244 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 73 
Hawkins, and in the census of 1832. * In the great squares of this 
town and Tukabahchee Tecumseh met the Creeks in council. In 
1797 the traders here were James McQueen, the oldest white man 
in the Creek Nation, who had come to Georgia as a soldier under 
Oglethorpe in 1733, 2 and William Powell. Hawkins gives the follow- 
ing description of it as it existed in 1799: 
Tal-e-see, from Tal-o-fau, a town, and e-see, taken. 3 Situated in the fork of Eu-fau-be 
on the left bank of Tal-la-poo-sa, opposite Took-au-bat-ohe. Eu-fau-be has its source 
in the ridge dividing the waters of ( 'hat-to-ho-che from Tal-la-poo-sa, and runs nearly 
west to the junction with the river; here it is sixty feet wide. The land on it is 
poor for some miles up, then rich flats, bordered with pine land with reedy branches; 
a fine range for cattle and horses. 
The Indians have mostly left the town, and settled up the creek, or on its waters, for 
twenty miles.* The settlements are some of them well chosen, and fenced with worm 
fences. The land bordering on the streams of the right side of the creek, is better than 
that of the left; and here the settlements are mostly made. Twelve miles up the creek 
from its mouth it forks; the large fork of the left side has some rich flat swamp, large 
white oak, poplar, ash, and white pine. The trading path from Cus-se-tuh to the 
Upper Creeks crosses this fork twice. Here it is called big swamp (opil-thluc-co). 
The waving land to its source is stiff. The growth is post oak, pine, and hard-shelled 
hickory. 5 
The Indians who have settled out on the margins and branches of the creek have 
several of them, cattle, hogs, and horses, and begin to be attentive to them. The head 
warrior of the town, Peter McQueen, a half-breed, is a snug trader, has a valuable prop- 
erty in negroes and stock, and begins to know their value. 
These Indians were very friendly to the United States during the Revolutionary 
War, and their old chief, Ho-bo-ith-le Mic-co, of the halfway house (improperly called 
the Tal-e-see king), could not be prevailed on by any offers from the agents of Great 
Britain to take part with them. On the return of peace, and the establishment of 
friendly arrangements between the Indians and citizens of the United States, this 
chief felt himself neglected by Mr. Seagrove, which resenting, he robbed and insulted 
that gentleman, compelled him to leave his house near Took-au-bat-che, and fly into a 
swamp. He has since then, as from a spirit of contradiction, formed a party in oppo- 
sition to the will of the nation, which has given much trouble and difficulty to the 
chiefs of the land. His principal assistants were the leaders of the banditti who 
insulted the commissioners of Spain and the United States, on the 17th September, 
1799, at the confluence of Flint and Chat-to-ho-che. The exemplary punishment 
inflicted on them by the warriors of the nation, has effectually checked their mis- 
chief-making and silenced them. And this chief has had a solemn warning from the 
national council, to respect the laws of the nation, or he should meet the punishment 
ordained by the law. He is one of the great medal chiefs. 
This spirit of party or opposition prevails not only here, but more or less in every 
town in the nation. The plainest proposition for ameliorating their condition, is 
immediately opposed; and this opposition continues as long as there is hope to obtain 
presents, the infallible mode heretofore in use, to gain a point. 6 
J Miss. Prov. Arch., I, p. 95; Ga. Col. Docs., vin, p. 523; Bartram, Travels, p. 461; Schoolcraft, Ind. 
Tribes, v, p. 262; Ga. Hist. Soc. Colls., m, p. 25; Senate Doc. 512, 23d Cong., 1st sess., iv, pp. 260-264. 
« Ga. Hist. Soc. Colls., ix, p. 168. 
3 There is a Creek tradition to the effect that this town was once "captured" by the Tukabahchee, but 
I am inclined to think that it was invented to account for the name. It is more likely that Gatschet is 
right in deriving the name from talwa, town, and, ahasi, old, although it is now so much abbreviated that 
its original meaning is totally obscured. 
* The Lib. Cong. MS. has "25 miles." 
6 The Lib. Cong. MS. adds the name of the magnolia. 
« Ga. Hist. Soc. Colls., m, pp. 26-27. 
