The following is a timeline excerpted from “Tomotley, An Eighteenth Century Cherokee Village by William W. Baden”…a Tennessee Valley Authority Publications in Anthropology & The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations”. The archeological dig was done in the 1970’s and 80’s before Tellico Lake was flooded.
CHAPTER 2
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter presents a brief outline of the economic and political climate during the eighteenth century in the Lower Little Tennessee River Valley. Its purpose is to provide significant information related to the evolutionary processes affecting Cherokee culture during the Colonial Period (A.D. 1746-1775). This material serves as an interpretive framework for evaluating the archaeological record. In addition to official documents, supplemental writings made by individuals traveling in the area are useful in defining archaeological expectations of what the material correlates of Cherokee culture should be. This chapter includes discussions of the Euro-Aboriginal trade system, the political events contributing to the development of the village of Tomotley, and the ethnohistoric accounts pertinent to defining the characteristics of the village as a cultural aggregate.
The European Trade
The European demand for skins and furs created a market for a commodity that could only be supplied by North America's Indian population. Exchange systems were developed to link the Indian groups with the colonial merchants by trading them European made items for skins and pelts. The Carolina fur trade system worked as follows:
1. London merchants would credit Charles Town merchants with capital,
2. the colonial merchants would then credit the trader with trade goods,
3. the trader would credit the Indian hunters with the trade items,
4. the Indians would acquire skins and pelts during their fall and winter hunts which, in turn, would be given to the trader in payment of their debts (Rothrock 1929).
Exchange rates in 1717 for the Cherokee Lower Towns indicate that a musket could be acquired for 35 deer skins, a pistol for 20, and a yard of cloth for eight. A pair of scissors, a knife, 30 bullets, a string of beads, a strike-a-lite, and 12 gun flints would each cost one skin.
10
11
One might expect the costs to be somewhat higher in the Overhill villages since they were further removed from Charles Town.
Because the entire system was based on credit it was highly speculative and subject to each member's ability to fulfill his commitments. If the hunt failed to produce sufficient skins and pelts the hunter would not be able to pay for the items purchased earlier that year. If the Indian Nations went to war, the length of the hunting season could be shortened and the colonies would be unable to fulfill their contractual agreements with the home merchants, and so on. As a result of this, traders became government representatives in the frontier, and were expected to inform the colonial leaders of any situations that might adversely effect the trade network. When
possible, government action could then conflicts or conditions.
be taken to avert disruptive
For several reasons the trade system became a social and political catalyst within the aboriginal cultures. By 1750 most Cherokee clothing was European made or made from European cloth (Corkran 1962:69). Metal tools and sheets of metal for making tools and ornaments were prized items and prefered over their earlier lithic and bone counterparts. Guns and ammunition quickly became necessities for defense and hunting. The Indians easily became dependent on the Europeans for acquisition of trade items.
Another important factor in establishing a demand for European trade items was the presence of traders in the villages. The Carolina traders lived in European style and comfort complete with smokehouses and storage buildings. They displayed various European personal ornaments and used European tools. These men represented power and prestige in most villages and were naturally emulated by the headmen and those aspiring to be headmen (Rothrock 1929 and Corkran 1962:11).
Initially the personal acquisition of trade items would reinforce an individual's prestige; later the ability to develop political action insuring the continued flow of such items would mark an individual as a competent leader. In either case the acquisition of European material items quickly became an important consideration in the development of political, social, and economic policies among the aboriginal groups in the Southeast.
Political Events
The following yearly account of the most significant political events affecting the Overhill was taken primarily from Corkran1s work (1962,1970). The settlement designations of Lower, Middle, Valley, Overhill, and Out were developed by the British colonial government to distinguish aligned subgroups within the Cherokee system (Egloff 1967:3). The Lower Towns were those lying along the Keowee, Tugalo, and
12
upper Savannah Rivers. The Middle Settlements were located north of the Lower Towns along the eastern branches of the Little Tennessee and Tuckaseegee Rivers between the Cowee and Balsam Mountains. Subsequently (ca. 1770's) the villages lying along the northeastern headwaters of the Tuckasegee and Oconaluftee Rivers were referred to as the Out Towns (Egloff 1967:3). The Valley Towns (often grouped with the Middle Towns) were found along the Valley, Nantahala, and Hiwassee Rivers. The Overhill settlements were located along the lower Little Tennessee and Tellico Rivers between the Unaka and Cumberland Mountains (Gil' art 1943:178).
1730 - A treaty was made between Great Britain and the Cherokee Nation which officially made them allies and declared Great Tellico the capital of the Cherokee Nation with Moytoy its "emperor" (Uku).
1741 - After Moytoy's death his son, Ammonscossittee, was made Uku. The Raven of Hiwassee served as his guardian with Johnny and Osteneco (Judd's Friend) of Tellico and Chatuga's Old Caesar serving as chief council. Cortnecorte (Old Hop) was chief of Chota at this time.
1742 - Tellico agreed on behalf of the Cherokee Nation to assist South Carolina in King George's War. At this time the Creeks began attacking the Lower Cherokee towns while the Senecas, Shawnees, Ottawas, and Canadian Iroquois attacked the Overhills (Corkran 1962:17).
1745 - To end the attacks on their villages, the Overhills under Chota's direction made peace with the northern Indians and their French sponsors. The result was an end to the hostilities and the beginning of an influx of Indians from the north into Overhill towns for the purposes of trade and raiding Catawba and Creek settlements (Corkran 1962:18-19). Being aligned with a European power did not necessarily mean that one was allied with that country's allies.
1746 - The attacks by northern Indians on South Carolina's allies (Catawbas) served to weaken the colony's aboriginal political position. In an effort to stop the attacks, South Carolina persuaded Tellico to drive out the French-allied war parties. Chota, however, would not comply with the request since such an action would renew hostilities with the northern groups. Also, the presence of pro-French factions among the Overhill served to fuel anti-English sentiments. To counter this influence, George Pawley was sent to the area by Carolina. He soon learned that the Overhills would not comply with the colony's wishes until a fort could be built near Chota. Such a fort would increase the prestige of the village and diminish the influence of Tellico and Hiwassee. It would also deter any subsequent attacks from the north. Although Pawley promised a fort would soon be constructed, it was not built until 1756 (Corkran 1962:19-20).
1748 - The Northern Indians continued their anti-English propaganda and moved their center of operations to the Lower Towns. The Cherokees
13
were quickly turning away from the English. Two Carolina surveyors were captured by Senecas and held at Keowee. Carolina responded with a trade embargo which was to be enforced until the offenders were surrendered and the remaining Iroquois and Shawnees were driven out. With their supplies cut off, the Lower Towns became vulnerable to Creek attacks and so they quickly complied with the terms. The Northern Indians moved back to the Overhill villages and prolonged the embargo by continuing their assaults. With the embargo still on, the Creeks began to attack the Lower Towns (Corkran 1962:20-2).
1749 - The Upper Creeks turned to Carolina to intercede and stop the northern attacks. The colony, after some difficulty, managed to reach an agreement with Chota whereby the Overhills would curtail the hostile activities of their guests without actually forcing them from their villages. To help maintain this peace the Upper Creeks were allowed to carry on trade with Carolina at Valley and Overhill towns. Meanwhile the Lower Creeks were encouraged by the French to continue their assaults on the Lower Cherokee towns. While the Overhill and Valley Cherokee were at peace with their neighbors, the Lower Towns were suffering from the neglect of Carolina. They naturally became disillusioned with the English (Corkran 1962:22-23).
1750 - Following the Creek's destruction of Echoi and Estatoe, the English made a futile attempt to stop the attacks. Senecas and Mingoes were sent by anti-English Overhills into Keowee to undermine the English and Hiwassee/Tellico influence (Corkran 1962:23-24).
1751 - Pro-French Indians swept into the area attacking English traders. Although the Cherokee leaders managed to prevent widespread bloodshed, rumors of atrocities reached Charles Town and all the traders were recalled and a full embargo was instituted. To end the embargo
aggressors, including for the Overhills), for establish a French or The Overhills encouraged
Overhill settlements, to send traders to the
Tellico was ordered to surrender all
Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter, spokesmen
punishment. Chota responded by attempting to
Virginian trade network to replace Carolina's.
the Lower Towns to move to Middle and
Attakullakulla failed to persuade Virginia
Overhills and, likewise, the French were unable to replace Carolina as a
trade source. The failure of these initiatives weakened the Overhill's
anti-English stance among their fellow Cherokees. Osteneco then managed
to have the embargo lifted on the Valley Towns and persuaded many
non-Overhill leaders to travel to Charles Town to renegotiate a trade
agreement. The resulting agreement set up trade reforms, promised the
Lower Towns a fort, and promised to end the Creek attacks.
1752 - Despite Carolina's promises the Creeks continued to attack the Lower and Valley Towns. By April all the Lower Towns (except Toxaway and Estatoe) were abandoned, their inhabitants fleeing to safer Middle and Overhill villages (see the Mitchel map of 1755 in Swanton 1922). Even Toxaway and Estatoe seriously considered joining the
14
Catawbas. Hiwassee-Tellico were not able to insure the stability of the Lower Towns through Carolina promises and thus were politically weakened. In addition, Ammonscossittee failed to secure Virginian trade support after traveling to Williamsburg. South Carolina now had to deal with Chota as the village representing the Cherokees. With Carolina recognizing the supremacy of the village, the French peace (which failed to produce adequate economic relief) could now be broken by the Overhills. All northern Indians, except those having relatives in Overhill country, were forced to leave and Attakullakulla, as a sign of his allegiance to England, raided French camps along the Mississippi (Corkran 1962:35-41).
1753 - South Carolina desired to maintain Lower Town autonomy in the face of rising Overhill influence so the colony constructed Ft. Prince George near Keowee. This served to stabilize the region and many of the inhabitants returned to rebuild their villages. Despite these new English overtures, pro-French factions were still active among the Overhills. As a result the pro-English Osteneco left the now pro-French Tellico and moved to the Overhill town of Tomotley (Corkran 1962:41-52 and Evans 1976) .
1754 - The French and Indian War had placed Virginia in a precarious position. Lacking sufficient numbers of Indian allies, the colony sought the aid of the Cherokees. The Overhills were reluctant to send them warriors since such actions would almost certainly result in northern reprisals against their villages. Once again anti-English sentiments developed and northern Indians advised against the Cherokee helping Virginia (Corkran 1962:50-56).
1755 - At a meeting at Saluda, South Carolina agreed to build a fort near Chota, but by the end of the year nothing was done. Governor Glen then promised to begin construction in April, 1756. In response to Virginian promises of rewards, Osteneco led a party of 100 warriors north to assist in the poorly planned Big Sandy Expedition against the Shawnee of Scioto.
1756 - A March meeting between the Virginians and Connecorte, Willinowaw, and Attakullakulla along the Broad River produced a treaty that stipulated Cherokee military support for the colony and rejection of all French emissaries in return for Virginian aid in constructing the Carolina fort. In April Major Andrew Lewis (along with the returning Osteneco) led 60 men to the Overhill villages with orders to help the Carolinians build a fort. If the Carolinians failed to arrive, he was instructed to build a small fort for the Cherokees and then return to Virginia. To date, the failure of Carolina to build the fort had greatly undermined the English position and contributed to the increase in anti-English sentiments, especially in Great Tellico. While the Virginians waited the Carolina expedition was held up at Ft. Prince George by Glen's replacement, Governor Lyttelton. Eventually the Virginians were forced to construct a small fort across the river from
15
Chota. Not having any orders to garrison the fort, the Virginians returned to their colony in August. In late September the 180 man force under Captain Raymond Demere arrived at the Overhill village of Tomotley and set up camp one and a half miles down stream (MacDowell 1962:214). The force was welcomed by the leaders of the Overhills at a ceremony in the Tomotley townhouse. Demere was encouraged to begin construction of a fort at Tomotley since the selected site for Ft. Loudoun was considered too far away from the villages. Demere ignored their request (though he would continue to be asked to comply even after Ft. Loudoun was completed) and began construction of the fort two miles north of Tomotley (Corkran 1962:75-95 and MacDowell 1962:280).
1757 - Failure of the French to supply the anti-English faction with trade goods forced Great Tellico to come to terms with Demere and seek English trade. Because the Virginians failed to garrison their fort, the Overhills sent only 250 warriors north to aid the colony. Raymond Demere's brother, Paul, replaced him as commander of Ft. Loudoun. The newly arrived Demere had been instructed to encourage Cherokee support for Virginia. As a result Cherokee participation in the northern war increased but distrust, killings, and the failure to fulfill promises of payment served to terminate Cherokee support and angered the participants (Corkran 1962:106-162).
1758 - The Cherokees, in defiance of the Virginians, reached a peace agreement with the Ohio Shawnee. The clan-related villages of Citico and Estatoe had suffered heavily from their support of Virginia and were becoming very vocal in their anti-English sentiments (Corkran 1962:163).
1759 - While Attakullakulla was in Williamsburg negotiating a trade agreement, anti-English activities exploded in the Overhill villages. Warriors from Citico took white scalps in North Carolina. The Creeks asked permission to occupy Hiwassee Old Town and Estatoe Old Town. Osteneco sided with the pro-French faction while Oconastota, knowing that the French could never supply trade items, remained loyal to England. Leading a group of headmen to Charles Town, Oconastota attempted to lessen hostilities. Upon arriving he and his companions were taken hostage and sent to Ft. Prince George where 50 of the lesser leaders were released. The remaining 28 hostages would be held until the warriors and leaders responsible for the killings were surrendered. Attakullakulla, returning from Virginia, went to Ft. Prince George and managed to get six hostages released, including Oconastota (Corkran 1962:165-190).
1760 - In February, 23 whites were killed at the Long Creeks settlements. Old Hop died and a young Standing Turkey replaced him as Uku. Attakullakulla and an angry Oconastota returned to Ft. Prince George to seek the release of the four Chota hostages. Failing this, Oconastota set up an ambush and killed Lieutenent Coytmore, holder of the hostages. This resulted in the murder of all 22 remaining hostages.
16
Attakullakulla returned to his home at Tomotley and withdrew his family from the village so as not to be involved in a war he could not support. In March Osteneco had put Ft. Loudoun under a 96 hour siege. Oconastota waited until he was certain no French support would arrive and then, in June, placed the fort under siege again. On August 9th the garrison surrendered and on the next day, while retreating to Charles Town, they were attacked. Approximately 25 of its members were killed while the rest were taken hostage. Meanwhile, a force under Colonel Archibald Montgomery attacked the Lower Towns of Keowee, Estatoe, Qualareetchey, Conasatchee, and Toxaway. The people of the towns had retreated to the Middle settlements. Pushing on, Montgomery was attacked and driven back at Tassuntee Old Town. Virginia sent a force of 900 men under Colonel William Byrd to help relieve Ft. Loudoun, but bad weather slowed their advance. Attakullakulla, knowing that after the fall of Ft. Loudoun the Overhills were ready for peace, went to see Byrd and begin a peace initiative. South Carolina, however, was not ready to end the hostilities (Corkran 1962:193-236).
1761 - In June a force of 2828 officers and men under Colonel James Grant moved on the Middle Towns. After a battle near Etchoe, Grant advanced unopposed through the towns destroying houses, crops, and animals. From Cowee they launched an attack on the Out Towns along the Tuckaseegee. Most of the retreating Cherokees fled to the Overhill and Valley Villages. By July they were ready to follow Attakullakulla and end the war. A peace agreement was reached with Carolina at Ft. Prince George. The Virginians, now led by Colonel Adam Stephen, advanced toward the Overhills. He was met by Standing Turkey who, after showing him the Carolina peace agreement, succeeded in reaching a peace settlement with Virginia and negotiating the visit of Lieutenent Henry Timberlake as a sign of Virginian trust. On December 18, 1761 Attakullakulla led a delegation to sign the Carolina peace treaty. The end of the war brought increased trade with Virginia and North Carolina and less dependence on the victorious South Carolina. John Stewart (a survivor of Ft. Loudoun and friend of Attakullakulla) was made the Crown's Superintendent of Indian Affairs (Corkran 1962:244-272).
1761-1783 - Between 1761 and 1771 whites encroached upon Cherokee land. In 1775 the American Rebels sought to convince the Cherokees to remain neutral in the developing Revolution. To facilitate their compliance, Stewart was forced to flee to St. Augustine leaving behind his assistant, Alexander Cameron. Under Attakullakulla's son, Tsugunsini (Dragging Canoe, chief of Amoyeliegwa) (Brown 1938), the Cherokees planned an attack on the settlers at Watauga and on the Nolichucky. In response to this threat, a South Carolina force under Major Andrew Williamson destroyed the abandoned Lower Towns in June 1776. After this force joined with North Carolina troops under General Griffith Rutherford, the Middle and Valley Towns were destroyed. A Virginian expedition under Colonel William Christian attacked the Overhill villages. While Attakullakulla and Oconastota sued for peace, Dragging Canoe and his followers retreated south to the Chickamauga area
17
to continue their resistance. The major result of this campaign was the depopulation of the Cherokee settlements and the division of neutral and hostile factions within the Cherokee political structure (Corkran 1970:62-67). Many Overhill settlements were never reoccupied.
The political environment of this entire period was one of fluctuating allegiances primarily determined by the expediencies of acquiring Euro-American trade goods. Although the Cherokee's tended to prefer the French as allies, the French were never really able to supply them with materials comparable to those traded to their Iroquois, Shawnee, and Creek allies. They also could not control these groups sufficiently to insure aboriginal peace. As a result the French were never more than a disruptive force in the development of Cherokee-European relationships.
The massive movements of people during these turbulent times should
serve to counter views of isolated aboriginal cultural development along
strictly linguistic lines, either historically or prehistorically.
Northern Indians spent considerable time among the Cherokees; with both
groups having relatives in the other's villages. Lower, Middle, and
Valley towns were often forced to flee to the relatively safe Overhill
settlements. Such a refugee situation was very common among the Eastern
Indian groups during the Colonial Period (and may have occured in
prehistoric times under similar pressures). The Natchez can be found
among the Overhills (Bonnefoy 1916:251, Brown 1938:539), the Tuskeegee
are seen as refugees living among the Creeks and Overhills (Mooney
1900:388-389), and the above account relates the presence of Shawnee
among the Overhills and the desire of the Creeks to settle in abandoned
Cherokee villages. The archaeological ramifications of such
interactions should be considered, particularly in the analysis of any
Overhill site. The possibility of coeval, non-Overhill components on
Overhill sites is extremely great and can confuse our definition of
Cherokee archaeological assemblages. Our success in discerning the
material correlate of Overhill Culture will ultimately depend on our
ability to identify mixed, contemporaneous components. To begin to
address this problem requires a thorough regional perspective of the
cultural similarities and differences between historic Indian groups
with particular emphasis placed on the material correlates (lithics,
ceramics, village structure, etc.) of the comparisons. Such information
can, in part, be derived from ethno-historic documents, but ultimately
it must come from regional presentations of archaeological research
leading to a consolidated interpretive framework.