The first thing you need to understand is we were the Warriors that protected the Cherokee nation from people and other tribes that meant to do harm to our people. We were called the Chickamauga, which was made up of the Wolf Clans from the lower town of the Cherokee Nation.

    In the early 1750‘s a young Warrior Chief called Dragging Canoe went to a meeting that his father was talking at.  His father being called Little Carpenter, and one of the Head Chiefs, was talking about how we must let the white man move on to our lands and take up much of the white man’s ways and sign these treaties with them.

    Dragging Canoe jumped to his feet and said "NO, are we to let these people take our lands with out a fight? They kill our young warriors, rape and kill our young women, take our land and homes of our forefathers.  Therefore would it not be best to take the young warriors around me and fight for our homes and lands of our forefathers?  They will force us into some distant lands, then our host will come again until we are no more."

    He, Little Snake and my Grandfather Red Wolf, walked out of this meeting with close to 2000 young warriors joining them.  That made attacks on the Forts in east North Carolina, which did not go very well because his cousin Nancy Ward told them that the Chickamauga were coming.  But the war moved north with the Chickamauga under Chief Little Turtle in 1790, attacked General Harmon's Army of 1800 Solders killing ¾ of them.  A short time later in 1791 under Chief Little Turtle they attacked General St. Clair in the north with his army of 1400 soldiers, killing over ¾ of them also. About this time Chief Little Turtle had a dream and he said he was told they could not win again, so he removed his 1000 warriors from the up coming fight and signed a treaty.  All the other warriors took on General Mad Wayne.  We were no match for his canons,  we just did not have the man power as we had before.  So the Chickamauga moved south into Alabama under Chief Red Eagle attacking Fort Mims and killing 498 people in the fort.  The only two that were not killed were a girl by the name of Lilly Beasley and her Father.  Her father was in charge of the Fort, and Lilly Beasley was a half breed, married to Chief Red Eagle.  The Warriors moved to Horseshoe Bend in Alabama where Andrew Jackson came with the largest army the Chickamauga had ever faced.  Over 6000 soldiers of the United State with their canons, which we were know match for.  They killed woman and children.  The American soldier were eating potatoes cooked in the oil from the body’s of the woman and children they killed. 

    David Crockett said, "I did not come here to kill woman and Children, Andrew Jackson did not tell us the truth about what we were to do here."  So David Crockett returned to the north and in time went to Texas were he died.

       But once again, many of the Chickamauga got away and made it to Florida.  They came to Billy Bowlegs town on the Suwanee River.  Once again, Andrew Jackson came with his army of over 6000 soldiers, but when they attacked Billy Bowlegs' town, all the warriors and people moved south into Florida near Tampa.  But his army found themselves in the mud.  His canons would not move, his horse could not walk, his soldiers half way covered in mud, his army could not move. Our Billy Bowleg was from Alabama. He was called Halpatter Micco (Old Billy Bowlegs).  He was born in 1795 at Eufaula Town just south of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama.  When he moved to Florida, he set up a town called Alligator Town (Lake City, Florida).  There was another Billy Bowleg who was Seminole.  His name is Holate Micco (Billy Bowlegs Born in 1810) and that was the town on the Suwanee River was his town.  They were not any kin. But many people seem to think they were one and the same, but they were not, they were two different people fighting the same war.

     The war in Florida went on until 1845, until the American people said they did not wish to fight this war any more as it had become too costly ( $40,000,000.00 ) at the prices today. And losing over 2000 American soldiers just in Florida. This doesn't include the soldiers that died with General Harmon, or with General St. Clair, or the number that died with General Mad Wayne or at Fort Mims. , It was the most costly war when you add up the American soldiers and American people that died in this war.  No other war would be so very high in the cost of human life, as the Chickamauga War.  It is true that the United States always wished to try calling it by a new name but, it really was just the same war that Dragging Canoe said that will never stop until they push us into some distant lands, then our Host will come again until we are no more.

     This is why, the Chickamauga will never give up.  We do not know the meaning of "giving up", and in this war over sea today we have lost 47 of our young warriors. They are still fighting for the homes and lands that is the way of the Chickamauga Cherokee.

Principle Chief James Billy Chance

Chief Little Red Wolf

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