Monthly Archives: May 2025

The Beloved Chiefs From Turkey’s Town, Chief Pathkiller

20 Tuesday May 2025

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Estanaula, Tuesday, 26th June 1792

Present, the Little Turkey, great beloved man of the whole nation; the Badger, the beloved man of the Southern division; the Hanging Maw, beloved man of the Northern division; the Boot, the Black Fox, the Cabin, Path Killer, head-men of Turkey’s town.[1]

Chief Pathkiller

As we examine the Beloved Chiefs from Turkey’s Town. Chief Pathkiller’s information is the most confused. He is very important to the history of Turkey’s Town. He lived in Turkey’s Town for about 40 years. Today, there is a lot more information about this Chief. Yet, the internet is full of misunderstandings, misinformation, and confusion. 

I will try to sort this out. All of the genealogy websites have mixed, confused information about this Chief and his family. A lot of the information has been disproved, yet not removed or replaced with corrected information.  

Providing the most up-to-date information will take more than one post.  I will provide what can be proven. Where needed, I will state what is “believed” to be true from the leading researchers. This is not a genealogy site, but I will provide what has been proven about Chief Pathkiller’s family with sources. This site focuses on Turkey’s Town. Thus, I am not providing information about the Western Nation after the arrival of the family.  

We will explore who Chief Pathkiller is. His name. I will explain the errors in the information on the various websites. There is only one Chief Pathkiller, who was the Principal (Beloved) Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1811-1827). I will explain who Pathkiller Jr is. There are NO Pathkiller I and Pathkiller IIs. What are the most precise estimates of his birth, and when did he die? Where is he buried? We will revisit where he lived. What was his role in the Creek War and, Treaty of 1816? As the Chief of the nation, what is his role? His family can be proven. Who are they? He had a nephew who was murdered, named Charles. 

Chief Pathkiller, His Name

Pathkiller is not a surname. Pathkiller, as a surname, is a European influence on the history of the Cherokee people. 

Most of the genealogy records use a Cherokee name for Chief Pathkiller. This name, “Nunnadihi” translates to Path Killer. This was Major Ridge’s name when he was young. His name later evolved to “the Ridge” and eventually to “Major Ridge”. In Wilkins’ book about the Ridge Family, Major Ridge or Pathkiller is spelled “Nung-noh-hut-tar-hee.” This translates to “he who slays the enemy in the path.” In English, Path Killer. [2] This is further confused by misinformation transcribed into the website of Find-a-Grave. This is also on almost every genealogy website. Yet this is Major Ridge’s name. Chief Pathkiller does not have a historical record using a Cherokee name. It is listed as Path Killer or Pathkiller. In my opinion, assigning a name to Chief Pathkiller is disrespectful to the Cherokee People and the Chief.

Roane County, Tennessee, Pathkiller

One of the confusing Pathkillers is the Pathkiller of Roane County, Tennessee. Many people have conflicted him with Chief Pathkiller of Turkey’s Town. This Pathkiller is stated to be the last hereditary Chief of the Nation and Colonel Pathkiller. This Pathkiller received a reservation of 640 acres, including a ferry on the Tennessee River. In a blog provided by “Tennessee State Library and Archives” it holds information on the court case involving this reserve. From the blog;

This Supreme Court case centered around a land dispute between Pathkiller and James Blair of Loudon County. In 1819, Pathkiller took advantage of a provision in the Calhoun Treaty and claimed a reservation of 640 acres that included the area known as Blair’s Ferry. Blair’s Ferry was on the Tennessee River in Loudon County.[3] Throughout this court case Pathkiller is referenced as: “. . .last hereditary chief of the Cherokee, and a Colonel under Andrew Jackson in the Creek War”. In this case, there is a daughter of Pathkiller named Sarah who married James T. Gardenhire. “Blair’s sons John and Wily continued battling for the property rights against Pathkiller’s daughter, Sarah, and her husband, James T. Gardenhire. After years of litigation, the Tennessee Supreme Court ultimately decided in favor of the Blairs, claiming that Pathkiller’s sale of the land to the Gardenhires had made his reservation claim null and void. The parties ultimately reached a compromise, and the Gardenhires agreed that they would “remove and give up all of said 640 acres with the ferry, and to remove any tenants that may be in possession of any part of the said tract…”[4]

No where in the reservation claim is this Pathkiller referred to as the Chief of the Cherokee Nation. He is not proven to be Colonel Pathkiller. This is also true in the granting of the reservation.(5) It is a statement made during the court case. But, not proven. It was recorded in the Tennessee State Supreme Court Case. This Pathkiller could be one of the other two Pathkillers listed in Col Gideon Morgan Jr’s regiment.

The account of this case appeared in the National Banner and Nashville Whig newspapers in full on 12 August 1830. Pathkiller in this case is not called Chief of the Nation. There is also no mention of him being related to Chief Pathkiller in Turkey’s Town.[6] There is no evidence to confirm this. The daughter named “Sarah, who married James T Gardenhire,” has no family connection to the Chief Pathkiller of Turkey’s Town. To add to this many genealogists list Susan “Sukey, Sooky” Martin as the wife of Chief Pathkiller in Turkey’s Town. This too is not proven. Others suggest she was married to his son, Pathkiller Jr or Pathkiller II.[7] [8] There is no Pathkiller II. It gets more confusing with the memorial marker (photo attached). Stating that this Pathkiller died in 1843.[9] This Pathkiller may be the Corporal or Sergeant with Col Gideon Morgan Jr’s Cherokee Regiment in the Creek War.[10]

A small memorial marker commemorating Path Killer sits on the western bank of the Tennessee River. The marker is located behind the Loudon Senior Citizens Center, 901 Main St., Loudon, Tenn. / Ross Rogers

Chief Pathkiller, Chief of the Nation 1811-1827, died in January 1827, so he did not file a case in 1830.  His daughter and granddaughter stated he lives in Turkey’s Town. Source with proof later in another post. They never mention moving or living on the Tennessee River. He did not die in Arkansas. He does not have a daughter named Sarah that can be proven. We will discuss his proven family and where he lived.

This Roane County Pathkiller can not be the hereditary chief of the Cherokee, with a death date of 1843. That would mean there are two Principal Chiefs of the Nation. Chief John Ross was Principal Chief from 1828 to 1866.[11] This Pathkiller did exist. He did move to Arkansas. Yet, this Pathkiller of Roane County, Tennessee, is not the Principal Chief of the Cherokee People. He has not been proven to have any family relationship to Principal Chief Pathkiller of Turkey’s Town. Nor any of his family. The only connection is the similarity of the name Pathkiller. There are many people with the name Pathkiller. Not everyone who has that name is kin. 

Pathkiller Junr

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/100595161 Image of the Treaty, January 6, 1817, NARA

Who is Pathkiller Jr (Pathkiller Junr)? It may be the Roane County, Tennessee, Pathkiller. Attached is a copy of the only document with Pathkliller Junr. An 1817 treaty dealing with the approval of the use of roads it has two Pathkillers. Pathkiller and Pathkiller Jr.[12] This leads to the question of whether the second Pathkiller is Pathkiller’s son. The Cherokee people did not have a culture of naming a son after the father. They did not use the suffix Jr. This is the interpreter’s choice in using “Junr.” Jr. to show two different Pathkillers, one being younger than the other. They are not displaying a family notation. In this treaty, the interpreters are Return J. Meigs, and Chief Charles R. Hicks. Meigs is the Agent and Chief Hicks is an interpreter, Chief Pathkiller’s second. Hicks is half Cherokee and half European. [13]

Conclusion

This Pathkiller of Roane County, Tennessee, is not the Principal Chief of the Cherokee People. He has not been proven to have any family relationship to Principal Chief Pathkiller of Turkey’s Town. Nor any of his family. Pathkiller Junr is a younger man with the same name. There is no son of Chief Pathkiller of Turkey’s Town named Pathkiller Jr.

We will continue the exploration of Chief Pathkiller and the misunderstandings in the next post. The Beloved Chiefs of Turkey’s town.

[1] Indian Affairs, Volume 1, ASP IA Vol. 1, searchable online the Library of Congress American State Papers web site pages 271-273, 26 June – 1 July 1792.

[2] “Cherokee Tragedy”, The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People, Thurman Wilkins, second edition, revised, University of Oklahoma, Norman and London, 1986, page 7.

[3] https://tslablog.blogspot.com

[4] Ibid

[5] Survey of Pathkiller’s land on the south side of the Tennessee River at his ferry; https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll23/id/857

[6] National Banner and Nashville Whig, (Nashville Tennessee) 12 August 1830, Newspaper.com, Second paragraph; Pathkiller, the defendant in the court and Plaintiff below, claim a reservation under the treaty of 1817 and 1819, of 640 areas of land with a life estate there in to himself and a reversion in fee simple to his children, out of the lands surrendered by these treaties to the United States. He was the head of an Indian family; and on register of life interest reservations, in the office of thee United States Agent for the Cherokees, is in the following entry: “1818, June the 14th, Pathkiller a native, 5 in family, on the main Tennessee river, about 2 ½ miles above the mouth of Sweet-water creek. There is a ferry on the place: Given under my hand and private seal, there being no seal office, the 2d Sept. 1826. H. Montgomery, United States Agent for the Cherokee. . . Pathkiller moved to this reservation, the land in dispute, in April or May 1819, having occupied of by his tenet Caves, from 1817.

[7] Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, Tennessee) · Sun, May 27, 1934 · Page 41, Newspaper.com

[8] WikiTree, Susan Martin; https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Martin-4178

[9] Chasing Path Killer, Ross Rogers, blog, 30 April 2019; https://medium.com/@TheRossRogers/chasing-path-killer-38a53d015538

[10] US, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War of 1812, 1812-1815; fold3.com

[11] https://collections.gilcrease.org/anthology-articles-john-ross-papers-collection

[12]  CHEROKEE AGENCY, January 6, 1817. CHEROKEE AGENCY, January 6, 1817. The use of the Unicoy road, so called, was for twenty years. Treaties with the Cherokees, 1819, Oklahoma State University, Digital Resources and Discovery Services, Tribal Treaties Database; https://treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-cherokee-1819-0177?query=%20path%20killer  

[13] https://catalog.archives.gov/id/100595161 Image of the Treaty. January 6, 1817, NARA

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3; 5-6 CSV

The Beloved Chiefs from Turkeytown, Chief Black Fox

06 Tuesday May 2025

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I am not going to reinvent the wheel. Wiki Tree has a good overview of Chief Black Fox. I am providing info on Chief Black Fox because he was listed as one of the Headmen from Turkey Town. This occurred at the June 1792 Grand Council meeting. This is not my research. From my research, I agree with it with an exception.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cherokee-129

The one piece of info I disagree with is. Almost all of the genealogy sites have Chief Black Fox born about 1750 [uncertain] in Eustanali, Cherokee Nation (East). The estimated birth date. I agree with. The issue is the location, being Eustanali. This town did not exist until after 1782. After Dragging Canoe settled in what would become Chattanooga, the Cherokee moved into western Georgia. This is already documented in an earlier post. Black Fox may be from one of the lower towns on the headwaters of the Savannah River. Chief Little Turkey is documented as being from Seneca. (See post on Chief Little Turkey). Major John Norton referred to Black Fox as the uncle of Chief Little Turkey’s children. If Norton was speaking from his English upbringing, then Little Turkey and Black Fox are brothers. I believe Norton was not speaking culturally as a Cherokee. He refers to the children of Little Turkey as cousins.1

He may have been living in Eustanali (Ustinali) at the time Little Turkey settled his New Seneca, Turkey’s Town. He lived most of his time as Chief of the nation in Creek Path. This is present-day Guntersville, Alabama.

The following is from Wikitree with some documentation to offer sources.

Disputed Origins

Black Fox was not a son of Oconostota. Enoli called Dragging Canoe “Uncle” in his eulogy, but this probably meant only that he was an older man from the same clan. [1]

Biography 

Nothing is known of the early life of Enoli, known in English as “Black Fox.” He was probably born by 1750. He first appears in the historical record as one of 42 signers of the 1791 Treaty of Holston. [2]His town is not named but he was from one of the “Lower Towns” in the area along the Georgia/South Carolina border. In June of 1792 he participated in a grand council at Ustinali, where he made a speech eulogizing Dragging Canoe. [3]

Journal of Occurrences in Cherokee Agency in 1802, Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee National Archives and Records Administration.2

Enoli apparently rose in prominence through the 1790’s. When the Little Turkey died in 1802 he was chosen Principal Chief even though there were differences of opinion between the Upper Town chiefs and the Lower Town chiefs who included Black Fox. [4] He had a somewhat checkered career as chief, being deposed in 1808 for his part in the Treaty of 1806 leading up to and following the death of Doublehead. He was reinstated 1809 following an agreement between the Upper and Lower town chiefs to put their differences aside. [5] John Norton met the chief in 1810 and recorded that he was about 60 years of age, “of an ordinary stature, a sedate aspect, and good character…. [6] Black Fox died in August 1811 and his death was reported in a number of newspapers of the day.

This newspaper clip states that Chief Black Fox died on 16 July 1811. Wilson’s Knoxville Gazette (Knoxville, Tennessee) · 12 Aug 1811, Mon · Page 2 Newspaper.com 3

Chief Black Fox signed the October 20, 1803 agreement for opening a road through the Cherokee Nation. He signed the Oct. 27, 1805 treaty at Tellico. [7]

On March 3, 1807, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives enacted a statute at large giving “Chief Black Fox” a life annuity of $100.

In 1808, Chiefs Black Fox and The Glass were deposed in what was called “the revolt of the young chiefs”. This faction led by James Vann and Major Ridge, mostly of the Upper Towns. This driving force of this revolt likely due to the peoples’ resentment of the National Council’s domination by its’ older leaders. Black Fox and The Glass were deposed for siding with Chickamauga (faction) Chief Doublehead during the rebellion of 1806-1811.

In 1810 both Black Fox and The Glass were reinstated. On April 18, 1810, he and others signed an act of the Cherokee Nation abolishing clan revenge, after the death of Doublehead.

Black Fox last received his $100 stipend by proxy on July 11, 1810. Following his death in 1811, Pathkiller was elected Principal Chief.

American newspapers published reports of his death:

Black Fox — Died. The beginning of August,”Black Fox,” a distinguished Chief of the Cherokee Indians, and a strong friend to the United States, who has often restrained his nation when they were about to make war on the whites. [8]

Death of the Black Fox

The death of this distinguished Chief of the Cherokees, is an event of importance to the people of this section of the Western country. Many of the young men of the nation it is known, have expressed themselves with jealous hostility of the whites, insomuch that on several occasions misunderstandings, like to produce bloodshed have frequently taken place. Notwithstanding detachments of the U.S. troops have frequently been employed in removing trespassers off the Indian lands, encroachments continue to be made, and continue to furnish just subjects of complaint to this tribe of Indians. Circumstances of this kind afford to the restless and designing the means of sowing the seeds of hostility in the minds of many. On such occasions the influence of the Black Fox never failed to in quieting the minds of his unreflecting brethren – and when it is considered that a commercial intercourse with Mobile, through the waters of the Coosa, which rise in and pass through a considerable part of the Cherokee country, is an object of particular interest to the people of this State, the death of a Chief whose information enabled him to estimate the advantages that would result to this tribe, from a measure of the kind, is so much to be regretted ~12 Aug 1811[9]

Research Notes

There is no record of a wife or children. John Looney took a reservation under the Treaty of 1817 on the land where Blackfox had lived, and when John died his obituaries stated that he was a nephew of Blackfox. This suggests some kind of familial relationship, but “uncle” had a much broader meaning among the Cherokee and usually indicated a more distant relative.

There were six men named “Black Fox” on the 1835 Cherokee Census. There is no information to suggest that any of them were related to the chief.

In the disputed source “Shawnee Heritage VI, 1700 – 1750”, by Don Greene, 55 – 56, the identity of Nancy Black Fox, daughter of Chief Black Fox is created. In this book she is Nancy born in 1760, who first marries Joseph Looney in 1775, and then Robert Benge in 1786. Don Greene’s work is speculative, historically wrong, and not a reliable source. This is where the myth of Nancy Black Fox is created, and has morphed into Black_Fox-7

Sources 

  1. ↑ Brown, John. P. “Old Frontiers.” Southern Publishers, Kingsport, TN. 1938. p. 331 
  2. ↑ Treaty image (image 11) at mark
  3. ↑ American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. 1, pp. 271-272. Image at Black Fox
  4. ↑ Journal of Occurrences in Cherokee Agency in 1802, Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee National Archives and Records Administration.
  5. ↑ McLoughlin, William G. Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1986. pp. 137-139, 145,147,155, 157 
  6. ↑ Klinck and Talman, eds. Journal of Major John Norton. The Champlain Society, Toronto, ON. 1970. p. 117 
  7. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration, digitized at digitreaties.org at
  8. ↑ 10 Sep 1811; The Gleaner – Submitted by K. Torp 
  9. ↑ Carthage Gazette,12 August 1811; Submitted by K. Torp

See also:

  • Dead link: Cherokee Tribe Newspaper Items, Obituaries and Death Notices. Retrieved on 5 Sep 2016 from obits

The following are not reliable and/or do not pertain to the man in this profile:

  • Cherokee DNA Studies: Real People Who Proved The Geneticists Wrong, By Donald N. Yates, Teresa A. Yates
  • “Shawnee Heritage VI, 1700 – 1750”, Don Greene (not a reliable source – see Shawnee Heritage Fraud) (Disputed)

The ending of the Wikitree.

In the next post, we will begin to unravel the confusion of Chief Pathkiller. The Beloved Chiefs of Turkeytown.

  1. Journal of Major John Norton, introduction pages xxiv-xxvii, and pages 112-118 of the journal 1809-1810, Hathitrust.org  ↩︎
  2. Not in Wikitree, added by the author ↩︎
  3. Ibid ↩︎

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3; 5-6 CSV