Navitive American Indians Profile (NAIP)© McIntosh (A Creek Chief)

William McIntosh, whose admirable likeness is before the reader, was
a half breed, of the Muscogee or Creek nation. His father was a
Scotsman; his mother a native of unmixed blood. McIntosh was
intelligent and brave. In person he was tall, finely formed, and
of graceful and commanding manners. To these qualities he
probably owed his elevations to the chieftainship of the Coweta
tribe.{1}


General William McINTOSH

This noted halfbreed Chief of the Lower Creeks was the sone of
a Scotch Officer in the British Army by an Indian Mother and he
was born at the Creek town of Coweta in Alabama, on the lower 
Chatahoochee, nearly opoisite the present-day city of Columbus, GA.
and killed at the same place by order of the Creek National Council
on Apr 30, 1825.

Source: Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee, Pg. 215, Note (35)


     We know little of the early history of this chief. The first
notice we have of him is after his junction with the American
forces in 1812. General Floyd{2} mentions him in his report of
the battle, or, as it may with more propriety be termed, the
massacre of Autossee; on which occasion two hundred Creeks were
slain. The Indians were surprised in their lodges, and killed
before they could rally in their defense. McIntosh and his Indian
forces are reported by General Floyd to have "fought with an
intrepidity worthy of any troops."

     Autossee was a favorite spot, and had been selected by the
chiefs of eight of the Creek towns for a last and desperate stand
against the invading army; but the sudden and unexpected attack
of General Floyd terminated the contest. The chiefs of Autossee
and Tallassee were among the slain.

     McIntosh is again spoken of by the Commanding General,
Jackson,{3} as Major McIntosh, and is said by that officer, in
his report of the famous battle of the Horseshoe, to have
"greatly distinguished himself"{4} He also signalized himself in
the Florida campaign by various acts of gallantry.

     We shall leave our warrior chief for awhile, and glance at a
subject of great public interest, in relation to which he was
destined to act a conspicuous part, and which finally brought
about his death.

     In 1802, a compact was entered into between the United
States and the State of Georgia; the fourth article of which
stipulates, "that the United States shall, at their own expense,
extinguish, for the use of Georgia, as early as the same can be
peaceably effected, on reasonable terms, the Indian title to the
lands within the forks of the Oconnee and Oakmulgee Rivers, etc.
etc.; and that the United States shall, in the same manner, also
extinguish the Indian title to all the other lands within the
State of Georgia."

     The United States, in pursuance of this compact, proceeded
from time to time, by treaties, to extinguish the Indian title to
lands within the limits of Georgia. The first treaty of cession,
after the formation of the compact, was concluded on the Oconnee
River, near Fort Wilkinson, in the month of June following; a
second was negotiated in the City of Washington, in June, 1806; a
third was the treaty of conquest, of August, 1814; a fourth
treaty was negotiated in January, 1818; a fifth in January,
1821.{5} Under these several treaties, the Indian title to about
fifteen millions of acres of land was extinguished; and the
United States paid Georgia, in money, one million two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars in lieu of lands which had been ceded to
the Indians.

     These various and successful efforts to fulfill the
intention of the compact of 1802, so early as 1811, alarmed the
Creeks. In order to arrest this inroad upon their domain, they
enacted a law in that year, at Broken Arrow,{6} forbidding, under
the penalty of death, the sale of any more lands, except by the
chiefs of the nation, ratified in general council. This law was
formally re-enacted in 1824, at the Polecat Springs. McIntosh is
said to have proposed this law.

     After the treaty of 1821, various unsuccessful efforts were
made to consummate the stipulations of the compact of 1802; but
the Creeks refused to listen to any overtures. Meanwhile, the
Executive of Georgia became impatient of the delay, and opened a
highly excited and painful correspondence with the Government at
Washington, in which the President was charged with bad faith;
and, among other things, with attempting to defeat the objects of
the treaty by the introduction of schools and other plans of
civilization and improvement among the Indians. If you enlighten
the Indians as to the value of their possessions, it was argued,
you increase the difficulty of obtaining their consent to part
with them. It was answered by the Federal Executive, that every-
thing on the part of the United States had been done in good
faith; and the improvement of the Indians, which was complained
of, was only a continuation of the policy adopted by Washington,
and continued throughout the successive administrations to the
present time. This policy, which one would think needed no
defense before a civilized and Christian people, was maintained
by unanswerable arguments. No efforts, consistent with principle,
were spared by the Executive at Washington to gratify the desires
of Georgia, nor did Congress ever refuse the means to effect a
purchase of all the lands held by the Creeks within her limits.

     During the latter part of the administration of President
Monroe, Messrs Campbell and Meriwether were appointed
commissioners to make another attempt to treat with the Creek
Indians. Letters were received at Washington from the
commissioners, inquiring whether the Executive would recognize a
treaty entered into with McIntosh? They were answered by the
Secretary of War, Mr. Calhoun, that no treaty would be respected
unless made with the chiefs of the nation. Meanwhile the
commissioners called a meeting of the Indians at the Indian
Springs, a reservation occupied by McIntosh. Among those who
attended was the Chief of Tuckhabatchee. When the proposition was
made by the commissioners to purchase their country, that chief
rose and said: "You asked us to sell more lands at Broken Arrow;
we told you we had none to spare. I told McIntosh then, that he
knew no land could be sold except in full council, and by consent
of the nation." The chief then added: "We have met here at a very
short notice -only a few chiefs are present from the upper towns;
and many are absent from the lower towns." He concluded by
saying: " That's all the talk I have to make, and I shall go
home." Whereupon he left the ground, and returned to
Tuckhabatchee. Though McIntosh had attended the meeting to sell
the country, he is said at this point to have wavered. He. looked
round among the Indians, but saw no chief of influence, except
Etomie Tustennuggee, whose consent he had procured to his scheme.
The commissioners, however, intent upon the treaty, calmed the
fears of McIntosh by a promise of protection from the United
States. The treaty which had been prepared was read and signed by
the commissioners, by "William McIntosh, head chief of the
Cowetas" Etomie Tustennuggee, by his X, and by thirteen others,
who, though chiefs, were of inferior rank; and, lastly by about
fifty men of no rank or power whatever, many of them being of the
lowest and most degraded of their countrymen.{7}

     This treaty was executed at the Indian Springs, on the 12th
of February, 1825, and on the 2nd of March following reached
Washington. The very speed by which it had been transmitted
indicated the fears entertained by the commissioners, and by
Georgia, that the nation would protest against it, and cause its
rejection. The Creek agent, Colonel Crowell,{8} sent with it to
Washington a protest against its validity. This confirmed the
apprehensions of the Secretary of War, who, as it was generally
understood, preferred delaying its submission to the Senate until
further information could be received from the Indians, or to
reopen the negotiation with a view to obtain the ratification of
the treaty by the acknowledged chiefs of the nation. It was
feared, that, if the treaty should prove, so far as the Creek
nation was concerned, invalid, its ratification by the Senate
would create intense excitement, and be the signal for bloodshed
among the Indians. President Monroe, however, thought proper to
lay the treaty before the Senate, together with the agent's
protest, and leave it to that body to decide, as in its wisdom it
might think best. He was led to this course by the, consideration
that the term of his office was about to close. The treaty was
accordingly sent to the Senate, and was ratified on the 7th of
March, 1826. Meanwhile Mr. Adams had succeeded to the presidency-
the treaty was returned to him from the Senate, and approved.

     The Creek nation had now become greatly excited; and
McIntosh, fearing the result, claimed protection from Georgia. We
believe it was promised. The Creeks, however, had resolved on
revenge. Menawa, whose likeness will appear in this work, and who
is called the "Great Warrior," was commissioned by the chiefs to
raise a party, to march to the Indian Springs, and execute the
judgment of their law upon McIntosh, on his own hearth-stone.
They were also directed to slay Etomie Tustennuggee, and any
other chiefs who had acceded to the treaty. With the usual
promptitude of the Indians in the prosecution of bloody business,
Menawa was soon at the head of one hundred of his Oakfuskee
braves, and after a rapid march arrived before the house of the
fated McIntosh, before day, on the morning of the first of May,
just seventy-seven days after the signing of the treaty. The
house having been surrounded, Menawa spoke:- "Let the white
people who are in this house come out, and so will the women and
children. We come not to injure them. McIntosh has broken the law
made by himself, and we have come to kill him for it." This
summons was obeyed by all to whom it was addressed. McIntosh's
son, Chilly, who, having signed the treaty, was in the list of
meditated victims, was enabled, by his light complexion, to pass
out with the whites, and escaped. Only two remained, and these
were McIntosh and Etomie Tustennuggee. The house was fired; the
two victims, forced by the flames, appeared at the door, where
they were received by a shower of bullets, and instantly killed.
A half-breed, named Sam Hawkins,{9} was taken the same day and
hanged; and Ben, his brother, also a half-breed, was fired upon
and severely wounded, but escaped. Menawa was careful to give out
that the white people should not be molested; that the Creek
nation meant only to punish those who had violated their law.
This bloody tragedy greatly excited the people of Georgia.
Governor Troup threatened vengeance. It was feared that the State
of Georgia might make it necessary for the General Government to
interfere, and that these two powers might come in collision.
President Adams, however, met the crisis with coolness and
resolution, and at length the fever abated, and Georgia, though
still demanding the possession of all the Indian lands within her
limits, subsided into comparative quiet. Upon minute inquiry into
the circumstances of the treaty of the Indian Springs, it was
abandoned, and a new treaty was made at Washington on the 4th of
January, 1826. The first article of the treaty of Washington
declared the treaty of the Indian Springs "to be null and void to
every intent and purpose whatever; and any right or claim arising
From the same is declared to he canceled or surrendered."

     It is not difficult to imagine the inducements which led
McIntosh to enter upon this treaty in defiance of the law of his
nation, and its bloody penalty. He probably foresaw that his
people would have no rest within the limits of Georgia, and
perhaps acted with an honest view to their interests. The
intercourse he had enjoyed with the army of the United States,
and the triumph of their arms over the desperate valor of the
Indians, which he had witnessed at Autossee, the Horseshoe, and
in Florida, induced him to believe he would be safe under the
shadow of their protection, even from the vengeance of his tribe.
But there were, besides, strong appeals to his cupidity, in the
provisions of the treaty of the Indian Springs, and in its
supplements. By one of these, the Indian Spring reservation was
secured to him; and by another it was agreed to pay him for it
twenty-five thousand dollars. Moreover, the second article of the
treaty provided for the payment to the Creek nation of four
hundred thousand dollars. Of this sum he would of course have
received his share. Such inducements might have been sufficiently
powerful to shake a virtue based upon a surer foundation than the
education of a heathen Indian could afford. Besides this, he was
flattered and caressed by the commissioners, who were extremely
eager to complete the treaty, and taught to believe that he was
consulting the ultimate advantage of the nation. These
considerations, in some measure, remove the odium from his
memory. But it must still bear the stain which Indian justice
affixes to the reputation of the chief who sells, under such
circumstances, the graves of his fathers.

     Out of this occurrence arose two parties among the Creek
Indians. One was composed of the bulk of the nation, the other of
the followers of McIntosh, headed by his son, Chilly. The latter
were intent on immediate removal. To aid them in this, the treaty
of Washington, of January 24, 1826, provided for an examination
of the country west of the Mississippi, and for the distribution
of one hundred thousand dollars among the friends and followers
of the late General McIntosh, if their party should number three
thousand persons; fifteen thousand to be paid immediately after
the ratification of the treaty, and the residue on their arrival
west of the Mississippi. Provision was also made to ascertain the
damages sustained by the friends and followers of General
McIntosh, in consequence of the treaty of the Indian Springs, and
contrary to the laws of the Creek nation.

     Every disposition was manifested by the General Government
to heal those breaches, and quiet those animosities which had
been produced by that unfortunate treaty. No subsequent
collisions happened between the parties.

     The Creek nation were not long permitted to retain an inch
of ground in Georgia. The treaty of Washington provided for a
cession of the whole of it? except a small strip on the
Chattahoochee. This, Georgia insisted on having. In 1827, a
special commission was made out, directing Colonel McKenney,
after he should have executed certain trusts confided to him, as
joint commissioner with Governor Cass, in the Lake Country, to
pass over to the Mississippi, descend the river, and thence
proceed into the country occupied by the four southern tribes, to
negotiate with the Creeks for the remnant of their inheritance in
Georgia. This duty was performed. A treaty was concluded on the
15th of November, 1827, and ratified on the 4th of March
following, which quieted for ever the controversy between Georgia
and the United States, so far as it related to the Creek
Indians.{10}

     The Creeks retired to their possessions in Alabama. But they
were not long left in peace even there. That State demanded their
removal from her limits, and was soon gratified by the General
Government. A final treaty was made with this wretched
people.{11} Subdued in spirit, and impoverished, they at length
yielded to the power more than the persuasion of the whites, and
crossed the Mississippi. Their present condition is said to be
deplorable.{12}

     McIntosh died as he had lived, bravely. He knew the fate
that awaited him, and met it like an Indian warrior. Having been
thrown into the society of the more polished of our people, and
having been the associate of our officers in the wars on our
southern borders, he had acquired all the manners and much of the
polish of a gentleman. He lived in great comfort; possessed
slaves, whom he treated kindly, and at his death was about forty
years of age.

     We do not know enough of his family to furnish a sketch of
its members. Chilly McIntosh is an intelligent young man of good
manners, and has considerable influence with his people, who
emigrated with him to the West. One of the daughters, we believe,
married a Mr. Hawkins, a sub-agent of the Government.{13}

REF: 001-NOTES

{1} His name appears also as MacIntosh, but he usually signed his
name "Wm. McIntosh." Coweta, or Kawita, is the name of two former
Lower Creek towns on Chattahoochee River, in Russell County,
Alabama, situated two and a half miles apart, and commonly
distinguished as Upper Kawita and Kawita Talahasi, or "Kawita old
town," in various forms of spelling. The latter was the "public
establishment" of the Lower Creeks and the headquarters of the
agent. In 1799 it could muster 66 warriors, and about the year
1833 the town contained 289 families. From the fact that Kawita
was regarded as the assembly place of the Lower Creeks, the name
was frequently used synonymously with Lower Creeks, as Kusa, or
Coosa, the name of the capital of the Upper Creeks, was sometimes
used to designate that part of the tribe. In 1775, Bartram
(Travels, p. 387, 1792) spoke of Kawita Talahasi as the "bloody
town, where the micos, chiefs, and warriors assemble when a
general war is proposed; and here captives and State malefactors
are put to death." Consult Gatschet in Handbook of American
Indians, edited by F. W. Hodge, I., 669, 1907, and his Migration
Legend of the Creek Indians, 1., 1884.

{2} General John Floyd, born at Beauford, South Carolina, October
3, 1769; died in Camden County, Georgia, June 21, 1839. In 1813
he was elected brigadier-general of the Georgia militia, and
commanded at the battle of Atasi (or Autossee as it is here
called, apparently after Drake) against the Creeks, November 29,
1813, in which he was severely wounded. On January 27, 1814, he
commanded at Camp Defiance in battle with the same Indians. After
serving in the Georgia Legislature from 1820 until 1827, he was
elected to Congress for one term, and was later a major-general
of militia. Atasi (from the Creek a'tassa, "war-club") was an
Upper Creek town on Tallapoosa River, in Macon County, Alabama.
In 1756 it contained forty-three warriors, and when seen by
Benjamin Hawkins in 1799 it was a poor, miserable-looking place.
When the Creeks were removed to Indian Territory the name was
applied to a new settlement in the Creek Nation.

{3} General Andrew Jackson, afterward President of the United
States.

{4} The battle of the Horseshoe Bend of Tallapoosa River, in the
present Tallapoosa County Alabama, the final blow to the Creek
hostilities, was fought March 27, 1814 In this battle nearly a
thousand Creek warriors were killed.

{5} The first of the treaties herein mentioned was signed by the
United States commissioners and the Creeks near Fort Wilkinson on
June 16, 1802, and was ratified by Congress, January 11, 1803;
the second treaty was negotiated at Washington, November 14,
1805; and was confirmed June 2, 1806 (this treaty was signed by
McIntosh}; the third treaty, or "treaty of conquest," was
concluded by General Jackson at Fort Jackson, Alabama, August 9,
1814, and ratified February 15, 1816 (this treaty is signed by
"William McIntosh, jr., major of Cowetau"); the fourth treaty was
concluded at the Creek Agency, January 22, 1818, and confirmed
March 28 following, William McIntosh being one of the signers;
the treaty of Indian Springs (on the headwaters of Ocmulgee
River, in the present Butts County, Georgia), January 8, 1821,
was ratified by Congress on March 2. McIntosh was the first of
the twenty-five Indian signers of this fifth treaty.

{6} A translation of the Creek name Hlekatchka. It was situated
on a trail ford crossing Chattahoochee River (for which reason it
was also called Horse-path Town), probably in Russell County
Alabama. It was destroyed in 1814, but subsequcntly was re-
established, and in 1832 had 331 families.

{7} The commissioners who negotiated the treaty were Duncan G.
Campbell and James Meriwether, whose signatures are followed by
those of "William McIntosh, head chief of Cowetaus," "Etommee
Tustunnuggee, of Cowetau," and forty-nine others. Attached to the
treaty, and made a part thereof, is a quit claim by the tribe to
William McIntosh of a reservation including Indian Springs, "upon
which there are very extensive buildings and improvements, and an
agreement on the part of the commissioners to purchase McIntosh's
holdings for $25,000. The entire transaction was little short of
highway robbery of the tribe.

{8} John Crowell, Agent for Indian Affairs, witnessed the treaty.

{9} Sl. Hawkins was one of the two interpreters who signed the
treaty of January 8, 1821.

{10} See the Introduction.

{11} This treaty was concluded at Washington, March 24, 1832, and
was ratified April 4 following. Lewis Cass was the commissioner
for the United States in this negotiation.

{12} The Creek Indians are now [1944] one of the Five Civilized Tribes
of Oklahoma, and are all citizens of the United States. For many
years they maintained their own form of government, patterned
after that of the United States, and until recently held a
reservation of 626,044 acres. In 1906 there were 11,081 Creeks
"by blood," and 6265 freedmen- Negroes who, or whose parents, had
been held in bondage by members of the tribe. In the same year
the United States held in trust for the Creeks the sum of
$2,472,930, yielding an annuity of $123,646, and in addition the
tribe received, through leases of tribal lands, etc., nearly
$200,000, all in addition to individual earnings. When, in 1907,
Indian Territory was consolidated with Oklahoma and was admitted
to the Union as a State, the Creek national government was
abolished and the former tribal lands are now held in severalty.
The great Creek Nation, therefore, is now a thing of the past.

{13} The portrait of Chilly was painted by J. M. Stanley in June
1843, but was burned in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. Stanley
says of him (Portraits of North American Indians, Washington,
1852, page 14): "He speaks English fluently, and has seen much of
civilized life, having spent much time at Washington transacting
business with heads of Departments in behalf of his people. He is
among the first men of his nation."



Source & Reference Notes!

	REF:#001]
	"The�Indian�Tribes of North�America"
	By�John�R. Swanton; 1944
	[Retired�from active membership on the�staff�of�the 
	[Bureau of American Ethnology in 1944]

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