Overhill Cherokee
Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...
targeted attacks on colonial settlements that took place at the beginning of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
. A peace document signed by the Cherokee and
South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, the treaty instead laid the foundation for the decades long
Cherokee–American wars
The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...
Treaty of Augusta
The Cherokee have participated in over forty treaties in the past three hundred years.
Pre-American Revolution
;Treaty between two Cherokee towns with English traders of Carolina, 1684 : Established a steady trade in deerskins and Indian slaves. ...
, which was initiated at the request of both
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 ...
and
Creek Indian
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 WoodlandsIndian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
indebtedness to white traders. In 1775 the Overhill Cherokee had been persuaded at the
Treaty of Sycamore Shoals
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
to sell an enormous tract of land in central '' Kentucke'' to settlers from the colonies; specifically, the
Transylvania Land Company
The Transylvania Colony, also referred to as the Transylvania Purchase, was a short-lived, extra-legal colony founded in early 1775 by North Carolina land speculator Richard Henderson, who formed and controlled the Transylvania Company. Henders ...
operating out of the
Province of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (hist ...
. Although these agreements violated
British law
The United Kingdom has four legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English and Welsh law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, purely Welsh law (as a result of ...
, they nevertheless became the basis for a colonial takeover of those areas."Cherokee Wars and Treaties" ''Britannica''; retrieved March 2017
Unexpected attacks
Feeling threatened by colonial encroachment upon their hunting grounds, the Cherokee joined with tribes from the north (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 ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, and
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 ...
) in the Spring and Summer of 1776 to raid frontier settlements in
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 ...
, South Carolina,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and Virginia in an effort to push settlers from their lands.''Treaty of Dewitt's Corner Between the Cherokee Nation and South Carolina, 1777'' "Teaching American History in South Carolina;" teachingushistory.com website; accessed March 2017
By July 1776, Chiefs
Dragging Canoe
Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...
,
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...
, and
Ostenaco
Otacity Ostenaco (; chr, ᎤᏥᏗᎯ ᎤᏍᏔᎾᏆ, Utsidihi Ustanaqua, or "Bighead"; c. 1710Kate Fullagar, ''The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire,''Yale University Press 2020 p.13. – 1780) was a Cher ...
had gathered a force of 600-700 Cherokee warriors, who attacked Eaton's station, Ft. Watauga, and Carter's Valley in surprise, coordinated actions. These assaults failed. The raids were part of a series of attacks perpetrated by Cherokee and their northern allies; as well as their southern
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 WoodlandsChoctaw allies on all the "over mountain" settlements (colonial enclave settlements located west of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
). The frontier-wide attacks, however, elicited a vigorous response from both militia and regulars from the southern colonies, which largely took place during September and October of that year.
Colonial response
Major Colonel Andrew Williamson led a large force of South Carolina Continental Army troops and militia on an expedition against the Indians, destroying most of their towns east of the mountains, and then joined with the North Carolina militia (including Colonels Joseph Hardin and Francis Locke), to do the same in that state, taking part in the coordinated attack which later became known as the
Rutherford Light Horse expedition
The Rutherford Light Horse expedition was a punitive military excursion launched against the Lower, Middle, and Overhill Cherokee settlements of the Cherokee Indians in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. This was in retaliation for the Na ...
,''The Cherokee Expeditions'' Carolana.com; accessed March 2017 at the end of which Cherokee regional power was broken; their crops and villages destroyed; and their warriors largely dispersed.
The treaty
Defeated in skirmishes and with their towns in ruins, most of the Cherokee town leaders thereafter sought peace. Several Beloved Men traveled to Charleston to negotiate a peace. In May 1777, Colonel Williamson led a South Carolina delegation to Dewitt’s Corner, near present-day Due West in Abbeville County to settle the requested peace terms. Georgia also sent delegates. As a result of the treaty negotiations, the Cherokee were forced to surrender vast tracts of territory in North Carolina and South Carolina.
The Treaty of Dewitt’s Corner differed from previous Cherokee treaties, in that this time, South Carolina dictated its terms to an enemy defeated in combat. The victorious colonials set a boundary line between South Carolina and the Cherokee running along the crest of
Oconee Mountain Oconee may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Oconee, Georgia
*Oconee, Illinois
*Oconee, Nebraska
*Oconee County, Georgia
*Oconee County, South Carolina
*Oconee River, Georgia
* Oconee Township, Shelby County, Illinois
*Oconee Township, Nebras ...
, and mandated that American law had precedence over Cherokee law in dealings between the two peoples. The Cherokee lost nearly all of their land in South Carolina. Most of present-day
Anderson
Anderson or Andersson may refer to:
Companies
* Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910
* Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car
* Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer
* Anderson ...
, Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens Counties comprise lands given up by the Indians in the treaties. In return, South Carolina pledged to regulate trade and travel moving into and out of the remaining Cherokee territories in their jurisdiction.''Revolution: The Treaty of Dewitts Corner "The American Revolution in South Carolina;" accessed March 2017''Historic Marker'' Abbeville Historical Society, viewed June 2017
Aftermath
By the end of 1776, the majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the American colonists. Following the signing of the Treaty of Dewitt's Corner, Dragging Canoe and his large group of followers moved further down the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...
away from the historic Overhill settlements in order to resist the colonials from a more secure position. They settled in the
Chickamauga Creek
Chickamauga Creek refers to two short tributaries of the Tennessee River, which join the river near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The two streams are North Chickamauga Creek and South Chickamauga Creek, joining the Tennessee from the north and south s ...
area (near present-day Chattanooga), an association which caused them for a time to be referred to as the "Chickamauga Cherokee."