MooxKY] BKGINNINr. I>K CKKEK WAR 18i;{ 89 



in<'' their hopos ami fcai's to !«' i.Toim(ll('ss. whi'ii thcv sadly returned 

 to tiieir homes and the jireat Indian revival anionj;' tiie ('hei'i>kee caiiK! 

 to an end.' 



AnionL;' tlie Creeks. \vher<" other hostile influences were at work, the 

 exeitoment euhninatetl in theCrt^^k war. Several murdei'sand outi'iijj'es 

 had already been eonnnitted. l)ut it was not until the teirihle massacre 

 at Fort 'Minis (:-i4). on August 'MK I8I0. that the whole American nation 

 was aroused. Throu<;h the inihuMice ot Ridge and other ])i-oniin(>nt 

 cliit'fs th(> Chtn'okee had refused to join the hostile Creeks, and on the 

 contrarv had jjroniised to assist the whites and the friendly towns." 

 More than a year before the council had sent a friendly iettei- to the 

 Creeks warning them again.st taking the British side in the a])j)roach- 

 ing war. while several prominent chiefs had proposed to enlist aC'hero- 

 kee force for the service of the I'nited States.^ Finding that no help 

 was to be expected from the Cherokee, the Ci'eeks took occasion to kill 

 a Cherokee woman near the town of Etowah, in Georgia. A\'ith th(> 

 help of a conjurer the murderers were trailed and overtaken and killed 

 on the evening of the second day in a thicket where they had concealed 

 theni.selves. After this there could be no alliance between the two 

 tribes.* 



At the time of the Fort Mims massacre Mcintosh (35), tiie chief of 

 the friendly Lower Creeks, was visiting the Cherokee, among whom 

 he had relatives. By order of the Cherokee council he was escorted 

 home by a delegation under the leadership of Ridge. On his return 

 Ridge brought with him a request from the Lower Creeks that the 

 Cherokee would join with them and the Americans in putting down 

 the war. Ridge himself strongly urged the proposition, declaring 

 that if the prophets were allowed to have their wa}' the work f>f civil- 

 ization would be destroyed. The council, however, decided not to 

 interfere in the affairs of other tribes, whereupon Ridge called for 

 \()lunteers. with the result that so many of the warriors resjxmded that 

 the council reversed its decision and declared war against the Creeks.'"' 

 For a proper understanding of the situation it is necessary to state that 

 the hostile feeling was contin(Hl almost entirely to the l'j)per Creek 

 towns on the Tallapoosa, where the prophets of the new religion had 

 their residence. The half-breed chief, Weatherford (3t!), was the 

 leader of the war party. The Lower Creek towns on the Chattahoo- 



■See Mooney, Ghost diiiicr Religion. Fourteenth Ann. Rep. Bureau nf KthnoIoK.v, pp. 670-677, 1896; 

 MeKenney and Hall. Indian Tribes, m. pp. 'J;i-y.5, 18.W; see also eontemporary letters (1813, ete.) by 

 Hawkins. Cornells, and others in .\nierican State Papers: Indian AITairs, i, 1,S32. 



-Letters of Hawkins. Pinekney. and Cussetah King, .Inly, 1813, American State I'apers: Indian 

 Allairs. 11, pp. 847-811), 1.S3-J. 



■'Meiifs, letter. May 8, IHPJ, and Hawkins, letter, May 11, 1S12. ibid., p.809. 



< Author's information from .lames D. WalTord. 



'MeKenney and Hall, Indian Tribes, ii, pji. 9(>-'.i", IS.5S. 



