MUSING 3
In Musing 1 I provided an introduction which explained what the CIP represent and their date. I suggest you read that before starting below.
I have looked at facsimiles of the United States original survey plats for each township mentioned below. I have done that attempting to find the first United States creek or river name, if/as recorded.
Please note that creek names, communities and bands are shown as recorded by sources and cartographers.
Oktibbeha County
Oktibbeha County was founded in 1833. Why is that important? You have to understand the migrations or Trail of Tears took place in the fall of 1831, 1832 and 1833. Further, the United States Surveyors were in the field. As we have stated, their field notes and plats may be found on BLM GLO website. I will relay some of those pertinent notes below.
Figure 14 shows the county boundary, townships and their boundaries and numbers as well as the number of Choctaw Individual Properties (CIP) in bold. Oktibbeha County was the home of Mayhew Mission in Township T20 R15. The surveyor drew some of the Missions buildings on the plat. Another mission was Hebron. It was located in northwest Starkville. H. B. Cushman's father was the minister there. The Choctaw Agency was located in Township T17 R15 Section 17. Also, Choctaw District Chief David Folsom resided and farmed near there.
Cushman in his work History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians referenced the aid the Missions made to help the Choctaw migrations. One of these aids was to build roads and bridges suitable for wagons. See Cushman 97. Cushman's recording of the Missions' assistance in road and bridge building is a prerequisite to understanding some of the surveyor's notes.
The surveyor's recorded a number of roads: The Robinson Road which entered Township T17 R14 and exited T17 R15 on its way to Columbus, Ms.; Athens to Clinton Road which went from Athens, Ms. which was northeast of what was to become Aberdeen, Ms. to French Camp where it intersected the Natchez Road; the Treaty Road from Mashulatubbee's in Winston County to the Choctaw Agency. In addition, the survey notes recorded a number of Choctaw paths and fields. Other roads were noted as "Road made by Emigration Indians." Another road was termed, "Road leading from Folsom to Mayhew Missionary Station." This Folsom was District Chief David Folsom. Another road was labeled, "Road leading from the agency to the Old Natchez Trace." I have read that most of Folsom's District migrated in the 1832 Trail of Tears. The surveyors likely witnessed it.
The county had a number of prairies which were valued hunting lands in the early and mid 18th century, and valued livestock grazing lands from say 1800 to 1832.
Back to Cushman, he indicated Cushman 490 that Oktoc was a town in Oktibbeha County. It has survived in name as a community at Township T17 R15 Sections 17 and 18 adjacent to the Old Robinson Road. We see that band of Choctaw on Figure 14A. Shaw Creek is the current name of the drainage; however, the surveyor's called it "Folsom Creek." The CIP in T17 R15 (Figure 14) represent what Cushman called a town, Swanton a group and we term a band . . . called Oktoc.
In passing Cushman 487 stated that Os-ki-fa-kop-lih or Striped Creek was also known as "Trimcane Creek." Contemporary Trim Cane Creek is Cushman's Oskifakoplih and drains northwest Oktibbeha County to the northeast to Line and Tibbee Creeks (Note: These creeks were part of the historic dividing line between the Choctaw and Chickasaw.)
Cushman 489 wrote that Oktarkthalapulla was a beautiful prairie located six miles southwest of Starkville. Prairies are typically raised land with few drainages or creeks and are known for their grasses and sedges. I looked on the survey plats and notes for the beautiful prairie southwest of Starkville. Perhaps Cushman meant southeast where there were prairies.
Look at Figure 14B which shows 24 CIP in T17 R12. In fact, there are an additional 3 CIP immediately to the west in T17 R11 Choctaw County (sorry no figure). By combining Townships T17 R12 and T17 R11, we form a large band. But what was its name? (By the way, the contemporary town of Sturgis is located in Sections 9 and 16.) The principal creek in T17 R12 is Sand Creek. And Sand Creek is how the original surveyor recorded it. However, the main tributary of Sand Creek is Bogue Fallah, which headwaters in Choctaw County. Swanton 82 wrote that Bok falaia, "Long Creek,"was a known band which was not located by county by his sources. Until I hear differently Bok falaia will be the band's name. Had the original surveyor in T17 R12 noted Sand Creek as Bogue Fallah then we would have a "long creek" to match the name in T17 R11. To add to the Sand Creek mystery naming, the Illman (1833) and Burr (1836) Mississippi maps spell the creek "Bogue Pelliah." These are sources contemporary with the surveyors and CIP.
Choctaw County
Choctaw County was founded in 1833. The Natchez Trace, labeled variously by the United States original surveyors, cut across the county from Township T17 R8 to T19 R11. The "Road to Nashville" and the "Road to Athens" merged in Township T17N R9E Section 31 on the west side per the Original Survey plat. The surveyors also noted a number of Choctaw paths particularly in T18 R10.
Figure 15 indicates the county boundary, township boundaries and numbers and the number of CIP in bold in each township. The largest number of CIP in the county is 9 in Townships T18 R11 and T17 R9. French Camp, located in Township T17N R9E Section 31, was the stand of Major Louis and Rebecca (Cravat) Lafleur (Laflau), the parents of Greenwood Leflore. Louis Lafleur was born in Mobile and married nieces of Pushmataha. See Mississippi Sideboard Louis Lefleur, Frontiersman by Jesse Yancy for additional information.
Figure 15A and Figure 15B show Townships T18 R11 and T18 R10, respectively. I do not have a historic reference that the CIP in these neighboring townships were a band, but they share the same drainage, Big Bywy Creek, and its tributaries, Middle (Little) Bywy and Bowie Creeks. In addition, 2 of the 6 CIP in Township T17 R10 in Sections 5 and 6 lay on these tributaries. Bywy on the original survey plat is "Bi-wy-ah." The CIP in Townships T18 R11, T18 R10 and T17 R10 which are situated on the Bywy Creek network are the Bi-wy-ah band until a historic reference corrects.
In Township T17 R9 (Figure 15C) 9 CIP share McCurtain Creek and its tributaries: Dry Creek and King Branch. The CIP in Section 4 represents the residence and farm of Daniel McCurtain who was a signer of the DRC and granted a section of land per Supplemental Article II of the DRC. The patent for Section 4 on the BLM GLO website indicates this was the granted section from DRC. Daniel McCurtain and his offspring were noted Choctaw leaders in Mississippi and Oklahoma. As far as a name for this band, I offer Kenago (Kenaga) which was a historic community adjacent to the Natchez Trace in T17 R9.
In Oktibbeha County recall I extended the band of Bok falaia into Choctaw County T17 R11.
Montgomery County
Montgomery County was founded in 1871. A large portion was created from Choctaw County to the east. Figure 16 indicates the county border, the townships borders and numbers and the CIP in bold number. Note that Township T19 R7 has the highest number of CIP at 6.
Figure 16A represents the CIP as "X"s on the T19 R7. These 6 CIP as well as the 2 CIP to the south in T18 R7 Sections 1 and 10 are all on Wolf Creek. The original United States surveyors did not provide an alternative creek name. "Wolfcreek" was also the name of a historic community which was located on Wolf Creek. In addition, the original surveyors did indicate a wagon road running east-west through T19 R7. As far as a name for this small band, let's use Wolf Creek perhaps known to the Choctaw as Nashoba bogue.
Coincidentally, a few sections west in the same township between Little Mulberry Creek and Reed Creek was a historic, abandoned site called "Choctawville." Was the small band on Wolf Creek part of a larger band called Choctawville by the whites? Again, could a large percentage of these Choctaw have immigrated to Oklahoma?
Carroll County
Like many of the Mississippi counties carved out of the DRC, Carroll County was organized in 1833. Figure 17 indicates the county boundary, the townships boundaries and numbers and the number of CIP as bold numbers. Township T18 R2 has the highest number of CIP with 10 followed by T19 R2 to its north with 8 and T16 R5 with 7. We will take a closer look at these townships.
The CIP in T18 R2 (Figure 17A) and T19 R2 (Figure 17B) are aligned north to south. The water courses that these CIP are nearest are Abotcaputa Creek to the south, Pelucia Creek to its north and Big Sand Creek which clips the northern row of sections of T19 R2. If you look at 19th century maps, it is apparent that land leveling and creek straightening have changed the drainages and creeks compared to the original surveys in the 1830s. If the band, comprising the CIP in these townships, was to encompass all of the drainages, you would add T19 R3 5CIP which are located on Big Sand creek. What is the name of the band? The original name of the three drainages was "Aboottapooda" which was recorded by the original surveyor of T18 R2 Henry Williams in the third quarter of 1832. The Aboottapooda band includes the CIP in T18 R2, T19 R2 and T19 R3. There is another landholder that was not part of the Choctaw scrip file at BLM GLO. Greenwood Leflore owned land in T19 R2, T19 R3 and T20 R2 prior to 1841. Perhaps this band should bear his name. The community name "Laflore" is located west of Carrollton on several 1830-40 maps of Mississippi. Greenwood Leflore lived here in 1835 and later built his mansion Malmaison in 1854 very near the earlier house. The band name is Leflore.
In Township T16 R5 there are 7 CIP situated on Hudson Creek and Peachahala Creek in the northeastern area of the township; see Figure 17C. The historic community of Shongalo was north of this group of CIP and situated on Peachahala Creek tributary. Is this band Shongalo? Shongalo appears on several early maps of Mississippi including the Burr map of 1836.
On Figure 17 I find another prospective band in Township T17 R1; see Figure 17D. Note this band is in the north and eastern side of the township and miles away from the Leflore band above. The Burr map of Mississippi 1836 and the Bradford map of Mississippi 1840 indicate a community named "Ishpombe" in this area. This band is south southwest of Leflore band. Ishpombe is anglicized for the Choctaw Ish-pam-bee who owned land north in Township T20 R2E Section 35 Carroll County. He is one of the CIP in Township T20 R2E. Perhaps Ish-pam-bee was honored with the name of the band by a relative?Leflore County
Leflore County was founded in 1871. It was formed from portions of Carroll, Tallahatchie and Sunflower counties. Figure 18 shows the distribution of CIP in bold in each of the labeled and bordered townships. Note the northwest Township T22N R2W has the most CIP in the county at 26 and T20N R1W has the second most at 7. The remaining townships have a few CIP to none.
The first band includes the CIP in Townships T20N R1W (Figure 18A) and T21N R1W which is north. Combined, I am addressing 9 contiguous CIP. As far as a local reference, "Shellmound", an unincorporated community, is situated in Sections 10 and 11 of T20N R1W which joins the CIP in T20N R1W. Whites settled the Shellmound in 1854. A story persists that the Chickasaw and Choctaw fought the Chakchiuma peoples there in the 18th century. Shellmound could be the name of the band.
Figure 18B provides the location of CIP in Township T22N R2W. The band is located east of Schlater Road along Highway 8. The survey notes for the township offered no hint to the band or its name. The major drainages are the Quiver River to the south and west and the Tallahatchie River to the east. Hoping to find a name for this band, I reviewed the Mississippi Department of Archives and History's Historic Maps. The old town of McNutt was settled there in the early in the 1840s. It is probable that McNutt was settled by whites and named after Alexander McNutt, the governor of Mississippi from 1838-42. McNutt was the first county seat of Sunflower County. Remember Leflore County was founded 1871 from its neighboring counties. The early maps of Mississippi do not provide an alternative name for McNutt. As for the band name, I suggest Tallahatchie after the nearby river.
I can report that "Charley's Trace," a road connecting the Mississippi River to the Rankin to Memphis Road ran north of Minter City and around the adjacent Tallahatchie River bend to its south west, south and southeast. It is located on the original survey plat and notes of Leflore County (actually Tallahatchie County when surveyed). Charley's Trace has a Wikipedia site. We may find Charley's Trace in Tallahatchie County.
Grenada County
Grenada County was founded in 1870. It was created by joining lands from neighboring counties. The shape is different to the other Mississippi Counties in that its main axis is east-west. Perhaps the shape was made to accommodate the Yalobusha River which enters from Calhoun County and flows west southwest across the entire county. Figure 19 indicates Grenada County's shape, boundary, townships location, size and names and the number of CIP in each township in bold number. As you can see, there are not a lot of CIP in any township, and not many CIP in the county. Despite its shape and lack of CIP, there is a lot of Choctaw history in Grenada County.
Before I move to the bands, let's look at the number of roads recorded by the original United States surveyors. Township T22N R3E was the hub for these roads including: the Road to Mayhew (from Elliot's Mission to Mayhew Mission), Road from Rankin to Memphis and secondary roads split from both of these roads. Charley's Trace which was south of Grenada County connected the Mississippi River to the Rankin to Memphis Road. Within the township the roads connected Elliot's Mission, Tuscahoma and Chocchuma. Despite all of these roads and settlements, there is only 1 CIP in T22 R3. Let's look at the other early towns in the county.
Tullahoma per Cushman 491 was a town in Jones County Mississippi. There was also a Tullahoma Choctaw town in Grenada County. When the whites settled the city of Grenada, Tullahoma merged with another community to form the contemporary city of Grenada. The story is printed in the Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Volume III, Oxford, 1901. The City of Grenada is centered Township T22N R5E Sections 17 and 18. The CIP in T22 R5 are in Sections 8, 17 and 21. To these CIP we can add 3 CIP in T21 R5 which are all in the northern sections and all in the same drainage, which was "Bataupan Bogue" per the original surveyors. The USGS records it as Batupan Bogue. Batupan Bogue is a tributary of Yalobusha River. In addition, 4 of the CIP in T23 R4 are bunched in the southeast of the township and are located on the Yalobusha River just downstream of the two CIP groups noted above (T22 R5 and T21 R5.) The band of Tullahoma had likely, largely immigrated.
Grenada County also hosted Elliot Mission which was founded in 1818. Cushman 71 would serve as a good starting point to gain information about Elliot and its history. "Elliot's Missionary Station" is shown on the survey plat of Township T22 R3 Section 27 in the southwest corner; see BLM GLO website. Cushman called the settlement "Yalobaaiasha;" see Cushman 71. The missionaries were not alone as they were received by "Capt. Perry and many native families" (Cushman 71-2). The mission's school opened in April 1819 with ten pupils (Cushman 73). The point is there were Choctaws living in the immediate vicinity.
Chocchuma is the name of a small village located by the original surveyor, David Connely, at Township T22 R3 Section 19. From Figure 19 there is 1 CIP in the township. This site became a United States Land Office from roughly 1832-42. This group not only coordinated with the original surveyors but also sold the Indian land. Did the Land Office move into a small Choctaw band named Chocchuma or does the name belong to the site? Does the name Chocchuma have any relationship to Swanton's Red Crawfish group; see Swanton 79. Were the Chocchuma a Choctaw band of adopted Chakchiuma people who returned to be near one of their former 18th century villages? The Chakchiuma tribe is mentioned many times in the Mississippi Provincial Archives French Dominion volumes.
Tuscahoma, which I mentioned earlier, has 1 CIP located adjacent to it in Section 22, and that section belonged to Isaac Perry.
As for the 6 CIP in Township T23 R7, I could not find any information about them. These CIP are scattered about the township and are located on four small tributaries of the Yalobusha River. To the immediate east is T23 R8 which has 2 CIP in Section 28. It is possible that a clue to the name of this band lies in neighboring Calhoun County Ms. Alternatively, all of these bands are situated along the Yalobusha River. Perhaps, Chocchuma, Tullahoma, Tuscahoma and the group in Township T23 R7 all belong to Cushman's Yalobaaiasha settlement as they all were situated on the Yalobusha River and its tributaries.
Tallahatchie County
Tallahatchie County was formed in 1833. Figure 20 provides the county boundary, township boundaries and number of CIP in each in bold. Note there are 13 townships which do not have CIP. Only Township T24N R2W with 17 CIP has a large group. The other townships do not have CIP in large groups even when combined with other townships inside or outside of the county.
The county generally drains south via the Tallahatchie River. The west side of the county is delta land while the east is uplands. The major drainage of the uplands is Tillatoba Creek which flows generally west to the Tallahatchie River. The first white settlement was the Old Tillatoba community which was located near contemporary Charleston, the largest city and one of the county seats.
Figure 20A indicates the distribution of CIP in Township T24N R2W. The 17 CIP are bound tightly about a "cypress brake," as termed by the original United States surveyor. The brake was boggy ground which could have been called a swamp when inundated. Physically, Blue Lake is to the southwest, Swan Lake to the southeast and the channeled Quiver River lays just west. The town of Webb rests immediately east; however, it was founded 1880, too late for our use. "Charleys Trace" ran through the west side of the band, heading northwest-southeast. The survey plat indicated its path and name. On the Morse and Breese 1842 map of Mississippi there is a "Tillatoba" in the township to the southeast. However, this Tillatoba location conflicts with the location of "Old Tillatoba" which was just northwest of Charleston. This band may have followed Choctaw tradition and adopted a name from Blue Lake or Swan Lake. I prefer Blue Lake as the Choctaw had at least two other blue features in their history. From Mississippi Provincial Archives French Dominion Volume I page 153 (MPAFD I 153) a French officer, Regis du Roullet, in 1732 from Mobile recorded a Choctaw village named Blue Wood or Ite ouktchaka in a list of villages. Yet another French/Swiss officer, Joseph de Lusser, passed the Blue Forest in 1730 on his visit to the Choctaw villages; see MPAFD I 114. I prefer Blue Lake as the name for this band.
Yalobusha County
Yalobusha County was founded in 1834. Originally it was named "Yallabusha" by the Choctaw. As far as drainage, the county has three principal systems. The Tillatoba Creek system drains the western side while the Yocona River ("Yoknepatawpha" per original survey docs and William Faulkner readers) drains the northern third. The south is drained by "Oakachickima" Creek, per the original surveyors, and its tributaries.
Figure 21 shows the distribution of CIP in the county as well as township shapes, boundaries and numbers. The CIP are shown as bold numbers. Take a close look at the CIPs. There aren't any in the northern part of the county. There is a reason. The Choctaw/Chickasaw dividing line cuts Yalobusha County diagonally in half. It begins in the northwest corner of the county and runs to the southeast corner. Lands north of the line were Chickasaw and those south Choctaw. This is the first county where we have experienced the divide. The Chickasaw owned at least 80 square miles of individual property in the early 1840s in northern part of Yalobusha County. Most were located along the Yocona River.
Okachickama, a community, per Cushman 489 was the capital of Yalobusha County. The USGS spells it "Okachickima" which is a creek name as well. The location per the Morse and Breese Mississippi Map of 1842 is Township 24N R5E. The CIP in T24 R5 and T24 R6 (Figure 21A) include Cushman's Okachickama band. James Perry lived at T24 R6 Section 30. The State of Mississippi has a historical marker for "Okachickima." Okachickima Creek becomes Turkey Creek before discharging into Grenada Lake. The drainage for these CIP is the "Lusaschuna" creek per the original United States Survey which is better known today as Skuna River.
Conclusions
We end a tour of counties which were formed after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit (DRC) or thereafter by Reconstruction following the American Civil War. We plotted and found concentrations of Choctaw Individual Properties or CIP for which we attempted to name. These concentrations or bands were likely part of even larger groups, both of which had names. It is interesting that so many of these bands had white settlements nearby. The reason? The CIP had cleared land and structures. That land was much more valuable than land that had not been cleared.
Also obvious is that most of these Choctaw groups or bands were significantly reduced since the DRC. These reductions were rapid as history has described the 1831, 1832 and 1833 emigrations.
A number of these bands were impossible to name. However, we can thank our Sources, Swanton and Cushman, for their efforts. After I had Musing 2 in production, I heard from Jason Lewis of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians who forwarded an article written by Henry Halbert. Halbert was a teacher who lived with the Choctaw from about 1890-1900. Halbert sheds more light on the bands particularly in the Homeland counties. I hope Jason and I can review these bands and groups and gain a better understanding of their names.
For these bands and groups of Choctaw their trials were not over. Further pressures would reduce their numbers.
A number of bands were found. It should be apparent that the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians could also be called the Mississippi Bands of Choctaw Indians.