John P. Long, Chattanooga’s first postmaster, who lived among the
Cherokees, stated that the meaning of the word _Chickamauga_ is
“sluggish water.” J. P. Brown, however, in his book entitled _Old
Frontiers_ says the word means “dwelling place of the war chief.” The
Chickamauga Dam was so named because of its being situated near the
mouth of the North and South Chickamauga Creeks. In the early days of
the Indians’ occupancy of this territory there was a village at the
mouth of the South Chickamauga known as _Bulltown_.
About eighty miles northeast of the Chickamauga Dam, in the Little
Tennessee River near old Fort Loudon, was Mialoquo, a very prominent
island where lived many prominent Cherokees. Dragging Canoe was the
leader of the militant minded Indians there.
In 1770 there passed down the Tennessee River at the site of the
Chickamauga Dam a Scotch trader by the name of John McDonald.
With him was a half-breed Cherokee by the name of William Shorey.
They turned their boats which held their possessions up the South
Chickamauga Creek and paddled and poled for about seven miles
upstream, halting at the crossing of the Great War Path where the Lee
Highway now crosses the Chickamauga Creek.
At this point, John McDonald decided to establish a trading post.
The old Scotchman soon proved himself a good business man because he
became very prosperous. At the outbreak of the American Revolution
the Cherokees aligned themselves on the side of the British. McDonald
was appointed the sub-agent for the King’s service, and his place was
the headquarters for Tories and Indians south of the Ohio River.
John McDonald married Anna Shorey, daughter of William Shorey. The
location of his home and store is now the site of the Brainerd
Mission, which was established in later years. Directly across the
Chickamauga from McDonald’s was Chickamauga Town, that stretched a
mile on the higher ground, ending at the present Chattanooga Airport.
In 1849, when the state of Georgia finished the Western and Atlantic
Railroad, a station and post office was established there known as
Chickamauga, Tennessee. It became a busy village where thousands of
dollars worth of farm produce was bought and shipped. After General
Bragg abandoned Chattanooga, Chickamauga became the terminus where
the Confederate troops and supplies were loaded and unloaded.
In 1777 the Cherokee settlements from Virginia to the Chattahoochee
River were destroyed by the whites. Following these heavy losses, the
Lower Cherokees gave up all their lands lying in South Carolina,
except a very small strip on their western boundary. Two months
later, the Middle and Upper Cherokees signed away their lands lying
east of the Blue Ridge. About the same time they ceded their lands in
northeast Tennessee to the white man. Most of the Cherokees, feeling
helpless, accepted the unjust treatment, but the loss of their most
valuable ground was more than Dragging Canoe could endure. This
patriotic Cherokee declared that before he would submit to such an
outrageous treaty, which swindled his people boldly, he would go
to war. There were hundreds of other brave Indians who felt as did
Dragging Canoe and were awaiting an opportunity to strike back at the
greedy whites, hoping thereby to regain some of their lost property.
When Dragging Canoe made his intentions known, there were attracted
to him the bravest of his tribe, who seceded from the Cherokee,
organizing themselves into a militant wing which became known as the
Chickamaugas. They settled at various places on the Chickamauga Creek.
This beautiful stream of water is formed by the aquatic contributions
of many other creeks. It rises in northwest Georgia, and as it flows
northwest it collects the waters from other sources. One mile above
the site of John McDonald’s trading post it receives the water from
the West Chickamauga, which has its source at the junction of Pigeon
and Lookout Mountains, thirty-five miles south of Chattanooga.
This is the Chickamauga Creek which gave the name to the battle
of Chickamauga. It might properly be stated here that the many
references to it in Civil War history as meaning “the river of death”
is an error.
Henry Hamilton, British Governor of the Northwest Territory,
stationed at Detroit, had transported on horseback from Pensacola
thousands of dollars in army supplies, which were stored at
McDonald’s for the Cherokees to use in their warfare against the
Americans. Hamilton had offered so many rewards to the Indians for
the scalps of revolutionists that he was popularly dubbed the _Hair
Buyer_. John Stuart was the British Agent for the South who had
charge of seeing that the war supplies were kept at McDonald’s.
Everything went well until the Americans, in command of Colonels Evan
Shelby and Montgomery, got into boats at Kingsport, Tennessee, in the
spring of 1779, and descended the Tennessee River. Soon after passing
where the Chickamauga Dam now stands, they piloted their boats to the
south side, where they found an Indian fishing. They made a prisoner
of him and forced him to guide them to Chickamauga Town, Dragging
Canoe’s headquarters. On reaching Chickamauga, they took the Indians
by surprise, captured all of the supplies the British had stored with
McDonald, and burnt the buildings to the ground. Among the spoils
were 150 head of horses which the officers employed for riding back
home. Dragging Canoe’s brother, Little Owl, who settled two miles
upstream at the same time Chickamauga Town was selected, had his
village destroyed by Shelby’s men shortly after they had reduced to
ashes the capital of the Chickamaugas. There were many prominent
Cherokees living at Chickamauga Town, among them was one named Long
Fellow, a son of Nancy Ward, the beloved Cherokee woman. Dragging
Canoe and Little Owl were first cousins of Nancy Ward.
[Illustration: Motor boats speeding on Chickamauga Lake]
In 1785 an Indian trader by the name of Mayberry left Baltimore with
a supply of goods. Daniel Ross, a young man from Sutherlandshire,
Scotland, met Mayberry, and being full of adventure joined him on the
proposed journey south. They took to the Tennessee River at Kingsport
and on their way down stream learned from a Chickasaw Indian, who
was a passenger on the boat, that both Ross and Mayberry were to be
captured. When they landed at Brown’s Ferry, a short distance below
Ross’ Landing, the Indians were suspicious of the new arrivals.
Chief Bloody Fellow asked for an immediate execution, but before
a definite decision was reached, a messenger was sent to confer
with John McDonald at Chickamauga. McDonald was able to secure the
release of the two men. Later, Daniel Ross married Molly McDonald,
daughter of John McDonald, and John Ross, who later became the most
distinguished Chief of the Cherokee Nation, was their son. Ten miles
northeast of Dragging Canoe’s Chickamauga Town was another Cherokee
settlement known as Ooltewah. Some of the Cherokees most prominent
men once lived in that region, especially along Ooltewah Creek, which
name has been corrupted to Wolf Tever. Much of the land there which
was formerly occupied by the Cherokees, has been inundated by the
Chickamauga Dam. Among the Cherokees once living there was Ostenaco,
popularly known in history as Judd’s Friend.
Following the disgraceful treaty of Long Island, in 1777, Ostenaco
joined the Chickamaugas and moved to Ooltewah. In 1760, when the
British troops surrendered Fort Loudon, Ostenaco was one of the
chiefs to march out with the conquered soldiers. The day’s trek
took the 180 soldiers 15 miles where they encamped on Cane Creek.
At daybreak the next morning the British were attacked by several
hundred Cherokees, and after they had killed Paul Demere, who had
been in command of the fort, and 23 of his men, Ostenaco ran about
the field yelping like a wolf in an effort to stop the Indians from
fighting. He thus saved the lives of many white soldiers.
After the restoration of peace Ostenaco went on a visit to
Williamsburg, Virginia, and there saw a picture of King George III.
This fired his ambition to make a journey to England, as his old
friend, Chief Little Carpenter, had once done. After Ostenaco’s
persistent pleading the governor of Virginia gave his consent.
Ostenaco with two attendants and with William Shorey of Chickamauga
as interpreter set sail with Lieutenant Henry Timberlake as guide.
Before reaching England William Shorey took sick and died. On their
arrival they were presented to King George by Lord Eglinton. The
Indians attracted considerable attention. Sir Joshua Reynolds,
eminent artist, made a group painting of the Indians, and then he
made a separate painting of Ostenaco.
Without an interpreter Ostenaco suffered a serious handicap. He
was unable to deliver an address he had prepared for King George.
He was determined that the King should know what he had to say and
on his return to America, November 3, 1762, he gave the following
address to Governor Bull of Charleston, S. C., to be translated and
transmitted to King George:
“Some time ago, my nation was in darkness, but that darkness has now
cleared up. My people were in great distress, but that is ended.
There will be no more bad talks in my nation, but all will be good
talks. If any Cherokee shall kill an Englishman, that Cherokee shall
be put to death. Our women are bearing children to increase our
nation, and I will order those who are growing up to avoid making war
with the English. If any of our head men retain resentment against
the English for their relations who have been killed, and if any of
them speak a bad word concerning it, I shall deal with them as I see
cause. No more disturbances will be heard in my nation. I speak not
with two tongues, and ashamed of those who do.”
Ostenaco was seasick on his way over the big pond, and the following
brief report hints as to what impressed him most on the long journey:
“Although I met with a good deal of trouble going over the wide
water, that is more than recompensed by the satisfaction of seeing
the King and the reception I met from him being treated as one of his
children and finding the treatment of every one there good to me.
“The number of warriors and people all of one color which we saw in
England, far exceeded what we thought possibly could be. That we
might see everything which was strange to us, the king gave us a
gentleman to attend to us all the day, and at night till bedtime.
“The head warrior of the canoe who brought us over the wide water,
used us very well. He desired us not to be afraid of the French for
he and his warriors could fight like men, and die rather than be
taken.”
The Chickamaugas were not ready to give up after their towns had been
destroyed in 1779. They rebuilt Chickamauga Town, but in 1782 John
Sevier, in command of a troop of mounted Tennesseeans, descended
on them, and after burning Chickamauga, marched up the creek and
destroyed Little Owl’s village. Fourteen years later John Sevier
became the first governor of Tennessee.
It is of interest to note that the land on which Little Owl’s village
was situated, containing 105 acres, has been The Elise Chapin Wild
Life Sanctuary, owned by the Chattanooga Audubon Society. On the
property is an Indian cabin which, according to reports and records
handed down by the earliest white settlers, was the birthplace of
Spring Frog, or Tooantuh, the Cherokee sportsman and naturalist. The
cabin has been preserved by Mrs. Sarah Key Patten and is one of the
oldest found in this part of the Cherokee country. Tooantuh was born
about the year 1754, fought with Andrew Jackson in the Creek war, and
was praised for his bravery at the battle of Horseshoe Bend. He went
West and took up the life of a farmer at Briartown, Oklahoma, where
he died. He was a man of great influence and was among the chiefs
whose portrait was painted for the War Department.