Jacksonland: A Great American Land Grab (36 page)

“What could have occasioned you”
Jackson to Pope, Branham, March 22, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers,
1775–1874,
reel 9.

eight days’ rations
Jackson to Major Baster, March 23, 1814, Andrew Jackson Papers, 1775–1874, reel 19.

Chapter Three: Stamping His Foot for War

Middle Tennessee formed a salient
This is illustrated by U.S. Census Bureau, “Following the Frontier Line, 1790 to 1890,” September 6, 2012.

in September 1811, associates of Robert Fulton completed a steamboat
Philip,
Robert Fulton,
pp. 270–71.

butcher knives, cotton hoes, coffee, “Segars,” chocolate
Account Book, Jackson’s Nashville Store, 1795, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1
, appendix 4, p. 455.

farmers often paid Jackson with cotton
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 245.

“
nine pounds of nails for each person in the state”
There were 7,270,825 pounds of nails produced, 810,000 people. Coxe,
Statement of the Arts and Manufactures of the United States,
p. xxxi.

“the most considerable of our manufactures . . . family looms”
Ibid.
,
p. xxviii.

more than three and a half gallons for every man . . . “moralizing” and “salubrious”
Author’s calculation, based on population of 7.2 million. Ibid.
,
pp. xl–xlii.

mix a little gin with the water he was drinking
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1, p. 548.

Jackson sent a bottle of wine
Ibid.
,
p. 300.

“ardent spirits have been banished from among us”
Niles’ Weekly Register
, November 28, 1829, vol. 37, p. 213.

Jefferson urged state governors to crack down
Jefferson to governors, December 31, 1808, Prucha,
Documents of United States Indian Policy,
pp. 24–25.

“almost entirely inhabited . . . duplicity and overreaching”
Levasseur,
Lafayette in America
,
vol. 2,
p. 81.

“is generally well-clothed, healthy . . . depraved wretches on earth”
Harrison writing in 1801, quoted in Adams,
Formative Years
, vol. 2,
p. 673.

treaties in 1804, 1805, and 1809
Ibid.,
pp. 674–76.

“it was easier to begin a war than to end one”
His statement is reported in Stiggins,
Creek Indian History,
p. 86.

“ascend to the top of a mountain”
Ibid.
,
p. 86.

“about one hundred slave . . . men . . . clear blue eyes”
All quotes from Miss Austill are from Austill, “
Memories of Journeying through Creek Country,”
pages unnumbered
.

Red Sticks, apparently because of the red war clubs held by their prophets
Braund, “Red Sticks,” in Braund, ed.,
Tohopeka,
p. 86.

“fanatical riots of shaving their heads”
Stiggins,
Creek Indian History,
p. 103.

“civil war . . . the Superior force of the rebels”
Ross to Meigs, July 30, 1813. Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
p. 19.

Some . . . were traveling to Spanish-controlled Florida
One such journey is described in Stiggins,
Creek Indian History,
p. 85.

“One morning . . . mother, sister and myself”
Miss Austill’s quotes are from Austill, “
Memories of Journeying through Creek Country,”
pages unnumbered
.

Considerably modifying his instructions, Jackson kept his unit together
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
pp. 377–83.

he was in bed with a lead ball in his shoulder
Parton finds him dismissing his injury as a brief “indisposition,” though he had difficulty moving for many weeks after the shooting.
Ibid.,
p. 423.

he had to be helped onto his horse at the appointed time
Ibid.
,
p. 425.

“with his arm in a sling looking pale and emaciated”
Ellen Call Long to her son Richard Call Long, August 16, 1853. The writer describes her memories of Richard Keith Call, “your grandfather.” Ellen Call Long, Call and Brevard Family Papers, box 5, folder 19, item 1. Digitally posted by Florida Library and Information Services: http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/180858?id=1.

Chapter Four: It Was Dark Before We Finished Killing Them

“taking revenge for the blood of the innocent”
Ross to Return J. Meigs, March 2, 1814, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
pp. 19–20.

The commander did not believe slaves in nearby fields
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 413.

726 men
Stiggins,
Creek Indian History,
p. 108.

could even hear the white men talking
Ibid.
,
pp. 109–10.

Weatherford’s brother-in-law
Historian George Stiggins is so identified in ibid.
,
p. 17.

Weatherford who persuaded a Red Stick council
Ibid.
,
p. 106.

under orders to race across the surrounding fields
Ibid., pp. 110–11.

spiritual leader . . . 202 Creeks were killed
Ibid.
,
pp. 113–14.

“Indians, negroes, white men, women and children . . . permit me to describe”
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 418.

“horrid butcheries” with a “spirit of revenge”
Ibid.
,
p. 423.

“she and our little children would be left . . . war could bring it right again”
Crockett,
Narrative,
pp. 72–74.

mounted volunteers
Ibid.
,
p. 74.

“I burnt three towns but never saw an Indian”
John to Mary Coffee, October 24, 1813, Sioussat, “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p. 275.

hungry troops . . . “burned the town to ashes”
Crockett,
Narrative,
p. 84.

retreated into a single house . . . “burned it up with the forty-six warriors in it”
Ibid.
,
p
.
88.

“a small scirmish with the Indians”
John to Mary Coffee, November 4, 1813, Sioussat, “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p. 276.

“It was, somehow or other, found out”
Crockett,
Narrative,
pp. 89–90.

“When I reflect”
Jackson to Rachel, November 4, 1813, cited in Remini,
Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire
,
p. 193.

“I send on a little Indian boy for Andrew . . . All his family is destroyed”
Brands,
Andrew Jackson,
p. 198.

the Cherokee Regiment . . . first engagement in the fall of 1813
Ross was present according to Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 11.

“
Nature furnishes . . . artfully arranged”
Jackson to Governor Blount, reprinted in newspaper The War, vol. 2, no. 46, May 5, 1814.

two rows of heavy logs, placed about four feet apart . . . packed clay
Dickens,
Archaeological Investigations at Horseshoe Bend,
diagrams and maps, pp. 44–45.

hill, just 125 yards from the nearest portion of the wall
Ibid.

“gun parts and ammunition . . . ceramics and glass”
Ibid.
,
p. 198.

“destitute condition of a people whose homes had been recently burned”
Ibid.

Three Cherokees, led by a man known as the Whale
The story is recounted in “Restoration of a Rifle to a Cherokee Warrior,”
Harrisburg Democratic Union
, September 6, 1843, p. 1.

the party is known to have included Major Ridge
Wilkins,
Cherokee Tragedy,
p. 76.

“when I found those engaged in the interior of the bend”
Jackson to Rachel, March 28, 1814, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 3
,
p. 54.

Houston compelled a comrade
Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, vol. 1, p. 518.

their second line of defense, a tangle of felled trees
This line of defense is identified on the battlefield today.

set fire to the underbrush
Parton,
Life of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 1,
p. 519.

“unfortunate and deluded red foe . . . tested and correctly judged”
Ross to Jackson, March 28, 1834, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
pp. 282–84.

“It was dark before we finished”
Jackson to Rachel, March 28, 1814, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 3,
p. 54.

“buried in their watry grave”
Ibid.

“River of blood,” “very perceptably bloody” “10 O’clock at night”
Lt. Alexander McCulloch to Frances L. McCulloch, April 1, 1814, transcript of letter in Horseshoe Bend National Military Park files.

“
Capt. Jno. Speirs Severely . . . The Seed sleightly”
Undated, about April 1814, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
pp. 20–21.

26 killed, and up to 107 wounded, depending on the count
Coffee said 106 wounded, John to Mary Coffee, April 1, 1814, Sioussat, “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p.
283; Jackson said 107 wounded, Jackson letter from
National Intelligencer
, April 25, 1814, reprinted in “Jackson’s Victory,” in the newspaper
The War
, May 5, 1814.

“Having now nearly compleated our business”
John to Mary Coffee, April 1, 1814, Sioussat, “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife,” p.
283.

“many of the Tennessee soldiers”
Ball and Halbert,
Creek War of 1813 and 1814,
pp. 276–77.

“when the Horse Shoe village was set on fire . . . killed an Indian”
Ibid.
,
p. 277.

“would have become an Indian some day”
Ibid.

“I did believe . . . fell in Battle”
Jackson to George Graham, July 9, 1817, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 3,
p. 125.

Three hundred eleven heads of families took the offer
McLoughlin, “Experiment in Cherokee Citizenship, 1817–1829,” p. 4.

“cut to pieces . . . appropriate punishment”
Jackson letter from
National Intelligencer
, April 25, 1814, reprinted in “Jackson’s Victory,” in the newspaper
The War
, May 5, 1814.

Jackson . . . let Weatherford go free
Brands,
Andrew Jackson,
p. 222.

“I made this war”
Drake,
Biography and History of the Indians of North America,
p. 69.

“
Brothers . . . friends will sign the treaty”
Jackson to Big Warrior, August 10, 1814, Owsley et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson
, vol. 3,
pp. 109–10.

friends in Nashville, who appealed to a bank for $50,000
Andrew Jackson to James Jackson, August 28, 1814, Moser et al.,
Papers of Andrew Jackson,
reel 4.

Part Two: Origins, 1767–1814
Chapter Five: Send a Few Late Newspapers by the Bearer

“whiteside”
Ross to Jackson, June 19, 1820, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
, vol. 1,
p. 41.

Born October 3, 1790, he spent his early years
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 5.

She let him change into traditional Indian dress
Ibid., p. 6.

Kooweskoowe
There are other spellings, such as Guwisguwi; Kooweskoowe is how Ross spelled it in a letter on October 18, 1837. Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross,
vol. 1, p. 526.

Cherokee Bird Clan
Anderson et al.,
Payne-Butrick Papers
, vols. 4–6,
p. 454.

Ghigooie
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 2.

a quarter-million people, a migration that played an enormous role
Fischer,
Albion’s Seed,
p. 606.

Enrolled as a British soldier
Moulton,
John Ross, Cherokee Chief,
p. 4.

Andrew Jackson himself took a secret oath
The written and signed oath is transcribed in Remini, “Andrew Jackson Takes an Oath of Allegiance to Spain,” p. 9.

he went on the Spanish payroll
Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief
,
pp. 4–5.

Of their nine children, John Ross was the third
Ibid.
,
p. 5.

the most recent newspapers available on the frontier
Ibid.
,
p. 6.

“send a few late newspapers by the bearer”
Ross to Meigs, July 30, 1813, Moulton,
Papers of Chief John Ross
,
vol. 1, p. 19.