The January Meeting Tuesday, January 22, 2013, 3:00 p. m. At THE NEWSLE TTER FOR The Poarch Creek Indian Cultural Museum in Atmore

THE ESCAMBIATHE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER AND JOURNAL FOR AND JOURNAL NEWSLETTER ECHOES

Escambia Escambia The Poarch Creek Indian Cultural THE Museum and Welcome Center

The Program: A guided tour of the Poarch Creek Indian Cultural THE ESCAMBIA COUNTYHISTORICAL SOCIETY Museum and Welcome Center by Museum Archivist Dr. Deidre Dees and Tribal Historical Preservation Officer Robert Thrower Car Pool from Brewton: Meet at the Thomas E. McMillan Museum at 2:00 p.m. Traveling on Your Own: The Museum is located on County Road 1 (Jack Springs Road) in Atmore. When coming from north to south on Interstate 65, exit on County Road 1 (Exit 54) and turn right. When coming from south to north on the Interstate, exit on County Road 1 (Exit 54) and turn left. Dinner after the Meeting: For those interested, Dr. Dees has arranged for a private room at the Wind Creek Casino for dinner. The dinner will be a buffet and will be "Dutch Treat." The Buffet is $15.95 per person, plus the cost of drinks.

Contents The February ECHS Meeting Poarch Band of Creek Indians Open February 26, 2013 2 Cultural Center 3:00 p. m. Poarch Museum Exhibits 2 The Thomas E McMillan Museum Historic Check Donated to Museum 4 ECHS Loses Member & 6 The Program: Mr. John Shiver of Atmore, a WWII News and Announcements 7 vet who has just published the memoir Digging for History 7 Symbol of the Poarch of his experiences as a flight engineer/

Creek Indians Snapshots of ECHS Christmas Party 8 gunner, will be our speaker. Volume 40, Number 1 Our Business Members 11 A Reminder: The Story of Sam Thlucco 12 January 2013 January is the time to pay dues. Poarch Band of Creek Indians Open Cultural Center

From the Atmore News for bition developer. “We then November 8, 2012 took the results of our in- terviews and Charles Lee, the design manager, “This was something my headed a team that put mother dreamed of,” said everything together.” Poarch Creek Indian Tribal Robbie McGhee, head of Historic Preservation Offi- Poarch Creek Enterprises cer Robert Thrower of the and PCI government rela- new museum, or “Building tions advisor, spoke to the of Learning,” that opened assembled crowd. Saturday, October 27. “We once were share- The building, dedicated croppers and laborers. It to preserving and sharing seems appropriate that this the culture and history of Cutting the Ribbon museum sits on what once the Poarch Band of Creek was a sharecropper’s Indians, hosted a ribbon From left, front, Kennedy McGhee, Mallory field. We’ve worked hard cutting ceremony and tours Gibson, Megan Young, Breiah Adams, Am- to become good neighbors to commemorate the com- ber Alvarez, Dr. Suwanee (Deidre) Dees, and good friends.” pletion of the facility. Speaker for the ECHS Tour of the Museum Thrower summed up the Split Rock Studios of St. for the January Meeting; back, Eddie Tullis, emotions of the day. “I Paul, Minnesota designed Garvis Sells, Catherine Sells, Kaci Martin, never knew I would see the displays. Gwen Manning, Robbie McGhee, Raymond this. It is a good thing to “We interviewed histori- Rolin and David Gehman. see a dream become a re- cal commission members, ality.” seniors, youth, PCI staff and council members be-

fore beginning the design,” said Sarah Bartlett, exhi- Poarch Museum Exhibits From Split Rock Studios

Village Life

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Poarch Museum Exhibits From Split Rock Studios (continued)

The Muskoke World Video Miniature Model

The Road to Removal Restoration

The Exhibits Tell a Story From Split Rock Studios, Designers of the Exhibits Through centuries of change and adaptation, community strength remains the thread weaving the Poarch Band of Creek Indians together. This exhibition tells the story of an active and living culture and people—the only federally-recognized tribe in . In close collaboration with tribal members, Split Rock Studios designed and built an exhibition that speaks to both local families and outside visitors. The displays invite everyone to share the history and ongoing culture and traditions of the Poarch Creek. In audiovisual programs, oral histories, and hands-on interactives, the spirit and voices of the tribe shine .

Detail from the Poarch Museum’s Village Life Scene shown on the previous page..

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Historic Check Donated to the Poarch Creek Indian Museum

The Check, one of the many sent to Creek Indians in 1972.

Article and photos by: awarded. So it is only fitting that an original check Deidra Suwanne Dees, Ed. D. which was never cashed has been preserved and will Originally published in the Poarch Creek News be a part of the archives of the museum in his for November 2009 . The day that Smith received this check, he wrote a That “Indian money” that had been long sought note on the back of the envelope in which the check after and fought for by our leaders such as Chief was mailed. “Received December 20, 1972, after 22 Calvin McGhee and Ms. Roberta McGhee-Sells ulti- years of trying to get the government to settle a mately came to pass. In 1972, Creek Indians East of claim that was valid.” Now many people that truly the were finally paid for land that had deserved the money are dead and gone such as my been illegally taken by the government mother Nunnie McGhee who could neither read or under the Treaty of Fort Jackson of 1814 one- write, though of her offspring there were 28 children hundred and fifty years earlier. and grandchildren who received the payment of As a Tribe, we now hold in our hands one of those $112.13.” checks, a check that has never been cashed! James Smith reflected on the event saying some people William (Billy) Smith donated his personal check to had been led to believe the checks would be enor- the new Poarch Creek Indians museum for all the mous. There were rumors flying around that Creeks world to see. would receive checks for thousands and thousands On October 9, 2009, Smith gave the check to Plan- of dollars. But in reality, the per capita check was ning Department Director Mr. Kenny Shivers who not large. “The value of the check was minute,” is administering a grant from the Institute of Smith said. “But because of segregation, it was a Museum and Library Services which was written by dream come true that the government recognized us grant writer Denise McGhee Young. The grant sup- as Indians.” ports the museum’s archival collections for the new He went on to say that, “We have been Indians museum. “The amount of the check is not much since the beginning of time.” But the value to him monetarily,” Shivers said. “But what it represents is personally was the actual acknowledgement of our huge! It helped lead to our federal recognition.” community’s Creek identity by the government that This check is part of Chief Calvin McGhee’s leg- repeatedly failed to honor its treaties with our na- acy and it embodies all that work he did,” Shivers tion. said. “It is especially meaningful because Chief Smith said he wanted to donate this check to the Calvin passed away before the checks were (Continued on page 5)

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Historic Check Donated to the Poarch Creek Indian Museum (continued)

(Continued from page 4) family to each receive a check, but it was also a somber event. museum because he knows Not daddy, not me—no one in the check is a one-of-a-kind. my family thought about pre- He wants the younger chil- serving the check as Smith has dren in our community to see done. the check and understand We thought only about cash- what the “Indian money” was ing the check and the grave all about. “Showing it in a circumstances it represented— public place will benefit repayment for stolen land, sto- more people than it will sit- len language, stolen culture. ting in my house,” he said. My family, struggling to have Smith and his wife Faye enough food to eat, knew that Ledkins-Smith have been the $112.13-check could not active in tribal affairs for replace all that was stolen, but more than forty years. In Kenny Shivers presents the check cashing it would help our fam- 1978, he said, they drove a to Tribal Historical Preservation Of- ily to have a little more than group of young dancers to ficer Robert Thrower for it to be what we had. I remember pow wows in and placed in the Museum. thinking, “This can’t make visited a on Robert Thrower has presented pro- everything right, but I never ceremonial grounds where he grams to ECHS in the past and was thought I would see the U. S. first met leader the host for a tour of the developing government acknowledge their Sam Proctor. He invited Cultural Museum for ECHS mem- wrong with money.” Proctor and the stomp danc- bers on a field trip a few years ago. Shivers gave the check to ers to visit our community We were given a great tour of the Cultural Director Mr. Robert and they have been attending entire Poarch Indian Reservation Thrower. Thrower appeared our annual pow wows ever and its facilities. He, along with Dr. mesmerized as he stared at the since. Smith served on the Dees, will be part of the tour at our thirty-seven year old check. first Tribal Council and today upcoming meeting. “This is the first time in my he serves on the Poarch Creek life that I have ever seen one Indians Gaming Authority. of these!” he exclaimed in amazement. “This is a Employed under the grant as the archivist, part of our history. It’s one thing to talk about it, I (Deidra Suwanne Dees) was responsible for ar- but it’s another thing to actually see it.” chiving Billy Smith’s check and the other items he Thrower said that although the museum will not donated and loaned to the museum by cataloguing open until next year, he envisions a research area them and preserving in protective sleeves. As I where visitors can access important photographs held the check in my hands, it brought up so many and historical documents such as Billy Smith’s emotions. check. Under the museum grant, the museum ac- Tears came to my eyes as I held this piece of his- quired a software program called PastPerfect which tory that was so long in the making. It brought will provide visitors’ access to historical photo- back memories when my father, the late Otis Dees, graphs, documents and even video recordings of handed me my own check (from the same docket as our tribal elders, many of whom, like Smith’s Smith’s check) when I was a teenager. In my mother, have passed on. house, it was a joyous event for our six-member (Continued on page 6)

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Historic Check Donated to the Poarch Creek Indian Museum (continued)

(Continued from page 5) Ms. Charlene Joiner (Ms. Gail Thrower’s mother) taught him, “Remember where you came from.” In However, we are fortunate to have documents, pho- the same spirit of his grandmother, the museum will tographs and audio recordings of our elders whose reflect where we all came from. There will be no legacy will live on through our museum. The mu- other place on earth that one can learn so much about seum will bring the voices of our elders out of the Poarch Creek history except at our museum. dusty boxes of storage closets and into the sunlight of When the on-line museum is established, our rare the new museum for all to see and experience from documents such as Smith’s check will be part of a the rich history they left behind. Visitors will be able remarkable and triumphant history of the Poarch to read rare documents and hear the voices of the eld- Creeks, and our elders’ voices will tell everyone ers who possess invaluable knowledge that can be about where we came from. Their voices will be free learned from no other source to dance in the glow of a new generation of Internet Thrower said he envisions an on-line museum in users to bear witness of the triumphant history of the the future so that others can learn about our unique Poarch Creek Indians. € history of how we came from so little to what we have today. When he looks at our prosperity today, he said it reminds him of what his grandmother ECHS Loses Member Gilbert Earl McGlothren

ECHS Gilbert Earl McGlothren, husband of Nokomis until his marriage to Sammie in 1993. Sammie Hoomes McGlothren (also an ECHS mem- Sammie retired and they moved to Florida to have ber), passed away De- fun. Gilbert loved to cember 6, 1212. He fish. was 90. He was born in Gilbert suffered from Chumuckla, Florida, PTSD (Post Traumatic but lived in Atmore and Syndrome Disorder) Nokimis most of his and never talked about life. his war experiences. At seventeen, he Taking care of his served in the CCC’s wounded and dead bud- and sent his pay home dies and guilt over not to his parents. He being on the front lines enlisted in the army at fighting, haunted him. age eighteen and was a In 2003, Gilbert and veteran of World War Sammie were hit head- II and Korea. He be- on by a drunk driver came a medic when Sammie and Gilbert at his 89th birthday celebration. while returning from a soldiers in line were cook-out at their camp asked to step forward if they could sew to their home. Their disabilities led them to move After his discharge from the army, Gilbert worked back to Brewton in 2005 to be near family and as a medic at D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton friends. and then in Holman and Fountain Prisons in Atmore. Thanks to Sammie McGlothren who prepared this After retiring to the state of Alabama, he farmed in tribute to Gilbert. €

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News and Announcements

Computer Donated to Alabama Room Genealogy Workshop Planned for February 2 Ann Biggs-Williams has donated a Dell computer Monroe County Heritage Museum will host its 12th system to ECHS for use at the Ancestry.com table. annual Genealogy Workshop at the Old Courthouse The college has allowed us to use one of their older Museum on Saturday, February 2, 2013. Coffee, systems, but it became obsolete, and the addition of sign-in & introductions at 8:30 am, program ends at Ann's donation makes research access quite a bit 3:00 pm. faster. Elizabeth D. Wells, Special Collections Librarian at This makes three computers which have been do- Samford University, and Margo Stringfield, Research nated over the last three or four years: Darryl Searcy Associate with the Archaeology Institute at the Uni- and Tom McMillan have also made gracious dona- versity of West Florida, will speak at the Museum. tions as well. A box lunch will be served at the Old Masonic The society for several years has provided free ac- Lodge in Perdue Hill. The $30.00 fee includes box cess to Ancestry.com for members and the public to lunch. Weather permitting, the day will end with a do their own research in the Alabama Room. visit to a nearby archaeological dig led by Dr. Greg- A yearly subscription to Ancestry costs over ory A. Waselkov, Director of the Center for Archaeo- $150.00, so this is quite a benefit from the Society logical Studies at the University of South Alabama. researchers. Pre-registration deadline is 4:00 pm on January 30th. Contact Monroe County Heritage Museum at [email protected] or 251-575-7433. €

Digging for History: East Brewton Site Excavation Begins By Lisa Tindell From the Brewton Standard for invited by members of The Escambia County His- January 12, 2013 torical Society and a group of private citizens inter- http://www.brewtonstandard.com/2013/01/12/ ested in learning more about the historical area. digging-for-history-eb-site-excavation-begins/> Bonnie Gums is in charge of the local digging Text, Caption, and photograph courtesy of the crew and is leading the search for Fort Crawford. Brewton Standard. “We first came in and did a shovel survey and plotted sections about 10 A field along Shoffner yards apart over each sec- Street in East Brewton can tion,” Gums said. “Then we typically be seen filled with are digging a shovel sized young boys and girls practic- hole reaching down through ing for football – but a new the top soil. season of activity is under- “Each shovel full is put way at the site. into a sifter and gone A team of diggers with the through thoroughly looking South Alabama Center for for artifacts that would lead Archeology has converged Pieces of artifacts already turning up at East us to believe there might be on the location armed with Brewton site of excavation project. more down there. If we find tools to determine if the ex- concentrations of nails and act location of Fort Crawford can be found on the artifacts, we know that we need to do more work in site. that area. We will be out here for a few more days The team has arrived in East Brewton after being (Continued on page 8)

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Digging for History: East Brewton Site Excavation Begins (continued)

(Continued from page 7) also a lot of plain garbage. I have actually dug into the dirt out here. If we had found anything, it would and hope to get a look at the bluffs that run behind have been so exciting. the field and the church. The land owners have been “They have dug up lots of small pieces of glass, very supportive and allowed us to look around. You nails, wire and pottery. They are small and there have never know what you might find, especially on this been no big concentrations yet, but hopefully there initial check. These digs are very expensive and we will be. It is very expensive to use, but we hope that won’t have much time to do our looking.” sometime in the near future, a space satellite can be Archeologists, Raven Christopher and Tara Potts, used to get a good look at the whole area and give us are assisting Gums. more information.” “We have to dig a deep hole,” Potts said. “It has to Gums said the idea is that wherever the fort was be deep enough to get through the sub soil and reach located, it would have had garbage dumped close by, the red clay underneath. This field has been plowed and the bluffs would have been great dumping many times and any artifacts here would have also grounds. been moved around.” While that is probably true, Gums also said other Karen Ellis Castleberry is the liaison between the forms of garbage has also been dumped there over archeologists and the Escambia County Historical the years long after the fort had gone. It, she said, Society. She works with the NRCS and knows the will take a lot of sorting to see in what time period it topographical area. all belongs. “I have lived on Ridge Road all my life,” “The excavation work will continue over the next Castleberry said. “There is a deep ridge that runs all few days and findings will be recorded and shared the way behind Snowden Street and Ballard Street, with the Escambia County Historical Society,” Gums and continues out Ridge Road. There are lots of prob- said. € able artifacts at the bottom of the bluff, but there is Snapshots of the ECHS 2012 Christmas Party

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Snapshots of the ECHS 2012 Christmas Party (continued)

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Snapshots of the ECHS 2012 Christmas Party (continued)

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Our Business Members

Remember to support our Business Members

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The ECHS Journal Section The Story of Sam Thlucco1 and his Double Barrel Shotgun

By Jacob F.B. Lowrey III of 1813-1814, Burnt Corn, Alabama earned him hero status among early Alabamians” (Lewis). Readers of Echoes will be re- The most famous of Dale’s minded of events some 200 war exploits was the Canoe years ago throughout 2013 - Fight which took place on No- 2014. These events will be vember 12, 1813 two miles well known to most ECHS south from the old James Cor- members. Will we hurriedly nells ferry on the Alabama skim thru such retellings of River in Monroe County. those early events, or will we While outnumbered by nine read each in search of new Indians, the sheer strength, scholarship? I predict even for bravery and cunningness of the history buffs amongst us, Dale, Jeremiah Austill, James we will enjoy the pleasure of Smith and Caesar (a freed new facts about old events. slave) prevailed that day So I submit the story of Cap- (Halbert and Ball, pp.233-234). tain Sam Dale, who the Indians When Mississippi Territorial called Sam Thlucco1 or Big Governor, David Holmes, Sam and his double-barrel shot- General Sam Dale Monument wrote Secretary of War John gun. Basically this is a story of A marble statue of , Armstrong to inform him about possession, lost and found, set pioneer and military hero of the a deadly encounter between set- in the Creek War and the Burnt late eighteenth and early nine- tlers and Redsticks on the east- Corn expedition. But possibly teenth centuries, stands as a monu- ern edge of his governance – the most important part of the ment over his grave in Daleville, the Tensaw, Little River and story is about a young man who Mississippi. Tombigbee settlements, he remembered the events of The figure was sculpted by Harry ended his comments by distanc- Dale’s double-barrel shotgun Reeks and dedicated in 1968. Dale ing himself from the conflict: and had the good fortune to tell County in southeast Alabama is “The expedition was irregular them to one of the authors who named in his honor. and unauthorized by me but I chronicled in detail the events of Photograph and text courtesy of am confident there existed good the Creek War. And no other Encyclopedia of Alabama grounds to believe the Indians sources who wrote about Sam http://www.encyclopediaofalabama. meditated an attack upon the Dale seem to have known of org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2460 settlements,” The governor’s these events. Much of this es- report did not mention the date say is background – which seems necessary – and of the encounter nor a specific location – only a ref- the young man is introduced at the end as an ex- erence to the Wolf path the trading path from Pensa- clanation point to this story. cola that met the Federal Road at Burnt Corn “Samuel Dale (1772-1841) was a scout, frontiers- Spring.” This encounter became known as the men, soldier, and public servant who played an im- “Burnt Corn” expedition (Holmes, “Letter to John portant role in carving the state of Alabama out of Armstrong,” pp. 395-397). the . His frontier exploits, par- But there did exist such “good grounds.” A re- ticularly those involving his participation in the (Continued on page 13)

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The ECHS Journal Section 1 The Story of Sam Thlucco and his Double Barrel Shotgun (continued)

(Continued from page 12) tion. Captain Dale carried a double barrel shot gun – an unusual weapon in that day (emphasis added).” cently published 2009 symposium collection of es- A finely dressed group they were, Colonel Caller says on the , Tohopeka 2 provides con- was said to have been dressed in “a calico hunting siderable new scholarship on the subject matter of shirt, a high bell-crowned hat and top boots and rid- the Creek War of 1813-1814 and the War of 1812. ing a large bay horse” (Halbert and Ball, pp.129- Author Robert Collins’ “‘A Packet from Canada’ : 150). Telling Conspiracy Stories on the 1813 Creek Fron- From Ft. Glass,4 it was due south to Sizemore tier,” could easily have been titled “Four Days in Ferry on the Alabama River and crossing into south- Pensacola, July 1813.” west Monroe County, north of Little River (today’s Mr. Collins reminds us that after the Redsticks Eureka Landing) before stopping at Davy Tate’s burned James Cornells’ residence at Burnt Corn cowpens (today’s Lottie) waiting on reinforcements Spring and kidnapped his wife, Betsy Coulter, the from Little River and Tensa. Then, the now 180 white settlers in the region sent three spies to Pensa- men strong body of militia changed direction, from cola to gather intelligence – Davy Tate, William southeast to Pensacola to northeast up the Federal Peirce and William Hollinger. Davy Tate’s stay was Road to Burnt Corn Spring, where the group camped for less than 24-hours, arriving in Pensacola on the on Monday night. evening of July 20th and quickly returning to Fort Dale was placed in charge of the “spies” sent to Stoddert , Mount Vernon Cantonment. scout for the Indians’ location (Pickett Papers Col- On July 23, Federal Judge Harry Toulmin wrote lection). Heading south on the Wolf Trail (the trad- General Ferdinand L. Claiborne informing him of ing path to Pensacola), the morning of July 27th, Tate’s observations learned from the Spanish Gover- 1813, Dale recalled, “I volunteered to go ahead, and nor González Manrique – “the Creeks were making ascertain the force of the Indians, and the proper po- every exertion to procure powder & lead.” From sition to fight them. My offer was treated lightly … Cornells’ wife Betsy Coulter, a captive of the Indi- After much debate, it was decided that I should go; ans, “he learned their language breathes vengeance not, as I wished, with one trusty comrade, but with on the white people...of a design to attack the Tensa fifteen others” (Claiborne, p. 73). settlements on their return” (“Letter from Fort Stod- The spies advanced to an arch of hills on the east dert 3 to Brig Gen. Ferdinand L. Claiborne, July 23, side of Burnt Corn Creek which surrounded a large, 1813”). open and flat bottom at a ford, where the Wolf Trail Already being on high alert and based on intelli- crossed to the west side of the creek. While sending gence received from Pensacola, James Caller, a several spies to inform Col. Caller’s main body to Colonel in the Tombigee militia and senior militia come up quickly, Dale observed the Indians prepar- officer on the frontier, quickly assembled the local ing a noon meal. A battle plan to surprise the Indians militia and headed southeast to intercept the Creeks was quickly agreed upon. The militia hastily dis- upon their return from Pensacola. It was indeed an mounted and began to charge down the hill, even assortment of men. Caller was reinforced by Sam before securing their mounts to a rope-line. The In- Dale’s company of volunteers at .4 dians, being completely surprised, fled into the sur- Two early historians of the conflict – Henry Sale rounding impenetrable cane breaks for their safety. Halbert and Timothy H. Ball, whose book on the The militia, mistakenly thinking the Indians had conflict was published in 1895, reported that “the retreated, began plundering the packhorses laden whole party were well mounted and carried their with Spanish supplies. But instead, the Indians own rifles and shot guns, of every size and descrip- (Continued on page 14)

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The ECHS Journal Section 1 The Story of Sam Thlucco and his Double Barrel Shotgun (continued)

(Continued from page 13) So may we rea- sonably speculate counter-charged the “one a fine in full force with double barreled accompanying rifle…” was Sam war-hoops. The Dale’s double- fray was “‘a se- barrel shotgun? Double Barrel Shot Gun ries of charges It may just have from Vintage Weaponry Antique Shotguns and retreats, ir- been. regular skir- Between the mishes and fre- Burnt Corn expe- quent close and violent encounters of individual and dition, the Canoe Fight and the end of the Creek scattered squads,’” which evolved until the main War with the Fort Jackson Treaty signed on August body of the militia began a full retreat, followed by 9th, Dale remained active in the service of local citi- the small squads which had stayed until events be- zens and military activities concentrated in Ala- came hopeless (Halbert and Ball, pp 125-142; battle bama. As can be seen, Dale’s significant skills and description, pp. 132-141; quote within a quote, leadership continued to be in demand. Meek, p. 246). In the summer of 1814 – “Colonel Milton, then It was in the later stages of the skirmish that Cap- commanding at Fort Claiborne, ordered Major Car- tain Sam Dale was wounded with a ball to his left son and…Sam Dale…to Pensacola, to induce the side lodging near his back bone, but not before he Creeks, who had gone there for protection, to sue for “threw aside his double barrel into the top of a fallen pardon and return to the nation, where a treaty of tree”; yet he continued in the fray, as he was natu- peace with the United States had been ratified. They rally very brave and caught-up in the action of the agreed to the proposal, but the same day news came moment (Halbert and Ball, p. 136). that Arbuthnot and Ambrister (… British agents…) Word of the battle reached the Creek agency,5 had arrived in Apalachicola Bay with provisions and which lay roughly 220 miles east of the battle site military stores, and most of the refugee Creeks some twenty days later. The agency, home to joined the Seminoles shortly after, and remained Benjamin Hawkins, the agent in charge of southern hostile” (Claiborne, p. 147). 9 This passage would Indian affairs, was on the Flint River (near today’s place Dale in Pensacola between August 9th and Roberta, , just west of Macon). One particu- mid-August, 1814. lar entry made by Hawkins in his day-journal on Au- A Happy Ending gust 16th, 1813 mentions Dale’s missing weapon. According to Hawkins, two young Creek warriors The authors Henry Halbert and Timothy Ball have from the Creek village of Fishponds 6 reported to been the primary source for facts in this Sam Dale him that they were at the battle. story about his double-barrel shotgun. Other sources According to their report, and other intelligence he have been integrated to collaborate the underlying had received, Hawkins reported that the Indians had story, to give it more than a one dimensional per- two killed and one negro, lost their blankets and spective. some packs, and took ten horses, saddles, saddle And once again Halbert & Ball provide an amaz- bags, and guns, one, a fine double barreled ing detail. They explain that Dale recovered his Rifle7 [emphasis added]” (Hawkins “Letter to David trusty weapon “after the war from an Indian, at Fort 8 B. Mitchell”). (Continued on page 15)

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The ECHS Journal Section 1 The Story of Sam Thlucco and his Double Barrel Shotgun (continued)

(Continued from page 14) with Henry Halbert, as if the events were yesterday. Of course it is plausible that when Dale sat down Barancas [ sp. Barrancas ]” (p. 136).10 The timing of with Claiborne to tell his life’s story, the signifi- the recovery surely must have been when Dale and cance of the lost and found double-barrel shotgun Major Carson went to Pensacola to treat with the had faded from his memory. But for Josiah Allen, Indians in August 1814. even as an adult, a man of the cloth, the camp fire As amazing as the chance assignment sending tale was bigger than life and at the time he heard the Dale to Pensacola, which led him to meeting one of tale, or the tale repeated, the events on Burnt Corn the hundreds of Creek refugees seeking protection in Creek would have conjured up all sorts of excite- from the Americans, and there re- ment in a youth of fourteen – enough to remember covering his double-barrel shotgun, is how this inter- for a life time. esting ending came to be known. In keeping with the late radio commentator Paul It seems to be a story of a youth meeting his hero Harvey’s signature sign off, “Now, you know the and idolizing all the adventures he must have heard rest of the story.” Dale recount at many-of-a-camp-fire over the Creek Notes War years. And the youth was Josiah Allen of 1 Meek says the Indians called him, Sam Dale, “in Jasper County, Mississippi (Halbert and Ball, their simple tongue – Sam Thlucco, or Big Sam” p.142). 11 (p. 306). He would later become known as Rev. Josiah Al- John F. H. Claiborne, Sam Dale’s biographer, len and was the last known survivor of Dale’s war describes Dale, well – as big: “Six Feet Two inches, years’ company. Allen joined the Sam Dale com- erect, square shouldered, raw boned and muscular, pany when he was not yet fourteen in the year 1814. noted particularly for great length and strength of While this means he did not participate in the Burnt arm. He resembled his antagonists of the woods….” Corn expedition or the Canoe Fight, the year of 1814 i.e. the American Indian – “he had the square fore- was certainly one of significant activity for Dale’s head, the high cheek-bone, the compressed lips, in company up until the time of January 1815 when fact the physiognomy of the Indians, relieved, how- Jackson’s army defeated the British at . ever, by a-fine benevolent Saxon eye” Claiborne, So young Master Allen would have experienced pp. 231-232). many nights under the night sky around the warmth Note: In Halbert and Ball The Creek War, page of a campfire where oral history was freely ex- 235, the description of Sam Dale is essentially a changed as a means of authenticating one’s experi- quote from A. J. Pickett’s History of Alabama, pp. ences, manhood and valor and challenging the 568-569. younger to bravery in events to come. 2 The collection of essays is taken from a May While one might expect Dale’s biographer, J.F.H. 2009 Symposium at Auburn University that brought Claiborne, to have written about such a noteworthy scholars together to present their individual works event, the reason for the omission will always be a on the War of 1812 with an emphasis on the South- mystery. But does it mean the events did not in fact ern Theatre and the Battle of Horse Shoe Bend. happen? Rev. Allen’s reminiscences of oral history 3 In many places the spelling is “Stoddart.” stories, as explained to him in his youth, made such 4 Fort Glass was 5 miles south of Suggsville and a lasting impression of a man for whom he must ten miles east of Jackson along the 1802 have greatly admired, the “double-barrel shotgun” Indian Boundary, which at that time was the water- tale was one such story, still vivid after those many shed ridge that served as Clarke County’s eastern years when he shared his memories of Sam Dale (Continued on page 16)

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The ECHS Journal Section 1 The Story of Sam Thlucco and his Double Barrel Shotgun (continued)

(Continued from page 15) printed. A more accurate reference to 1814 British Agents assisting Spanish Governor Gonzáles boundary. Today this is County Road 35, which leads Manrique would have been to Major Edward Nicolls to Gainesville and the site of the old Sizemore Ferry, of the British Royal Marines and Captain George where in late July, 1813, Caller and his men crossed Woodbine.. into north Baldwin County on their way to Davy Important dates in the context of the Claiborne Tate’s cowpens. quote would include: 5 Using the H.S. Tanner 1825 Map of Georgia and May 10, 1814 - British Captains Hugh Pigot and Alabama, the distance from the ford on Burnt Corn George Woodbine arrive at Apalachicola, also known Creek and the Creek Agency as measured along the as Prospect Hill; Old Federal Road was roughly 220 miles. Sam Dale Aug. 9, 1814 – Treaty of Fort Jackson; is quoted in Claiborne’s book that it is a distance of Aug. 10, 1814 – British Major Edward Nicholls 150 miles. It is possible that woodsman and scout arrives at Apalachicola; Sam Dale used a shorter route than the Federal Road. Aug. 14, 1814 – Nicholls arrives in Pensacola; 6 Fishponds is not one of the frequently mentioned Oct. 25, 1814 – General Jackson begins invasion towns; it was also called Thlothlegugau, and was de- of Florida; stroyed in July, 1813 (Waselkov, Conquering Spirit, Nov. 7, 1814 – Jackson captures Pensacola; p.222). Nov. 9, 1814 – Jackson evacuates Pensacola and Its location was in the vicinity of today’s Alexan- returns to Mobile; der City and west of the Creek village of Okfuskee, Nov. 22, 1814 – Jackson departs for New both being north of Horse Shoe Bend and on the west Orleans. side of the Tallapoosa River 10 The Treaty at Fort Jackson is generally considered 7 According to Mike Williams of Brewton, to be the end of the Creek War. While other military Alabama, at the time of the Creek War activities against the Creeks, and also the Seminoles, there existed continued into 1815, this era is not generally consid- both double-barrel shotguns and rifles, the ered to be part of the Creek War. former being a smooth bore and the later a For a brief mention of Major Uriah Blue’s expedi- grove bore. tion into the Escambia valley after General Jackson 8 In Benjamin Hawkins' letter to George Mitchell, departed for New Orleans, see Waselkov: “Fort Jack- Hawkins’ entries are confusing and contain duplicate son and the Aftermath,” Tohopeka, p.166. descriptions, probably due to the high state of alert 11 Readers of Halbert & Ball are treated to a rarity and increased activity of people arriving and leaving in books from this era. At the end of Chapter VIII – the Agency and the increased demands on Hawkins. “The ” - there appears a “NOTE” Also, note, some of the extracts are dated later penned by Henry Sale Halbert which details the than the letter to Mitchell, which probably means the sources used by the authors – mainly Pickett, Meek, letter was delayed in being picked up by a postal Woodward, Judge Toulmin, Colonel Carson and John rider F.H. Claiborne. A review of these published sources 9 In the passage on page 147, the biographer by this writer finds no such mention of Dale’s double (Claiborne), references “Arbuthnot and barrel shotgun: Ambrister…British Agents,” but these agents date to Other sources include: Thomas McAdory Owen, the First Seminole War – 1817 – not to 1814. The ed. Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society, obvious error cast some doubt on the passage as 1897-1898; Vol. II; Henry Sale Halbert “Creek War (Continued on page 17)

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The ECHS Journal Section 1 The Story of Sam Thlucco and his Double Barrel Shotgun (continued)

(Continued from page 16) Index by Frank L. Owsley, Jr. Tuscaloosa:University of Alabama Press, 1995. Incidents,” footnote 2, page 95.. Hawkins, Benjamin. “Letter to David B. Mitchell, See also Rev. T.H. Ball, A.M.:Clarke County Governor of Georgia, dated August 17, 1813.” Alabama and Its Surroundings; a republication Journals and Writings of Benjamin Hawkins. of the 1879 printing of A Glance into the Great Ed. C. L. Grant. 2 Vols. Savannah: The Beehive Press, 1980. South-East, Clarke county, Alabama, and its Sur- Holmes, David. “Letter to Secretary of War, General roundings, from 1540 to 1877;and T.H. Ball, Grove John Armstrong, August 30, 1813, from the Town Hill, Alabama (1879) – “The Drury Allen Family,” of Washington, Mississippi Territory.” pages 317 – 320. Territorial Papers of the United States Henry Sale Halbert taught school in Mississippi of America: The Territory of Mississippi, 1809- before coming to Alabama to work with Thomas 1811. Vol. VI. Ed. Clarence Edwin Carter. McAdory Owen when Owen established the Ala- Washington, D. C.: GPO, 1938. National bama Archives in 1900. Archives Microfilm Publications: M0721. Halbert personally knew Josiah Allen and found Lewis, Herbert J. “Samuel Dale.” Encyclopedia of him to be a credible source of events from the times Alabama . May, Patrick, and George Creagh. “Letters to intimately associated with many of the participants in Colonel Albert J. Pickett, summer, 1847.” Pickett the battle [Burnt Corn] from whom he derived a Papers Collection. Alabama Department of number of incidents and other minor facts, which Archives and History. Digital Collection. Box 2, have been incorporated in this narrative – initialed Folder 14 . Ball, T. H. Clarke County, Alabama and Its Meek, Alexander Beaufort. Romantic Passages in Surroundings. Clarke County Historical Society, Southwestern History: Including Orations, 1973. A Reprinting of Ball, T.H. A Glance into the Sketches, and Essays. : S.H. Goetzed Great South-East, Clarke County, Alabama, and Its & Co., 1857. Surroundings, from 1540 to 1877, 1882. Printed in Pickett, A. J.. History of Alabama and Incidentally 1879 of Georgia and Mississippi. n. p.: n. p., 1851 Claiborne, J. F. H. Life and Times of Gen. Sam Toulmin, Harry. “Letter from , to Brig Dale: The Mississippi Partisan. New York: Gen. Ferdinand L. Claiborne. July 23, 1813.” Harper & Brothers, 1860. Alabama Department of Archives and History. Collins, Robert. “A Packet from Canada: Telling Digital Collection . of 1812. Ed. Kathryn Elizabeth Holland Braund. Waselkov, Gregory A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims A Pebble Hill Book. Tuscaloosa: University of and the Redstick War of 1813-1814. Tuscaloosa: Alabama Press, 2012. University of Alabama Press, 2006. Halbert, Henry Sale. “Creek War Incidents.” _ _ _. “Fort Jackson and the Aftermath.” Tohopeka: Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society, Rethinking the Creek War & the War of 1812. 1897-1898. Ed. Thomas McAdory Owen. Ed. Kathryn Elizabeth Holland Braund. A Vol. II, 1898. Pebble Hill Book. Tuscaloosa: University of _ _ _ and Timothy H. Ball. The Creek War of 1813 Alabama Press, 2012. . € and 1814. Introduction. Notes, Bibliography and .

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ECHOES THE NEWSLETTER FOR FIRST CLASS MAIL THE ESCAMBIA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DATED MATERIAL P.O. Box 276 Address correction Brewton, AL 36427 Phone: 251-809-1528 requested

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