Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Chickamauga Towns


North Alabama Chickamauga Towns

Today, very little remains of the Chickamauga Indian towns of north Alabama; the physical evidence of these towns is practically nonexistence except for old maps and historical records.  Very few historic markers are available to the public identifying these important historic Chickamauga Indian sites; the Chickamauga people consisted of the Lower Cherokee, Chickasaw, Upper Creek, Shawnee, Yuchi, Delaware, and many mixed bloods who fought to save their sacred hunting grounds on the Cumberland River and to prevent white encroachment in their homelands.

Especially in northern Alabama, historical evidence is practically nonexistent; a few historical markers were placed over the last few years identifying the Trail of Tears; the local historical organizations of north Alabama seemed to have neglected some very important cultural and heritage sites of the Chickamauga people.


Some of the northern Alabama Chickamauga Indian towns are in vicinity of the present-day cities of Florence-Decatur, Huntsville-Guntersville, Scottsboro-Bridgeport, Gadsden-Centre, and Fort Payne.  Some of the north Alabama Chickamauga Indian towns include:  Florence-Decatur-Colbert’s Ferry, Doublehead’s Village, Cold Water, Shoal Town, Gourd’s Settlement, Cuttyatoy’s Village, Doublehead’s Reserve, Fort Hampton, Oakville, Melton’s Bluff, Foxes Stand, Doublehead’s Town, Mouse Town or Monee Town; Huntsville-Guntersville Area George Fields Village, Camp Coffee, Flint River Settlements, Gunter’s Landing, Brown’s Village, Meltonsville, Cherokee Bluff, Corn Silk Village, Creek Path, Coosada, Massas, Fort Deposit, Parches Cove; Scottsboro-Bridgeport Area-Area-North Sauty; Crow Town, Lookout Mountain Town, Long Island, Nickajack, Raccoon Town, Running Water; Gadsden-Centre Area-Broom Town, Otali, Turkey Town, Ball Play, Spring Creek Village, Polecat Town, Little Hogs Town, Hillibulga Village, Chattuga, Wolf Creek Village; Ft. Payne Area-Bootsville, Broom Town, Watts Town, Wills Town.

All the Chickamauga towns were connected together by Indian trails and paths in the area of north Alabama; the towns of Doublehead’s stronghold along the Muscle Shoals in northwestern Alabama were linked by Indian routes such as the High Town Path, Coosa Path or Muscle Shoals Path, the South River Road along the south bank of the Tennessee River, and the North River Road along the north bank of the Tennessee River.  All the northern Alabama Chickamauga Indian communities were tied together by numerous secondary Indian paths that forged the Chickamauga and Cherokee Indian settlements to each other across the north portion of Alabama.

1 comment:

  1. Butch, I agree it is sad that there are no historical markers at the old ancestorial towns. Maybe we could figure out a way to use FB (if legal) to solicite donations for use toward this purpose.
    Think how good it would be if families could do a driving tour on a sat or sunday afternoon to visit the historical markers on the site of the villages and visit nature. There are historical makers for places like Courtland, Cheatem Rd etc.. might even petition the federal or state to procure markers...just thoughts...Enjoyed reading your book Doublehead and have read most of your post/stories..I appreciate your research and dedication to introduce us to our rich native hertiage..Thanks, Jackson Waters

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