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Chulioa or The Boot

02 Tuesday Sep 2025

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A person I collaborate with is Michael Wren. He is a Board Member of the National Trail of Tears Association. He leads their research on the Cherokee Removal. A great number of the documents I have on Turkey’s Town come from Mike. I sort through them to let the voice of the Cherokee people tell the story. Chulioa’s (Boot) family is complex. Mike Wren explains the family this way;

Laugh at Mush, Nelly, and Nancy are all full siblings.  Boot was their father and a woman whose last name was Beamer was their mother.

John Thompson who lived at Creek Path and is on the 1819 Reservation Roll was their maternal half-brother.

Turner and his sister Polly were paternal Half-siblings to Laugh at Mush, Nelly & Nancy.  Boot was their father and Wattee was their mother.  

John Huss aka Spirit the Peacher, was married before he married Nancy (Boot).  Nancy was married before to someone whose name I don’t know.  

John Thompson, above, is the English interpreter for Little Turkey. It is Thompson’s plantation that Little Turkey’s family moved to after Little Turkey died in 1802. This confirms the relationship with Chulioa, John Thompson, and Little Turkey. Blackfox lived near John Thompson, also.

We do not know what year Chulioa was born. He died about 1828. Laugh at Mush tells us this.

Laugh at the Mush appeared before the commissioners April 12th 1845 and made the following statement.
            I am the son of Chooli-wah and one of his heirs, I have no brother living have two sisters name their names are Nelly Nightkiller and Nancy Huss. My father died about seventeen years ago, after his ^death farm was occupied by me and my sisters until about five years before the Cherokee Removal, when it was taken passion of by a white citizen of Ala.  See a copy of the claim below.

1

As stated by Laugh at Mush. Laugh at Mush. John Huss, also known as Spirit the Preacher, and Nancy. Nelly Nightkiller, they all lived in Turkey’s Town until around 1833. Yet, John and Nancy moved to Will’s Valley about 1824. Their home would become one of the launching points for the Trail of Tears. It is called Fort Payne. 2 Information from Landmarks of Fort Payne.

Will’s Town, John L Tourette 1837 Map, DeKalb County Section, http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu/lizardtech/iserv/calcrgn?cat=North%20America%20and%20United%20States&item=States/Alabama/LatouretteSheet02.sid&wid=1000&hei=900&props=item(Name,Description),cat(Name,Description)&style=simple/view-dhtml.xsl

Laugh at Mush stated he lived near the “Old Council House of Turkey Town”. He noted this was about one mile from Pathkiller’s ferry. (The ferry became Peggy’s before 1819. Today, it is known as Fitts Ferry. It is in Northeast Etowah County, Alabama.)

Something to note. I refer you to the topic of the location of Turkey’s Town. Tradition is held in the Abraham Whorton family. An Indian Chief was buried near the large tree in the backyard. See “Location by the People of Turkey’s Town” on this site. Could this burial be Chulioa?

Chulioa and family lived in what is today Turkeytown Creek area. Chulioa lives on the Hightower (Hightown) pass (Old US 411). This was the main trade route through. His family then lived from this road over to the East Road (Coats Bend Road). Rev. Butrick tells us this.

Set off for Wa-sa-si’s, but hearing he was not at home returned [to
Browns], took our leave & rode to br. Brister’s 16 miles. 18 Jan 1822
Rode to the Boots in Turkey Town 25 miles. This man I believe is
some like a prince regent. He attends to business when the king is
absent or in ill health, and is his Creek interpreter. 19 Jan 1822.3

Brown is John Brown, at Creek Path, which is now Guntersville, Alabama. This is the father of Catherine Brown, the first Cherokee woman Brainerd Mission Teacher.4 Brister’s refers to Warwick Bristow. He settled in a valley that was given the name of Bristow’s Cove. In Northwest Etowah County, Alabama, there is a road named Bristow Cove Road and a stream by the same name. This is now the Aurora Community on Etowah County road 179. In 1829, a post office was established under the name Brister’s Cove at Brister’s store. In 1830, the Brister’s Cove Post Office became the Aurora Post Office.5 If you travel on today’s roads, the distance is 26 miles. It is from Aurora at Bristow Cove Creek to Turkeytown Creek on Old US 411. This places Chulioa at Turkey’s Town Creek.

The Meeting with the Headmen

Rev. Butrick recorded in his journal a meeting that was the intent of Butrick. This meeting would lead to a meeting with Chief Pathkiller, all organized by Chulioa.

Sabbath.  20 Jan 1822 The Chiefs assembled.  I told them that I should be glad to see all the people of their town, old and young, as far as practicable, but still was willing to refer it to them, whether to call them together or not, or at such time as they should think best.  The Boot sent the other chiefs out to consult together, and in a few minutes,  they sent for him to communicate if he pleased their answer.  He then informed us that they had appointed the third night for the meeting, & would send messengers to the king & others of the Town.  He then requested us to sing a Cherokee hymn, after which some of the chiefs, left us, & others spent most of the day.  Br. John spent much time in talking with them respecting the school at Brainerd, & in answering objections that were sometimes made.  The Boot said it that our visit would be a great help to him in answering the objections of some of his people to schools, as he would now not only tell them what br. John had said, but could point to him as a specimen of the advantages of education; and he thought it would be well to have a school in each District, that the people might have more correct views of the proceedings &c of the missionaries among them.  Toward evening two Creeks came, with whom, by means of two interpreters, I had the pleasure of a short conversation.  They told us they would meet with us day after tomorrow evening at the council house. This morning the Boot presented me the pipe of Peace, stating that he did not smoke in that at all times, but on certain occasions with his friends of different nations & tribes.  This was a Tomahawk.  The head forming the bowl, and the handle the stem, having three silver bands.  He expressed great joy to see a white man, Creeks and Cherokees alternately smoothing with this pipe – a token of their mutual love and confidence.6

Jan 21    1822          The Boot again presented me with the pipe of peace, expressing his great joy at seeing us at his house & his desire that we would not be lonesome.  Some of the neighbors came & we spent the day in singing conversing &c as we thought most expedient.  The Boot’s son in law invited us to visit and take supper with him.  We accordingly did, being accompanied by the Boot & his wife.  On our arrival we were told that the little boy named Bonaparte 6 or 7 years old, whom I invited yesterday to go with me, had made up his mind to go.  He had been thinking much on the subject all day, & had finally resolved in the affirmative.  I then told him he had better stay one year longer with his parents.  After supper we returned.  A number of Cherokees came and spent the evening with us.7

“The Boot’s son in law invited us to visit and take supper with him.” Is this John Huss? Is it Nightkiller?

Meeting with Chief Pathkiller

22 Jan 1822 After dinner we returned to and found the head men of the Town collected.  About sunset 6 Creeks, one a chief, came.  Br. John & myself met them.  With tokens of the greatest friendship they took us by the arm, their manner of salutation on certain occasions.  We spent some time in conversation with them.  Sometime after dark our dear father the Pathkiller arrived.  He appeared much rejoiced at seeing us.  After some conversation he told us how his son had been killed murdered by a white man – that he had written twice to his father the President respecting it, but could get no answer and [__]eared the murdering of his son was thought no more of by his father than the killing of a beast.  We accompanied our two fathers the Path Killer i.e. the king, and the Boot, to the council house about one mile distant.8

“his father the President” This would be President James Monroe. “How his son had been killed murdered.”  Is this Dragging Canoe, who was his son (not the Chickamauga War Chief)? Is this Charles Chief Pathkiller’s nephew? In the culture of the Cherokee. As a male, your sister’s son became your son upon the death of her husband. We will explore Charles’s death. Charles was murdered in April 1821.

The council house is “one mile from the Boots” (Chulioa). It is one mile from Old US 411 to Coats Bend Road.

And every thing in nature visible to us, seemed to unite in their exertions to render the scene and the season delightful.  Above were the sparkling stars, almost continually stealing my thoughts from all these lower scenes, to contemplate the Divine glory, the amazing grandeur of that Divine Original from whom they borrow all their luster.  Around was the dark, but pleasant forest, as a strong wall to serene us from the sight of mortals, & shut us out from all the noise & tumult of a wicked world.  While the whistling leaves bid us welcome to their silent retreat.  At my right hand sat our dear brother John a brilliant star.  At my left hand our dear father the king & next to him our father the Boot & then in proper order all the honorable of the Town.  At a suitable time, the king arose and addressed the people in few words.  After this br. John explained the design of our visit and read our letters from Brainerd and from br. Hicks.  I then spoke in few words.9 

Notice the seating order. “At my right hand sat our dear brother John a brilliant star.  At my left hand our dear father the king & next to him our father the Boot & then in proper order all the honorable of the Town.” Rev. Butrick is sitting next to Chief Pathkiller. Next to Chief Pathkiller is Chulioa (Boot). The “brother John” is Rev John Arch. Reminder, he is a converted Cherokee and Butrick’s interpreter. He died in 1825 at the age of 27. Brainerd is the Mission headquarters, today’s Chattanooga, TN. The “br. Hicks” is Chief Charles R. Hicks. He is Chief Pathkiller’s Second.

Conclusion

We see that Chulioa (the Boot) is a very important person to Turkey’s Town. He has influence on the Cherokee Nation. He has the utmost respect from Rev. Butrick and the nearby Creek Indians.

I call the Boot and his wife father & mother because this morning he requested br. John & myself to call them so, and we assured him we would, and desired them to consider us as their own sons, and shook hands in confirmation of this mutual agreement.10

Next, we will see the tragic impact of the Trail of Tears on this family.

  1. 4th Board claim #1174. NARA, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group
    75; National Archives Building, Washington DC., ↩︎
  2. https://www.landmarksdekalbal.org/preserving-dekalb-county-alabama-landmarks/the-old-cabin-site/ ↩︎
  3. Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Thirteenth
    Annual Meeting 1822, page 47, Daniel Butrick, Yale University, https://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:445026 ↩︎
  4. https://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chfiraat.html Memoir of Catharine Brown, Rufus Anderson
    Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1831 ↩︎
  5. U. S. Appointments of Postmasters 1832-1971, ancestry.com ↩︎
  6. Journal of Reverand Daniel S. Butrick, American Board of
    Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM), 18.3.1 V3, Unit 6, reel 738 1819-
    1845, Michael Wren’s personal copy. Original copy and transposed copy. ↩︎
  7. Ibid ↩︎
  8. Ibid ↩︎
  9. Ibid ↩︎
  10. 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

The Beloved Chiefs from Turkey’s Town, Chulioa or The Boot

19 Tuesday Aug 2025

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Chulioa or The Boot1 is not a “Beloved Chief” to the Cherokee Nation. He is not a Chief. He is one of the most important people in Turkey’s Town. He is listed as one of the “Headman” of Turkey’s Town. This is how he is listed at the Grand Council meeting on 1 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.2

Chulioa was raised in a Creek village. The Reverend Daniel Butrick, born in Massachusetts, did not understand his title. Butrick did appreciate his importance.

3. See transposed below
4 See transposed below

“This man I believe is some like a prince regent.  He attends to business when the king is absent or in ill health, and is his Creek interpreter.  Though a Cherokee, he was brought up among the Creeks, and though he now lives with the Cherokees & is one of their principal Chiefs, yet he is also a chief, and attends councils of the Creek Nation.  He can neither talk nor understand English, and yet perhaps few men in any nation understand the art of pleasing & of rendering their company pleasant and agreeable better than he.”  5

Chulioa served as an advisor and Creek interpreter to Principal Chief Little Turkey6. He led Chief Little Turkey to a location for his village. Turkey’s Town was the first settlement of the Cherokee in the Creek territory. (Now Northeast Alabama.) Review, archive, 12 February 2025, post, Location by the People of Turkey’s Town. Settlement of Turkey’s Town is one of the most important events in Northeast Alabama’s history during the 18th century. The following is found in the Alabama Territories Papers.

There is a track of land lying on Wills Creek and between that creek and the Coosa River on the West side of the latter, and north of the Treaty line of Fort Jackson which they may be prevailed upon to part with, in treating for which they are willing to discuss and settle the subject of the boundary between them and the Cherokee. They however contend that their present boundary with the Cherokee is by the Suwannee path where it leaves the Western line of Jackson County to the old town on the Chatahotchie River and from thence by a drift line to the Mouth of a certain water course called by them, Little River where it unites with the Coosa. They have furnished me with a copy of certain question put by the Creeks to an old Cherokee Chief and the Cherokee Interpreter (who was their mutual interpreter on the first settlement of the Cherokee in the Creek Country) . . .7

This has to be Chief Little Turkey and Chulioa.

Chulioa played a very important role in the Creek War, 1813-1814. His service in the Creek War was significant to Chief Pathkiller and the US. Chulioa served as the Creek Interpreter. We see in Dr. Susan M. Abram’s Doctoral Dissertation titled Souls in the Treetops, Cherokee War, Masculinity and Community, 1760-1820. She received her Doctor of Philosophy from Auburn University in 2009. Footnote 27, page 118, Cherokee Muster Rolls, RG 94, AGO. Jackson personally oversaw the mustering in of Pvt. Chulio, who was Path Killer’s aid. He served as a private under Capt. James Brown for his first tour of duty. During his second tour, Chulio earned a promotion to 1st Lt. under Capt. Frog.  The footnote is attached to these sentences. Intelligence gathered by the Creek interpreter Chulio soon indicated that a considerable force of Red Sticks had gathered near Ten Islands on the Coosa River while others were about forty miles south of Tuckabatchee. Another group was at Oakchoi Town, not far from Turkey Town near the Creek-Cherokee border.

Chulioa should not be confused with another Cherokee warrior who was killed during the Creek War. The Boot. This Boot was in Captain McLemore’s Company. 8

Chulioa made his mark on the Treaty Ratified in Turkey’s Town in October 1816.9

Chulioa will be the go-to guy in Turkey’s Town. Rev. Butrick would go to him to gain a meeting with the headmen and Chief Pathkiller in 1822.

Friday 18th. With Br. John Arch started for Turkey’s Town where we arrived on Saturday evening, and called on the Boot.  He is the King’s Creek interpreter & one of his confidential consellors.  I told him the object of our journey, and that if he saw fit to notify a meeting we should be pleased to see the king – Path Killer, and all the people of the town together.  He seemed thankful and said he would lay the subject before the head men of his Town, and let us know their minds.10

Conclusion

Chulioa or the Boot is a very important person in Turkey’s Town. He is the link to how Chief Little Turkey would settle there. He was very involved with the Creek War. Next post we will see his family and their connections in the Cherokee Nation. We will see a very tragic part of the Trail of Tears.

  1. His name is rendered by English writers as Chuleoa, Chulioa, Chuli-o-a, Chulcoh, Tsu-le-o-a, Chutcoe, or generically as ‘the Creek interpreter’ ↩︎
  2. 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. ↩︎
  3. 19 Jan 1822, Journal of Reverand Daniel S. Butrick, pages 143-2, 143-3, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM), 18.3.1 V3, Michael Wren personal copy. Original and transposed copy. ↩︎
  4. Ibid ↩︎
  5. Ibid. ↩︎
  6. See American State Papers Vol 1 pp 271, 276, 277, 328, 447, 657.  See also American State Papers Vol 2 pp 145, 153-154 (where is incorrectly called ShoeBoots), 283, 486-487, 489-490.  He was one of the headmen of Turkey’s Town and part of the Cherokee leaders at the signing of the Treaty of Holston of 1791 where he delivered an address.  See Lyman Draper Papers 15 U 5-56.  Specifically, see 35-36 & 39-46.   ↩︎
  7. Alabama Territory, Territorial Papers, pages 183-184, images 207-208, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010692468&seq=208 page183-184 ↩︎
  8. Dr. Susan M. Abram’s Doctoral Dissertation titled Souls in the Treetops, Cherokee War, Masculinity and Community, 1760-1820. Doctor of Philosophy from Auburn University in 2009. Page 228 ↩︎
  9. National Archives, Record Group 11, General Records of the United States
    Government, Series Indian Treaties; RIT #83; Ratified Indian Treaty #83,
    Cherokee, Chickasaw Council House, September 14, 1816. There are 231 images
    of this with correspondence of letters and a journal. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/100220646 ↩︎
  10. 18 Jan 1822, Journal of Reverand Daniel S. Butrick, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM), 18.3.1 V4, Unit 6, reel 754 1819-1845, Michael Wren personal copy. Original and transposed copy. ↩︎

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 Turkey’s Town, Chief John Ross

05 Tuesday Aug 2025

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Chief John Ross

 The last of the Principal Chiefs who is from Turkey’s Town. Chief John Ross was born there on 3 October 1790. John Ross was born in “Tahnoovayah.”1 Notice the similarity to the spelling in the above 1842 claim, “Dah-noo-ney-ya”. He would become one of the most, if not the most, beloved Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation. His family moved to Turkey’s Town in 1788. They would leave and move back to the Chickamauga Creek site by 1800. This information is supported by Myth and History: The John Ross House through Time. It was published by The National Park Service and The John Ross House Association, Inc. 2007. It was written by William J. Bishop, Vice-President Trail of Tears Association, Georgia Chapter, on pages 33, 56-57;2

McDonald, living “about 25 miles south west from Chickamagga,” could unwittingly be a prime source of the “earliest and best Intelligence that can be had from that quarter,” Martin said. “He has great influence with the Indians on that quarter, deals at Pensacola, corresponds with Mr. Gilvry, in the Creek Nation and one Mr. McClatchey at the mouth of St. Mary’s, a British Merchant who furnishes some part of the Towns near him with goods.” 
Ross said that “about the year 1788, he removed together with his father in-law and their families to Turkey Town (“Tahnoovayah,” according to Eaton, or, according to Brown, “Kanagatugi”), and continued trade with the Cherokees. The Little Turkey was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and resided in that town.”

Chickamauga move

It does seem to make sense that, following the peace treaty with the Americans, McDonald would want to return back to the site of his original homeplace, where he had raised his children for nearly a decade – much longer than any period of time he had spent in any other Cherokee town. Cementing this idea, correspondence from McDonald’s wife in 1809 is shown as being sent from “Chickamauga,” rather than from Poplar Spring, as Rossville was then known (Cherokee Agency at Tennessee official records, U.S. Archives, M-208, Roll 4). Further, we know that McDonald was in fact living at Chickamauga Creek when he finally did sell his holdings to the founders of the Brainerd Mission 17 years later, in 1817 (Phillips, 1998, p. 27). 

(We do know for a fact, however, that McDonald was living on Chickamauga Creek in 1800, as previously demonstrated. So if Hawkins’ eyewitness account can be trusted to mean that the McDonald trading post at Rossville was non-existent in the summer of 1799, then in order to believe that such a trading post did exist prior to McDonald’s establishment at Chickamauga Creek we are necessarily left with only a one-year window. His supposed residence at what is now Rossville, then, would have been exceptionally brief.) 

We can be reasonably assured that Ross was living somewhere east of Lookout Mountain by June of 1802 because he sent a letter (Ross, 1802) from “Chickamoga” to the Tennessee Agent, Major William Lovely, regarding, again, some horses that had been stolen .

Commissary in Turkey’s Town

 We can see his grandfather’s influence in Turkey’s Town. During his time there, he turned the place into a commissary. He bargained trades, goods, and munitions from the Spaniards.  Myth and History: The John Ross House through Time; pages 27-57, John McDonald and the Chickamauga Page 37

James Carey related the following information to Gov. Blount in Nov., 1792 (Coker, 1986, Reel 7): The contents of the letter was to invite Watts and the Bloody Fellow, in the name of Governor O’Neal, to come down to Pensacola with ten pack horses; that they should have from Governor O’Neal arms and ammunition, as many and as much as they wanted, and that Panton himself would supply their nation with goods in plenty. Mr. Panton, during his stay in the nation, made the house of his countryman, McDonald, his headquarters, from whence they together paid a visit to the Little Turkey, and spent several days, Mr. McDonald acting as interpreter between Mr. Panton and the Turkey. 

After this visit, Panton wrote to Gov. O’Neill, advising him on the best way to conduct the proposed meeting. The Cherokees, he said, should be supplied with much-needed arms, horses, and guns, and generous presents should be given. He specifically pointed out that “Mr. McDonald, the old British superintendent,” should be welcomed personally. He knew McDonald was very dissatisfied with the American treatment of the Cherokee and with Gov. Blount’s efforts to tamper with Indian trade. Panton, like Martin on the American side, knew that McDonald with his influence over the Cherokee could be either “very serviceable” or “very dangerous.” 

Myth and History: The John Ross House through Time is a very well-documented source of the Ross house in Rossville, Georgia. It clears up the history of the house. It has a very well-documented history of the Chickamauga Cherokees. Web link below.

https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/upload/Myth-and-History-The-John-Ross-House-508.pdf

Chief John Ross did not live in Turkey’s town while he was Chief. There are many books written about him, so I will not repeat his story. The exact location of the McDonald/Ross home and trading post in Turkey’s Town is not known. It must have been on the main road through the Town. This would be the High Town Pass or Hightower Pass. There are no statements about their location on any of the Claims. There are also no notes of their location submitted by the people of Turkey’s Town after removal. They do not comment on the Ross or McDonald trading post or stand.

Chief John Ross became the Principal Chief in October 1828 by election of the National Council. He would lead them through the Trail of Tears.3 He sued the State of Georgia for land rights and laws. Worcester v. Georgia. He won in the Supreme Court of the United States in 1833. President Andrew Jackson did not honor the verdict.4 The New Echota Treaty of 1835 fixed the removal West.5 They had two years to move. In 1838, the forced removal took place, the Trail of Tears. Ross also led them through the American Civil War. He died in 1866.

Conclusion

This concludes the Chiefs. Before we move to the next chapter. I want to introduce you to a couple of people. One we have talked about before. One you do not know. Boot (Chulioa), you have met. He is Cherokee, but he was raised among the Creek. He helped Chief Little Turkey settle New Seneca. I will discuss him in detail next. Then I will introduce you to Charles Chief Pathkiller’s nephew.

  1. Eaton, Rachel Caroline. John Ross and the Cherokee Indians. Menasha, Wis., George Banta publishing company, 1914. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/14018822/, Image 23, page 3 ↩︎
  2. https://www.nps.gov/trte/learn/historyculture/upload/Myth-and-History-The-John-Ross-House-508.pdf ↩︎
  3. Eaton, Rachel Caroline. John Ross and the Cherokee Indians. Menasha, Wis., George Banta publishing company, 1914. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/14018822/, Chapter VII ↩︎
  4. Ibid, Chapter VIII ↩︎
  5. 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

The Beloved Chiefs From Turkey’s Town: Chief Pathkiller and the 1816 Treaty of Turkey Town.

15 Tuesday Jul 2025

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The aftermath of the Creek uprising/Creek War 1813-1814 led to another boundary settlement with the Indian tribes. The consequences of the war for the Creeks set their boundaries. The Treaty of 14 September 1816 involved the United States and the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee nations. This was held at the Council House of the Chickasaws.

In the year after the war, the US Government sent a delegation of surveyors to Fort Strother. This was located at the Ten Islands, Coosa River. Two of the surveyors die as they are setting up for the survey. General John Sevier1 is one, and Major John Strother2 is the other.3 These two men were very important to Jackson’s Creek War Campaign. There were several affidavits taken. Letters are sent back and forth from Gen. Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford, Secretary of War. All the letters and affidavits were prep work to set up the treaty in September. The United States was claiming new lands to be ceded to them because of the war. 4

Map by which the Creek Indians gave their statement at Fort Strother on the 22nd Jany, 1816, Alabama Georgia, https://www.loc.gov/item/2007626786/.. Map is used to set new boundaries. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA dcu

The delegation of the Cherokees did not like the boundaries that were set. This delegation did not include Chief Pathkiller. They stated they were not prepared or notified as to the nature of the meeting. The delegation left the meeting. They set a new date to be presented to the whole nation and Chief Pathkiller. The Cherokees deferred it to a meeting at Turkey’s Town for ratification. They met at the Turkey Town Council House on 4 October 1816. The United States delegation included Major General Andrew Jackson and General David Meriwether. Jesse Franklin, Esq., served as Commissioner. James Gadsden was the Secretary to the Commissioner. Return Meigs and Richard Taylor, as well as A. McCoy, acted as interpreters. Signing for the Cherokee’s; Pathkiller, The Glass, Sour Mush, Chulioa, Dick Justice, Richard Broom, Boot, and Chickasawlua.5

General Andrew Jackson’s delegation arrived at Turkey’s Town on 28 September 1816. All of the Cherokees had not arrived. They would assemble on 4 October. The speech was given by Jackson. He reviewed the information from the meeting at the Chickasaw Council House. Chief Pathkiller did not want to give up any more territory. 6

Image 112, 7

At midnight on 4 October 1816, Andrew Jackson and David Meriwether dictated a letter to be sent to William H. Crawford, Secretary of War with a summation of the treaty and other comments. In this letter at image 113, they talked about the removal West of the Mississippi. Several Chiefs inquired about the effects on the nation.

 It was internalize to us however several of the chiefs that a strong disposition prevailed among many individuals of the nation to emigrate to the west of the Mississippi and they wished to know whether in the event of national removal it was practicable to effect an exchange with the General Government. . .8

The US will gain territory. This will set in place, along with the treaties of 1817 and 1819 the creation of the State of Alabama. The boundaries are best viewed on John Melish’s 1819 map of the State of Alabama. https://www.loc.gov/item/gm71005414/

Mission Schools

A US citizen, Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury observed the signing of the ratification of the treaty on 4 October 1816. He had asked permission to attend to make a plea to set up schools in the Cherokee Nation. He wrote to Reverend Samuel Worcester. Both were a part of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.  Kingsbury advised Worcester about the event and his progress in establishing a Mission School.

Kingsbury to Worcester;

It was now twelve o’clock at night and they had been in session two to three days, But they concluded to give me an answer that night, after a short consultation one of the principal Chiefs, took me by the hand very affectionately, said I had appeared in their full council they had listened to what I said and understood it. They were glad to see me that they wished to have the school established.9

This would give the consent to move ahead for schools. It would create what became the Brainerd Mission. This was the base of operations for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). They ministered to the Cherokee people. It was located near the Tennessee River along a track of land at the Chickamauga Creek. Nowadays this is Chattanooga Tennessee. From this Headquarters, they would place mission schools at Wills Town, and Creek Path in what is now Alabama. They sought permission to put a school in Turkey’s Town. That was approved, but did not happen.

From the Bio on the website; The Brainerd Mission, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

The ABCFM tasked Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury with founding the mission. He received permission from both the President of the United States and the Cherokee Nation in 1816 to start the school. For land, Kingsbury purchased a plantation in what was known as ‘Chickamauga Territory’. He paid 500 dollars for 25 acres of land. The mission officially opened in March of 1817 as the Chickamauga Mission. However, as Chickamauga territory was so expansive, the name was deemed too unspecific. In 1818 the name was changed to Brainerd Mission, in honor of prominent missionary David Brainerd.10

Image in the Penelope Johnson Allen Collection, UT Chattanooga,11

The Brainerd Mission closed in August 1838. This happened due to the forced removal of the Cherokee people on the Trail of Tears.  All but two of the missionaries went west with their Cherokee congregation.12 One of the missionaries to survive on the Trail of Tears was Rev. Daniel Butrick. He has been quoted in this work. His journal and book are valuable to this work.13

Conclusion

A treaty is ratified. Permission for schools is granted. But lots of questions persist. General Jackson came with a delegation of Commissioners. Who was his escort? How many soldiers made up this escort? Were they the US Army or the Tennessee Volunteers? Captain John Hutchings is in charge of the supplies14. Lots of people are on the banks of Turkeytown Creek. Where did they camp?

We will leave Chief Pathkiller here. The “King” and his accomplishments are significant to the Cherokee Nation. They became more progressive during his reign. Henry Thompson Malone provides an excellent overview of this in his book. The book is titled Cherokees of the Old South A People in Transition. Refer to Chapter 6, A Republic is Born, on pages 74-90. Some of the nation’s accomplishments during his reign and while he was the Second Beloved Man. The National Council adopted a written legal code on 11 September 1808. District Judges and a council preside over hearings on local matters. A National Superior Court. A National Constitution. The establishment of mission schools is described above. The above treaty of 1816. Chief Pathkiller will be involved with the Treaty of 1817 and 1819.

Several recorded that due to his age, he was just a figurehead. The emerging mixed-bloods were taking charge of the nation. One example is his second, Charles R. Hicks. Chief Pathkiller, the last of the full-blood Cherokee Chief of the Nation, was still an influence.

Next we will briefly discuss Chief John Ross. The Beloved Chiefs From Turkey’s Town.

  1. https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/john-sevier-1745-1815/ ↩︎
  2. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/strother-john ↩︎
  3. Jackson’s White Plumes, An Historic and Genealogical Account of Selected Cherokee Families who Supported Andrew Jackson during the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814, Charlotte Adams Hood, Lavender Publishing Company, Bay Minette, Alabama, 36507,1995, pages 65-67 ↩︎
  4. National Archives, Record Group 11, General Records of the United States Government, Series Indian Treaties; RIT #83; Ratified Indian Treaty #83, Cherokee, Chickasaw Council House September 14, 1816, There are 231 images of this with correspondence of letters and a journal. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/100220646 ↩︎
  5. Ibid, Images 1-10.
    ↩︎
  6. Ibid, Images 110-112 ↩︎
  7. Ibid, Image 112 ↩︎
  8. Ibid, image 113 ↩︎
  9. American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Boston MA
    Unit 6 – Missions on the American Continents and to the Islands of the
    Pacific18.3.1 (Cherokee Mission) Vol 3, item 1,Records at Houghton Library, Harvard University. From Microfilm Reel 738 ↩︎
  10. https://findingaids.utc.edu/agents/corporate_entities/17 ↩︎
  11. https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll7/id/32/rec/6 ↩︎
  12. Ibid ↩︎
  13. Cherokee Removal: Journal of Reverend Daniel S. Butrick, Trail of Tears Association-Oklahoma Chapter; Fulll Title: Cherokee Removal: Journal of Reverend Daniel S. Butrick May 19, 1838 – April 1, 1839, various pages from the miscellaneous files of Reverend Daniel Sabin Butrick, 1822, Michael Wren personal collection. ↩︎
  14. National Archives, Record Group 11, General records of the United States Government, Series Indian treaties; RIT #83; Ratified Indian Treaty #83, Cherokee, Chickasaw Council House September 14, 1816, Image 39 ↩︎

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 Turkey’s Town, Chief Pathkiller, The King

01 Tuesday Jul 2025

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A description of Chief Pathkiller at Charles R. Hick’s house on 2 November 1818 by Rev. Ard Hoyt.1

King

The term “King” was applied to the principal Chiefs of the Cherokee by Europeans and Spaniards. The Cherokees did not have a title for the “Beloved Headman”. The title of Principal Chief is used today for the leader of the nation. Since there was no word, the Europeans and Spaniards used Chief and King. This was a way for them to relate to the leadership of the nation. The white people then used “King” or “Principal Chief” as the title for Chief Pathkiller.

The above journal is one example. There are several references using “King”. Reverend Daniel Butrick refers to Chief Pathkiller as the King in his journal in 1822. The grave stone had “Path Killer The last King of the Cherokees.”

Chief Pathkiller had influence, but, was the leader of the nation only in title. After Chief Black Fox died in 1811 Chief Pathkiller became Principal Chief. In late 1811 the Cherokee Nation adopted a National Council. Dr. Susan Abram, in her doctoral thesis, wrote;

The Cherokee National Committee, which conducted the nation’s affairs in this volatile atmosphere, informed Meigs of its newly appointed membership, on 18 November 1811. The group was composed predominately of younger headmen, including Charles Hicks, The Ridge, Seekickee, John McIntosh, John Walker, John Lowry, George Lowry, John McLamore, Duck, Wasausee, Sour Mush, and Chulioa. John Ross served as the thirteenth member of the committee and its clerk. Most of these men, while relatively young, had served their people for many years as warriors, headmen, lighthorse regulators, and Cherokee representatives to the Cherokee Indian Agency. The committee, which answered only to the “old Chiefs” of the Cherokee National Council, dealt with the nation’s everyday business, collected the annuity, and would soon become instrumental in determining the Cherokee course of action in the time of war soon to come.2

Chief Pathkiller is now the “King” or Principal Chief of the nation, and they are in transition. The progressiveness of mixed blood is now an influence on the nation. The Cherokee have settled into the practice of farming. At the beginning of Chief Pathkiller’s tenure, war is brewing. The Shawnee from the north urges the Southern Indians. They want them to join a coalition to fight the “whites”. The Cherokee walk away and want no part of the war. They see no benefit in fighting. The Chickasaw and Choctaw walk away as well. The Americans and British have their own conflict starting again. The Shawnee go home. This leaves the Creek with a civil war of their own. The Red Stick faction is created.

The War Within a War

The British and Americans were at war with each other again. (War 1812). This weighed heavy on Chief Pathkiller and the decision makers of the Cherokee. Which side to take was not an easy choice. Just south of them was going to make the decision for them.

On July 23, (1813) Cherokee principle chief Path Killer had several head men from the Creek Path area to write to Meigs of the “rebellion in the Creek Nation” and that the Red Sticks were “endeavouring to brake [sic] the chain of friendship between the U.S. & that Nation.” They further relayed that the national Creeks had sought assistance against possible attacks by the Red Sticks on Coweta and Cusseta. They warned Meigs that, in their estimation, their situation was dire: 

It appears that the situation of our villages on the borders of the Creek Nation is not altogether safe, as we have been advised by the Big Warrior & his friendly Chiefs, to furnish ourselves with guns. To be guarded against the rebellious Creeks, that they should be suppressed, in case an attempt to invade our Country. A number of Creeks of the Natchez tribe have come to Turkey’s Town for refuge from the merciless rebels their friendly disposition towards the US. Appears to be usually firm, their number consists of nearly 200 men besides their women & Children. We hope the White People will not think that we have suffered those Indians to come amongst us with any hostile intentions towards them, as they are part of those who have suffered their friends & relations to spill their blood in giving satisfaction to the US. For the murder which was committed on the Ohio.3

Friendly Creeks have moved into Turkey’s Town. They have sought refuge there. A fort is created around the residence of Chief Pathkiller. By September of 1813 the Cherokee have joined forces to combat the Red Sticks.

Chief Pathkiller would receive a commission as Colonel. He never left Turkey’s Town. He did not fight in a battle. His age would not allow him to. He would be about 68 years old (1745). By the end of October 1813 Turkey’s Town is threatened with being attacked. Chief Pathkiller sent a letter to Andrew Jackson. He explained the issues. Jackson sent a letter to William Blount, Governor of Tennessee.

Two runners arrived here yesterday, from the Path Killer bringing the information that the hostile Creeks, were assembling in considerable numbers within 15 or 20 miles from the Turkey Town. . . .it is probable we shall have a fight, if the creeks means to fight us.4

Turkey’s Town was never attacked. The first battle for the Tennessee Volunteers and Cherokees was at Tallasahatachee near the Ten Islands. Supplies and food was taken by the Volunteers from the Cherokee people living in Turkey’s Town. Not even the Chief or King Colonel Pathkiller was safe from the looting. Chief Pathkiller would have Chief Charles Hicks file claim for losses in 1814.

By the end of March 1814 the battle of Horseshoe Bend will take place, and the Red Sticks defeated. This will bring an end to the Creek uprising.

The recovery for Turkey’s Town would take place. The 1814 War Claims would seek retributions from the United States with the losses of the Cherokee people. In the section already posted about the location Chief Pathkiller’s claim is shown. Chief Charles Hicks also files claim for friendly Creeks from Coosahattchee. See Location by the Cherokee People.

The Aftermath

The Chickasaw and the Cherokee can not come to an agreement on boundaries. Next post. Chief Pathkiller and the Turkey Town Treaty of 1816.

  1. The Pansophist, and Missionary herald. v. 15 (1819). Journal of the Mission at Brainerd, page 42. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433068276272&view=1up&seq=64&q1=King ↩︎
  2. “SOULS IN THE TREETOPS:” CHEROKEE WAR, MASCULINITY,  AND COMMUNITY, 1760-1820 
    Susan Marie Abram, A Dissertation, Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University 
    In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn University 
    August 10, 2009, page 97 ↩︎
  3. Ibid, page 104 ↩︎
  4. Jackson’s White Plumes, An Historical and Genealogical Account of Selected Cherokee Families who Supported Andrew Jackson during the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814, Charlotte Adams Hood,1995, Lavender Publishing Company, page 32 ↩︎

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 Turkey’s Town, Chief Pathkiller, his family

17 Tuesday Jun 2025

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Mr. R. S. Cotterill states in the Preface of his book, “The Southern Indians”; 

“The Southern Indians . . .the records of their history are records by whites and are marred by prejudices and misunderstandings.1

The above statement is so true. When we review Chief Pathkiller on genealogical websites, the information is so confusing. It is full of speculations, misunderstandings, incorrect information, and made-up fill-ins. It is worth stating again that Pathkiller is not a surname. That everyone who is referred to as Pathkiller is not the King, or Principal Chief Pathkiller (Principal Chief 1811-1827). That they are not all related as family. What can be proven? The genealogical websites have very few historical source citations. Most of what is referred to is from a modern-day history article. Some are from history books. What can be proven?

Proven

Chief Pathkiller’s parents can not be proven. They are unknown. Shelia Ford, a descendant of Nancy Ward, led me to new information on Moytoy. “Nunnadihi Pathkiller, Pathfinder Moytoy is a fictional name for the real Pathkiller.” 2

“In the summer of 2018, the Cherokee Heritage Center removed all mention of an alleged Moytoy family from their website. They determined that the fictional Amatoya/Amadoya Moytoy had not existed. James Hicks, from whom the incorrect information appears to have come, had hypothesized that all Cherokee came from a single ancestor. He named that fictional ancestor Amatoya/Amadoya Moytoy with no evidence or documentation whatsoever.” 3

If Chief Pathkiller’s parents are unknown, what can be proven about his family?

Chief Pathkiller has at least three wives.

The first wife’s name is unknown. They had three sons and one daughter. These children show up in historic documents and are not guesses. The first son is Bearmeat. It must be stated again that not everyone whose name is Bearmeat is the son of Chief Pathkiller. There are discussions on genealogical websites. They include correspondence of Chief Pathkiller talking about his son in the Creek War (1813-1814). Several of them state this must be Pathkiller II or Junior. There is no Pathkiller II or Junior as a son.

Bearmeat served under Gen. Cocke with Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Creek war. Bearmeat served as a scout for General Cocke. Gen. Cocke wrote a letter commending Bearmeat. “the son of the old Path Killer known by the name of Bear meat,.”4

Major Robert Searcy in a letter to Gen. John Coffee commends Bearmeat as well; “Bearmeat the son of the Path Killer king & principle Chief of their nation.”5

Bearmeat settled in the Creek Path (Guntersville, Alabama). He would have his own town Southwest of Creek Path.

Whitemankiller is another son. He is reported in Richard Blount’s journal while surveying the Georgia-Alabama boundary. “1 September 1826 met a Cherokee named Whitemankiller, wife, and daughter. . . Charles Hicks had sent a runner to his father Pathkiller.”6

James Lasley states the names of Whitemankiller’s children with their mothers in a deposition about their reservation. Lasley stated that Whitemankiller died in 1823 on his reservation at Turnip Mountain, Coosa River, Georgia. Whitemankiller’s family was disposed of the 320 acres in 1834-35. Lasley states his death date is “best of my recollection”. The dates conflict. This creates a plausible date of after 1826 and before the forced removal from the land of 1834.

 “ Soo-wagi . . . Tahnuh-cas-tat-he, Oo-nee-skoo-koo and Thi-ah-muh-nuh children of White Man Killer and Joh-Ke-die;: Tee-sak-ni whose mother is deceased and Jackson, Mary heir of Buck Deceased;: Scott and Choo-wah-nas-kee and Peter children of Whit Man Killer and Yoo-yas-ki also decease.”7

A final son Tah-ka-ha-kee is listed on the Rice and McCoy/Rawlings and Massey’s Valuations, Claims, Cherokee County, Alabama, claim #44, property valuations, entry 224; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.

“Of the remaining portion, Crying Snake received 1/8th, Hughston (Houston) received 2/8th, Tarkaga (Tah-ka-ha-kee) received 1/8th, and the final 1/8th went Nancy (Pathkiller), Crying Snake’s mother.”8 John Ridge received the other 3/8. This is with Chief Pathkiller’s estate on the Coosa River (Centre, Alabama, Garrett Ferry).

Tah-ka-ha-kee is not mentioned in any of Peggy’s estate.

Unknown named daughter, sister to Bearmeat

 Ahnoah stated in her Chatoogga District Court deposition that Bearmeat was her uncle. Cherokee culture would place Bearmeat as the brother of Ahnoah’s mother.                                                                                                  

Plaintiffs witness May 26th 1830 Ahnoah Deposeth and saith that she was living in the neighborhood of Gunters Landing when her uncle the Bears Meat told her that the Pathkiller wanted her the Deponent to come and live where the Pathkiller was clearing a place on the Couse River on the West Bank at Pathkillers Ferry so called; the Pathkiller told her that he would get some young men to build some houses, and bout one year after the Pathkiller brought the Hammer there with his mother the Pathkillers wife.9

Wife Peggy a Cherokee woman

Peggy is one of Chief Pathkiller’s wives. She has a will drawn up for her in 1829. Did issues over Chief Pathkiller’s estate at the new ferry cause this? Were improvements at the new ferry a factor in needing “White man’s court?” A lot of the genealogical websites have her death date based on this record. The “will” was submitted on 13 March 1829. Chief Pathkiller died in 1827. Issues with his estate (Garrett Ferry, Centre, Alabama) went to court in May 1830. Peggy’s will was probated on 14 March 1833.10

Peggy is listed as part-owner of a ferry near Turkey’s Town. It states they were “dispossessed since the spring of 1832”. She died sometime between this time and March 1833. She is buried somewhere on the property.

George Chambers, John Ratliff, Daniel Griffin Jr., and Peggy Pathkiller Sr were joint owners of a Ferry on the Coosa River in Turkey Town Valley, Cherokee County.  The Valuations gave an average annual income of $100.00.  Included with this Valuation were a 16’x14’ house and a 10-acre field of bottom land under fence.  The Claimants were dispossessed since spring of 1832.11

Five Daughters

We have discussed Nancy. To review. Nancy is listed in Peggy’s will “to my oldest daughter Nancy“. Nancy’s sons Crying Snake and Eyoostee, also known as Houston are listed in the will; “To my grandson Crying Snake. To my grandson Eyoostee.”

Nancy on oath states that she lived at the house of Crying Snake for a great number of years, and therefore she confirms his statement with regards to his claim.12

Register of Payments, Book A. Page 14; Crying Snake and Nancy are paid for their portions of Pathkiller’s ferry; #12, Crying Snake, Alabama, Ferry on the Coosa, share of C. Snake $796. 87 ½   Sent West Jany 1839; #13, Nancy. Crying Snake’s mother.   Ferry on Coosa, Share for Nancy $796. 87 ½  Sent West Jany 1839.
 
St Clair County; Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833. . .  settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vorchers being filed in office. . . Nancy one of the heirs receipt $455.00. Crying Snake one of the heirs receipt $450.00.  Eustee one of the heirs receipt $300.00. 13

Nancy Pathkiller, Crying Snake, and Houston are listed in the Captain John Benge14 Detachment. They left Fort Payne in September 1838. They arrived in the West in January 1839 on the “Trail of Tears”.

Nelly or Nella is listed in Peggy Pathkiller’s will; “to my daughter Nelly. . .”15

Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833. . . settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vorchers being filed in office. . . Nelly one of the heirs receipt $375.00 16

Nelly is possibly the N. Pathkiller of Turkey Town listed in Forman’s 1835 Cherokee Census.  She is listed on page 80; 5 fullbloods, one farmer, 3 readers of English, 1 weaver, 1 spinster (spinner).Nelly is listed in the Benge Detachment for the “Trail of Tears”.  Nelly has a daughter named Anna. Anna married Frances Hampton.

Quatee is listed in Peggy Pathkiller’s will; To my daughter Quatee. .  .17

Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833. . . settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vorchers being filed in office. . . Quata one of the heirs receipt & George Campbell one of the heirs} $1200.00.18

Quatee married George Campbell. George Campbell is listed on the Lieutenant Edwards Deas detachment. They left for the West on 6 June 1838. Their departure point was near Ross Landing on the Tennessee River.19

Charwahyooca is listed in Peggy Pathkiller’s will; to Charwahyooca my daughter. . .20

Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833. . . settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vorchers being filed in office. . . Charwahyooca and Richard Ratliff receipt $300.0021

She married Richard Ratliff Jr. Richard Ratliff Jr. is listed on the Lieutenant Edwards Deas detachment. They left for the West on 6 June 1838 near Ross Landing on the Tennessee River. 22

I will share more on the Ratliff family. Not because they married into Chief Pathkiller’s family, but their involvement in the Turkey’s Town Story.

Jenny is listed in Peggy Pathkiller’s will; my youngest daughter Jenny. . .I also Shall leave. . .House its furniture and plantation. . .who lives with me in the same house this property. . .23

Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833 . . . .settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vouchers being filed in office. . . Jenney one of the heirs receipt $1188.60 24

Jenny “Jane” Pathkiller was listed in the Captain John Benge Detachment. They left Fort Payne in September 1838. They arrived in the West in January 1839 on the “Trail of Tears”. 25

Dragging Canoe. He is not to be confused with the Chickamaugan Chief who died in 1794. He is the only male sibling of the women above. The girls named him in affidavits about Anna Hampton’s improvement claims in 1837 as their brother. Anna is the daughter of Nelly.

26

Dragging Canoe died before August 1829. The heirs with the Administrators of his estate sued in the Cherokee Supreme Court his mother, Peggy. This was over slaves Simon and Phoebe with her children, and some other property. St Clair County, Alabama Orphans’ Court Records show that James G Carrol received the appointment as Administrator. He was responsible for the estate of Dragging Canoe. Dragging Canoe was a Cherokee. The appointment was made in the 1833 term (page 207). Also appointed were David Gage, Thomas Machen, and James C Street.27 They were appraisers of the estate. There are no copies of the estate records on the internet.

Dragging Canoe may have been murdered. Chief Pathkiller complained to Rev. Daniel Butrick in 1822 about the murder of a son. His complaint was that the US President had done nothing about it. Butrick’s Journal. This will be discussed further in a discussion on Charles, Chief Pathkiller’s nephew. Charles was murdered in 1821.

Dragging Canoe was married to Watty, a Cherokee Woman. He had a son, Sky-ah-too-ka, and a daughter, Martha. Sky-ah-too-ka contested the improvements claimed by Anna Hampton. You can review this by looking back at the section, “Location by Chief Pathkiller’s family”.

Third Wife

Oo-loo-cha, a Cherokee Woman. 

“Ahama, or Hammer, the son of Oo-loo-cha”

“after the treaty of 1819, she (Oo-loo-cha) married Path-killer the chief of the nation and she abandoned her reservation and moved with him to Turkey-town”. 28

Conclusion

“My granny says that her granny was a Cherokee Princess.”

The information on the genealogical website for Chief Pathkiller is full of folklore, family traditions, and wishful thinking. The sources are written histories. Some are just stories. One needs to ask, “How do you know this?” “What is the source?” I hope what you have read here helps explain the proven family of Chief Pathkiller.

We will continue the discussion on Chief Pathkiller. The Beloved Chiefs from Turkey’s Town, Pathkiller, the Last King of the Cherokees. Next time.

    

  1. The Southern Indians, The Story of the Civilized Tribes Before Removal”, R. S. Cotterill, Norman and London, the University of Oklahoma Press, 1954, page IX Preface.
      ↩︎
  2. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/collaborate/LY36-VTS ↩︎
  3. https://www.indianreservations.net/2017/10/moytoy-of-tellico-emperor-of-cherokee_22.html#google_vignette ↩︎
  4. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries, Telamon Cuyler Collection, Box: 77, Folder: 30, Document: 02. ↩︎
  5. Fold3 Ancestry.com, Correspondence and Miscellaneous Records; page 271-274, Records of the Cherokee Indians Agency in Tennessee 1801-1835, Record Group 75, National Archive ↩︎
  6. Richard Blount’s Papers, Alabama State Archives, digital.archive.gov site, page 9 August 30-September 6, 1826 ↩︎
  7. 4th Board Claims, Entry 250, Image 199; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington DC. ↩︎
  8. Rice and McCoy/Rawlings and Massey’s Valuations, Cherokee County, Alabama, #44; Property Valuations, Entry 224; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. Annual Income $1,460.00 based on certificates of David Vann, James Lasley, Wm Childers and John Fields. Of the amount allowed Ridge received 1/8th of the whole for ferrying, 1/2 of the remaining balance, 3/8 of the other half. Of the remaining portion, Crying Snake received 1/8th, Hughston (Houston) received 2/8th,Tarkaga (Tarkahagee) received 1/8th, and the final 1/8th went to Nancy (Pathkiller), Crying Snake’s mother. This is the present-day Garrett Ferry site 1 mile South of Centre on the Coosa River. Now County Road 20.  ↩︎
  9. Penelope Allen Johnson Collection, University Tennessee Knoxville, Series V, Box 1, FOLDER 201 ↩︎
  10. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  11. Rice and McCoy/Rawlings and Massey’s Valuations, Cherokee County, Alabama, #49; Property Valuations, Entry 224; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.  The $1,100 total allowance was divided among the four partners.  ↩︎
  12. Manuscript Collection #1787, Box 16, Folder 1 Tennessee State Library and Archives Microfilm Collection 815, Reel 6, Flint District Claims, Claim #10, Crying Snake’s portion of claim is missing from the file. ↩︎
  13. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document. ↩︎
  14. Hargett, J. L.. Muster roll of John Benge detachment. 4026.707. John Ross Papers. September 28, 1838. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/4026707 (02/19/2018). ↩︎
  15. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  16. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document. ↩︎
  17. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  18. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document. ↩︎
  19. Cherokee Registry Trail of Tears-Deas detachment, Cherokeeregistry.com ↩︎
  20. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  21. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document. ↩︎
  22. Cherokee Registry Trail of Tears-Deas detachment, Cherokeeregistry.com
      ↩︎
  23. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  24. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document. ↩︎
  25. Hargett, J. L.. Muster roll of John Benge detachment. 4026.707. John Ross Papers. September 28, 1838. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/4026707 (02/19/2018). ↩︎
  26. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington DC, E236 Misc Claims Papers Image 584 ↩︎
  27. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 207, 1827-1844. Page 18 in the library document. ↩︎
  28. Hammer filed a claim several times to be paid by the US government for the improvements after he was in the Arkansas territory. Minute Docket 4th Board of the 
    Cherokee, claim #24 Reservation 141, September 21, 1846, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington DC ↩︎

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 Turkey’s Town, Chief Pathkiller

03 Tuesday Jun 2025

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Chief Pathkiller, Proven, Not Proven

We continue to discuss the proven and not proven for Chief Pathkiller. We must discuss Robert Moore and Nancy Ann “Polly” Pathkiller’s story.

Some confusing information comes from a blog, THE LEGEND OF PATHKILLER, by Lee Standing Bear Moore and Takatoka;

During a war between the white man and American Indians between 1790 and 1803, in what would become the state of Kentucky, a band of Overhill Cherokee warriors of the Red Paint clan captured a group of white soldiers and brought them to their Chief Pathkiller. 

One of the captives was a young soldier by the name of Moore.  (His name may not have been Robert Alec Moore.) Chief Pathkillers’ pretty young daughter, who was attracted to the handsome Moore, put together a plan to free Moore. Pathkiller’s daughter gave up her Indian identity and married Moore.  Nancy Ann “Polly” Pathkiller-Moore and Robert A./Alec Moore had eight children 1

There are several issues with the story. Chief Pathkiller, Principal Chief of the nation, can not be proven as living in Kentucky. His daughter, Nancy, with Peggy, can only be proven to have lived in Turkey’s Town with her son, Crying Snake.

No source citations are provided with the Moore family story. However, the majority of the Genealogy websites use this information. Nancy, the daughter of Chief Pathkiller and his wife Peggy, did NOT marry Robert Moore. Notations of this Moore family in ancestry.com list Nancy Ann “Polly” Pathkiller dying in 1833, other sites state 1832.

Nancy, daughter of Chief Pathkiller, and wife Peggy, is still living at the time of the stated death. She is a witness for her son Crying Snake, on a claim in 1842. Until the Trail of Tears in 1838 she is living in Turkey’s Town. She states, “she lived at the house of Crying Snake for a great number of years.”  Nancy Pathkiller, Crying Snake, and Houston (Eyoostee) are listed in the Captain John Benge Detachment. They leave Fort Payne in September 1838. They arrive in the West in January 1839 on the “Trail of Tears”. 2

3

Listed in Peggy “Pathkiller’s” will;, Saint Clair County, Alabama, to my oldest daughter Nancy. Nancy’s sons are listed; To my grandson Crying Snake. To my grandson Eyoostee. 4

Other Documentation shows that Nancy is living passed the date of 1832. Register of Payments, Book A. Page 14; Crying Snake and Nancy are paid for their portions of Peggy’s ferry; 

#12, Crying Snake, Alabama, Ferry on the Coosa, share of C. Snake $796. 87 ½   Sent West Jany 1839; #13, Nancy. Crying Snake’s mother.   Ferry on Coosa, Share for Nancy $796. 87 ½  Sent West Jany 1839. St Clair County; Special Orphans Court, October 1833, page 241; October 31st 1833. . . This property claim was for the ferry where Chief Pathkiller died. (Centre, Alabama) 5 6  settlement had on the Estate of Peggy Pathkiller Deceased the papers and vorchers being filed in office. . . Nancy one of the heirs receipt $455.00. Crying Snake one of the heirs receipt $450.00.  Eustee one of the heirs receipt $300.00 7

The family never mentions a man named Moore. None of Nancy’s claims speaks of a Moore. Crying Snake and Eyoostee (he is also known as Houston) never speak of the Moore family. Clearly Nancy the child of Chief Pathkiller and Peggy never married a man named Moore.

Pathkiller I and Pathkiller II

Adding to the confusion are the incorrect dates on the foot stone at the burial site in Centre, Alabama. The dates of 1764-1828 are wrong. This has led many to add a Pathkiller Jr (Pathkiller II) and family. For example, the marriage of Susan “Sookie” Martin to Chief Pathkiller, the Chief of the nation. This does not disprove that Susan Martin married a Pathkiller. Yet, the likelihood of a Pathkiller Jr. son of Chief Pathkiller, is not culturally correct. No historical records of a son named Pathkiller Jr or Pathkiller II can be found. Except Pathkiller Junr as previously noted.  

The dates on the tombstone in Centre Alabama come from the Garrett family. Laura C. Blair and the Perry Funeral Home and Monument Company placed the stone in 1980. 8

Photo taken by this Researcher, Jeffrey Sauls. Foot stone at Garrett Cemetery, Centre, Alabama

She may have obtained the dates from Will I Martins’ Article from the Gadsden Times-News. First printed December 1951 and reprinted in the Coosa River News, 18 January 1952, page 1; 

“Last of the Cherokee Chiefs Buried at Centre”. 

            Fifth paragraph;

            A few years ago, Mrs. Jane Ingram, mother of Bob Ingram, sports editor of the Gadsden Times, wrote a history of Cherokee County for the Alabama Department of Archives and History and in it she gave some information about Chief Pathkiller that was authentic and very interesting.

            She said he was the last of the great chiefs of the Cherokee tribes. He was born in 1764. . . .      . . . lived in his old home near his ferry until his death 1828. He was buried in the family cemetery.

Mrs. Ingram does not give references for the dates. They are incorrect.

Eighth paragraph of Mr. Martin’s article;
            His grave was unmarked until a few years ago when Hugh Cardon. . conducted a drive to raise funds for replacing a monument at the grave of the great and good Indian leader

The confusing statement of Will I Martin; “His grave was unmarked until a few years ago. . .raise funds for replacing a monument. . .” is interesting. This article has several errors. It is a very poor source.

The Chief had a marker of some kind.

The Jacksonville Republican Newspaper in 1867 holds a reprint. This reprint is from an article that ran in the Gadsden Times-News in the first year of its publication, 1867. The article tells the story of the “Legend of Nahcullola or Black Creek Falls”. The story refers to Chief Pathkiller being “Laniska a young chief brave of heart and swift of foot, already distinguished in war and in peace.” (A name unsupported by any evidence in History. Chief Pathkiller would be in his 40s when he came to what is Turkey’s town in the mid-1780s). The footnotes are important references in this article. 

After a long life he was gathered to his fathers. He now sleeps on the banks of the Coosa, a few miles above Nahcullola. A rude stone marks the spot and on it is the simple inscription – –

PATH KILLER, The Last King of the Cherokees. Path Killer’s Grave is in Cherokee County, on the North bank of the Coosa near Mrs. Garrett’s ferry. 9

The statement in 1867 indicates there is a rude stone that marks the grave. Chief Pathkiller had an original stone marker placed at his grave before 1867. “Path Killer The last King of the Cherokees”. The contrast in the statements on the stones should be noted. The present-day stone states; “Referred to as the Last of the Cherokee Kings”. This evidence should prove the present-day stone is possibly the 3rd stone marking the Chief’s grave.   

Hugh Cardon also made this statement in the Coosa River News, 31 July 1936, page 2;

Tradition records that Pathkiller is buried on the Coosa River overlooking Turkey Town which appeared in the “Sentinel”, published in Cedar Bluff in 1841. 10

These early statements date back to 1841. They should provide solid evidence that Chief Pathkiller is buried in the Garrett Cemetery, Centre, AL. Is there further evidence that Chief Pathkiller is buried in the Garrett Cemetery? I will follow up on that. What about an estimated birth year and a death date?

Birth Year Estimate

There is only one historical document during the lifetime of Chief Pathkiller that gives us an estimated birth date.

A description of Chief Pathkiller at Charles R. Hick’s house on 2 November 1818 by Rev. Ard Hoyt;

On entering I observed the King seated on a rug, at one end of the room, having his back supported by a roll of blankets. He is a venerable looking man, 73 years old; his hair nearly white. 11

If the Rev. Hoyt is correct about the age, then the estimated birth year would be 1745.

Cherokee Historian Grant Forman describes the death date.

“Chief Pathkiller died, 8 January 1827 between 80-90 years of age”.  12

There are newspaper articles from the time period, of 1827 supporting the death date. 13

Also his death is recorded in “Records of the Moravian Among the Cherokees, vol. 7, pages 3582 and 3595; 3613-14 

14

But there is a grave for Colonel Chief Pathkiller in New Echota, Calhoun, Georgia.

The state park of New Echota in Gordon County, Georgia, houses a burial site. It is marked by a US military stone. This stone was provided by the Veterans Affairs. The Women’s Club of Calhoun, Georgia, requested the stone with the assistance of US Congressman M. C. Tarver in 1931 15. The request did not have any citations. It only mentioned that Col Path Killer of Col Gideon Morgan’s Inf Reg, King of the Cherokees. The stone marking states Col Pathkiller, Morgan’s Cherokee Regt, War of 1812, 1742-1827. 16 The Chattanooga Daily Times, dated 27 Aug 1933, published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, features a photo on Page 30. It shows Robert Bruce Ross, the grandson of Chief John Ross, standing at the burial site of Col Pathkiller. The adjoining news article is about the arrest of the missionaries in Georgia. The tomb has a table rock encasement. No source citations were provided with the article or the application. 17 The military stone was ordered in 1931. The possibility of Chief Pathkiller being buried at this site is extremely low with the earlier proven information.

As of note. The grave site at the Garrett family cemetery is under consideration for certification as a Trail of Tears site. All paperwork is in process with the US Park Service Trail Division and National Trail of Tears Association. After certification, a formal correction to the dates will be placed at the grave site.

Proof Chief Pathkiller Died at His House

A court case at the Cherokee District Courthouse in Chattooga Town (North of present-day Gaylesville Al) provides information. It reveals where Chief Pathkiller was living when he died. Emphases added by this researcher.

Tah-ka-ha-kee & Crying Snake vs Robt Brown

     Plaintiffs witness May 26th 1830 

Ahnoah Deposeth and saith that she was living in the neighborhood of Gunters Landing when her uncle the Bears Meat told her that the Pathkiller wanted her the Deponent to come and live where the Pathkiller was clearing a place on the Couse River on the West Bank at Pathkillers Ferry so called; the Pathkiller told her that he would get some young men to build some houses, and bout one year after the Pathkiler brought the Hammer there with his mother the Pathkillers wife. 

How long did the Pathkiller settle at the ferry? Ans; He lived there until he died.

Did he ever move opposite? Ans; No 

Did he die where he was clearing? Ans; He died at the house.           

Which side of the river did the Pathkiller die? Ans On the East side 18

Conclusion

Nancy, the child of Chief Pathkiller and Peggy, never married a man named Moore. Chief Pathkiller died at his house (present-day Centre, Alabama). There is no Pathkiller I. There is no Pathkiller II. There is no son of Chief Pathkiller named Junior. Pathkiller Junr is a designation on a Treaty. It indicates that there are two Pathkillers who sign. One is younger than the other. It is not a family relationship.

Chief Pathkiller the King, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1811-1827 lived in Turkey’s Town. He was born about 1745 and died in his house on the Coosa River (present-day Centre, Alabama). The date was 8 January 1827. He was buried near his house.

We will continue to explore this, Chief Pathkiller. He had at least 3 wives at separate times. Who can be proven as his family? His first resident, ferry, and fort in Turkey’s Town. He was referred to as King. He was promoted a Colonel in the US Army. The Creek War. The Treaty that was ratified at Turkey’s Town in 1816. His involvement with the missionaries. The Beloved Chiefs From Turkey’s Town.

  1. “The Legend of Pathkiller”. Manataka American Indian Council website https://www.manataka.org this web does not exist anymore. It has been copied by several on Ancestry.com using the information to link their families. This story can be found at;
    http://betty-shirley.com/chief_pathfinder.htm The story can be found at Cave Springs blog as well from a 2012 post. http://cavespringga.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-legend-of-pathkiller-by-takatoka.html
    ↩︎
  2. Hargett, J. L.. Muster roll of John Benge detachment. 4026.707. John Ross Papers. September 28, 1838. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/4026707 (02/19/2018). ↩︎
  3. Manuscript Collection #1787, Box 16, Folder 1 Tennessee State Library and Archives Microfilm Collection 815, Reel 6, 1842 Flint District Claims, Book 4, Claim #10, Crying Snake’s portion of claim is missing from the file. ↩︎
  4. https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Estate Book B, Page 65, Page 23 in the library document. ↩︎
  5. Rice and McCoy/Rawlings and Massey’s Valuations, Cherokee County, Alabama, #44; Property Valuations, Entry 224; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. Annual Income $1,460.00 based on certificates of David Vann, James Lasley, Wm Childers and John Fields. Of the amount allowed Ridge received 1/8th of the whole for ferrying, 1/2 of the remaining balance, 3/8 of the other half. Of the remaining portion, Crying Snake received 1/8th, Hughston (Houston) received 2/8th , Tarkaga (Tarkahagee) received 1/8th , and the final 1/8th went to Nancy (Pathkiller), Crying Snake’s mother.  ↩︎
  6. John Ridge was paid $10,615.61 on Volume A, p. 318. Crying Snake was paid $796.88 on Volume A, p. 14. Nancy was paid $798.88 on Volume A, p. 14. Houston was paid $1,593.75 on Volume B, p. 249. Tarkagee was paid $796.88 on Volume B, p. 269. Register of Payments, Entry 247; Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives Building, Washington DC.  ↩︎
  7.  https://www.pellcitylibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Native-Americans.pdf Pell City Library, Court Records Links, Orphan Court March fifth 1833, Orphan Court Book, page 241, 1827-1844. Page 19 in the library document.
      ↩︎
  8. Interview with Billy Mack Garrett by this researcher, February 2024. ↩︎
  9. JACKSONVILLE REPUBLICAN (Jacksonville, Alabama) · 14 Sep 1867, Sat · Page 4
    THE CHEROKEE ADVERTISER P. J. Smith, Editor, Centre, Alabama, Thursday, September 19, 1867, Volume- 2, No. 23.) Reprint articles from the Gadsden Times-News 1867. Newspaper.com  ↩︎
  10. Newspaper.com; “The Will of Peggy Pathkiller”; The Coosa River News, Centre Alabama, Friday, 31 July 1936, page 2. ↩︎
  11. The Pansophist, and Missionary herald. v. 15 (1819). Journal of the Mission at Brainerd, page 42. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433068276272&view=1up&seq=64&q1=King ↩︎
  12. “The Daily Oklahoman” (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) · Sun, Apr 18, 1937, · Page 78. “The Great Human Cattle Drive”, Grant Forman, Newspaper.com  ↩︎
  13. The Susquehanna Democrat, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 2 March 1827, Friday, page 3. The National Gazette, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10 February 1827. ↩︎
  14. The National Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) · 10 Feb 1827, Sat · Page 2, Newspapers.com ↩︎
  15. The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) · 9 Nov 1930, Sun · Page 3, Newspaper.com ↩︎
  16. Headstone Application, https://www.fold3.com/image/318059724 ↩︎
  17. Did the Brainard Missionaries Advert Civil War, Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, Tennessee) · 27 Aug 1933, Sun · Page 30, Newspaper.com ↩︎
  18. Penelope Allen Johnson Collection, University Tennessee Knoxville, Series V, Box 1, FOLDER 201 ↩︎

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 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

The Beloved Chiefs from Turkeytown, Chief Little Turkey, Part 2, his family.

15 Tuesday Apr 2025

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Little Turkey is not his name. “Kanitta” is Little Turkey’s name.  Major John Norton spelled Little Turkey’s name in his journal as “Kenneteagh”. This is a phonetic spelling of the name. Norton gives this explanation, “or as the interpreter improperly translated his name, The Little Turkey.” (Journal of Major John Norton pages 132-133 of the journal 1809-1810, Hathitrust.org). Little Turkey’s names also appear as Kennitea and Kungnitla.1  

Norton does not provide the proper translation or true interpretation, nor does anyone else. The translation of “Kenneteagh” is not Little Turkey. However, “the Little Turkey” is how his name will be recorded in history. Michael Wren (Board member of Trail of Tears Association) asked several “Cherokee Talkers” what Kenneteagh would translate to. They all state the name was unknown but may translate as “Fawn Killer.”

Family

We learn a lot of Little Turkey’s family from the journal of Major John Norton, 1816. He was also a Mohawk Chief and Major in the British Army during the War of 1812. Major John Norton tells of his father who is a full-blood Cherokee being rescued and captured. The Toronto Champlain Society printed his journal in its entirety in 1970 with an introduction (explanations) by Carl F. Klinck and James L. Talman. Major John Norton was a Mohawk chief in Canada. However, he was raised in Scotland by his father and a British soldier. The soldier was present at the attack and destruction of the Kuwoki Town (Keowee) in 1760. John’s father was a boy who was rescued from a fire and taken by an unnamed British soldier. 2

Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland
MAJOR JOHN NORTON
Portrait by Thomas Phillips, R.A., Syon House, Brentford3

In 1809 Major Norton set out on a journey to find his family to pay honor to his father’s people. He met Turtle-at-Home and became friends. Turtle-at-Home is the son of Attakullatulla (Chief of the nation 1760-1775) he told Major Norton they would find his family. He escorted him to Estanaula. The elders there knew of his father’s story. The old chiefs told him that his father’s sister lived in Creek-Path (present-day Guntersville, Alabama). She was the widow of Kenniteagh, also known as Little Turkey. When he met his aunt at the Creek Path she explains the story and introduced him to his relatives.4

“In the mean time, the good old lady related the scene in which her brother was taken from her: she said, that she saw the officer rescue him after he had been scorched, on which account he was taken away in a wagon—and they were separated.”5

On page xxiv of the publication, her family is explained by Carl F. Klinck and James L. Talman in this way. His aunt (unnamed in the journal) was the sister of his father. “My father’s sister” (page 117 of the journal) was married to Little Turkey (Kennitea). Little Turkey, a “Head Chief of the nation, who has been dead some years”, is stated by Norton as a brother of Black Fox (Innoligh or Enoli).

“The next day, my cousin conducted me to visit his elder brother, his sister and uncle Innoligh, the leading Chief at present.” (page 118 of the journal) His aunt and Chief Little Turkey have these children whom he met. An elder son, Aquo-tague, and an elder daughter, Tah-neh. She changed her name to Naomi when she was baptized and became a Christian (born about 1770). A younger son unnamed described as “my cousin” (born about 1780), and a daughter (born about 1785). A grandson, son of Tah-neh, (born about 1793).

Did you catch this? “The next day, my cousin conducted me to visit his elder brother, his sister and uncle Innoligh, the leading Chief at present.” (page 118 of the journal).

Brothers?

Chief Little Turkey and Black Fox (Innoligh) are brothers! If the children of Little Turkey introduce Norton to Chief Black Fox. Then Norton references Black Fox as their uncle.6 Then Little Turkey and Black Fox are brothers. Norton was raised as a Scott/English he would refer to familiar terms as the Scottish people would. Listing Innoligh as Little Turkey children’s uncle. Norton states Innoligh and Little Turkey have at least the same father. This is the only reference to this. If so, they must have different mothers. The Badger will refer to Black Fox as his nephew (Grand Council Meeting June 1792, page 273). If true, culturally Badger’s sister is Black Fox’s mother.7 But, she is not Little Turkey’s mother. Badger is listed in the Grand Council meeting in June 1792 as “the beloved man of the Southern division.” (page 271)8 This indicates that the Badger is from one of the Southern towns. Is he from Seneca or Keowee? Black Fox (Innoligh) is living in Creek Path when he meets John Norton. He will also die there. Black Fox will have his own post, more info to come. Lots of speculation. Yet, lots of concurring information.

The towns on the headwaters of the Savanna River

The towns on the headwaters of the Savanna River are very important towns to the Cherokee Nation. They don’t get much attention.

These towns and their people date back in time. In 1762 a delegation from the Cherokee Nation went to London England. The Southern towns are a project for a later time.

The person in the middle labeled as #3 is Chief Ostenaco.9 Osgenaco was the War Chief or Red Chief for the Cherokee Nation. He was on the expeditionary party to London England with Henry Timberlake in 1762. The expeditionary party consisted of Lieutenant Henry Timberlake, Sergeant Thomas Sumter, John McCormack (an interpreter), and an unnamed servant. They arrived in the Overhill Cherokee town of Tomotley on December 20, 1761. Ostenaco, one of the leading men in the town, greeted them. He was visiting from Keowee.10 Reminder Chief Little Turkey’s wife and Maj. Norton’s father is from Keowee.

Family moves to Creek Path

After Little Turkey’s death in 1802, his family moved to Creek Path. They settled near old family friend John Thompson. He was one of Little Turkey’s interpreters.  John Thompson is listed as a bosom friend to Little Turkey (ASP, IA Vol. 1, page 432) Thompson’s final residence before removing west is near the Creek Path and he operated a large plantation. We see John Thompson escort Maj. John Norton to Creek Path from Oostanaula, page 117 of Norton’s journal. Little Turkey’s family moved to the West (Arkansas) around 1819. 

Street, Oliver Day, Map of Marshall County, Alabama, hand-drawn, 1900, unpublished. https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/counties/marshall/marshall.html

Notice Brown or Thompson Creek in the above map of Marshall County, Alabama. It is in the vicinity where Chief Little Turkey’s family lived before moving West. Brown is Rev. John Brown who was the Mission Teacher/Preacher for Creek Path also marked on the map. Modern-day this is under Lake Guntersville.

Daughter Tah-nee

We learn about Little Turkey’s daughter Tah-neh (Dah-nee) or Naomi and her children from various sources. Wa-ka or Peggy Whitekiller, the daughter of Tah-neh and her husband Whitemankiller Watts. Peggy tells us about the family in her 1842 Canadian Claim (Claim book 1 #86). They abandoned property in the old nation and immigrated to the Arkansas territory with John Rogers in the year 1819.  

“My mother lived on the improvements when we emigrated. She was married to Girth Jolly. I lived with them. We all came together to live in this country. Mother died fifteen years ago . . . I have one full sister. We live together. Neither of us are married. My sister is a widow. I have never been married. The property claimed for (us) belongs to me and my sister equally. Her name is Wattie or Betsy Girt. She has another claim. I was about 19 years of age when we emigrated. The improvements belong to my mother . . . We left soon after the treaty of 1816 and removed to Creek Path where we borrowed a place which we left when we started to this country. Don’t know whether my mother or step-father was ever paid any thing for improvement now claimed . . . My own father’s name was White-killer he died when I was about five years old. I now live on Salisaw 4 miles above mouth in Illinois.“

         A witness of this claim; Stinking Fish, states; 

“I knew the mother of Peggy Whitekiller in the Old Nation. Her name Dah-nee. She was widow of White-man-Killer and . . . wife of Girth Jolly . . . I lived about one quarter mile from her when she removed.” 

         The timeline has Peggy being born about 1800. She is 16 when they move to Creek-Path (1816). She is about 19 when they move west (1819). This timeline also shows her mother (Dah-nee) dying in 1827. Dwight Mission records, page 23, has her death on 31 March 1825. (Dwight Mission records provided by Jack Baker) Rev. Washburn in his book states the family emigrated in 1823-24. 11 The strong evidence from other reports and writings agrees with Peggy’s claim about their moves.12   

“Her Indian name was Tah-nee.  She was full blood, daughter of a considerable chief and warrior . . . She migrated to this country in 1819, then wife of Girth, son of John Jolly, head chief of this division of the Cherokees.”

The 1819 Emigration rolls include a “Dany of Will’s Town with 3 in the family.” They emigrate West in 1819. Girth Jolly is not named nor is he on the rolls.

One last child of Tah-neh, she adopts a son and the name given to him is Timothy Dwight.13 

Little Turkey’s daughter Tah-neh (Naomi) and her elder son are buried in the old Dwight Mission cemetery. Their graves are near the parents of the beloved Cathern Brown, Reverend John and Sarah Brown.14  Browns are from Creek Path. Cathern was a teacher at the Creek Path Mission. She died at her home in Creek Path and is buried there. But, who else is buried in the original Dwight Mission cemetery? The cemetery is just about abandoned. The cemetery sits on a hill. It’s at a closed RV park. This RV park also owns the cemetery land. Mission RV Park is at 229 Mission Drive, Russellville, AR 72802. The location of the mission is underwater of the lake.

Historic Marker near Russellville Ar. on the west bank of the Illinois Bayou and about four miles from the Arkansas River. 
Journal of Major John Norton, introduction pages xxiv-xxvii, of the journal 1809-1810, Hathitrust. pg xxiv, 1809-1810, Hathitrust.org, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3611053&view=1up&seq=32

To Conclude

Little Turkey made his statement at the Nation’s Council meeting in October 1800. The Moravian missionaries Steiner and Schweintz were invited to attend. They recorded the meeting in their journal. This Council meeting was held at Estanaula (Oostanaula). This statement by Little Turkey was made at the close of the meeting. This was the time when the Council allowed a mission school to be built. The school was established at James Vann’s and (John) McDonald’s property. Mr. Vann had just donated property on his place. Spring Place, North West Georgia.

“You my warriors have grown up under my supervision. I have counseled you to treat the white people with caution, and now you are enjoying the happy results. You will know well how to use for the well-being of our Nation the addresses made in our meeting this time. We live in peace, and it makes me happy to see the chiefs of both halves of the Nation together in unity and friendship.” 15

Next post. The Beloved Chiefs from Turkeytown, Black Fox

  1. Journal of Major John Norton, introduction pages xxiv-xxvii, of the journal 1809-1810, Hathitrust.org; the latter spelling Cherokee Phoenix, 3rdDecember 1831 page 2 column 2a, http://www.wcu.edu/library/Digitalcollection/CherokeePhoenix/Vol4/no21/cherokee-phoenix-page2-2a.html ↩︎
  2. Journal of Major John Norton, introduction pages xxiv-xxvii, and pages 112-118 of the journal 1809-1810, Hathitrust.org ↩︎
  3. Ibid ↩︎
  4. Ibid ↩︎
  5. Ibid ↩︎
  6. Ibid ↩︎
  7. American state papers : Documents, legislative and executive, of the Congress of the United States / Selected and edited under the authority of Congress Indian affairs v. 1 1832, pages 271-273, 26 June – 1 July 1792) HathiTrust Digital Library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35112103282408&seq=279&q1=turkey+town ↩︎
  8. Ibid ↩︎
  9. File:/collections/the-memoirs-of-lieut-henry-timberlake-1765/Three Cherokee.jpg ↩︎
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostenaco ↩︎
  11. Reminiscences of the Indians, by the Rev. Cephas Washburn, A. M., pages 147, 158-159 ↩︎
  12. Reel 740, frames 257-259 (Kutsche #3006) story of Naomi, American Board of Commission Foreign Missions (ABC-FM), 18.3.1 Vol 6, Item 81. ↩︎
  13. Dwight Journal September 1824, page 22, Kutsche #3012 ↩︎
  14. Reminiscences of the Indians, by the Rev. Cephas Washburn, A. M., pages 147, 158-159)  (Note as to who is Cathern Brown; she is educated at the Brainerd Mission and is the first female teacher of the Creek-Path Mission. ↩︎
  15. page 212; Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokee, Early Contact and the Establishment of the First Mission, 1752-1802, Volume 1, C. Daniel Crews, Richard W. Starbuck, Editors; Cherokee National Press, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, 2010, Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc ↩︎

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