral Convention, sent him as a missionary to the Creek nation in 1822. He and his wife, who was an English lady, re-ided at Tookabatcha (the capital) six years. Mr. Compere made but little progress towards the `conversion of the Creeks, owing to the opposition of the Chiefs to the
1
83
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
Sometime after these conquests, the French established CHAPTER themselves at Mobile. The Alabamas, scattered as we have II. Part 2. 1701 scen, and made to flee before superior numbers, became desirous to place themselves under their protection. Anxious to cultivate a good understanding with all the Indian tribes, and to heal old animosities existing among them, the French caused an interview between the Chiefs of the Alabamas and those of the Muscogees, at Mobile. In the presence of M. 1702 Bienville, the Commandant of that place, a peace was made, which has not since been violated. The Alabamas re- turned to their towns, upon the river of that name, which were called Coosawda, Econchate, Pauwocte, Towassau and Antauga, situated on both sides of the river, and embracing a country from the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, for forty miles down. They consented to become members of the Muscogee confederacy, and to observe their national laws, but stipulated to retain their ancient manners and customs.
Not long afterwards, the Tookabatchas, who had nearly been destroyed by the Iroquois and Hurons, wandered from the Ohio country, and obtained permission from the Muscogees to form a part of their nation. They were willingly received
abl tion of primitive customs. He was a learned man and a respect- shi writer. He furnished the Indian Bureau, at Washington, with a umpiety vocabulary of the Museogee language, and also the Lord's Pinyer, all of which is published in the 11th vol. of "Transactions of the American Aut.quatian Society," Cambridge, 1836, pp. 381-422. In 1>33, I often heard Mr. Compere and his wife sing beautiful hymns in the Creek tongue. He lives in the State of Mississippi.
84
THE MUSCOGEES AND ALABAMAS.
CHAPTER II. Part 2.
by the cunning Muscogees, who were anxious to gain all the strength they could, to prevent the encroachments of the English from South-Carolina. Upon the ruins of the western Tallase, where De Soto encamped twenty days, the Tooka- batchas built a town and gave it their name .*
1759 July 27
The Tookabatchas brought with them to the Tallapoosa some curious brass plates, the origin and objects of which have much puzzled the Americans of our day, who have seen them. Such information respecting them as has fallen into our possession, will be given. On the 27th July, 1759, at the Tookabatcha square, William Balsover, a British trader, made inquiries concerning their ancient relics, of an old Indian Chief named Bracket, near an hundred years of age. There were two plates of brass and five of copper. The Indians esteemed them so much, that they were preserved in a private place, known only to a few Chiefs, to whom they were annually entrusted. They were never brought to light but once in a year, and that was upon the occasion of the Green Corn Cele- bration, when, on the fourth day, they were introduced in what was termed the " brass plate dance." Then one of the high Prophets carried one before him, under his arm, ahead of the dancers-next to him the head warrior carried another, and then others followed with the remainder, bearing aloft, at the same time, white canes, with the feathers of the swan at the tops.
* Milfort, pp. 263-266.
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' THE MUSCOGEES AND OTHER TRIBES.
CHAPTER II. Part 2.
Shape of the five copper plates : one a foot and a half long, and seven inches wide; the other four a little shorter and narrower.
Shape of the two brass plates : eigh- teen inches in diameter, about the thick- ness of a dollar, and stamped as exhibited upon the face.
Formerly, the Tookabatcha tribe had many more of these relies, of different sizes and shapes, with letters and inscriptions upon them, which were given to their ancestors by the Great Spirit, who instructed them that they were only to be handled by particular men, who must at the moment be en- gaged in fasting, and that no unclean woman must be suffered to come near them or the place where they were deposited. Bracket further related, that several of these plates were then buried under the Micco's cabin in Tookabatcha, and had lain there ever since the first settlement of the town ; that formerly it was the custom to place one or more of them in the grave by the side of a deceased Chief of the pure Tookabatcha blood , and that no other Indians in the whole
1759 July 27
86
THE MUSCOGEES AND OTHER TRIBES. '
CHAPTER II. Part 2. 1759 July 27
Creek nation had such sacred relies .* Similar accounts of these plates were obtained from four other British traders, "at the most eminent trading house of all English Ameriea."t The town of Tookabatcha became, in later times, the capitol of the Creek nation ; and many reliable citizens of Alabama have seen these mysterious pieces at the Green Corn Dances, upon which oeeasions they were used precisely as in the more ancient days .¿ When the inhabitants of this town, in the autumn of 1836, took up the line of march for their present home in the Arkansas Territory, these plates were transported thence by six Indians, remarkable for their sobriety and moral character, at the head of whom was the Chief, Spoke-oak, Micco. Medicine, made expressly for their safe transportation, was carried along by these warriors. Each one had a plate strapped behind his back, enveloped nicely in buckskin. They carried nothing else, but marched on, one before the other, the whole distance to Arkansas, neither communieating nor eon- versing with a soul but themselves, although several thousands were emigrating in company ; and walking, with a solemn
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