by Stephen R. Cook - April 12, 2023
In my writings and on the website theChickasawVillages.com, I provided information regarding the locations and movements of the Chickasaw villages from the late seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century. I had considered a similar website for the Choctaw; after all they were Chickasaw neighbors, spoke very similar languages and shared history by exposure to common European and American powers. But there were differences. To be blunt, there were many more Choctaw and Choctaw villages compared to the Chickasaw. How many Choctaw villages were there? Was that number consistent with time? Did the eighteenth century Choctaw villages move? What did a Choctaw village look like?
It will take some writing on my part and reading on yours to discover the answers.
Before we start, I have a disclosure ... I have added a partner for this endeavor, an old Tupelo friend. Eddie Stone, presently of Moody, AL is a land realtor and forester who has mapping overlay and rectification, drone operation, LiDAR, and GIS skills that will become evident. Eddie uses these skills in his profession. He also enjoys using LiDAR to search for historic paths, roads and improvements. For this website he has cropped, grouped, and rescaled original United States survey plats and European historic maps.
My role in the Choctaw villages? Author. Most of the mistakes will be mine.
To begin our journey, first we must examine a number of historic sources. It would be convenient for the reader to start chronologically, but in this case we must start in the late 1800s. Without doubt, the father of knowledge concerning the Choctaw villages was H. S. Halbert.
Map of an Unnamed Choctaw Village -
located Township 5 N Range 10E Section 23 by Surveyor John Maxwell - October 22, 1832.
Western Part and Eastern Part French Period Choctaw Villages -
Eddie Stone rescaled, cropped, and rectified original United States survey plats and European historic maps.
