38 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [kth.ann.19 



the Christian namo. no pains have ever Ijeeii taken to convert them to 

 Christianity; on the contrary, their morals are perverted and cor- 

 i'upted hy the sad example they daily have of its depraved professors 

 residing in tiieir towns." ^ Readers of Lawson and other narratives 

 t>l' the period wiM feel the force of the rebuke. 



Throughout the eighteenth century the Cherokee were engaged in 

 chronic warfare with their Indian neighl)ors. As these quarrels con- 

 cerned the whites hut little, however momentous they may have been 

 to the principals, we have but few details. The war with the Tusca- 

 rora continued until the out))reak of the latter tribe against Carolina 

 in 1711 gave opportiuiity to the Cherokee to cooperate in striking the 

 blow which drove the Tuscarora from their ancient homes to seek 

 refuge in the north. The Cherokee then turned their attention to the 

 Siiawano on the Cumberland, and with the aid of the Chickasaw finally 

 expelled them from that region about the year 1715. Inroads upon 

 the Catawba were proliably kept up until tiie latt(M' had liecome so far 

 reduced by war and disease as to be mere dependent pensioners upon 

 the whites. The former friendship with the Chicka.saw was at last 

 broken through the overbearing conduct of the Cherokee, and a war 

 followed of which we find incidental notice in 17.57," and which termi- 

 nated in a decisive victory for the Chickasaw about 1768. The bitter 

 war with the Iro([uois of the far north contiiuied, in spite of all the 

 efforts of the colonial governments, until a formal treaty of peace was 

 brought about by the efforts of Sir William .Tohn.son (12) in the same 

 year. 



The hereditary war with the Creeks for possession of upper Cxeorgia 

 continued, with lirief intervals of peace, or even alliance, until the 

 United States finally interfered as mediator between the rival claimants. 

 In 1718 we find notice of a large Cherokee war party moving against 

 the Creek town of Coweta, on the lower Chattahoochee, but dispersing 

 on learning of the presence there of some French and Spanish officers, 

 as well as some English traders, all bent on arranging an alliance with 

 the Creeks. The Creeks themselves had declared their willingness to 

 be lit peace with the English, while still determined to keep the l>loody 

 hatchet uplifted against the Cherokee.'' The most important incident 

 of the struggle between the two tribes was pro))ably the l)attl(> of 

 Tali'wa about the year 1755.' 



l\v this timathe weaker coast trit)es had become practically extinct, 

 and the more powerful tribes of the interior were beginning to take 

 the alarm, as they saw the restless boi'derers pushing every year farther 

 into the Indian country. As early as 174S Dr Thomas Walker, with a 

 company of hunters and woodsmen from Virginia, cnjssed the moun- 



lAnonymous writer in Carroll, Hist.Colls. of South Carolina, ii, pp. 97-98. . 517, LSSii. 



- Buckle, .lournnl, 17.57, in Rivers, Soutli Carolina, p. 57, iy56. 



■'Barcia, A.fi., Ensnyo Clironologico \>nrn la Historia (Jcncral ili- I;i i-'Iorida. pp. o35,:l::ti, .Ma<lri(i, 



* For more in ri'tiard lo llu'sr intiTInlKil wars sru the historical trailitinns 



