by John R. Swanton

Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145—1953

[726 pages—Smithsonian Institution]

(pp. 153-174)

Alabama

Abihka, see Creek Confederacy and Muskogee.

Alabama. Perhaps connected with the native word "albina," meaning "to camp," or alba amo, "weed gatherer," referring to the black drink. Also called:

Ma'-mo aⁿ-ya-di, or Ma'-mo haⁿ-ya, by the Biloxi.
Oke-choy-atte, given by Schoolcraft (1851-57), the name of an Alabama town, Oktcaiutci.

Connections.—The Alabama language belonged to the southern division of the Muskhogean stock, and was perhaps connected with the tongues of the Muklasa and Tuskegee, which have not been preserved. It was closely related to Koasati and more remotely to Hitchiti and Choctaw.

Location.—The principal historic seat of this tribe was on the upper course of Alabama River. (See also Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.)

Subdivisions:

The Tawasa and Pawokti, which later formed two Alabama towns, were originally independent tribes (See under Florida), though the former, at least, was not properly Alabama. The same may have been true of some other Alabama towns, though we have no proof of the fact.

Villages: Besides the above:

Autauga, on the north bank of Alabama River about the mouth of Autauga Creek in Autauga County.
Kantcati, on Alabama River about 3 miles above Montgomery and on the same side.
Nitahauritz, on the north side of Alabama River west of the confluence of the Alabama and Cahawba Rivers in Dallas County.
Okchayutci, in Benjamin Hawkins' time (about 1800) on the cast bank of Coosa River between Tuskegee and the Muskogee town of Otciapofa. (See Hawkins, 1848, 1916.)
Wetumpka, a branch village reported in 1761.

History.—Native tradition assigns the origin of the Alabama to a point at the confluence of Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, but we seem to hear of the tribe first historically in what is now northern Mississippi west of the Chickasaw country. This is in the narratives of De Soto's chroniclers, which, however, do not altogether agree, since one writer speaks of a province of the name, two others bestow the designation upon a small village, and only Garcilaso (1723), the least reliable, gives the title Fort Alibamo to a stockade- west of the village above mentioned- where the Spaniards had a severe combat. While this stockade was probably held by Alabama Indians, there is no certainty that it was. The next we hear of the tribe it is in its historic seats above given. After the French had established themselves at Mobile they became embroiled in some small affrays between the Alabama and Mobile Indians, but peace was presently established and thereafter the French and Alabama remained good friends as long as French rule continued. This friendship was cemented in 1717 by the establishment of Fort Toulouse in the Alabama country and the admission among them of one, or probably two, refugee tribes, the Tawasa and Pawokti. (See Florida.) About 1763 a movement toward the west began on the part of those Indians who had become accustomed to French rule. Some Alabama joined the Seminole in Florida. Others accompanied the Koasati to Tombigbee River but soon returned to their own country. Still another body went to Louisiana and settled on the banks of the Mississippi River, where they were probably joined from time to time by more. Later they advanced further toward the west and some are still scattered in St. Landry and Calcasieu Parishes, but the greatest single body finally reached Polk County, Tex., where they occupy a piece of land set aside for them by the State. Those who remained behind took a very prominent part in the Creek-American War and lost all their land by the treaty of Fort Jackson, 1814, being obliged to make new settlements between the Coosa and Tallapoosa. They accompanied the rest of the Creeks to Oklahoma, and their descendants are to he found there today, principally about a little station bearing the name just south of Weleetka.

Population.—In 1702 Iberville (in Margry, 1875-86, vol. 4, p. 514) estimated that there were 400 families of Alabama in two villages, and the English census of 1715 gives 214 men and a total population of 770 in four villages. These figures must have been exclusive of the Tawasa and Pawokti, which subsequent estimates include. About 1730-40 there is an estimate of 400 men in six towns. In 1792 the number of Alabama men is given as 60, exclusive of 60 Tawasa, but as this last included Kantcati the actual proportion of true Alabama was considerably greater. Hawkins, in 1799, estimated 80 gunmen in four Alabama towns, including Tawasa and Pawokti, but he does not include the population of Okchaiyutci. (See Hawkins, 1848.) In 1832 only two towns are entered which may be safely set down as Alabama, Tawasa and Autauga, and these had a population of 321 besides 21 slaves. The later figures given above do not include those Alabama who had moved to Louisiana. In 1805 Sibley (1832) states there were two villages in Louisiana with 70 men; in 1917 Morse (1822) gives 160 Alabama all told in Texas, but this is probably short of the truth. In 1882 the United States Indian Office reported 290 Alabama, Koasati, and Muskogee in Texas, the larger number of whom were probably Alabama. In 1900 the figure is raised to 470. In 1910 a special agent from the Indian Office reported 192 Alabama alone. The census of 1910 gave 187 in Texas and 111 in Louisiana, a total of 298. The 176 "Creek" Indians returned from Polk County, Tex., in 1930, were mainly Alabama. The number of Alabama in Oklahoma has never been separately reported.

Connection in which they have become noted.—The Alabama attained early literary fame from Garcilaso de la Vega's (1723) description of the storming of "Fort Alibamo." Their later notoriety has rested upon the fact that their name became attached to Alabama River, and still more call its subsequent adoption by the State of Alabama. A railroad station in Oklahoma is named after them, and the term has been applied to places in Genesee County, N. Y., and in Polk County, Wis. There is an Alabama City in Etowah County, Ala., and Alabama in Madison County, Ark.

Apalachee. A part of this tribe lived for a time among the Lower Creeks and perhaps in this State. Another section settled near Mobile and remained there until West Florida was ceded to Great Britain when they crossed the Mississippi. A few seem to have joined the Creeks and migrated with them to Oklahoma. (See Florida.)

Apalachicola. Very early this tribe lived on the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers, partly in Alabama. Sometime after 1715 they settled in Russell County, on the Chattahoochee River where they occupied at least two different sites before removing with the rest of the Creeks to the other side of the Mississippi. (See Georgia.)

Atasi. A division or subtribe of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Chatot. This tribe settled near Mobile after having been driven from Florida and moved to Louisiana about the same time as the Apalachee. (See Florida.)

Cherokee. In the latter part of the eighteenth century some Cherokee worked their way down the Tennessee River is far as Muscle Shoals, constituting the Chickamauga band. They had settlements at Turkeytown on the Coosa, Willstown on Wills Creek, and Coldwater near Tuscumbia, occupied jointly with the Creeks and destroyed by the Whites in 1787. All of their Alabama territory was surrendered in treaties made between 1807 and 1835. (See Tennessee.)

Chickasaw. The Chickasaw had a few settlements in northwestern Alabama, part of which State was within their hunting territories. At one time they also had a town called Ooe-asa (WΡ-aca) among the Upper Creeks. (See Mississippi.)

Choctaw. This tribe hunted over and occupied, at least temporarily, parts of southwestern Alabama beyond the Tombigbee. (See Mississippi.)

Creek Confederacy. This name is given to a loose organization which constituted the principal political element in the territory of the present States of Georgia and Alabama from very early times probably as far back as the period of De Soto. It was built around a dominant tribe, or rather a group of dominant tribes, called Muskogee. The name Creek early became attached to these people because when they were first known to the Carolina colonists and for a considerable period afterward the body of them which the latter knew best was living upon a river, the present Ocmulgee, called by Europeans "Ocheese Creek." The Creeks were early divided geographically into two parts, one called Upper Creeks, on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers; the other, the Lower Creeks, on the lower Chattahoochee and Ocmulgee. The former were also divided at times into the Coosa branch or Abihka and the Tallapoosa branch and the two were called Upper and Middle Creeks respectively. Bartram (1792) tends to confuse the student by denominating all of the true Creeks "Upper Creeks" and the Seminole "Lower Creeks." The dominant Muskogee gradually gathered about them- and to a certain extent under them- the Apalachicola, Hitchiti, Okmulgee, Sawokli, Chiaha, Osochi, Yuchi, Alabama, Tawasa, Pawokti, Muklasa, Koasati, Tuskegee, a part of the Shawnee, and for a time some Yamasee, not counting broken bands and families from various quarters. The first seven of the above here for the most part among the Lower Creeks, the remainder with the Upper Creeks. (For further information, see the separate tribal names under Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.)

Eufaula. A division or subtribe of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Fus-hatchee. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Hilibi. A division or subtribe of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Hitchiti. This tribe lived for considerable period close to, and at times within, the present territory of Alabama along its southeastern margin. (See Georgia.)

Kan-hatki. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Kealedji. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Koasati. Meaning unknown; often given as Coosawda and Coushatta, and sometimes abbreviated to Shati.

Connections.—They belonged to the southern section of the Muskhogean linguistic group, and were particularly close to the Alabama.

Location.—The historic location of the Koasati was just below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers to form the Alabama and on the east side of the latter, where Coosada Creek and Station still bear the name. (See also Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.)

Villages:

Two Koasati towns are mentioned as having existed in very early times, one of which may have been the Kaskinampo. (See Tennessee.) At a later period a town known as Wetumpka on the east bank of Coosa River, in Elmore County, near the fall seems to have been occupied by Koasati Indians. During part of its existence Wetumpka was divided into two settlements, Big Wetumpka on the site of the modern town of the same name, and Little Wetumpka above the falls of Coosa.

History.—It is probable that from about 1600 until well along in the seventeenth century, perhaps to its very close, the Koasati lived upon Tennessee River. There is good reason to think that they are the Coste, Acoste, or Costehe of De Soto's chroniclers whose principal village was upon an island in the river, and in all probability this was what is now known as Pine Island. There is also a bare mention of them in the narrative of Pardo's expedition of 1567 inland from Santa Elena, and judging by the entries made upon maps published early in the eighteenth century this tribe seems to have occupied the same position near where the French and English made their settlements in the Southeast. About that time they were probably joined by the related Kaskinampo. Not long after they had become known to the Whites, a large part of the Koasati migrated south and established themselves at the point mentioned above. A portion seems to have remained behind for we find a village called Coosada at Larkin's Landing in Jackson County at a much later date. The main body continued with the Upper Creeks until shortly after France ceded all of her territories east of the Mississippi to England in 1763, when a large part moved to Tombigbee River. These soon returned to their former position, but about 1795 another part crossed the Mississippi and settled on Red River. Soon afterward they seem to have split up, some continuing on the Red River others went to the Sabine and beyond to the Neches and Trinity Rivers, Tex. At a later date a few Texas bands united with the Alabama in Polk County, where their descendants still live, but most returned to Louisiana and gathered into one neighborhood northeast of Kinder, La. The greater part of the Koasati who remained in Alabama accompanied the Creeks to Oklahoma, where a few are still to be found. Previous to this removal, some appear to have gone to Florida to mix in their lot with the Seminole.

Population.—The earliest estimates of the Alabama Indians probably included the Koasati. In 1750 they are given 50 men; in 1760, 150 men. Marbury (1792) credits them with 130 men. In 1832, after the Louisiana branch had split off, those who remained numbered 82 and this is the last separate enumeration we have. Sibley (1806) on native authority gives 200 hunters in the Louisiana bands; in 1814 Schermerhorn estimates that there were 600 on the Sabine; in 1817 Morse places the total Koasati population in Louisiana and Texas 640; in 1829 Porter puts it at 180; in 1850 Bollaert gives the number of men in the two Koasati towns on Trinity River as 500.

In 1882 the United States Indian Office reported 290 Alabama, Koasati, and Muskogee in Texas, but the Census of 1900 raised this to 470. The Census of 1910 returned 11 Koasati from Texas, 85 from Louisiana, and 2 from Nebraska; those in Oklahoma were not enumerated separately from the other Creeks. The 134 "Creeks" returned from Louisiana in 1930 were mainly Koasati.

Connection in which they have become noted.—Coonsada, a post village in Elmore County, Ala., near the old Koasati town, and Coushatta, the capital of Red River Parish, La, preserve the name of the Koasati.

Kolomi. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Mobile. Meaning unknown, but Halbert (1901) suggests that it may be from Choctaw moeli, "to paddle," since Mobile is pronounced moila by the Indians. It is the Mabila, Mauilla, Mavila, or Mauvila of the De Soto chroniclers.

Connections.—The language of the tribe was closely connected with that of the Choctaw and gave its name to a trade jargon based upon Choctaw or Chickasaw.

Location.—When the French settled the seacoast of Alabama the Mobile were living on the west side of Mobile River a few miles below the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee.

History.—When they make their first appearance in history in 1540 the Mobile were between the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, and on the east side of the former. Their chief, Tuscaloosa, was a very tall and commanding Indian with great influence throughout the surrounding, country. He inspired his people to attack; the invading Spaniards and a terrific battle was fought October 18, 1540, for the possession of one of his fortified towns (Mabila), which the Spaniards carried with heavy losses to themselves in killed and wounded, while of the Indians 2,500 or more fell. It is probable that the village of Nanipacna, through which a force of Spaniards of the De Luna colony passed in 1559, was occupied by some of the survivors of this tribe. At a later date they may have settled near Gees Rend of the Alabama River, in Wilcox County, because early French maps give a village site there which they call "Vieux Mobiliens." A Spanish letter of 1686 speaks of them as at war with the Pensacola tribe. When the French came into the country, the Mobile were, as stated above, settled not far below the junction of the Tombigbee and Alabama. After a post had been established on the spot where Mobile stands today, the Mobile Indians moved down nearer to it and remained there until about the time when the English obtained possession of the country. They do not appear to have gone to Louisiana like so many of the smaller tribes about them and were probably absorbed in the Choctaw Nation.

Population.—After allowing for all exaggerations, the number of Mobile Indians when De Soto fought with them must have been very considerable, perhaps 6,000 to 7,000. Mooney (1928) estimates 2,000 Mobile and Tohome in 1650, over a hundred years after the great battle. In 1702 Iberville states that this tribe and the Tohome together embraced about 350 warriors; in 1725-26 Bienville (1932, vol. 3, p. 536), gives 60 for the Mobile alone, but in 1730 Regis de Rouillet (1732) cuts this in half. In 1758 De Kerlιrec (1907) estimates the number of warriors among the Mobile, Tohome, and Naniaba at about 100.

Connection in which they have become noted.—The Mobile have attained a fame altogether beyond anything which their later numerical importance would warrant; (1) on account of the desperate resistance which they offered to De Soto's forces, and (2) from the important Alabama city to which they gave their name. There is a place called Mobile in Maricopa County, Ariz.

Muklasa. Meaning in Alabama and Choctaw, "friends," or "people of one nation."

Connections.—Since the Muklasa did not speak Muskogee and their name is from the Koasati, Alabama, or Choctaw language, and since they were near neighbors of the two former, it is evident that they were connected with one or the other of them.

Location.—On the south bank of Tallapoosa River in Montgomery County. (See Florida and Oklahoma.)

History.—When we first hear of the Muklasa in 1675 they were in the position above given and remained there until the end of the Creek-American War, when they are said to have emigrated to Florida in a body. Nothing is heard of them afterward, however, and although Gatschet (1884) states that there was a town of the name in the Creek Nation in the west in his time, I could learn nothing about it when I visited the Creeks in 1911-12.

Population.—In 1760 the Muklasa are said to have had 50 men, in 1761, 30, and in 1792, 30. These are the only figures available regarding their numbers.

Muskogee. Meaning unknown, but perhaps originally from Shawnee and having reference to swampy ground. To this tribe the name Creeks was ordinarily applied. Also called:

Ani'-Gu'sa, by the Cherokee, meaning "Coosa people," after an ancient and famous town on Coosa River.
Ku-ϋ'sha, by the Wyandot.
Ochesee, by the Hitchiti.
Sko'-ki haⁿ-ya, by the Biloxi.

Connections.—The Muskogee language constitutes one division of the Muskhogean tongues proper, that which I call Northern.

Location.—From the earliest times of which we have any record these people seem to have had towns all the way from the Atlantic coast of Georgia and the neighborhood of Savannah River to central Alabama. (See also Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.)

Subdivisions and Villages: It is difficult to separate major divisions of the Muskogee from towns and towns from villages, but there were certainly several distinct Muskogee tribes at a very early period. The following subdivisional classification is perhaps as good as any:

Abihka (in St. Clair, Calhoun, and Talladega Counties):

Abihka-in-the-west, a late branch of Abihka in the western part of the Creek Nation, Okla.
Abihkutci, on Tallassee Hatchee Creek, Talladega County, on the right bank 5 miles from Coosa River.
Kan-tcati, on or near Chocolocko, or Choccolocco, Creek and probably not far from the present "Conchardee."
Kayomalgi, possibly settled by Shawnee or Chickasaw, probably near Sylacauga, Talladega County.
Lun-ham-ga, location unknown.
Talladega, on Talladega Creek, Talladega County.
Tcahki lako, on Choccolocco Creek in Talladega or Calhoun County.

Atasi: 

Location (1) on the upper Ocmulgee River, (2) on the Chattahoochee, (3) on the Tallapoosa in Tallapoosa County, (4) on the south side of the Tallapoosa in Macon County, and (5) on the north side near Calebee Creek in Elmore County.

Coosa:

Abihkutci, a division of Okfuskee, which apparently came into existence after the Creeks had removed to Oklahoma.
Atcinaulga, on the west bank of Tallapoosa River in Randolph County.
Big Tulsa, on the east bank of Tallapoosa River at the mouth of Ufaubee Creek in Tallapoosa County.
Chatukchufaula, possibly identical with the last, on Nafape Creek or Tallapoosa River.
Chuleocwhooatlee, on the left bank of Tallapoosa River, 11 miles below Nuyaka, in Tallapoosa County.
Holitaiga, on Chattahoochee River in Troup County, Ga.
Imukfa, on Emaufaw Creek in Tallapoosa County.
Ipisagi, on Sandy Creek in Tallapoosa County.
Kohamutkikatsa, location unknown.
Little Tulsa, on the east side of Coosa River, 3 miles above the falls, Elmore County.
Lutcapoga, perhaps near Loachapoka in Lee County, or on the upper Tallapoosa.
Nafape, on a creek of the same name flowing into Ufaubee Creek.
Okfuskee, location (1) at the mouth of Hillabee Creek, (2) at the mouth of Sand Creek, both in Tallapoosa County.
Okfuskutci, (1) on Chattahoochee River in Troup County, Ca.; (2) on the upper Tallapoosa in Tallapoosa County, Ala.; (3) another town of the name or an earlier location of the first somewhere near the lower Tallapoosa.
Old Coosa, near the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers.
Otciapofa, on the east side of the Coosa River in Elmore County, just below the falls.
Saoga-hatchee, on Saogahatchee Creek, in Tallapoosa or Lee County.
Suka-ispoga, on the west bank of Tallapoosa River below the mouth of Hillibee Creek, in Tallapoosa County.
Tallassehasee, on Tallassee Hatchee Creek in Talladega County.
Tcahkilako, on Chattahoochee River near Franklin, Heard County, Ga.
Tcatoksofka, seemingly a later name of the main Okfuskee town.
Tcawokela, 25 miles east northeast of the mouth of Upatoie Creek, probably near Chewacla Station, Lee County.
Tculakonini, on Chattahoochee River in Troup County, Ga.
Tohtogagi, on the west bank of Tallapoosa River, probably in Randolph County.
Tukabahchee Tallahassee, later called Talmutcasi, on the west side of Tallapoosa River in Tallapoosa County.
Tukpafka, on Chattahoochee River in Heard County, Ga., later moved to Tallapoosa, settled on the left bank 11 miles above Okfuskee, Tallapoosa County, and renamed Nuyaka.
Tulsa Canadian, a branch of Tulsa on the Canadian River, Okla.
Tulsa Little River, a branch of Tulsa near Holdenville, Okla.

Coweta (early location on the upper Ocmulgee, later on the west bank of Chattahoochee River in Russell County, Ala., opposite Columbus, Ga.):

Coweta Tallahassee, later Likatcka or Broken Arrow, probably a former location of the bulk of the tribe, on the west bank of Chattahoochee River in Russell County, Ala.
Katca tεstεnεgi's Town "at Cho-lose-parp-kari."
Settlements on "Hallewokke Yoaxarhatchee."
Settlements on "Toosilkstorkee Hatchee."
Settlements on "Warkeeche Hatchee."
Wetumpka, a branch of the last on the main fork of Big Uchee Creek 12 miles northwest from the mother town, Coweta Tallahassee.

Eufaula:

A branch among the Seminole called Kan-tcati. (See Florida, Seminole.)
A branch village of Eufaula hopai on a creek called "Chowokolohatchee."
Eufaulahatchee or Eufaula Old Town, on Talladega Creek, also called Eufaula Creek, 15 miles from its mouth.
Lower Eufaula or Eufaula hopai, above the mouth of Pataula Creek, in Clay County, Ga.
Upper Eufaula, on the right bank of Tallapoosa River 5 miles below Okfuskee, in Tallapoosa County—at one time separated into Big Eufaula and Little Eufaula.

Hilibi (at the junction of Hillabee and Bear Creeks, Tallapoosa County):

Anetechapko, 10 miles above Hilibi on a branch of Hillabee Creek.
Etcuseislaiga, on the left bank of Hillabee Creek, 4 miles below Hilibi.
Kitcopataki, location unknown.
Lanutciabala, on the northwest branch of Hillabee Creek, probably in Tallapoosa County.
Little Hilibi, location unknown.
Oktahasasi, on a creek of the name 2 miles below Hilibi.

Holiwahali (on the north bank of Tallapoosa River in Elmore County):

Laplako, on the south side of Tallapoosa in Montgomery County nearly opposite HoΣiwahali.

Kasihta (best-known location on the east bank of Chattahoochee River, at the junction of Upatoie Creek in Chattahoochee County, Ga.):

Apatai, in the forks of Upatoie and Pine Knob Creeks in Muskogee County, Ga.
Salenojuh, on Flint River 8 miles below Aupiogee Creek (?).
Settlements bearing the same name (Kasihta).
Settlements on Chowockeleehatchee Creek, Ala.
Settlements on Little Uchee Creek, Ala.
Settlements on "Tolarnulkar Hatchee."
Sicharlitcha, location unknown.
Tallassee Town, on Opillikee Hatchee, perhaps in Schley or Macon Counties, Ga.
Tuckabatchee Harjo's Town, on Osenubba Hatchee, a west branch of the Chattahoochee, Ala.
Tuskehenehaw Chooley's Town, near West Point, Troup County, Ga.

Okchai:

Asilanabi, on Yellow Leaf Creek in Shelby County.
Lεlogεlga, or Fish Pond, on a branch of Elkhatchee Creek, 14 miles up, in Tallapoosa or Coosa County.
Okchai, location (1) on the east side of the lower Coosa in Elmore County; (2) in the southeastern part of Coosa County, on a creek bearing their name, which flowed into Kialaga Creek.
Potcas hatchee, probably a branch of this on the upper course of Hatchet Creek in Clay or Coosa County.
Tcahki lako, on Chattahoochee River.
Tulsa hatchee, location uncertain.

Pakana:

Pakan Tallahassee, on Hatchet Creek, Coosa County.

The Pakana who settled near Fort Toulouse at the junction of Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers and afterward moved to Louisiana, living on Calcasieu River for a while.

Tukabahchee (in the sharp angle made where Tallapoosa River turns west in Elmore County):

Only one small out village is mentioned, Wihili, location unknown.

Wakokai (on the middle course of Hatchet Creek in Coosa County):

Sakapadai, probably on Sacapartoy, a branch of Hatchet Creek, Coosa County.
Tukpafka, on Hatchet Creek, Coosa County.
Wiogufki, on Weogufka Creek in Coosa County.

Besides the Muskogee tribes noted above, there were the following:

Fus-hatchee. Not a major division; on the north bank of Tallapoosa River in Elmore County, 2 miles below Holiwahali. They may have been related to the Holiwahali.
Kan-hatki. Not a major division; just below Kolomi on the north bank of Tallapoosa River in Elmore County. Possibly related to the Holiwahali.
Kealedji. Not a primary division; perhaps a branch of Tukabahchee; location (1) on the Ocmulgee, (2) on Kialaga Creek in Elmore County or Tallapoosa County, having one branch Hatcheetcaba, west of Kealedji, probably in Elmore County.
Kolomi. Probably not a major division; location (1) on the Ocmulgee, (2) on the middle Chattahoochee in Russell County, Alb., (3) on the north side of the lower Tallapoosa in Elmore County. They may have been related to the Holiwahali.
Wiwohka. Not a primary division but a late town; location (1) near the mouth of Hatchet Creek in Coosa County, (2) on Weoka Creek in Elmore County.

In addition to the above there were a number of towns and villages which cannot be classified, or only with extreme doubt. They are as follows:

Acpactaniche, on the headwaters of Coosa River, perhaps meant for Pakana.
Alkehatchee, an Upper Creek town.
Atchasapa, on Tallapoosa River not far below Tulsa, possibly for Hatcheechubba.
Aucheucaula, in the northwestern part of Coosa County.
Auhoba, below Autauga. (See Alabama.)
Breed Camp, an Upper Creek town, probably meant for the Chickasaw settlement of Ooe-asa.
Cauwaoulau, a Lower Creek village in Russell County west of Uchee Post Office and south of the old Federal road.
Chachane, the Lower Creek town farthest downstream.
Chanahunrege, between the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers in or near Coosa County.
Chananagi, placed by Brannon (1909) "in Bullock County, just south of the Central of Georgia Railroad near Suspension."
Chichoufkee, an Upper Creek town in Elmore County, east of Coosa River and near Wiwoka Creek.
Chinnaby's Fort, at Ten Islands in the Coosa River.
Chiscalage, in or near Coosa County, perhaps a body of Yuchi.
Cholocco Litabixee, in the Horseshoe Bend of Tallapoosa River.
Chuahla, just below White Oak Creek, south of Alabama River.
Cohatchie, in the southwestern part of Talladega County on the bank of Coosa River.
Conaliga, in the western part of Russell County or the eastern part of Macon, somewhere near the present Warrior Stand.
Cooccohapofe, on Chattahoochee River.
Cotohautustenuggee, on the right bank of Upatoie Creek, Muscogee County, Ga.
Cow Towns, location uncertain.
Donnally's Town, on the Flint or the Chattahoochee River.
Ekun-duts-ke, probably on the south bank of Line Creek in Montgomery County.
Emarhe, location uncertain.
Eto-husse-wakkes, on Chattahoochee River, 3 miles above Fort Gaines.
Fife's Village, an Upper Creek village a few miles east of Talladega, Ala.
Fin'halui, a Lower Creek settlement, perhaps the Yuchi settlement of High Log.
Habiquache, given by the Popple Map as on the west side of Coosa River.
Ikan atchaka, "Holy Ground," in Lowndes County, 2 1/2 miles due north of White Hall, just below the mouth of Holy Ground Creek on the Old Sprott Plantation.
Istapoga, in Talladega County near the influx of Estaboga Creek into Choccolocco Creek, about 10 miles from Coosa River.
Kehatches, somewhere above the bend of Tallapoosa River and between it and the Coosa.
Keroff, apparently on the upper Coosa.
Litafatchi, at the head of Canoe Creek in St. Clair County.
Lustuhatchee, above the second cataract of Tallapoosa River.
Melton's Village, in Marshall County, Ala., on Town Creek, at the site of the present "Old Village Ford."
Ninnipaskulgee, near Tukabahchee.
Nipky, probably a Lower Creek town.
Oakchinawa Village, in Talladega County, on both sides of Salt Creek, near the point where it flows into Big Shoal Creek.
Old Osonee Town, on Cahawba River in Shelby County.
Opillako, on Pinthlocco Creek in Coosa County.
Oti palin, on the west bank of Coosa River, just below the junction of Canoe Creek. (See Chinnaby's Fort.)
Oti tutcina, probably between Coosa and OpilΣako or Pakan Tallahassee and on Coosa River.
Pea Creek, perhaps an out settlement of Tukabahchee, location unknown.
Pin Huti, somewhere near Dadeville in Tallapoosa County.
Rabbit Town, possibly a nickname, location unknown.
St. Taffery's, location unknown.
Satapo, on Tennessee River.
Talipsehogy, an Upper Creek settlement.
Talishatchie Town, in Calhoun County east of a branch of Tallasehatchee Creek 3 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
Tallapoosa, said to be within a day's journey of Fort Toulouse at the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa River and probably on the river of that name.
Talwa Hadjo, on Cahawba River.
Tohowogly, perhaps intended for Sawokli, 8 to 10 miles below the falls of the Chattahoochee.
Turkey Creek, in Jefferson County, on Turkey Greek north of Trussville, probably Creek.
Uncuaula, in the western part of Coosa County on Coosa River.
Wallhal, an Upper Creek town given on the Purcell map, perhaps intended for Eufaula, or an independent town on Wallahatchee Creek, Elmore County.
Weyolla, a town so entered on the Popple Map, between the Coosa and Tallapoosa but near the former; probably a distorted form of the name of some well-known place.

History.—Muskogee tradition points to the northwest for the origin of the nation. In the spring of 1540, De Soto passed through some settlements and a "province" called Chisi, Ichisi, and Achese, in southern Georgia, which may have been occupied by Muskogee because they are known to Hitchiti-speaking people as Ochesee. Somewhat later he entered Cofitachequi, probably either the later Kasihta, or Coweta, and the same summer he entered Coosa and passed through the country of the Upper Creeks. Companions of De Luna visited Coosa again in 1559 and assisted it in its wars with a neighboring tribe to the West, the Napochi. Cofitachequi was visited later by Juan Pardo and other Spanish explorers and some of Pardo's companions penetrated as far as Coosa. It is probable that part if not all of the province of Guale on the Georgia coast was at that time occupied by Muskogee, and relations between the Guale Indians and the Spaniards continued intimate from 1565 onward. Soon afterward the Spaniards also encountered the Creeks of Chattahoochee River. At what time the confederacy of which the Muskogee were the most important part was established is unknown but the nucleus probably existed in De Soto's time. At any rate it was in a flourishing condition in 1670 when South Carolina was colonized and probably continued to grow more rapidly than before owing to the accession of Creek tribes displaced by the Whites or other tribes whom the Whites had displaced. Before 1715 a large body were living on Ocmulgee River but following on the Yamasee outbreak of that year they withdrew to the Chattahoochee from which they had moved previously to be near the English trading posts. Occupying as they did a central position between the English, Spanish, and French colonies, the favor of the Creeks was a matter of concern to these nations, and they played a more important part than any other American Indians in the colonial history of the Gulf region. For a considerable period they were allied with the English, and they were largely instrumental in destroying the former Indian inhabitants of Florida and breaking up the missions which had been established there. Finding the territory thus vacated very agreeable and one abounding in game, they presently began to settle in it permanently particularly after it was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. The first of the true Muskogee to emigrate to Florida, except for a small band of Coweta, were some Eufaula Indians, and the Muskogee do not seem to have constituted the dominant element until after the Creek-American war, 1813-14. In the last decades of the eighteenth century, the internal organization of the Confederacy was almost revolutionized by Alexander McGillivray, the son of a Scotch trader, who set up a virtual dictatorship and raised the Confederacy to a high position of influence by his skill in playing off one European nation against another. After his death friction developed between the factions favorable to and those opposed to the Whites. Inspired by the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, a large part of the Upper Creeks broke out into open hostilities in 1813, but nearly all of the Lower Creeks and some of the most prominent Upper Creek towns refused to join with them and a large force from the Lower Creeks under William MacIntosh and Timpoochee Barnard, the Yuchi chief, actively aided the American army. This war was ended by Andrew Jackson's victory at Horsehoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River, March 27, 1814. One immediate result of this war was to double or triple the number of Seminole in Florida, owing to the multitude of Creeks who wished to escape from their old country.

From this time on friction between the pro-White and anti-White Creek factions increased. When the United States Government attempted to end these troubles by inducing the Indians to emigrate, the friction increased still more and culminated in 1825 when the Georgia commissioners had induced William MacIntosh, leader of the pro-American faction, and some other chiefs to affix their signatures to a treaty ceding all that was then left of the Creek lands. For this act formal sentence of death was passed upon MacIntosh, and he was shot by a band of Indians sent to his house for that purpose May 1, 1825. However, the leaders of the Confederacy finally agreed to the removal, which took place between 1836 and 1840, the Lower Creeks settling in the upper part of their new lands and the Upper Creeks in the lower part. The former factional troubles kept the relations between these two sections strained for some years, but they were finally adjusted and in course of time an elective government with a chief, second chief, and a representative assembly of two houses was established, which continued until the nation was incorporated into the State of Oklahoma.

Population.—Except where an attempt is made to give the population by towns, it is usually impossible to separate the Muskogee from other peoples of the Confederacy. Correct estimates of all Creeks are also rendered difficult because they were taking in smaller tribes from time to time and giving off colonists to Florida and Louisiana. In 1702 Iberville placed the whole number of Creek and Alabama families at 2,000. In 1708 South Carolina officials estimated about 2,000 warriors. In 1715 something approaching a census was taken of the tribes in their vicinity by the government of South Carolina and a total of 1,869 men and a population of 6,522 was returned for the Creeks, exclusive of the Alabama, Yuchi, Shawnee, Apalachicola, and Yamasee. A town by town enumeration made by the Spaniards in 1738 shows 1,660 warriors; a French estimate of 1750, 905; another of 1760, 2,620; a North Carolina estimate of 1760, 2,000 warriors; an English estimate of 1761, 1,385; one of about 3,000 the same year; an American estimate of 1792, 2,850; and finally the census taken in 1832-33 just before the emigration of the Creeks to their new lands across the Mississippi, showed a total of 17,939 in the true Muskogee towns. Besides these more careful statements, we have a number of general estimates of warriors in the eighteenth century ranging from 1,250 up to between 5,000 and 6,000. This last was by Alexander McGillivray and is nearest that shown by the census of 1832-33. It would seem either that the earlier estimates were uniformly too low or that the Confederacy increased rapidly during the latter part of the eighteenth century and the first part of the nineteenth. After the removal estimates returned by the Indian Office and from other sources ranged between 20,000 and 25,000.

When a new census was taken in 1857, however, less than 15,000 were resumed, and there was a slow falling off until 1919 when there were about 12,000. It must be noted that the census of 1910 returned only 6,945, a figure which can be reconciled with that of the United States Indian Office only on the supposition that it is supposed to cover only Indians of full or nearly full blood. The report of the United States Indian Office for 1923 gives 11,952 Creeks by blood.

Regarding the later population it must be remembered that it has become more and more diluted. The United States Census of 1930 gave 9,083 but included the Alabama and Koasati Indians of Texas and Louisiana and individuals scattered through more than 13 other States outside of Oklahoma, where 8,760 lived. These "general estimates" include the incorporated tribes.

Connection in which they have become noted.—In the form Muskhogean, the name of this tribe was adopted by Powell (1891) for that group of languages to which the speech of the Muskogee belongs. In the form Muscogee it has been given to a county in western Georgia, and to a railroad junction in it, and to a post-village in Escambia County, Fla. In the form Muskogee it is the name of the capital of Muskogee County, Okla., the third largest city in that state. The political organization of which they constituted the nucleus and the dominant element represents the most successful attempt north of Mexico at the formation of a superstate except that made by the Iroquois, and the part they played in the early history of our Gulf region was greater than that of any other, not even excepting the Cherokee. They were one of the principal mound-building tribes to survive into modern times and were unsurpassed in the elaborate character of their ceremonials (except possibly by the Natchez), while their prowess in war was proven by the great contest which they waged with the United States Government in 1813-14, and the still more remarkable struggle which their Seminole relatives and descendants maintained in Florida in 1835-1842. Their great war speaker, Hopohithli-yahola, was probably surpassed in native greatness by no chief in this area except the Choctaw Pushmataha. (See Foreman, 1930.)

Napochi. If connected with Choctaw Napissa, as seems not unlikely, the name means "those who see," or " those who look out," probably equivalent to "frontiersmen."

Connection.—They belonged to the southern division of the Muskhogeans proper, and were seemingly nearest to the Choctaw.

Location.—Along Black Warrior River.

History.—The tribe appears first in the account of an attempt to colonize the Gulf States in 1559 under Don Tristan de Luna. A part of his forces being sent inland from Pensacola Bay came to Coosa in 1560 and assisted its people against the Napochi, whom they claimed to have reduced to "allegiance" to the former. After this the Napochi seem to have left the Black Warrior, and we know nothing certain of their fate, but the name was preserved down to very recent times among the Creeks as a war name, and it is probable that they are the Napissa spoken of by Iberville in 1699, as having recently united with the Chickasaw. Possibly the Acolapissa of Pearl River and the Quinipissa of Louisiana were parts of the same tribe.

Population.—Unknown.

Connection in which they have become noted.—The only claim the Napochi have to distinction is their possible connection with the remarkable group of mounds at Moundville, Hale County, Ala.

Natchez. One section of the Natchez Indians settled among the Abihka Creeks near Coosa River after 1731 and went to Oklahoma a century later with the rest of the Creeks. (See Mississippi.)

Okchai. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Okmulgee. A Creek tribe and town of the Hitchiti connection. (See Georgia.)

Osochi. Meaning unknown.

Connections.—Within recent times the closest connections of this tribe have been with the Chiaha, though their language is said to have been Muskogee, but there is some reason to think that they may have been originally a part of the Timucua. (See below.)

Location.—Their best known historic seat was in the great bend of Chattahoochee River, Russell County, Ala., near the Chiaha. (See also Georgia and Florida.)

Villages:

The town of Hotalgi-huyana populated in part from this tribe and in part from the Chiaha. The census of 1832 gives two settlements, one on the Chattahoochee River and one on a stream called Opillike Hatchee.

History.—The suggestion that the Osochi may have been Timucua is founded (1) on the resemblance of their name to that of a Timucua division in northwest Florida called by the Spaniards Ossachile or Uηachile, (2) on the fact that after the Timucua uprising of 1666 some of the rebels "fled to the woods," and (3) the later mention of a detached body of Timucua in the neighborhood of the Apalachicola. Early in the eighteenth century they seem to have been living with or near the Apalachicola at the junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint. From what Hawkins (1848) tells us regarding them, we must suppose that they moved up Flint River somewhat later and from there to the Chattahoochee, in the location near the Chiaha above given. They migrated to Oklahoma with the rest of the Lower Creeks, and maintained their separateness in that country for a while but were later absorbed in the general mass of the Creek population.

Population.—The following estimates of the effective male population of the Osochi occur: 1750, 30; 1760, 50; 1792, 50. The census of 1832-33 returned a total of 539, but one of the two towns inhabited by these Indians may have belonged to the Okmulgee.

Pakana. A division of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Pawokti. This tribe moved from Florida to the neighborhood of Mobile along with the Alabama Indians and afterward established a town on the upper course of Alabama River. Still later they were absorbed into the Alabama division of the Creek Confederacy. (See Florida.)

Pilthlako. A division of the Creeks, probably related to the Muskogee (q. v.), and possibly a division of the Okchai.

Sawokli. Possibly meaning "raccoon people," in the Hitchiti language, and, while this is not absolutely certain, the okli undoubtedly means "people."

Connections.—The Sawokli belonged to the Muskhogean linguistic stock and to the subdivision called Atcik-hata. (See Apalachicola.)

Location.—The best known historic location was on the Chattahoochee River in the northeastern part of the present Barbour County, Ala. (See Florida and Georgia.)

Villages:

Hatchee tcaba, probably on or near Hatchechubbee Creek, in Russell County, Ala.
Okawaigi, on Cowikee Creek, in Barbour County, Ala.
Okiti-yagani, in Clay County, Ga., not far from Fort Gaines.
Sawokli, several different locations, the best known of which is given above.
Sawoklutci, on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, in Stewart County, Ga.
Tcawokli, probably on Chattahoochee River in the northeastern part of Russell County, Ala.

History.—When first known to the Spaniards the Sawokli were living on Chattahoochee River below the falls. A Spanish mission, Santa Cruz de Sabacola, was established in one section of the tribe by Bishop Calderon of Cuba in 1675, and missionaries were sent to a larger body among the Creeks in 1679 and again in 1681. Most of the Indians surrounding these latter, however, soon became hostile and those who were Christianized withdrew to the junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, where they were settled not far from the newly established Chatot missions. The Sawokli appear to have remained in the same general region until 1706 or 1707, when they were displaced by hostile Indians, probably Creeks. At least part lived for a while on Ocmulgee River and returned to the Chattahoochee, as did the residents of many other Indian towns, about 1715, after which they gradually split up into several settlements but followed the fortunes of the Lower Creeks. In the seventeenth century there may have been a detached body as far west as Yazoo River, saw a map of that period gives a "Sabougla" town there and the name is preserved to the present day in a creek and post village.

Population.—In 1738 a Spanish report gives the Sawokli 20 men, evidently an underestimate. In 1750 four settlements are given with more than 50 men, and in 1760 the same number of settlements and 190 men, including perhaps the Tamali, but to these must be added 30 men of Okiti-yakani. In 1761, including the neighboring and probably related villages, they are reported to have had 50 hunters. Hawkins in 1799 gives 20 hunters in Sawoklutci but no figures for the other towns. (See Hawkins, 1848.) In 1821 Young (in Morse, 1822) estimates 150 inhabitants in a town probably identical with this, and, according to the census of 1832-33, there were 187 Indians in Sawokli besides 42 slaves, 157 Indians in Okawaigi, and 106 in Hatcheetcaba; altogether, exclusive of the slaves, 450.

Connection in which they have become noted.—Sawokla is the name of a small place in Oklahoma, and a branch of this town has had its name incorporated in that of a stream, the Chewokeleehatchee, in Macon County., Ala., and in a post office called Chewacla in Lee County, Ala.

Shawnee. In 1716 a band of Shawnee from Savannah River moved to the Chattahoochee and later to the Tallapoosa, where they remained until early in the nineteenth century. A second band settled near Sylacauga in 1747 and remained there until some time before 1761 when they returned north. (See Tennessee.)

Taensa. This tribe was moved from Louisiana in 1715 and given a location about 2 leagues from the French fort at Mobile, one which had been recently abandoned by the Tawasa, along a water-course which was named from them Tensaw River. Soon after the cession of Mobile to Great Britain, the Taensa returned to Louisiana. (See Louisiana.)

Tohome. Said by Iberville to mean "little chief," but this is evidently an error.

Connections.—They belonged to the southern branch of the Muskhogean linguistic group, their closest relatives being the Mobile.

Location.—About McIntosh's Bluff on the west bank of Tombigbee River, some miles above its junction with the Alabama.

Subdivisions:

Anciently there were two main branches of this tribe, sometimes called the Big Tohome and Little Tohome, but the Little Tohome are known more often as Naniaba, "people dwelling on a hill," or "people of the Forks;" the latter would be because they were where the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers unite.

Villages:

No others are known than those which received their names from the tribe and its subdivisions.

History.—Cartographical evidence suggests that the Tohome may once have lived on a creek formerly known as Oke Thome, now contracted into Catoma, which flows into Alabama River a short distance below Montgomery. When first discovered by the Whites, however, they were living at the point above indicated. In the De Luna narratives (1559-60) the Tombigbee River is called "River of the Tome." Iberville learned of this tribe in April 1700, and sent messengers who reached the Tohome village and returned in May. In 1702 he went to see them himself but seems not to have gone beyond the Naniaba. From this time on Tohome history is identical with that of the Mobile and the two tribes appear usually to have been in alliance although a rupture between them was threatened upon one occasion on account of the murder of a Mobile woman by one of the Tohome. In 1715 a Tohome Indian killed an English trader named Hughes who had come overland from South Carolina, had been apprehended and taken to Mobile by the French and afterward liberated. A bare mention of the tribe occurs in 1763 and again in 1771-72. They and the Mobile probably united ultimately with the Choctaw.

Population.—In 1700 Iberville estimated that the Tohome and Mobile each counted 300 warriors, but 2 years later he revised his figures so far that he gave 350 for the two together. In 1730 Regis de Rouillet estimated that there were 60 among the Tohome and 50 among the Naniaba. In 1758 Governor De Kerlerec estimated that the Mobile, Tohome, and Naniaba together had 100 warriors. (See Mobile.)

Tukabahchee. One of the four head tribes of the Muskogee (q. v.).

Tuskegee. Meaning unknown, but apparently containing the Alabama term tεska, "warrior."

Connection.—The original Tuskegee language is unknown but it was probably affiliated with the Alabama, and hence with the southern branch of Muskhogeans.

Location.—The later and best known location of this tribe was on the point of land between Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, but in 1685 part of them were on the Chattahoochee River near modern Columbus and the rest were on the upper Tennessee near Long Island. (See also Oklahoma and Tennessee.)

Villages:

None are known under any except the tribal name.

History.—In 1540 De Soto passed through a town called Tasqui 2 days before he entered Coosa. In 1567 Vandera was informed that there were two places in this neighborhood near together called Tasqui and Tasquiqui, both of which probably belonged to the Tuskegee.

By the close of the seventeenth century the Tuskegee appear to have divided into two bands one of which Coxe (1705) places on an island in Tennessee River. This band continued to live on or near the Tennessee for a considerable period but in course of time settled among the Cherokee on the south side of Little Tennessee River, just above the mouth of Tellico, in the present Monroe County, Tenn. Sequoya lived there in his boyhood. Another place which retained this name, and was probably the site of an earlier settlement was on the north bank of Tennessee River, in a bend just below Chattanooga, while there was a Tuskegee Creek on the south bank of Little Tennessee River, north of Robbinsville, in Graham County, N. C. This band, or the greater part of it, was probably absorbed by the Cherokee.

A second body of Tuskegee moved to the location mentioned above where the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers come together. It is possible that they first established themselves among the Creek towns on the Ocmulgee, moved with them to the Chattahoochee in 1715 and finally to the point just indicated, for we have at least two documentary notices of Tuskegee at those points and they appear so situated on a number of maps. It is more likely that these were the Tuskegee who finally settled at the Coosa-Tallapoosa confluence than a third division of the tribe but the fact is not yet established. In 1717 the French fort called Fort Toulouse or the Alabama Fort was built close to this town and therefore it continued in the French interest as long as French rule lasted. After the Creek removal, the Tuskegee formed a town in the southeastern part of the Creek territories in Oklahoma, but at a later date part moved farther to the northwest and established themselves near Beggs.

Population.—There are no figures for the Tuskegee division which remained on Tennessee River. The southern band had 10 men according to the estimate of 1750, but this is evidently too low. Later enumerations are 50 men in 1760, 40 in 1761, including those of Coosa Old Town, 25 in 1772 and 1792, 35 in 1799. The census of 1832-33 returned a population of 216 Indians and 25 Negro slaves.

Connection in which they have become noted.—The name Tuskegee became applied locally to several places in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, and one in Creek County, Okla., but the most important place to receive it was Tuskeegee or Tuskegee, the county seat of Macon County, Ala. The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for colored people, located at this place, has, under the guidance of the late Booker T. Washington, made the name better known than any other association.

Wakokai. A division or subtribe of the Muskogee (q.v.)

Wiwohka. A division of the Muskogee made up from several different sources. (See Muskogee.)

Yamasee. There was a band of Yamasee on Mobile Bay shortly after 1716, at the mouth of the River, and such a band is entered on maps as late as 1744. It was possibly this same band which appears among the Upper Creeks during the same century and in particular is entered upon the Mitchell map of 1755. Later they seem to have moved across to Chattahoochee River and later to west Florida, where in 1823 they constituted a Seminole town. (See Florida.)

Yuchi. A band of Yuchi seems to have lived at a very early date near Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River, whence they probably moved into east Tennessee. A second body of the same tribe moved from Choctawhatchee River, Fla., to the Tallapoosa before 1760 and established themselves near the Tukabahchee, but they soon disappeared from the historical record. In 1715 the Westo Indians, who I believe to have been Yuchi, settled on the Alabama side of Chattahoochee River, probably on Little Creek. The year afterward another band, accompanied by Shawnee and Apalachicola Indians, established themselves farther down, perhaps at the mouth of Cowikee Creek in Barbour County, and not long afterward accompanied the Shawnee to Tallapoosa River. They settled beside the latter and some finally united with them. They seem to have occupied several towns in the neighborhood in succession and there is evidence that a part of them reached the lower Tombigbee. The main body of Yuchi shifted from the Savannah to Uchee Creek in Russell County between 1729 and 1740 and continued there until the westward migration of the Creek Nation. (See Georgia.)