King Hagler (also spelled Haiglar) or Nopkehee (c. 1700–1763) was a chief of the
Catawba Catawba may refer to:
*Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas
*Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family
*Catawban languages
Botany
*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...
Native American tribe from 1754 to 1763. Hagler is known as the "
Patron Saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
Camden, South Carolina
Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Caro ...
."
[James H. Merrell, "Minding the Business of the Nation": Hagler as Catawba Leader," ''Ethnohistory,'' Vol. 33, No. 1 Winter, 1986, Duke University Press; pp. 55-70.](_blank)
/ref> He was the first Native American to be inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. He is known for opposing the sale of alcohol to Catawbas and other Native Americans, and encouraged the Catawba people to abstain from alcohol.[Thomas J. Blumer, Robert P. Smith, E. Fred Sanders. ''Catawba Nation: Treasures in History,'' American Heritage, Arcadia Publishing, 2007.](_blank)
He worked to negotiate fair land rights
Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...
and treaties for the Catawba people.
Like other Native American Nations, the Catawba do not use European titles of royalty among themselves. Merrell gives Hagler's title among the Catawba as ''Eractasswa'' or ''Arataswa'', which the Catawba translate as "Chief"; "King" is the English translation and conception, though many Catawba adopted this nomenclature for ease of communication with the settlers.[ Hagler is also known by several other names and other spellings, such as King Haigler, Haiglar, Nopkehe, Arataswa and Oroloswa. Hagler's anglicized name is possibly a nickname derived from his tendency to bargain or "haggle" over political decisions, although there is no conclusive evidence to support this.]
Early life
Hagler was probably born around 1700 in the region traditionally occupied by the Catawba along the Catawba River
The Catawba River originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into ...
in what is now North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. Little is known of Hagler's early life. He may have attended a European school in Virginia, because in April 1717 King Whitmannetaughehee agreed to send eleven Catawba boys to be educated for one year at Fort Christanna
Fort Christanna was one of the projects of Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood, who was governor of the Virginia Colony 1710–1722. When Fort Christanna opened in 1714, Capt.
Robert Hicks was named captain of the fort and he relocated his family ...
in Virginia. The boys were in fact hostages
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...
sent to guarantee the Catawba's promise to withdraw from the Yamasee War
The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples, incl ...
. Hagler may have been one of these boys, which would account for his fluency in English, much commented-on in contemporary records.[Scott Syfert, ''Eminent Charlotteans: Twelve Historical Profiles from North Carolina's Queen City,'' McFarland, 2018; pp. 9-24](_blank)
/ref>
Election as chief
Hagler became ''Eractasswa'' (Chief) after the death of King Yanabe Yalangway
King Yanabe Yalangway was the ''eractasswa'' (chief) of the Catawba (tribe), Catawba Indian Nation, sometime around the 1740s. Not much is known about him other than the fact that he preceded King Hagler as chief. His training was evidently under ...
, who was murdered by a group of Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
warriors in October 1750. In keeping with Catawba tradition, the new chief (Hagler) was the former chief's sister's son. Immediately after Yalangway's death, Hagler was elected by the Catawba General Council to the lead the tribe. Tribal politics were in chaos at the time, as fifteen of the most prominent Catawba leaders had attended a conference in Charles Town in the fall of 1749 and had all died of infectious diseases acquired from European settlers. In spite of the danger, Hagler traveled to Charleston in late 1750 to receive a military commission as Chief of the Catawbas from Governor James Glen
James Glen (1701 – July 18, 1777) was a politician in the Province of South Carolina. He was appointed Royal Governor of South Carolina in 1738, but did not arrive in the province until December 17, 1743. He served as governor until June 1, 175 ...
, a form of colonial recognition of tribal leaders.[James H. Merrell, ''The Indians’ New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of Removal,'' Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, University of North Carolina Press Books, 2012.](_blank)
Peace treaties with other Native American groups
One of Hagler's first tasks was to negotiate a peace treaty with the Iroquois Six Nations. In June 1751 Hagler, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor William Bull and a delegation of Catawba leaders,[Jerry C. Cashion, "Hagler (Arataswa or Oroloswa)" in the ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography,'' edited by William S. Powell. University of North Carolina Press, 1996.](_blank)
/ref> attended a peace conference in Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, where Hagler smoked a peace pipe
A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial ...
with the Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
leader Hendrick Theyanoguin
Hendrick Theyanoguin (c. 1691 – September 8, 1755), whose name had several spelling variations, was a Mohawk leader and member of the Bear Clan. He resided at Canajoharie or the Upper Mohawk Castle in colonial New York.Sivertsen, Barbara J. ' ...
. In 1752 an Iroquois delegation visited the Catawba and an exchange of prisoners
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Convent ...
followed. The Catawba also brokered a peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
with the Shawnee
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
, who were not members of the Six Nations federation. The Catawba were invited to incorporate with the Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
but Hagler refused this offer.
Opposition to the sale of alcohol to the Catawba
Hagler became well known for being one of the first Native American leaders to publicly oppose the sale and distribution of alcohol in Indigenous communities. On August 29, 1754, in a speech in Catawba to James Carter and Alexander Osborne, Commissioners of the State of North Carolina, he stated:
Brothers, here is One thing You Yourselves are to Blame very much in: That is, You Rot Your grain in Tubs, out of which you take and make Strong Spirits. You sell it to our young men and give it them; many times they get very Drunk with it. This is the Very Cause that they oftentimes Commit those Crimes that is offensive to You and us and all thro' the Effect of that Drink. It is also very bad for our people, for it Rots their guts and Causes our men to get very sick and many of our people has Lately Died by the Effects of that strong Drink, and I heartily wish You would do something to prevent Your People from Daring to Sell or give them any of that Strong Drink.
On 26 May 1756, he met with North Carolina Chief Justice Peter Henley in Salisbury, North Carolina
Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...
to discuss the provisions of a recent treaty. Hagler took another opportunity to decry the sale of alcohol to the Catawba:
I desire a stop may be put to the selling of strong Liquors by the White people to my people especially near the Indian Nation. If the White people make strong drink, let them sell it to one another or drink it in their own Families. This will avoid a great deal of mischief which otherwise will happen from my people getting drunk and quarreling with the White people.[James H. Williams, "King Hagler, Catawba Chieftain," The Charlotte Museum of History]
/ref>
Hagler also attempted to discipline Catawbas who committed crimes while intoxicated, contrary to the traditional Catawba custom of pardoning such behavior as a form of temporary madness. In 1754 Hagler supported the execution of a Catawba warrior who, while drunk, had murdered a young girl. The execution was carried out by the perpetrator's cousin in the presence of colonial witnesses, "the White people, in Order to shew our Willingness to punish such offenders."[William Laurence Saunders, ''The Colonial and State Records of North Carolina,'' Volume 05, p. 142. E. M. Uzzell, state printer, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1887.](_blank)
/ref>
In response to Hagler's complaints, regulations adopted at the Augusta Conference of 1767 attempted to limit the amount of alcohol brought into Native American communities: "Any Trader who by himself, substitute, or servant, shall carry more than fifteen Gallons of Rum, at any one time, into any nation of Indians...shall forfeit his bond and license."
Hagler and Catawba land rights
Fort Catawba
In May 1756 Hagler was asked to provide Catawba warriors to support the British during the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
(1754-1763), and he pledged to contribute the services of forty warriors. In return, Hagler requested that North Carolina Governor Arthur Dobbs
Arthur Dobbs (2 April 1689 – 28 March 1765) was a British colonial official who served as the seventh governor of North Carolina from 1754 until 1764.
Early life and career
Dobbs was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, where his mother had been sen ...
supply gifts and ammunition and construct a fort to protect the Catawba while their warriors were away fighting for the British. Dobbs reluctantly agreed, and a site was selected and purchased near what is now Old Fort, North Carolina
Old Fort is a town in McDowell County, North Carolina, McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 811 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
History
Before the arrival of European settlers, the area that is now Old Forts was po ...
. He then sent General Hugh Waddell and a troop of rangers to begin building. The project was interrupted several times, as relations between Hagler and Dobbs were not always good, but the fort was eventually completed in late 1760.
Pine Tree Hill Treaty
Between 1738 and 1759, a series of smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemics ravaged Native American communities along the east coast of North America. In the fall of 1758, twenty-five Catawba warriors returning from General John Forbes
John Forbes (5 September 1707 – 11 March 1759) was a Scottish professional soldier who served in the British Army from 1729 until his death in 1759.
During the 1754 to 1763 French and Indian War, he commanded the 1758 Forbes Expedition t ...
' campaign against the French, brought smallpox to South Carolina. By 1759, the Catawba nation had been severely reduced, so that no more than a thousand Catawbas survived. European settlers began encroaching on the Catawbas' traditional lands, now sparsely populated, leading Hagler to negotiate the Pine Tree Hill Treaty in 1760, with Edmond Atkin, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District at Camden, South Carolina
Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Caro ...
(then known as Pine Tree Hill). This guaranteed the Catawba a territory near Waxhaw, North Carolina
Waxhaw is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,534 according to the 2020 Census. The population grew 108.28% from 2010. The name is derived from the indigenous people who lived in the area, who were known a ...
occupying some two million acres along the Catawba River
The Catawba River originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into ...
, in exchange for 55,000 square miles that the Catawba considered to be their traditional home, occupying part of North Carolina and much of South Carolina and extending into Virginia.
Mortality from smallpox, influenza and other infections continued to reduce the Catawba population. On July 5, 1762, Governor Arthur Dobbs wrote:
"Their number of Warriors have been reduced in a few years, by Haglar's Confession, from 300 to 50 and all their males do not exceed 100, old and young included, so they are now scarce a nation but a small village."
Death and burial
On August 30, 1763, Hagler was in the Waxhaws
The Waxhaws is a geographical region extending beyond both sides of the border between what now is North Carolina and South Carolina, United States. It encompasses the areas currently known as Lancaster, Union and Mecklenburg counties. The name i ...
, a Waxhaw community in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina, when he was ambushed and killed by a band of seven Shawnees. He was reportedly shot six times. His death was reported by the Presbyterian missionary William Richardson (1729-1771), (uncle of North Carolina governor William Richardson Davie
William Richardson Davie (June 20, 1756 – November 29, 1820) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, military officer during the Revolutionary War (United States), Revolutionary War, and List of Go ...
), who wrote in a letter to Richard Richardson: "Yesterday the enemy killed King Hagler almost in the midst of our settlement, which caused such Terror that there was nothing but running and flying wherever safety could be had."
The motive for the murder was never clearly determined. Hagler was interred with his most valuable possessions, but the grave site was desecrated by white settlers soon after his burial. His body was later moved to a secret location.
Succession
Hagler was succeeded in November by a man who colonial authorities referred to as "Colonel Ayers," "Captain Jacob Ayers," or "Captain Aires," and who may have been Hixa-Uraw. He was "elected" by a vote at a special congress in Augusta, Georgia in November, 1763, but later "fell out of favor with the South Carolina government." On 29 January, 1765, a meeting of Catawbas under the supervision of Samuel Wyly elected Captain Frow to replace Ayers. On 31 May, 1768, Frow claimed to have hunted down and killed six of the Shawnee warriors who killed King Haglar and presented their scalps to Governor William Bull.
Legacy
James H. Merrell characterizes Hagler as a shrewd negotiator who struck a balance between preserving Catawba tradition and adapting to the pressures of the growing colonial population:
On the one hand, agleroperated within a dual colonial and Catawba framework he had not constructed and could not escape. He was not the first ''Eractasswa'' to acknowledge his people's dependence upon Anglo-America
Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact."Anglo-America", vol. 1, Microp ...
, nor was he the first to negotiate with colonial officials...On the other hand, however, Nopkehe was particularly well suited by background and temperament to fulfill the simultaneous demands of old and young, settlers and distant officials. By birth and upbringing he fit a traditional mold; through experience he had learned at once the futility of challenging colonial society openly and the means of manipulating that society covertly...At a critical time in the life of the Nation Hagler was instrumental in maintaining intercultural peace and internal unity, charting a course through the troubled waters of depopulation
A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...
, dependence, and despair on which so many other Indian nations foundered.
Memorialization
* A weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
depicting "King Haigler" with a bow and arrow was created by J. B. Mathieu in 1826 and placed on the opera house tower in Camden, South Carolina. It can be seen today on the city hall tower in Camden.
* A portrait of King Hagler hangs in the South Carolina Hall of Fame, located inside the Myrtle Beach Convention Center
Myrtle Beach Convention Center is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It hosts various local concerts, conventions, and sporting events for the Myrtle Beach area.
History
The original facility opened in October 1967 ...
in Myrtle Beach, SC
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina, Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as Grand Strand, "The Grand Strand" i ...
. He was inducted in 2009.
* In October, 2012 a statue by Maria J. Kirby-Smith depicting King Hagler meeting Colonel Joseph Kershaw (1727-1791) was unveiled on Market Street in downtown Camden.
* In December, 2014 sculptor Chas Fagan
Chas Fagan is an American artist and sculptor. He is known for painting oil portraits of all 45 U.S. Presidents (as of 2016), on commission from C-SPAN and the White House Historical Association. He also painted the official canonization image of ...
created a statue depicting King Hagler meeting Thomas Spratt, one of the first European settlers in what is today Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.Joe DePriest, "Charlotte’s Trail of History adds statues of a settler and a chief on Friday," ''Charlotte Observer,'' December 04, 2014
/ref>
See also
* Catawba people
The Catawba, also known as Issa, Essa or Iswä but most commonly ''Iswa'' (Catawba: '' Ye Iswąˀ'' – "people of the river"), are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. Their current lands ar ...
* Alcohol and Native Americans
Some Native Americans in the United States have been harmed by, or become addicted to, drinking alcohol. Among contemporary Native Americans and Alaska Natives, 11.7% of all deaths are related to alcohol. By comparison, about 5.9% of global d ...
* History of North Carolina
The history of North Carolina from pre-colonial history to the present, covers the experiences of the people who have lived within the territory that now comprises the U.S. state of North Carolina.
Findings of the earliest discovered human sett ...
* History of South Carolina
South Carolina was one of the thirteen colonies that first formed the United States. European exploration of the area began in April 1540 with the Hernando de Soto expedition, which unwittingly introduced diseases that decimated the local Native ...
* Native American temperance activists
A number of prominent Native Americans have protested against the social and cultural damage inflicted by alcohol on indigenous communities, and have campaigned to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol and to restrict its availability to ...
External links
King Hagler
Trail of History - Thomas Spratt and King Hagler, Dec 17, 2014
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagler
1700s births
1763 deaths
1763 murders in North America
Catawba people
Native American leaders
Native American people from South Carolina
Murdered Native American people
People murdered in South Carolina
Native American temperance activists
18th-century Native Americans
Native American history of North Carolina
Native American history of South Carolina