From: will.dockery@gmail.com   
      
   Muscogee Creek Indian History found and posted by Melissa Hargett, reposted   
   here for information, archival, historical purposes.   
      
   In regard to the Creek Indian Villages in and around Columbus, Ga   
   Relative peace reigned between whites and Native Americans in the early   
   1820's. A notable event in the Fort Benning region occurred when the aging   
   Frenchman and Revolutionary War hero, Marquis de LaFayette, journeyed down the   
   Federal Road in March 1825    
   on his triumphant tour of the country.   
   LaFayette was one of the last, high-ranking officers of the Revolutionary War   
   still alive.LaFayette's entourage made its first stop on Fort Benning land at   
   a trading post run by an American fur trader. The sky was just clearing after   
   a spring storm when    
   LaFayette's carriage, guarded by the Georgia militia, arrived. Auguste   
   Levasseur, LaFayette's secretary, later wrote that there were two male   
   Indians, "remarkable for their beauty and form," sitting near the doorway of   
   the trading post. The youngest of    
   the pair spoke impeccable English. His name was Hambly (or Hamley), and he was   
   the son of Creek and white parents.   
      
   Hambly told the visitors that he had left Indian territory when he was younger   
   to be educated in the United States, but returned to Indian lands because he   
   preferred the native way of life. He had apparently married several Creek   
   women. Levasseur and    
   another man, known only as George, who were traveling with LaFayette carried   
   on a cordial conversation with Hambly who invited them (and apparently the   
   rest of the caravan) to visit his nearby home. There he demonstrated Indian   
   dances for the visitors.    
   Levasseur reciprocated by performing French dances.   
      
   Researcher John Metcalf recently pinpointed the probable location of the   
   Hambly farm in an eastern quadrant of Fort Benning. In a report on preliminary   
   investigations at the site, archeologists Christopher Goodwin and Eric Poplin   
   state there were    
   apparent remains of a fireplace and a group of sandstone boulders perhaps used   
   as footing stones for a cabin.   
   LaFayette and his caravan traveled on to the banks of the Chattahoochee River   
   where they encountered a large delegation of Creeks. At the Kasita crossing,   
   the elderly Frenchman climbed upon a barge. Then young Indian men, first   
   wading, then swimming,    
   dragged the barge across the river. On the other side, LaFayette climbed into   
   a small carriage, and the Indians, using two long ropes, pulled the carriage   
   up the steep slope.   
      
   Upon his arrival at Fort Mitchell, an elaborate welcoming ceremony unfolded.   
   There were laudatory speeches in the Frenchman's honor by various dignitaries   
   on the parade ground. The Creek chief, Little Prince, dazzled the crowd with a   
   moving oration. He    
   expressed joy at being able to welcome the honored war hero. After his speech,   
   Little Prince explained to the visitors the lacrosse-type game sometimes   
   called the "little brother of war." Indians then put on a demonstration game.   
   It was one of the last    
   times that local Native Americans and white settlers shared friendly relations.   
      
   (To be Continued)   
      
   Additional commentary by Kawita Native of Phenix City, Alabama:   
      
   "Kawita Town, Cowita Town and other variations of spelling are all in   
   reference to the capital of the Creek Nation which was the original KVWETV   
   TOWN and part of the original Five Civilized Tribes. There were two locations,   
   both located just below where    
   the whitewater rapids are now which were known as Kawita Falls by early   
   explorers and both were located on the Phenix City, Alabama side of the river.   
   Early Spanish, French and English maps all show the great number of towns and   
   villages located in this    
   area. It is a shame that our local leaders refuse to work to preserve our   
   Native American history like the Abercrombie mounds which are located off   
   Brickyard Road and slowly washing away with each rain..."   
      
   Thanks for the information and feedback, Kawita Native.   
      
   Continuing with the material gathered by Melissa Hargett, here is Part Two...   
      
   Unrest had been smoldering for some months. Earlier in the year, the Creek   
   chiefs gathered at the central Georgia community of Indian Springs to meet   
   with Georgia government representatives. They negotiated at a tavern owned by   
   William McIntosh, one of    
   the five great chiefs of the Creek nation. McIntosh, whose father was a Scot   
   and mother a Creek, was chief of the village of Kawita on the Alabama side of   
   the river, not far from Fort Benning's boundaries.   
      
   McIntosh was a distinguished warrior, but his choice of foes did not endear   
   him to some Native Americans. He had fought beside Andrew Jackson in the 1814   
   Battle of Horseshoe Bend against the Upper Creeks, so there was probably   
   already mistrust between    
   him and some of the Creeks. McIntosh had also fought with American forces   
   against the Seminoles in Florida   
   More damaging to his reputation was the rumor that he was susceptible to   
   being bribed by white officials. He was also suspect because he maintained   
   cozy relations with the Georgia governor, George McIntosh Troup, his first   
   cousin.   
      
   McIntosh signed his own death warrant when he put his name on the Second   
   Treaty of Indian Springs on May 1, 1825, surrendering all remaining claims the   
   Creeks had to Georgia land. The treaty relinquished Native American rights to   
   land from the Flint    
   River to the Chattahoochee River, including the area now occupied by Fort   
   Benning and the city of Columbus. Reportedly, McIntosh accepted thousands of   
   dollars in return for his signature. Outraged Upper Creek leaders angrily   
   withdrew from the    
   negotiations, branding McIntosh a traitor and the treaty a fraud.   
      
   The Creek council had earlier decreed that anyone who sold Creek lands without   
   unanimous consent from the council would be sentenced to death. McIntosh knew   
   he was in danger and sought protection from Georgia officials. No one,   
   however, could save him    
   from the fury of his kinsmen.   
   Soon after the signing of the detested treaty, Upper Creek warriors invaded   
   McIntosh's plantation, near present day Carrollton, Georgia. They set his   
   house on fire, and when McIntosh ran from the blaze, shot and stabbed him to   
   death.   
      
   Violence spread as more settlers began moving onto land many Creeks still   
   considered theirs. The Indians responded with raids on white settlements. The   
   United States government ordered the 4th Infantry Regiment to Fort Mitchell to   
   quell the unrest. The    
   earlier fort had fallen into disrepair, and a new one was built.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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