Historical Overview
The Decades and the Villages - 1780 -1790
Historical Overview
The Spanish took Pensacola in 1781. The American Revolution ended in 1783. Britain ceded its assets east of Mississippi River to America save Florida which Spain received. The southern boundary between Florida and America particularly that of West Florida proved confrontational. The Americans became the new pretenders for the friendship of Indians with the Creeks getting a significant amount of attention. The Chickasaw had to decide their loyalties to America or Spain. McGee provided that division, "Piomingo & the Colberts, Wm & George, and all living in Long Town, took sides for the Americans; Wolfs Friend & Big Town, the Post Oak Grove for the Spaniards. Old Town where the King resided was neutral." So the political division was made.
The Chickasaw aided the British fight at Pensacola against the Spanish in 1781 per McGee (Draper 3) and remained loyal to them until they gave up their territories.
Village Locations
Major Doughty (ETHS 17) visited the Chickasaw in 1790 as part of a bigger expedition for the Secretary of War. His Chickasaw village description was recorded, "(There are) 4 Towns & 1 Village in the Chicasaw Nation . . . In the Chicasaw Nation, Chickaulpoo, or Big Town, the Residence of Tuskatukoh, or the Hair Lip King (Olaitamoto is Chief of this Town). 4 miles to the S.E. is Chickarallai, or Long Town. Piamingo, (the) Chief, (is) firmly attached to the Americans. 8 miles S., a little to the W. (is) Chettalai (where) Muskautofoohishaw (is) Chief. The (other) Village is Tuskatville (where there is) no Chief. It is 6 miles S.W."
Doughty's description presents several problems for the village locations. First, he states there are four towns, but he provides three town names. The three towns named all are the important villages per McGee. Note on Table 1 the associations of the Doughty and McGee village names. Remember that Doughty was in the Chickasaw villages as a visitor while McGee lived with them. Still Doughty's village names represent the second problem in that their phonetics are difficult to associate had he not provided directions from Big Town.
The distances provide a very accurate location for the village locations. Big Town was situated in Old Town. Doughty and McGee agree on the location of Long Town. They have only a slight discrepancy about Copper Town's location, only in distance. For Copper Town (McGee's Post Oak (Grove) Town and Doughty's Chettalai, see Table 1) McGee indicated that Post Oak Town was about 4 miles south from Old Town and Doughty gave 8 miles from Big Town. Both descriptions cannot be correct unless Copper Town moved a few miles south down the Coonewah Creek ridge. McGee gave a second reference to aid the location of Copper Town he indicated (Draper 3) "Wolf Friend's town, viz. Post Oak Grove Town, four miles off (from Long Town)". Considering that McGee with his intimate knowledge of the Chickasaw is correct in his descriptions, then the nexus of his directions is near the location that Copper Town as Shatara occupied in 1720, see Figure 1. In fact, the location of the 1780-1790 Copper Town or Post Oak Groove is just south and southeast of the upper fort attacked in 1734 and a smaller settlement about the lower fort. Figure 13 applies also to the decade for the major villages.
Given that, on Figure 13 we have located McGee's three important villages and Shiokaya, the smallest. We will deal with the remainder in the next decade or in the later papers.