Takatoka (, ; 1824) was the second Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West (1813–1817) established in the old Arkansaw Territory.

Life

Takatoka''Gore, Oklahoma: Tahlonteeskee – Oldest Capital in Oklahoma''
webpage; Leisure and Sports Review; accessed November 2015''Takatoka (1755?–1824)''
Dictionary of Arkansas History and Culture; accessed November 2015. was an early Cherokee Old Settler who emigrated to the Arkansaw area of the

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southe ...

in 1810. He eventually settled in

Lovely's Purchase Lovely's Purchase, also called Lovely's Donation, was part of the Missouri Territory and the Arkansas Territory of the early nineteenth century. It was created in 1817, to give a haven to the Cherokee and other Native Americans who were bein ...

Tribal leadership

He rose to the office of principal chief after the departure of his predecessor, The Bowl (or ''Di'wali''). The Bowl had been a past Chickamauga leader who had led Takatoka and several hundred followers into 'the west' to escape the influence and constant frontier encroachment of the rapidly expanding

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was replaced as principal chief by Tahlonteeskee in 1817. Takatoka served as war chief of the western Cherokee during the hostilities between the Cherokee settlers and the Osage that lasted from 1813 to 1823. In summer 1822, Chief Takatoka merged his forces with the Cherokee outlaw, William Dutch, and joined him in raiding the Osage. In order to end the warfare, the US government created

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any ot ...

among the Osage, and

Fort Towson Fort Towson was a frontier outpost for Frontier Army Quartermasters along the Permanent Indian Frontier located about two miles (3 km) northeast of the present community of Fort Towson, Oklahoma. Located on Gates Creek near the confluen ...

at the Red River settlement of Tahchee's base camp.Logan, Charles Russel (1997); "The Promised Land : The Cherokees, Arkansas, and Removal, 1794-1839." Arkansas Historic Preservation Program; retrieved March 2023

Proposed confederacy

Later that same summer, Takatoka proposed a plan to Shawnee headman,

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, to create a Native American confederacy of tribes in Arkansas and the southern

area. The confederacy would include the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Senecas The Seneca ( ; ) are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois Leag ...

and other eastern tribes, and would defend against white

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

as well as

Osages The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

, who were in frequent conflict with the constant stream of Cherokee immigrants. He enlisted support for his plan from Lewis, who brought the idea to Indian Agents

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

and

Pierre Menard Pierre Menard (7 October 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Canadian-American fur trader and politician who was elected the first lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1818. Biography Early life Menard was born at St. Antoine-sur-Richelieu, near Mo ...

. Secretary of War,

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American s ...

was also a supporter of the coalition.

Death

While travelling en route to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

during an 1823 diplomatic mission in support of his proposed confederacy, he became ill in

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois on the Mississippi River. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, the village was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country and was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population p ...

, and quickly died in the home of Indian Agent Menard, one of the richest men in Illinois at the time.

Life

Tribal leadership

Proposed confederacy

Death

References

Further reading