Brothers of Coweta: Kinship, Empire, and Revolution in the Eighteenth-Century Muscogee World

212 Pages·2021·22.006 MB·English

by  Bryan C. Rindfleisch

Brothers of Coweta

Brothers
of Coweta
Kinship, Empire, and Revolution
in the Eighteenth-Century
Muscogee World
BRYAN C. RINDFLEISCH
© 2021 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.uscpress.com
Manufactured in the United States of America
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
can be found at http://catalog.loc.gov/.
ISBN 978–1-64336–202–1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978–1-64336–203–8 (paperback)
ISBN 978–1-64336–204–5 (ebook)
Front cover illustration: William Bonar’s “A Draught of the Creek Nation”—the Creek Path
and Coweta, courtesy of the National Archives
CONTENTS
List of iLLustrations vii
acknowLedgments ix
note on terminoLogy xiii
Introduction 1
One. The Muscogee World, 1700–1730 14
Early Years: Family and Kinship, the Huti, and Creation Stories 17
From Boys to Men: Becoming Young Men in the Muscogee World 24
Two. The Tustenogy’s World, 1730–1756 29
Coweta the Talwa, Sempoyaffee the Tustenogy 30
Sempoyaffee and the Politics of Talwas and Empires 38
Three. The Cherokee King’s World, 1730–1756 48
The Cherokee King: The Intersection of Muscogee
and Cherokee Worlds 50
Four. The Muscogee World and Imperial Crisis, 1756–1763 62
The Politics of the Huti and Talwa during the Seven Years’ War 65
The Treaty of Augusta, 1763 75
Five. The Muscogee World and Colonial Crisis, 1763–1775 80
1763–1773: A Decade of Crisis 83
The Second Treaty of Augusta and the Coweta Conflict 97
Six. The Muscogee World in the Revolutionary Crisis, 1775–1783 106
The Coweta Conflict and the American Revolution 108
Conclusion 119
abbreviations 125
notes 127
bibLiography 173
index 189
ILLUSTRATIONS
fig. 1 Sempoyaffee and Escotchaby’s kinship tree xv
fig. 2 Map of Muscogee territories, ca. 1763 15
fig. 3 Map of the Creek Path and Coweta 31
fig. 4 Map of Silver Bluff and the Creek Path 46
fig. 5 Map of Cherokee territories 51
fig. 6 Map of Muscogee territories and the Creek Path 67

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Acknowledgments are hard. How can one thank all the people and institu-
tions that have provided such invaluable support in the process of researching
and writing a book? With that said, I do know where to start. As I promised,
this second book is dedicated to Elliana. I love you so much, and you have
been incredibly patient with me throughout this project. You are worth more
than the world itself, I cannot imagine a day without your smile, your laugh,
and your beautiful tantrums. And while I promise this book is yours, we have
your mother to thank just as much for her support and patience throughout
this process. I love you both so much.
The origins of this book are a somewhat funny story. I was in the middle of
researching a different book when I ran across James Hill in Pittsburgh for a
conference. James and I have known each other a long time, and our work in-
tersects all over the place. So when he saw that I was presenting on the “same
ol’” Escotchaby and Sempoyaffee, he laughed and told me something to the
effect of “You’re really getting a lot of mileage out of these guys.” I laughed
too, but then it dawned on me, James was onto something. There was a story
here I wanted to tell, I just didn’t know it until James pulled it out of me.
Thanks, James!
I also need to thank my incredible group of friends who have listened more
than enough about Escotchaby and Sempoyaffee and have provided invalu-
able support and love throughout my life. Jeff Fortney and Rowan Steineker
(and now little Thaddeus!), you guys mean the world to me. Liz Ellis, Brooke
Bauer, and Christian Crouch, I cannot imagine my world without you three.
Cedric Burrows, Jenn Finn, Sergio Gonzalez, Alison Efford, Kristen Foster,
Sam Maj hor, Ben Linzy, Mike McCarthy, Sam Harshner, Karalee Surface,
Lisa Lamson, Abby Bernhardt, Cory Haala, you are all a godsend to Mar-
quette; may it be a better place because of you all. And Nadine Zimmerli,
your enthusiasm and laughter make this world a better place.
As a scholar of the Native South, I extend my friendships and relationships
to all the people in that circle. And while I list all your names, it does not