A Demand of Blood: The Cherokee War of 1776

“A Demand of Blood: The Cherokee War of 1776” by Nadia Dean is an excellent history of the Cherokee decline during the beginning of the American Revolutionary War; it shows how unrest with the white political divisions also created divisions among the native people.  This was definitely a crippling blow to the Cherokee people who had lived in harmony with the land from their aboriginal beginnings; traders had changed a lifestyle for these Indian people which could never return.   With rifles, the deerskin trade flourished a few years until deer got scarce; less animals meant Cherokee people had to depend upon their entire territory to take deerskins for trade.  Encroaching white settlers limited their hunting grounds which resulted in conflicts; with the white-Indian unrest, colonial armies moved in and devastated entire regions destroying Cherokee homes, crops, and taking untold numbers of human lives.

Andrew Williamson and Griffith Rutherford were colonial militia leaders that tried to annihilate the Middle, Valley, and Lower Towns of the Cherokee; in addition to killing as many Cherokee people as possible, they burned entire villages, destroyed crops, and killed all livestock that was not confiscated for their own purposes.  Later when William Christian’s colonial army moved through the Overhill Towns, several of the Cherokees homes and villages were allowed to remain intact; Christian’s humanitarian move through the heart of Cherokee country allowed for a somewhat peaceful resolution.  Many of the elder Cherokee leaders agreed to a new peace treaty with the colonial government; however, this 1776 war created a vast divide in the Cherokee people.  Dragging Canoe and his Chickamauga followers carried on the war until Doublehead signed the Treaty of Philadelphia with President George Washington in June 1794.

Nadia Dean gives us an intimate view and highly referenced narrative of the remarkable events in our Cherokee and colonial history in “A Demand of Blood!”  It is without hesitation that I highly recommend this book so everyone can have a better understanding of the bloodshed that built our Nation! 

You can go to this link to order the book:  http://valleyriverpress.com/bookstore.cfm

Rickey Butch Walker, Author/Historian

December 17, 2013

Celtic Indian Boy of Appalachia: A Scots Irish Cherokee Childhood

There have been many books written about the poor country hill people of the Appalachian Mountains, as well as the Indians of this historic place.  In Celtic Indian Boy of Appalachia: A Scots Irish Cherokee Childhood, Butch Walker tells his personal tale of two cultures that influenced the stories of his upbringing.  His roots are deeply planted in the mountains and valleys of the southern foothills of Appalachia; so springs forth this raw story of his life.  Nothing is hidden from the reader as you are taken from the cotton fields, to the creek bottoms, and backwoods in a tale of heartache and adventure.  People from all ages and backgrounds can appreciate stories from a Celtic Indian childhood that has not been forgotten.

In the age of our fast paced and technologically advanced society, when most do not know the meaning of hard work, it is nice to be reminded of a simple time that revolved around family and living off the land.  Celtic Indian Boy of Appalachia takes a personal approach to history, where memories become real; it takes you back to a time long forgotten in the hills and hollows of the Warrior Mountains.

You will feel his sting of a poverty driven area; you will cry at his heartaches; you will feel the pain of needs to be met; and you will laugh at the little joys that meant so much to him, but all these things would be considered minor in today’s world.  Butch Walker’s stories are true and full of life; his struggles and trials were real.

Some folks might call people like Butch Walker, hillbilly, redneck, or just plain country; to him, the old ways and ways of the wild were just life, as it is, not retouched.  Celtic Indian Boy of Appalachia is Butch Walker’s best work yet; because it is from his heart, it is personal, and it is not sugar coated.  I hope you find as much joy as I did while you laugh, cry, feel the triumph, and the pain of a Celtic Indian boy growing up in the southern foothills of the lower Appalachian Mountains.

Celeste Weller

Brandy Sutton

Appalachian Indian Trails of the Chickamauga: Lower Cherokee Settlements

“Appalachian Indian Trails of the Chickamauga: Lower Cherokee Settlements” is definitely a must read for anyone interested in the ancestral landscape, aboriginal trails, and historical American Indian settlements of the Southeast. It is obvious in reading this book that Rickey Butch Walker has researched many years to share this extensive and detailed Indian history with us in the south. This information is worthy to be shared with our children and grandchildren to keep them in touch with their deep southern roots; let us never forget from where we started and the trails that our mixed Celtic and Indian ancestors once walked.

By far, Rickey Butch Walker has written the most comprehensive historical document of the Chickamauga faction of the Lower Cherokees that occupied the Muscle Shoals, Big Bend of the Tennessee River, Warrior Mountains, and Coosa River Valley of northern Alabama. His book contains information on the Lower Cherokee settlements in North Alabama dating from 1750 to the Indian removal in 1838.  In addition to the Indian trails, villages, and pre-removal forts, Butch Walker discusses Indian removal in North Alabama over land, by water, and by railroad.

This is not just a book of a historical nature but also a book of Native pride.  Butch loves sharing his mixed Scots Irish Cherokee heritage with others and it shines through in this well written document. Once again, his writing is filled with emotion, knowledge, and historical data of a time and landscape that must never be forgotten.

Twila Godwin

Appalachian Indians of the Warrior Mountains

In “Appalachian Indians of the Warrior Mountains,” Rickey Butch Walker tells our Indian history with an underlying deep love for Native places; he paints a picture before your eyes of the life and times of Indian people. Listen to the passion of Walker’s voice as he tells about the struggles of removal of his ancestors to a distant land. Embark through time as you realize the importance of our Native people to this country. Other historians start American history with Columbus, the founding presidents, or the first Thanksgiving; the truth is our ancestral way of life started way before the first European explorers. Indian people struggled for survival thousands of years prior to the first white settlers. Walker does an excellent job keeping our Indian past alive for present and future generations; he gives this gift to our youth in order for them to have a record of their ancestors. Without these stories being told, our Indian heritage would slowly fade from the pages of history.  ISBN 978-1-934610-72-5