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SUMMER, 1790: EARLY 1820: FALL, 1864:| "The Creek Indians continued to threaten white
settlements after the Revolutionary War. Sandwiched between whites to the east and west,
they fought to keep the land along the Chattahoochee. A letter dated May 27, 1782 from
John Martin to Gen. Andrew Pickens of South Carolina relates information that a band of
Coweta Indians, led by William McIntosh, was to rendezvous at the village
of Standing Peachtree in preparation for an attack. In response, an observer, John
Brandon, was sent to Standing Peachtree by the Executive Council of Georgia to spy on the
Indians. In his letter, Martin urged the general's speedy action: "...for God's sake
exert yourself and come in to our timely aid, as delays are dangerous." John Martin's
letter is the first known mention of the village of Standing Peachtree. "Unbeknownst to participants at the time, events in the year 1790 would propel them into a legendary confrontation, one that would seal the fate of the Indians and establish Georgia the winner of a challenge to the authority of the federal government. In that year, Congress revoked the right of states to acquire Indian lands, giving that power exclusively to the federal government. "President George Washington summoned Indians to a treaty conference in New York in August of 1790. Marinus Willett was Washington's special envoy to the Indians. He promised that a treaty "as strong as the hills and lasting as the rivers" would be made to protect Indian lands from white encroachment. "Against the advice of many, Alexander McGillivray, the famous |
son of a Scottish trader and an Creek mother, agreed to lead an
Indian delegation to New York. Notice of the impending meeting went out to the Creeks
through riders on horseback and through smoke signals from atop Stone Mountain. The
entourage must have formed a colorful pageant. From Alabama to New York, they traveled
through the wilderness, past Stone Mountain. McGillivray rode on horseback and Willett in
a sulky, while twenty-six other chiefs and warriors traveled in wagons. All along the way
the delegation generated great interest, and prominent citizens hosted parties for
McGillivray. "One of the landmarks passed by the convoy was Stone Mountain. Willett recalled the visit in his personal journal: "June 9, at 9 o'clock
a.m. arrived at the Stony Mountain about 8 miles from where we encamped. Here we found the
Cowetas and the Curates to the number of eleven waiting for us; lay by until 3 o'clock
p.m. and then proceeded 8 miles and encamped by a large Creek of the Waters of Ockmulgee.
Course in general nearly east, north east. Pleasant day, shower of rain after we encamped. |
EARLY 1820s:
While Pony Boys Gang Terrorized Towns on the Chattahoochee River,
Decatur Was Barely a Settlement
| "At
the time the Georgia government was negotiating with the Creek Indians over their land
between the Chattahoochee and South rivers, the place that would become the city of
Decatur "could scarcely be dignified as a `settlement,'there being but a few shanties
and an Indian lodge or two. It was a sort of trading post." "The Etowah Trail was the primary transportation corridor, running from Decatur to what is now Five Points in downtown Atlanta. Now called DeKalb Avenue and Decatur Street, the path could only be traveled by foot or horse; it was not wide enough for wagons. "The Etowah Trail continued westward to Sandtown on the Chattahoochee River, which at the time was considerably larger than the "settlement" at Decatur. Sandtown was as rough a town as the notorious "wild west" places like Dodge City. Gold had been discovered just across the Chattahoochee in Villa Rica, and fortune-hunters came in droves. "Contemporary "youth gangs" had nothing on the "Pony Boys" who headquartered at Sandtown. The Pony Boys spent their time "rustling cattle, pillaging and harassing the Indians who lived across the Chattahoochee River. The Indians complained to authorities, and claimed the Pony Boys came from DeKalb County. Catching the perpetrators proved difficult, since it was easy for them to escape by crossing the river, where the white man's government had no jurisdiction." "Apparently, the Indians
caused |
"William
W. White moved in 1824 from Franklin County, Ga. to what is now the West End section of
Fulton County. He came "riding a lank horse, with his plowgear on the animal and a
side of meat and various utensils tied up in a sack behind him. The "pilfering"
Indians worried him and frightened his wife. They would come from Sandtown and "were
forever peeping around the smokehouse and slyly picking up any useful articles lying
around." Relations in the White household were further strained because William had
put up their cabin hastily and had not sufficiently covered the cracks between the logs.
"So when bears, wolves and panthers came prowling around the house at night, the lady
refused to occupy the side of the bed next to the wall for fear that these wild animals
would poke their noses through the openings and bite her." "While they might have invited unwelcome advances from wildlife, unchinked spaces between logs in the interior of pioneer cabins provided valuable storage nooks for things like knitting, a corncob pipe or a child's rag doll. "During the next few years Decatur would grow into a sizeable town, and Sandtown would disappear with the Indians. "The town of Decatur was
incorporated on December 10, 1823. Reuben Cone, William Morris, William Gresham, James
White and Thomas A. Dobbs were appointed by the General Assembly as the first
commissioners of Decatur. |
FALL, 1864
Courageous Decatur Woman Helps Neighbors Survive Horrors of War
| "In
order to try and feed her family and neighbors, Mary Gay requested permission to come and
go... "Mary's first trip was to Jonesboro where she had heard her brother was stationed. While in Atlanta waiting on a train, she saw "wagons filled with pianos and fine furniture waiting to be shipped north." In Jonesboro, she found exiled Atlantans "dumped out upon the cold ground without shelter and without any of the comforts of home, and an autumnal mist or drizzle slowly but surely saturating every article of clothing upon them... "After visiting with her brother in Jonesboro, Mary left with a terrible premonition that she would never see him again. She then set off on the first of her own foraging trips. She paid "an enormous sum" to hire a rickety wagon, pulled by two oxen. "Out of compassion for the oxen" she walked alongside the wagon. "The long tramp to Stone Mountain was very lonely. Not a living thing overtook or passed us, and we soon crossed over the line and entered a war-stricken section of country where stood chimneys only, where lately were pretty homes and prosperity, now departed." The chimneys, called Sherman's Sentinels, "seemed to be keeping guard over those scenes of desolation. The very birds of the air and beasts of the field had fled to other sections." "Mary arrived in Stone Mountain some time during the next night, and was given shelter at the hotel, but not a place to sleep, since all the beds were occupied. "Early in the morning, hungry and footsore, I started all alone walking to Decatur. The solitude was terrific, and the feeling of awe was so intense that I was startled by the breaking of a twig, or the gruesome sound of my own footsteps. Constantly reminded by ruined homes, I realized that I was indeed within the arbitrary lines of a cruel, merciless foe, and but for my lonely mother, anxiously awaiting my return, I should have turned and run for dear life until again within the boundaries of Dixie." "The entire trip had netted
her a large yam and a piece of sausage. |
from
the crevices of bureau drawers and other improvised troughs for federal horses. "In this diligent and persevering work, about a half bushel was obtained from the now deserted camping ground of Garrard's cavalry." The corn was washed and dried and carried to the only area mill that survived burning, to be ground into coarse meal. The women found a cooking pot abandoned on the campground, and cooked cornmeal mush and hoecakes. "Those living outside of Atlanta had come to fear foraging parties of Union soldiers, for whom such aids seemingly were carried not so much out of necessity as to hunt for things worth stealing. A letter from a 5th Connecticut Volunteers, dated October 22, 1864, described the "plunder:" "Dear Folks at Home... Just now foraging or raiding parties are all the rage with us... I enjoy it hugely. It may seem barbarous to you to rob henroosts but Hood cut off our R. R. communication and forced us to forage for corn & of course we don't refuse to accept any thing better that offers. All is fair in war you know." "Families tried to hide what they could from the marauding soldiers, as well as from roving bands of poor whites. At the Promised Land, Thomas Maguire wrote in his diary: "Oct. 22 -- Yankees at Lithonia and may be here today or tomorrow. Are getting things put away from them... With sheep and cattle being out of the way, we are now ready to stand a trial with the Yankees. "Oct. 27 -- At 10 1/2 o'clock some 30 Yankees rode up. Took Phillip's wagon and two horses, all our meal and flour, one keg of syrup and several articles from the house that I do not know of, one bu. grain the last we had. They stayed some 15 or 20 minutes and put back over the (Yellow) river. They also took John E's saddlebags and a large tin cup. "Nov. 2 -- Hands gathering up corn and some trifling folks at it too, but this is war time and maybe worse is coming, but we must try and bear it as best we can. "Nov. 3 -- What will become of us. God only knows." |