swANTo.s] INDIAN THIIIKS ( ) I' r 1 1 1'. l,()\\KIt AI ISSISSI I'l'l v.\lJ.l•;^■ 253 



Al :i very early dale, how t'\ it. a laijic Ixxly of Nalclic/. passed over 

 from the Chickasaw to the Creeks. In fact this was j)r()l)al)ly the 

 hirirest section of tlie nation. Their settlement amon<>; the Creeks 

 antechited 1741. for Adair, in enumeratin*; the Creek towns, says: 

 •' W"\{\\ them also is one town of the Sha-wa-no. and one of the Xah- 

 chee Indians;*'" and further on he mentions " Ooe-Asah. the ui)|)er 

 western town of the Mnskohoeh, settled by the Chickasaw and Xali- 

 chee." ^ '• Ooe-Asah " was probably more Chickasaw than Natchez, 

 but tlie larjrest nnmber of the Natchez immiijfi-ants into Creek terri- 

 tory uhimately formed a town of their own bearing their name on 

 Tallahatchee creek, formerly called Natche creek, 10 miles above its 

 jnnction with Coosa river, in the sontheastern part of Talladejia 

 connty. Ala. (pi. G, h). They also formed a part of the popnlation 

 of Abikndshi. .") miles below. Bouquet's estimate of 17G4 gives the 

 number of their warriors as 150.'" Swan, who visited the Creeks in 

 1791, speaks of the Natchez as occupying more villages than one, and 

 says of them: "The Natchez, or Sunset Indians, from the Missis- 

 sippi, joined the Creeks about fifty years since, after being driven out 

 from Louisiana, and added considerably to the confederative bod>'.'' 

 He mentions their chief, Dog AVarrior, as one of the most pi-ominent 

 in the confederacy.'' 



Hawkins, in his Sketch of the Creek Country in the Years 1798 

 and 1791), speaks of the Natchez town as follows: 



Nau-chee, on Naiicliee creek. 5 miles above Au-be-coo-che, below the fork of 

 the creek, on a rich flat of land of a mile in width, between two small moun- 

 tains. This flat extends from the town three-quarters of a mile above the town 

 Aouse. The settlements are scattered on both sides of the creek for 2 miles; 

 they have no worm fences, and but little stock. One chief, a brother of Chin- 

 a-be, has a larjie stock of ho^s. and had 00 lit for market in 1708. 



This town is the remains of the N.it-cliez who lived on the Mississippi. They 

 estimate their number of gun men at 100, but they are probably not more 

 than r.((. The land off from the mountains is rich; the high, waving country 

 is very healthy and well watered; cane grows in the creeks, reed on the 

 branches, and pea vine on the flats and hillsides. The Indians get the root 

 they call " tal-e-wau " in this neighborhood, which the women mi.\ with bear's 

 oil to redden their hair.^ 



He says nothing of Natchez at Abikudshi except incidentally in 

 referring to " Co-tau-lau (Tus-se-ki-ah Mic-co), an old and respect- 

 able chief, descended from Nau-che. He lives near We-o-coof-ke, 

 has accumulated a handsome property, owns a fine stock, is a man 



« Adair, Hist. Amer. Ind.. 2.57. 



" Ibid., :;in, 



<• In .Jefferson, Notos on Viriiinia, 140 ct passim, 1802. 



"Swan (17i>l) in St-hoolfiaft, Ind. Tribos, v, 260, 26.'i, 1855. 



" Hawkins's Sketch in (4a. Hist. Soc. ("oil., iii, 42. 



