The Removal of the Creek Indians from the Southeast, 1825-1838
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THE REMOVAL OF THE CREEK INDIANS FROM THE SOUTHEAST, 1825-1838 Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this dissertation is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This dissertation does not include proprietary or classified information. ____________________________ Christopher D. Haveman Certificate of Approval: ____________________________ ____________________________ Kenneth W. Noe Kathryn E. Holland Braund, Chair Professor Professor History History ____________________________ ____________________________ David C. Carter John Saye Professor Professor History Education ____________________________ George T. Flowers Dean Graduate School THE REMOVAL OF THE CREEK INDIANS FROM THE SOUTHEAST, 1825-1838 Christopher D. Haveman A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama August 10, 2009 THE REMOVAL OF THE CREEK INDIANS FROM THE SOUTHEAST, 1825-1838 Christopher D. Haveman Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this dissertation at its discretion, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. ________________________________ Signature of Author ________________________________ Date of Graduation iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT THE REMOVAL OF THE CREEK INDIANS FROM THE SOUTHEAST, 1825-1838 Christopher D. Haveman Doctor of Philosophy, August 10, 2009 (M.A. Auburn University, 2006) (M.A. Marquette University, 2001) (B.A. Western Washington University, 1998) 407 Typed Pages Directed by Kathryn E. Holland Braund This dissertation examines the removal of approximately twenty-three thousand Creek Indians from Alabama and Georgia to present-day Oklahoma between 1825 and 1838. At its height, the Creek Nation encompassed most of the present-day states of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. It was a vibrant, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society. But, the Creek Nation increasingly found itself under siege by white settlers and state and federal politicians who wanted to open up the Creeks’ land for white settlement. Whites were able to acquire Creek land piecemeal in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through treaty negotiations. In 1825, the Coweta headman William McIntosh signed the Treaty of Indian Springs which ceded all remaining Creek land in Georgia and iv a large portion of Creek land in Alabama to the federal government in exchange for a large sum of money and territory in present-day Oklahoma. A vast majority of the Creeks opposed the Treaty of Indian Springs and although they were able to nullify the document with a revised version in 1826, the Creeks did not recoup their Georgia land. Consequently, many Lower Creeks began a decade long period of hunger and starvation. In fact, this period marked the beginning of the end of the Creek Nation in the east. The treaties were also removal documents that gave Creeks the option of leaving the southeast in order to ameliorate their suffering. Creek headmen did all they could to keep the Creek Nation together, even signing a new treaty in 1832 that gave each Creek family legal title to a tract of land, but they ultimately had little success. Whites streamed into the Creek territory, many of whom cheated the Creeks out of their land. In 1836, a small band of Lower Creeks revolted against white encroachment and started a war that gave Andrew Jackson an excuse to remove all the Creeks west of the Mississippi River. In the span of little more than a decade this once vibrant society was gone from the Southeast. This dissertation examines the events in the Creek Nation immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825. It is a social history that focuses on three primary areas: the Creek homefront in Alabama during the removal epoch, the experiences of the Creek Indians as they traveled west, and the ways in which the Creeks reestablished their lives in present-day Oklahoma. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the mentorship of Kathryn E. Holland Braund. Committee members Kenneth W. Noe, David C. Carter, and John Saye also provided valuable suggestions during the final stages. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Pat and Dale Haveman, who supported me every step of the way. vi Style manual or journal used: The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th Edition. Computer software used: Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word vii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ......................................................................................................... ix Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1. The Treaty of Indian Springs and Removal from Georgia ...................26 Chapter 2. The First McIntosh Emigration ............................................................65 Chapter 3. The Second and Third Voluntary Emigrating Parties ..........................95 Chapter 4. The 1832 Treaty of Washington and the Land Frauds .......................128 Chapter 5. Voluntary Emigration Resumed .........................................................163 Chapter 6. Life in the West ..................................................................................205 Chapter 7. The Second Creek War and the Forced Removal of Creek Prisoners ...............................................................................233 Chapter 8. The Forced Removal of the Creek Indians ..........................................269 Chapter 9. The Removal of the Refugee Creeks ...................................................317 Conclusion ............................................................................................................356 References .............................................................................................................377 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Selected Towns of the Creek Nation, ca. 1800 .................................................7 2. Plat of the United States Reservation and Creek Agency ...............................41 3. Compiled List of Known Lower Creek Towns ..............................................52 4. Benjamin Marshall’s Reserve .........................................................................59 5. Benjamin Marshall’s Reserve .........................................................................60 6. Wetumpka Council House ..............................................................................73 7. Map of Route of First McIntosh Emigration ..................................................84 8. Map of Route of Second McIntosh Emigration ............................................106 9. Map of Route of Third Voluntary Party .......................................................122 10. Plat of Irwinton .............................................................................................141 11. Land Fraud Investigation Announcement ....................................................156 12. Map of Route of Fourth Voluntary Party .....................................................177 13. Map of Route of Fifth Voluntary Party ........................................................198 14. Map of Route of First Detachment of Creek Prisoners ................................253 15. Map of Route Second Detachment of Creek Prisoners ................................264 16. Map of Route of Detachment One ................................................................280 17. Map of Route of Detachment Two ...............................................................283 ix 18. Map of Route of Detachment Three .............................................................294 19. Map of Route of Detachment Four ...............................................................303 20. Map of Route of Detachment Five ...............................................................308 21. Map of Route of Creek Refugees in Cherokee Nation .................................334 22. Map of Route of Detachment Six .................................................................345 23. Map of Route of Creek Refugees in Chickasaw Nation ...............................350 24. Western Creek Nation ...................................................................................361 x Introduction To 1825 “What land we have left we cannot spare, and you will find we are distressed.” —Tame King, Speaker of the Upper Towns, 1809 In 1855 Arwike, a thirty-eight-year-old Creek man from the town of Hitchiti, emigrated from Alabama to the Indian territory. He traveled alone, paying for his transportation and a year‟s worth of provisions out of his own pocket.1 Arwike was a member of the Creek Nation, a large multi-ethnic, multi-lingual society that, at its height, encompassed most of the present-day states of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. By the time Arwike set out for his new home in the west, however, the Creek Nation no longer existed in the east; its people and government had been relocated west of the Mississippi River and the land turned over to the federal government and divided into parcels for white settlement. Arwike‟s story is unusual in that his journey west commenced almost two decades after the federal government forced the Creeks to the Indian territory. In fact, many of his Hitchiti townspeople left Alabama in shackles and under armed guard. Arwike was one of the last Creeks to emigrate from Alabama. In forcing the