Most Americans know all about how some European settlers attacked, murdered, stole land from and otherwise mistreated some American Indians. Those stories are repeatedly taught in our schools and colleges. They also saturate our popular culture. They are also told in countless movies and TV series from Little Big Man (1970) to Yellowstone 1883 (2021).
However, relations between European settlers in America and American Indians (now to be called only “Native Americans”) were far more complicated. European settlers and American Indians often co-existed peacefully and helped each other. Certain Indian tribes (like the Powhatan, Iroquois and Comanche) were aggressive, brutal and savage to other Indian tribes and European settlers alike. Weaker Indian tribes made alliances with Europeans to survive attacks by aggressive tribes and food shortages. However, most Americans today don’t know that. That is because those stories have been “cancelled” in most schools, colleges, media and Hollywood and TV entertainment.
A typical example is the Fort Mims massacre of August 30, 1813. In 1813, Fort Mims was a settlement of about 500 men, women and children located in sparsely populated woods in what is now Alabama. At the time, it was in federal territory. The people of Fort Mims included Europeans and American Indians who chose to leave their native villages and live with Europeans. They also included mixed race couples and their children.
However, not one word about a massacre by Indians of 500 men, women, and children at Fort Mims is mentioned in Enduring Vision, a typical American history textbook that is used in many high schools and colleges throughout America. The location of the fort is simply shown on a map of “The Three U.S. Invasions Of 1812” with the notation, “William Weatherford’s Red Stick force destroys Fort Mims, August 30, 1813”.
During the summer of 1813, the Creek Indian nation split into two factions. One faction wanted to live peacefully with European-Americans, trade with them, and adopt their language and culture. The other was a nativist faction who wanted to keep traditional tribal ways. They declared war on all European-Americans and all Indians who wanted to live with them. They called themselves the “Red Sticks” because they had raised the “red stick of war”.
They began the war by attacking all farms along the frontier owned by Indians. The Red Stick Creeks burned houses and barns, killed livestock, and forced the Indians living in those farms to flee to fortified settlements like Fort Mims. Then, on August 30, 1813, they attacked Fort Mims.
In just a few hours, they murdered roughly 500 men, women and children. They burned the fort and destroyed crops and houses throughout the area. They also killed roughly 5,000 head of cattle. The Red Stick Creeks also kidnapped roughly two dozen women and children. Only about three dozen inhabitants of Fort Mims escaped. This was the beginning of what became known as “The Creek War”, the “Creek Indian War” or the “Indian War”.
This massacre and other attacks caused panic throughout the frontier, and severely damaged peaceful interaction between American Indians and European-Americans.
European-Americans along the frontier formed militias to attack and defeat the Red Sticks and other Indians who supported them. They were led by Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett, both of Tennessee. In 1814, they, together with Cherokee Allies ended the war by crushing the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in what is now Alabama.
Sources: Click Here For Link to: Fort Mims massacre – Wikipedia
And: Red Eagle’s Raid – The Fort Mims Massacre | War History Online
Andrew Jackson then became a national hero by defeating the British Army in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and illegally invading and occupying Spanish Florida in 1818. In 1824, Jackson ran for President and narrowly lost. In 1825, Jackson made an alliance with corrupt New York politician Martin Van Buren to form the new Democratic Party. Jackson was elected President in 1828 and 1832.
Davy Crockett also went into politics. Crockett was elected to Congress in 1828 and 1830 as a Democrat and friend of Andrew Jackson.
However, in 1830, one of Andrew Jackson’s key policies was betraying the Cherokee Indians who helped him defeat the Red Sticks in 1814. The Cherokees had completely adopted Christianity, and the language, culture, and way of life of European Americans. Jackson worked with Georgia politicians to violently force the Cherokees out of their lands in Georgia. Instead of fighting, the Cherokees brought a lawsuit in federal court to keep their lands. They won their case, but Jackson refused to comply with orders of the Supreme Court.
Many Americans, including Davy Crockett, were disgusted by Jackson’s betrayal of the Cherokee Indians and other abuses of power. They formed a new political party called the Whigs to oppose Jackson and his Democrats. Another Whig leader was Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. However, Andrew Jackson and the Democrats remained popular. Crockett lost re-election to Congress in 1831, and Jackson was re-elected President in 1832.
In 1954, Walt Disney created a TV miniseries that portrayed Davy Crockett. It quickly made Davy Crockett one of the most well-known and popular historical figures in America. It highlighted his courage in defending the Cherokee Indians in Congress as well as his courage fighting the Creek Red Sticks during the “Injun War”. Yet in spite of his defense of the rights of Native Americans, or perhaps because of it, Davy Crockett has been “cancelled” by Disney Entertainment in both their film releases and theme parks.
Second Verse: Fought single-handed in the Injun War
‘Till the Creeks was whipped and peace was in store.
While he was handling this risky chore,
Built himself a legend, for evermore.
Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.
Third Verse: He give his word, and he give his hand
That his Injun friends could keep their land
The rest of his life he took the stand,
That justice was due every Redskin band.
Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.
