Abstract
The study aims to look at the political and culture conflicts that led to the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Creek Indians could not escape the long-term effects of the battle. The demise of the great creek nation lead to other changes in the community or region. This was a major battle fought between the United States Army and southwest Oregon Indians during1853-1856. The southern Indian country was transformed into a cotton country. The paper looks at the historical events that led to the battle's commencement. The battle also proved the long tradition of European nations to gather support of the native population to defeat their rivals. The paper looks at the influence of the arrival of European Americans on the local Indian tribes living in Oregon. The clashes of different cultures and growing fear and suspicion in both sides dimmed the hopes of peaceful relations. Battle of Horseshoe Bend also broke the spirits of the Indian tribes.
Introduction
The southeastern area of United States contained about 100 different tribes, and there were two million American Indians here before the Europeans arrived for their exploration and settlement. The region was dominated by five different indigenous groups, and one of the groups was called the Creek, which was a unified cultural group that covered about 50 villages in Georgia and Alabama. The area defined as the "horseshoe bend" covers about 100 wooded acres.
Horseshoe Bend was a result of the Europeans spreading towards west from the Atlantic Ocean, and as people from different societies came together, the result was conflicts. There were fights and battles over land and culture. Before European settlement, about two million American Indians were living in the southeastern United States. There were as many as100 different tribes that shared similar ways of culture and lifestyle ( Horak, 1997). Farming, fishing and hunting were their primary occupation. European invasion of the Creek affected the native population significantly. There was a significant decrease in the native population because of the wars, as well as diseases that came with the Europeans such as smallpox. The dwindling population also declined the ability of the tribes to resist the ever-increasing population of European Americans. The rise of political and culture conflicts resulted in the battle of horseshoe bend.
The "Battle of Horse Bend" The battle was fought on 27 and 28 May 1856 between an eclectic group of Indian warriors and the reinforced Company of United States Army Dragoons( Apple, 1998). The situation of battle was simple and uncomplicated. The Indian warriors surrounded the soldiers, and as the tactical options for the soldiers became limited, there was no possibility of a breakout maneuver without abandoning. The Indians were overwhelming low in manpower as compared to the soldiers. They contained the soldiers within their defensive position and reduced their strength by fire. It was almost victory for the Indian warriors, but the arrival of 4th Infantry on the battle scene altered the situation. The 4th Infantry entered the fray from the south and attacked north, thus putting to flight Indian women and children and broke their hold on the defensive position. The attack was well planned and overwhelmed the Indians with their superior force. The decision by Captain Smith's decision to move his company off the meadow helped him gain a tactical advantage that the Indian warriors.
For the Indian warriors, it was a defeat after almost reaching the victory. The Battle of Big Bend broke the fighting spirit of the Indians. The American Indian warriors had already been part of a series of costly wars during the past year. This was a fight not simply American Indian versus European American, but a decisive battle that is one of the long-running conflicts in American history. The battle also showed the tensions among American Indians. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend ended the Creek War effectively and the Creek were forced to cede almost 20 million acres to the U.S. The territory included a great deal of hunting land and many villages that belonged to the Creek.
The Creeks
It is essential to understand the Creek people, and their culture to understand the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. These American Indians relied on farming before the mid-18th century and later moved to hunting commercially to get deerskins for trade. This group was different from the other tribes in the region, and European Americans failed to notice this difference. The Creeks followed certain cultural practices that helped to create a strong unity within the Creek confederacy. For example, the representatives from different towns met on a regular basis to take decisions, and the community was brought together during the celebrations of annual festivals and athletic contests. People of different clans within the group took good care of each other.
However, certain aspects were weakening the roots of the unity among the Creeks. There were constant attempts from the Georgia’s government to get more land. This divided the Creek people among Upper Creek and the Lower Creek. The Upper Creek lived in Alabama while the Lower Creek were closer to European American settlement. There were also tensions within the tribes and so0me preferred to be called "Muskogee". Muskogee, the Lower Creek, thought themselves to be superior to non-Muskogee, and the two factions lived apart and followed a certain set of cultural practices. There was a civil war between the Upper and Lower Creek over how to handle the Europeans. The attempt to civilize American Indians led to further difficulties. Gradually, the Indians learned to farm like European Americans, adopted Christianity and learned English. There were only a few American Indians that rejected European culture as the new technology they brought improved their lives, but also grew their dependence on them. Marriages between Creek and white were not uncommon.
The Influence of European cultural practices
Most Creek wanted to stick to their traditional ways. Some of them did learn English, but preferred to speak their own language. They disliked Christianity and followed their own religion and festivals. Their belief was that the tribe should control property, and most of the land should remain as forest. European American settlers were fast spreading west and wanted to acquire more land. European cultural practices did have an impact on indigenous society, but a smaller one. Some of the Indians did speak English and adopted Christianity. The lifestyle of the native people slowly changed with time and during their contact period with the whites. The change was willingly accepted at times and resisted at the other. The social patterns, rituals, diets among the settlement resisted change but eagerly recognized in the realm of the material culture among the Indians. They transformed their methods of hunting and combat as targets could be addressed from greater distances. The increased use of firearms also increased their dependence on the supply source. The Indian tribes acquired preference for metal and iron over stone to make pots and tools. They also favored the use of textiles for body warmth. The new changes and a desire for material goods encouraged and forced the Indian's interaction with white traders. The newcomers soon gnawed at their self-reliance and contributed to culture change.
As the interactions between the two cultures grew, social animosities and conflict between the cultures also rose. Some Indians tried to acquire material goods through killing and stealing that gave rise to animosities between the cultures. Trading by Indians amongst the white culture was not a major issue except for the firearms. The white community felt that the incidence of stealing for these goods were on the rise and getting more frequent. An environment of animosity developed towards all Indians by any newcomer in the region. The animosities between the two cultures grew slowly and as armed conflict overtook the process, the Indians was no longer tolerated in the southwestern Oregon.
European rival nations also eyed the Creek and during the 18thcentury, Britain, France, and Spain tried to gain allies against their European rivals with the help of the Creek. The Creek found those alliances seldom profitable and refrained from getting involved in them. Sometimes, the Creek were busy battling with other tribes, particularly the Cherokee, their long-running feud.
Battlefields are often an expression of culture and the architectural elements point to the behavioral patterns of those who engage in combat fight and contain the remains of violent cultural events. The depositions of artifacts point to the training in proper battlefield behavior that can be interpreted in an anthropological perspective. The site for the battle is in southwestern Oregon and is made of rugged, deeply dissected hills and mountains. The mountains are more than 3000 feet high and dissected highly due to water erosion. The site of the Battle of Big Bend is on the west side of the Rogue River and at a spot known as the "Big Bend. The winter of 1856 is said to be one of the coldest. The unusual severity and poor weather conditions delayed the Indians.
Settlements were generally located adjacent to major streams, and the food sources were salmon, trout fresh water mussel from rivers. The hunted animals were bear, squirrel, rabbit, deer, elk as well as pine nut, berries and other items came from meadows and forest. The weapons (Horak, 1997) that were used by the Indians and were recovered from the battle site consisted of rifles, shotguns, pistol revolvers, pouches, powder horns and swords.
The Mounting Tensions
Around the 19th century, European-American society increasing their presence on the Creek. The Creek were worried that the European influences will destroy their traditional cultural values, and there were tensions always around land, for which the European Americans always had an insatiable appetite. European Americans believed in owning private property, and this practice differed widely from the Creek practice of collective ownership. Several events gave rise to the tensions between and among American Indians and European Americans. American authority over the new territory of land from the Atlantic to the Rockies was limited, and they felt threatened both by the British and Indians. The U.S. government felt that their interests were undermined. The only solution they saw to the problem was encouraging the control of its citizens with their rapid settlement. There were regular negotiations (Billie, 2012) for acquiring land and this led to hostilities as the tribes were forced to give up land. Throughout the contact period, the hostilities between native inhabitants and white newcomers in southern Oregon continued to escalate until widespread armed conflict between members of the two cultures ignited in 1853 and again October 1855.
The background behind the reasons that led to the ill-will can be stated clearly. They were related to use of land and resources coupled with ethnocentric biases. The situation did not develop overnight but evolved over the years, till it became out of control, resulting in warfare. Relations between the Indian tribes and the whites were reasonably friendly and well tolerated by most coastal Indians. It was when the white settlers tried to establish a permanent settlement that the attempt was met with hostility from the local Indians. The Indians came into contact the second group of whites as emigrants through the Rogue Valley, and this additional emigrant traffic increased the conflict between the two cultures.
There were increasing clashes between Indians and white emigrants. Indians ambushed white travelers and packers with the intention of stealing while white travelers killed and wounded Indians whom they felt threatened from. The aggression rose even more when gold was discovered in southern Oregon. Thus the conflict that was earlier associated chiefly with routes of emigration and travel, also now followed the miners, as they changed the landscape. Their mining activities clashed with the lifestyle of the traditional Indians. Thousands of miners and permanent settlers entered the region. Miners were followed by Merchants and, merchants were followed by farmers, encouraged by the Donation Land. It was the increased emigration, which resulted in the rising competition between the cultures for land and resources.
The Indians in the region were made refugees in their own homeland fighting for survival. Their fish runs were ruined by the miners' debris, and split-rail fences that were erected prevented the Indians from burning the fields and hillsides, a practice they had been following for ages. The whites with their modern weapons were already taking a toll on the deer and elk in the region. The Indians were driven from their old villages as their lands came under the Donation Land. The Indian population was devastated due to lack of food, diseases brought by the White and the severe winter. There is no doubting that the hostilities between the two competing cultures was on-going. Even after attempts of friendship, fear and suspicion always remained in the hearts. Still, there were individuals in both sides and cultures, who hoped for peaceful relations, and hoped for peaceful relations.
The Aftermath
There were deaths on both sides, but the main loss was to the Red Sticks, as a large number of their men were killed defending the encampment and escaping across the Tallapoosa. Women and children were made prisoners. The remaining Red Stick forces were asked to cut their ties to the British and Spanish, or face the risk of getting wiped out. William Weatherford, the Red Stick leader, realized their defeat and asked for peace, which was concluded by the Treaty of Fort Jackson in 1814 (Kunzig, 2008) . About a 1000 Creek warriors lay dead, and their fight for the independence and future of their people was over.
The Creeks were now completely surrounded by white settlers after Horseshoe Bend, about and were made to give up the rest of their lands in Alabama about 20 years later. Treaty of Fort was enforced upon the Creek leaders, who surrendered and agreed to the transfer of millions of acres of land in transfer for an end to the war. Jackson was involved in Battle of New Orleans ten months later where he defeated the British, became an American hero and eventually President of the United States.
The population of Georgia and Alabama continued to rise after Horseshoe Bend. Despite the growing pressure from European-American settlers, the Creek refused to sell their lands. However, ultimately, the Creek were not able to contain the flood of European Americans into their homeland. The tribes were forced to give their homelands and move elsewhere. Conclusion
There is no disputing that the two nations at Horseshoe Bend, the armies of two countries fought with courage and determination as they knew that their future was being decided. Different conflicts related to culture and political interests of both sides resulted in the battle of horseshoe bend. This battle indeed led to the demise of the great creek nation and changed the southern Indian country into cotton country. Those culture and political differences did not arise overnight, but simmered slowly over the years. There are different political views on the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Jackson believed that Treaties served no purpose and Indians were very troublesome. The Congress should act justly to protect her innocent citizens. Thomas Jefferson Looked upon the tribes to be foolhardy as they confined themselves to a small piece of land. The remaining Creeks felt that their hunting grounds and lands are nearly all gone. They felt deceived by the white man who built their castles on their hunting grounds and cut down their forests where they hunted animals. The tribe learned with sorrow that it is better not to combat against the white men and should realize that they are here to stay. The braves in their tribes have already forgotten how to use the scalping knife, and it is best to remain in peace with the white men.
Horseshoe Bend was not the final battle between Jackson and the Creek. Some Upper Creek escaped to northern Florida where they allied with the Seminole and got weapons from the British for a brief time. Later, England was more focused on defeating Napoleon, and thus stopped sending supplies to the Seminole. Seminole continued their fight against European-American and were involved in the First Seminole War.
ReferencesHorak, V. (1997). The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures.
Billie Kay Tye. (2012). The final battle. Peterborough: Carus Publishing Company, Pals Media.
Robert Kunzig. (2008). Horseshoe bend, alabama. Herndon: Weider History Group, Inc.
Applen, J. (1998). Battle of Big Bend. Oregon State University.
