Takatoka, (, ) ( – 1824), was the second Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West (1813–1817) established in the old

Arkansaw Territory The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Post was the first territor ...

Life

Takatoka''Gore, Oklahoma: Tahlonteeskee – Oldest Capital in Oklahoma''
webpage; Leisure and Sports Review; accessed November 2015''Takatoka (1755?–1824)''
Dictionary of Arkansas History and Culture; accessed November 2015. was an early Cherokee Old Settler who emigrated to the Arkansaw area of the

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southeas ...

in 1810. He eventually settled in

Lovely's Purchase Lovely's Purchase (also Lovely's Donation), was part of the early nineteenth century Missouri and Arkansaw territories. It was created in 1817, in order to give a haven to the Cherokee and other Native Americans who were steadily leaving the ...

Tribal leadership

He rose to the office of principal chief after the departure of his predecessor, The Bowl (or ''Di'wali''). The Bowl had been a past

Chickamauga Chickamauga may refer to: Entertainment * "Chickamauga", an 1889 short story by American author Ambrose Bierce * "Chickamauga", a 1937 short story by Thomas Wolfe * "Chickamauga", a song by Uncle Tupelo from their 1993 album ''Anodyne (album), Ano ...

leader who had led Takatoka and several hundred followers into 'the west' to escape the influence and constant frontier encroachment of the rapidly expanding

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He was replaced as principal chief by Tahlonteeskee in 1817. Takatoka served as war chief of the western Cherokee during the hostilities between the Cherokee settlers and the Osage that lasted from 1813 to 1823. In summer 1822, Chief Takatoka merged his forces with the Chroke outlaw, William Dutch, and joined him in raiding the

Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...

. In order to end the warfare, the US government created

Fort Gibson Fort Gibson is a historic military site next to the modern city of Fort Gibson, in Muskogee County Oklahoma. It guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 to 1888. When it was constructed, the fort was farther west than any othe ...

among the Osage, and

Fort Towson Fort Towson was a frontier outpost for United States Army, Frontier Army Quartermasters along the Army on the Frontier, Permanent Indian Frontier located about two miles (3 km) northeast of the present community of Fort Towson, Oklahoma. Loc ...

at the Red River settlement of Tahchee's base camp.Logan, Charles Russel (1997); "The Promised Land : The Cherokees, Arkansas, and Removal, 1794-1839." Arkansas Historic Preservation Program; retrieved March 2023

Proposed confederacy

Later that same summer, Takatoka proposed a plan to Shawnee headman,

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, to create a Native American confederacy of tribes in Arkansas and the southern

area. The confederacy would include 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 ...

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 ...

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

Senecas The Seneca () ( see, Onödowáʼga:, "Great Hill People") are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes in North America. Their nation was the farthest to the west w ...

and other eastern tribes, and would defend against white

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

as well as

Osages The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC alon ...

, who were in frequent conflict with the constant stream of Cherokee immigrants. He enlisted support for his plan from Lewis, who brought the idea to Indian Agents William Clark and

Pierre Menard Pierre Menard (7 October 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a fur trader and U.S. political figure. Pierre Menard was born at St. Antoine-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal, Canada, third in a family of ten children. His father was Jean Baptiste Ménard, ...

. Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun was also a supporter of the coalition.

Death

While travelling en route to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

during an 1823 diplomatic mission in support of his proposed confederacy, he became ill in

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th c ...

, and quickly died in the home of Indian Agent Menard, one of the richest men in Illinois at the time.

Life

Tribal leadership

Proposed confederacy

Death

References

Further reading