CHAP. VII.] DEATH OF PUSHAMATA.-EPITAPH. "PUSH-MA-TAHA, A CHOCTAW CHIEF, LIES Here. 63 THIS MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY IS ERECTED BY HIS BROTher chiefs, WHO WERE ASSOCIATED WITH HIM IN A DELEGATION FROM THEIR NATION IN the year 1824, to the GENERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES." And on the other: "PUSH-MA-TAHA WAS A WARRIOR OF GREAT DISTINCTION. HE WAS WISE IN COUNCIL, ELOQUENT IN AN EXTRAORDINARY DEGREE; AND ON ALL OCCA- That Pushamata, or Pushmataha, was a warrior, has been said. In the late war with England, he assisted in subduing his countrymen at the south. In General Claiborne's army he distinguished himself, particularly in the battle of the Holy Ground, (called by the Indians Eccanachaca,) upon the Alabama River, 80 miles from Fort Claiborne. Here the celebrated Weatherford resided, also Hillishago the prophet. In the treaty which the chiefs and warriors of the Choktaus held with the U. S. commissioners, 18 October, 1820, "at the treaty ground, in said nation, near Doak's Stand, on the Natches Road," the following passage occurs: "Whereas the father of the beloved chief Mushulatubee, of the lower towns, for and during his life, did receive from the United States the sum of 150 dollars, annually; it is hereby stipulated, that his son and successor, Mushulatubee, shall annually be paid the same amount during his natural life." Hence it would lead us to suppose, without further investigation, that both the father and son had rendered the country very important services. As has been the case in all former Indian wars, so in the present, every neighboring Indian is viewed with distrust. No sooner had the present existing Seminole war begun, than, by report at least, hundreds of the Creeks were leaving their country for Florida, to join their hostile neighbors. Early this spring, 1836, it was reported far and wide that the Chocktaws had taken up the hatchet. This occasioned a national council to be called, which assembled on the 12 May. The venerable chief MUSHULATUBEE was present, and, among other things, said, "It makes my heart bleed to be accused of this treachery, when it is well known I and my tribe have fought side by side with Gen. Wayne, Jackson, and others, against the Seminoles, Creeks and British." HILLISHAGO, OF HILLIS HADJŎ, it appears, survived General Jackson's campaigns, and, not long after, went to England, still hoping to gain assistance from that nation to enable him to operate with effect against the Americans. He was, upon his return, the immediate instigator and cause of the Seminole war, having taken up his residence among that nation, unable to stay longer in his own country. The belief was imposed upon him by some abandoned English traders, that there was a provision in the treaty of Ghent for the restoration of their country. He received much attention while in England, and some encouragement, but nothing absolute. An English journal thus mentions his arrival:-"The sound of trumpets announced the approach of the patriot Francis, who fought so gloriously in our cause in America during the late war. Being drest in a most splendid suit of red and gold, and wearing a tomahawk set with gold, gave him a highly imposing appearance." He received large presents from the king's stores, but, it is said, that of these he was chiefly defrauded afterwards by the notorious Woodbine, who, it seems, accompanied him in his travels.* . About the end of November, or beginning of December, 1817, a war party of Seminoles captured an American, and conveyed him immediately to their principal village, called Mikasauky. Here it appears dwelt Francis and his family. The American, whose name was M'Krimmon, was ordered to be immediately burnt to death. The stake was set, M'Krimmon, with his head * Seminole War Documents, p. 23, published by order of congress. 64 HORNOTLIMED.—NEAMATHLA. [BOOK IV. shaved, was bound to it, and wood was piled up about him. When the Indians had finished their dance, and the fire was about to be kindled, a daughter of the chief, named Milly, who had been witnessing the preparations with a sad countenance, flew to her father, and, upon her knees, begged that he would spare the prisoner's life; and it was not until, like the celebrated Pocahontas, she showed a determination to perish with him, that her father consented to prolong his life for the present. It was still his intention, if he could not sell the victim for a certain sum, to have carried his former purpose into effect; but on offering him to the Spaniards, at St. Marks, the demanded sum, 73 gallons of rum, was paid for him, and thus his liberation 'was effected. After Francis fell into the hands of the Americans and was hanged, his family, consisting of a wife and several daughters, surrendered themselves to the Americans at St. Mark's. The youngest daughter, Milly, about fourteen years of age, was treated with great attention by all the officers for having saved the life of M'Krimmon. She was said to have been very handsome. When M' Krimmon heard of her being among the captives, he went and offered himself to her as a partner. She would not, however, receive him, until satisfied that he was prompted to offer himself from other motives than a sense of the supposed obligation of his life having been saved by her. Mikasauky was the chief rendezvous of the war party, and had been known at least a century by the name of Baton Rouge. This name was given it by the French, and the Anglo-Americans called it the Red Sticks, to avoid the use of the same name in French. Hence the Indians who made this their quarters, were called Red Sticks. At this period they had revived the practice of setting up poles or sticks, and striping them with red paint, which was only when they intended war. The Americans, not knowing their practice, supposed these poles were painted with red stripes in derision of their liberty poles. Mikasauky, now Red Sticks, was upon a border of Mikasauky Lake. HORNOTLIMED, or as General Jackson called him, “HOMATTLEMICO, an old Red Stick," was another principal Seminole chief, whose residence was at Foul Town in the beginning of the war; but, being driven from thence, he repaired to Mikasauky. Three vessels having arrived at the mouth of the Apalachicola on the 30 November, 1817, with military stores for the supply of the garrison, were, from contrary winds, unable to ascend. Lieutenant Scott was despatched for their assistance, in a boat with forty men. The old chief Hornotlimed, who had just before been driven from Foul Town, by a detachment of General Gaines's army, with a band of his warriors, had concealed themselves in the bank of the river; and when Lieutenant Scott and his men returned, they fired upon them, and all except six soldiers, who jumped overboard and swam to the opposite shore, were killed. Twenty of the soldiers had been left for the aid of the ascending vessels, and about the same number of women and sick were in their places. These fell into the hands of Hornotlimed and his warriors, who dashed out their brains upon the sides of the boat, took off their scalps, and carried them to Mikasauky, where they exhibited them upon their red pole, in memory of their victory. This chief and his companion, Hillishago, were doomed shortly to expiate with their lives for this massacre. The Mikasauky town was soon after visited by the army, but the Indians had all fled, their red pole was left standing, and the scalps upon it; many of which were recognized as having been taken from Lieutenant Scott's men. At length a vessel cruising near the mouth of Apalachicola River, to prevent the escape of the Indians in that direction, with English colors displayed, decoyed on board the famous chiefs, Hornotlimed, and the prophet Francis. These the Americans hanged without trial or delay. NEAMATHLA was a warrior of note and renown, before the war of 1812 with Great Britain. He was a Seminole chief; but where his residence was previous to that war we have not heard; but after the Seminole war, he lived upon a good estate, at Tallahassee, of which estate a mile square was under improvement. This, in 1823, Neamathla, at the head of the chiefs of his nation, gave up, with other lands, for the benefit of the United States, by a |