The Tallapoosas were a division of the Upper Creeks in the

Muscogee Confederacy The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsRemoval to Indian Territory, Tallapoosa lived along the

Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and wes ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. They are also called the Cadapouches or Canapouches, which was mistakenly considered a synonym for 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 ...

of the Carolina.

16th century

Spanish explorers described towns along the Tallapoosa as being surrounded by protective wooden

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

s. In later years, the palisades were no longer built. They made ceramics using grit as a temper.

17th century

Over 30 towns along the Tallapoosa, Coosa, and

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...

s allied to form the Muscogee Confederacy. The Tallapoosa were among these Upper Creeks, who were more culturally and politically conservative than the Lower Creek towns.

18th century

The Tallapoosas fought in the

siege of Pensacola The siege of Pensacola was a siege fought in 1781, the culmination of Spain's conquest of the British province of West Florida during the Gulf Coast campaign. Background When Spain entered the War in 1779, Bernardo de Gálvez, the energetic ...

. Although these warriors proved their effectiveness in combining native tactics and European arms, the English failed to compensate them adequately and seriously underestimated their importance as the key to the balance of power in the southeastern interior. Consequently, by 1716 the Tallapoosas and other tribes had shifted allegiance to the other side and prepared to use what they had learned against South Carolina settlements.

19th century

The Tallapoosas were a part of a "Creek traditionalist faction," the

Red Sticks Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made u ...

, that fought in the

Battle of Holy Ground The Battle of Holy Ground, or Battle of Econochaca, was a battle fought on December 23, 1813, between the United States militia and the Red Stick Creek Indians during the Creek War. The battle took place at Econochaca, the site of a fortified enca ...

. In the summer of 1813, the Red Sticks built new settlements for "each component of the Upper Creek Nation ( Alabamas, Tallapoosas, Abeikas). The Tallapoosas built a new settlement near the town of Autossee, and the Abeikas erected Tohopeka, a fortified encampment at the Horseshoe Bend of the

. The Alabamas built Holy Ground, or ''Econochaca'' ... on the bluffs above the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it un ...

, approximately 30 miles west of present-day Montgomery." The Tallapoosa were forcibly relocated to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

with other Muscogee people in the early 19th century.

Namesakes

Tallapoosa County, Alabama Tallapoosa County is located in the east-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama."ACES Tallapoosa County Office" (links/history), Alabama Cooperative Extension System The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama Extension) provides ...

is named after the tribe.

Notes

References

* Rudes, Blair A., Thomas J. Bumer, and J. Alan May. "Catawba and Neighboring Groups." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''

Handbook of North American Indians The ''Handbook of North American Indians'' is a series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Native American studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the handbook series began in the late 1960s and ...

: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 301–318. . * Saunt, Claudio. "History Until 1776." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''

: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 128–138. * Walker, Willard B. "Creek Confederacy Before Removal." Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''

: Southeast. Volume 14.'' Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 373–392. {{authority control History of Alabama Native American tribes in Alabama Muscogee