Tallapoosas
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The Tallapoosas were a division of the Upper Creeks in the
Muscogee Confederacy The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsRemoval to Indian Territory, Tallapoosa lived along the
Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United Sta ...
in
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
. They are also called the Cadapouches or Canapouches, which was mistakenly considered a synonym for the Catawba of the Carolina.


16th century

Spanish explorers described towns along the Tallapoosa as being surrounded by protective wooden
palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...
s. In later years, the palisades were no longer built. They made ceramics using grit as a temper.


17th century

Over 30 towns along the Tallapoosa, Coosa, and
Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...
s allied to form the Muscogee Confederacy. The Tallapoosa were among these Upper Creeks, who were more culturally and politically conservative than the Lower Creek towns.


18th century

The Tallapoosas fought in the
siege of Pensacola The siege of Pensacola, fought from March 9 to May 10, 1781, was the culmination of Spain's conquest of West Florida during the Gulf Coast Campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The siege was commanded by Bernardo de Gálvez, whose near ...
. Although these warriors proved their effectiveness in combining native tactics and European arms, the English failed to compensate them adequately and seriously underestimated their importance as the key to the balance of power in the southeastern interior. Consequently, by 1716 the Tallapoosas and other tribes had shifted allegiance to the other side and prepared to use what they had learned against South Carolina settlements.


19th century

The Tallapoosas were a part of a "Creek traditionalist faction," the
Red Sticks Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs)—the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creek—refers to an early 19th century traditionalist faction of Muscogee Creek people in the Southeastern Uni ...
, that fought in the Battle of Holy Ground. In the summer of 1813, the Red Sticks built new settlements for "each component of the Upper Creek Nation ( Alabamas, Tallapoosas, Abeikas). The Tallapoosas built a new settlement near the town of Autossee, and the Abeikas erected Tohopeka, a fortified encampment at the Horseshoe Bend of the
Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United Sta ...
. The Alabamas built Holy Ground, or ''Econochaca'' ... on the bluffs above the
Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...
, approximately 30 miles west of present-day Montgomery." The Tallapoosa were forcibly relocated to
Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
with other Muscogee people in the early 19th century.


Namesakes

Tallapoosa name first appears on settlers maps in Georgia Tallapoosa, Georgia where the Tallapoosa River begins is named after the tribe. There is a Historical Marker named "Seven Chestnuts" where Creek tribes had council meetings under seven chestnut trees located in Tallapoosa. Another nearby Historic Marker marks the trail Creek Indians traveled named "Sandtown Trail"
Tallapoosa County, Alabama Tallapoosa County is a county located in the east-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Tallapoosa County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), 2007, webpageACES-Tallapoosa As of the 2020 census, ...
is named after the tribe.


See also

*
Coosa chiefdom The Coosa Chiefdom was a powerful Native American paramount chiefdom in what are now Gordon and Murray counties in Georgia, in the United States.Siege of Pensacola The siege of Pensacola, fought from March 9 to May 10, 1781, was the culmination of Spain's conquest of West Florida during the Gulf Coast Campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The siege was commanded by Bernardo de Gálvez, whose near ...
* Battle of Holy Ground


Notes


References

* Rudes, Blair A., Thomas J. Bumer, and J. Alan May. "Catawba and Neighboring Groups." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''
Handbook of North American Indians The ''Handbook of North American Indians'' is a series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Native American studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the handbook series began in the late 1960s and ...
: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 301–318. . * Saunt, Claudio. "History Until 1776." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''
Handbook of North American Indians The ''Handbook of North American Indians'' is a series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Native American studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the handbook series began in the late 1960s and ...
: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 128–138. * Walker, Willard B. "Creek Confederacy Before Removal." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''
Handbook of North American Indians The ''Handbook of North American Indians'' is a series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Native American studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the handbook series began in the late 1960s and ...
: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 373–392. {{authority control History of Alabama Native American tribes in Alabama Muscogee Muskogean tribes