Mushulatubbee ( Choctaw ', "Determined to Kill") (born c. 1750–1770, died c. 1838) was the chief of the Choctaw ''Okla Tannap'' ("Lower Towns"), one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century. When the Principal Chief

Greenwood LeFlore Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur (June 3, 1800 – August 31, 1865) served as the elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs. A wea ...

stayed in Mississippi at the time of removal, Mushulatubbee was elected as principal chief, leading the tribe to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

. In 1812 he had led his warriors to assist General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

in the war against the Creek Red Sticks, known as the

Creek Wars The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...

. In December 1824 Mushulatubbee was one of three principal chiefs leading a Choctaw delegation to Washington to seek help against encroaching European-American settlers.

Pushmataha Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...

and Apuckshunubbee were the other chiefs; Apuckshunubbee, age 80, died before they reached Washington, and Pushmataha died of smallpox in the capital soon after their meeting with the government. On 26 September 1830, together with the Principal Chief Greenwood LeFlore and others, Mushulatubbee signed the

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

, which ceded to the US government most of the remaining Choctaw territory in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

in exchange for territory in

. Other spellings for his name include: ''Mosholetvbbi'', ''AmoshuliTvbi'', ''Musholatubbee'', ''Moshaleh Tubbee'', and ''Mushulatubba''. Mushulatubbee.

Early life

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 ...

leader Tecumseh visited Mushulatubbee in 1811 when he travelled south to gain indigenous support for his confederacy, in an effort to resist the expansion of the

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 territori ...

onto Native lands. Tecumseh met Mushulatubbee, then the chief of the ''Okla Tannap'' (Lower Towns), the southern region of the three major Choctaw areas of settlement, in the village of Mashulaville. Mushulatubbee sympathized with Tecumseh's cause, but felt he was too old to assist the confederacy, so remained neutral in the ongoing war between the U.S. and Tecumseh. From 1813 to 1814, Mushulatubbee fought in the Creek War alongside the United States against the Red Sticks, a

Muscogee 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 WoodlandsAmerican South. A year later, Mushulatubbee again fought alongside the U.S. against

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. During the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

in 1815, Mushulatubbee led 52 Choctaw warriors against British Picket (military), pickets which had been established in local bayous, killing several soldiers and demoralizing others. After the battle concluded in an American victory, Mushulatubbee and his warriors returned home after officially announcing their departure on January 27, 1815 at Fort Stoddard.

Land cessions

Under continuing pressure from European-American settlers and the United States government, Mushulatubbee signed the Treaty of Fort St. Stephens, Treaty of Choctaw Trading House on 24 October 1816, and the Treaty Ground on 18 October 1820 to cede land. The US failed to prevent settlers from continuing to encroach on Choctaw territory.

Journey to Washington

In 1824,

, Mushulatubee, and Apuckshunubbee, the three chiefs of the Choctaw regional divisions, became concerned about the encroaching settlement of European Americans and the unwillingness of local authorities to respect Indian land titles. They still hoped to offset the government's push for removal west of the Mississippi River and resolved to take their case to the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Pushmataha led the delegation; they sought either expulsion of white settlers from deeded lands in Arkansas, or compensation in land and cash for such lands. The group also consisted of Talking Warrior, Red Fort, ''Nittahkachee'', Col. Robert Cole (Choctaw), Robert Cole and David Folsom (Choctaw), David Folsom, both (mixed-race) Choctaw; Captain Daniel McCurtain; and Major John Pitchlynn, the U.S. Interpreter. They planned to travel the Natchez Trace to Nashville, then to Lexington, Kentucky; onward to Maysville, Kentucky; across the Ohio River (called the ''Spaylaywitheepi'' by the Shawnee) northward to Chillicothe, Ohio (former principal town of the Shawnee); then finally east over the "National Highway" to Washington City. While in Washington, the chief also met with the Marquis de Lafayette, who was visiting Washington, D.C. for the last time. He hailed him as a fellow aged warrior who, though foreign, rose to high renown in the American cause.

Candidate for U.S. Congress

In 1830 Mushulatubbee announced his candidacy for office in Mississippi in the ''Port Gibson Correspondent'', as reported by the ''Christian Mirror and N.H. Observer'' (15 July 1830). The US government forced the Choctaw to remove to

west of the Mississippi River. Mushulatubbee was the chief of his division during the removal and for a time after their resettlement in what became Oklahoma. The government had encouraged the Choctaw to resettle in their former clan divisions. Relocation soon led to changes in the society in which those clan divisions became less important. In 1838 Mushulatubbee died of smallpox in present-day Arkansas and was buried near Cameron, Oklahoma in Le Flore County, Oklahoma.

Notes

References

*Lafarge, Oliver. ''A Pictorial History of the American Indian'', Crown Publishers, Inc., 1956: 41.

External links

"History"
Choctaw Nation Official Website

Mississippi History {{DEFAULTSORT:Mushulatubbee 18th-century births 1830s deaths Battle of New Orleans Choctaw people Native American leaders Native Americans in the War of 1812 Native American history of Mississippi Native American slave owners