Person:Doublehead (1)

About Doublehead

Doublehead (1744–1807) or Incalatanga (Tal-tsu'tsa in Cherokee), was one of the most feared warriors of the Cherokee during the Chickamauga Wars. In 1788, his brother, Old Tassel, was chief of the Cherokee people, but was killed under a truce (negotiating peace) by frontier rangers. In 1791 Doublehead was among a delegation of Cherokees who visited U.S. President George Washington in Philadelphia. After the peace treaty at the Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, Doublehead served as one of the leaders of the Chickamauga (or "Lower Cherokee"). Upon the death of his nephew, Principal Chief John Watts, in 1802, Doublehead was chosen as leader of the Chickamauga (taking on the title Chuqualataque).[1]

Personal Life

It is thought that Doublehead's father was Great Eagle (or Willenewa), a nephew of Chief Old Hop and a cousin of Chief Attakullakulla (or Little Carpenter). One of his brothers was Old Tassel, killed while treating with the lost State of Franklin. Two of his relatives, Tahlonteeskee and John Jolly, were also leaders among the Chickamauga and both later became Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee Nation—West. Doublehead's last wife was Nancy Drumgoole. Their youngest son, Bird Doublehead, was only twelve years old at the time of Doublehead's assassination.

Living in the Overhill Towns on the Little Tennessee River, he took only sporadic part in the campaigns of Dragging Canoe, until the murder of his brother, and another pacifist chief, Abraham of Chilhowee, under a flag of truce during an embassy to the State of Franklin in 1788. Thereafter, he became one of the most vicious fighters —and able leaders —of the Cherokee at war.

Beginnings as a war leader

His first act in his new crusade was to lead a party of warriors in concert with those of Dragging Canoe in an assault on White's Fort in East Tennessee that same year. Thereafter, he and his warriors operated somewhat independently, though occasionally joining Dragging Canoe's campaigns, operating from his new settlement of Coldwater at the head of the Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River in what is now the state of Alabama. The location at the time was within the territory claimed by the Chickasaw, but Doublehead solved that problem by marrying two daughters to George Colbert, the chief of the Chickasaw town at the foot of the Shoals. Doublehead's band included not only Cherokee, but Muskogee, Shawnee, and renegade Chickasaw (whose council and chiefs were adamantly opposed to the wars).

Activities in later years of the wars

Beginning in 1791, he began operating closely with the parties of his great-nephew, Bob Benge, who was to become one of the most feared warriors on the frontier, and Benge's brother, The Tail, who were then based in Willstown. Following the death of Dragging Canoe in 1792, he became part of a triumvirate of leaders among the Chickamauga, along with Bloody Fellow and his nephew, John Watts, who was recognized as the chief of them.

In September 1792, Watts orchestrated a large campaign into the Cumberland region of combined Cherokee and Muskogee forces which included a contingent of cavalry. It was to be a three-pronged attack in which Tahlonteeskee (or Talotiskee) of the Muskogee (who was either a Creek chief or a relative of Doublehead by that name) led a force to ambush the Kentucky road; Middle Striker led another to do the same on the Walton road; while Watts himself led the main army which was made up of 280 Cherokee, Shawnee, and Muskogee warriors and cavalry, against a settlement on the Cumberland River known as Buchanan's Station on Sept. 30, 1792. Among the attackers were the Shawnee Warrior (also known as Chiksika, or Cheeseekau), Tahlonteeskee, and Dragging Canoe's brother, Little Owl, all of whom died in the encounter. Also killed in the attack was Pumpkin Boy, a younger brother of Doublehead.

One an earlier occasion, Doublehead, Pumpkin Boy, and their nephew Bob Benge, had led a raid into southwestern Kentucky during which their warriors, in an act initiated by Doublehead, cannibalized the enemies they had just killed. Their act was in imitation of the Iroquois, particularly the Mohawk, who did so to intimidate their enemies (especially during the Beaver Wars). Though every warrior present partook, Benge never operated with Doublehead afterward, sickened at his actions and at his own, nor did the later leader, The Ridge, who also took part.[2]

Beginnings of his troubles with James Vann

In 1793, a delegation of Shawnee stopped in Ustanali, the principal city of the Cherokee, on their way to call on the Muskogee and Choctaw to punish the Chickasaw for joining St. Clair's army in the north. Watts sent envoys to Knoxville, then the capital of the Southwest Territory, to meet with Governor William Blount to discuss terms for peace. This party, which included Bob McLemore, Tahlonteeskee, Captain Charley of Running Water, and Doublehead, along with the white delegation, was attacked by militia during a stop at the Overhill town of Coyatee. Hanging Maw (one of two men claiming the title of "First Beloved Man") was wounded, and several others, including his wife, daughter, and one of the white delegates, were killed. The Cherokee (and, amazingly, Watts' hostile Chickamauga warriors) agreed to await the outcome of the subsequent trial, which proved to be a farce. This was in large part because the man responsible was a close friend of John Sevier.

Watts responded by invading the Holston area with one of the largest Indian forces ever seen in the region —over one thousand Cherokee, Muskogee, and Shawnee —intending to attack Knoxville itself. On the way, the Cherokee leaders were discussing among themselves whether to kill all the inhabitants of Knoxville, or just the men, James Vann advocating the latter while Doublehead argued for the former. Further on the way, they encountered a small settlement called Cavett's Station. After they had surrounded the place, Benge negotiated with the inhabitants, agreeing that if they surrendered, their lives would be spared. However, after the settlers had walked out, Doublehead's group and his Muskogee allies attacked and began killing them over the pleas of Benge and the others. Vann managed to grab one small boy and pull him onto his saddle, only to have Doublehead smash the boy's skull with an axe. Watts intervened in time to save another young boy, handing him to Vann, who put the boy behind him on his horse and later handed him over to three of the Muskogee for safe-keeping. Unfortunately, one of the Muskogee chiefs killed the boy and scalped him a few days later.

Because of the above incident, Vann called Doublehead "Babykiller" for the remainder of his life. This incident also began a lengthy feud which defined the politics of the early 19th-century Cherokee Nation.

After the Wars

Doublehead, as well as being one of the leaders of the Lower Towns, was elected first Speaker of the Cherokee National Council, when the Cherokee formed its first nascent national government, in 1794. He became one of the foremost advocates of acculturation and one of the richest men in The Cherokee Nation —the Lower Towns then being the wealthiest section of the entire country. He was also a chief advocate of land sales, along with several older chiefs in the Lower Towns, whose number included Dragging Canoe's brother, Turtle at Home. This only increased the enmity between him and his chief rival, James Vann, who was the richest man in "The Nation."

Death

In August 1807, because of his ongoing machinations with U.S. Indian Affairs Commissioner Return J. Meigs, Jr. regarding under-the-table land deals, as well as personal animosity going back nearly two decades, several of the younger leaders of the Nation, led by James Vann, conspired to assassinate Doublehead. Meanwhile, Doublehead lost part of his thumb in a scuffle with a Cherokee named Bone Polisher. Vann, because of his personal animosity toward Doublehead going back nearly two decades, had initially planned to lead the assault, but had become too drunk to take part. The Ridge (later known as Major Ridge) and Alexander Sanders, shot the injured chief in McIntosh's Tavern at the Hiwassee Garrison near the Cherokee Agency (now Calhoun, Tennessee). The badly wounded Doublehead sought safety in the attic of schoolmaster Jonathan Blacke's house, where the assassins finished the job with knives and tomahawks.[3] Thomas Norris Clark was a close friend of the Cherokee Indian Chief Doublehead, and when a treaty was signed on 25 October 1805 for the location of a Fort opposite and below the mouth of the Hawassee River and on the North Bank of the Tennessee River. The Hiwassee Garrison, 1805 to 1817, As part of this treaty, a secret article was applicable to a small tract of land at and below the mouth of the Clinch River, to the one mile square at the foot of the Cumberland Mountains, and to the one square mile on the north bank of the Tennessee River where Cherokee Talootiske lived. The first mentioned tract was also intended for the benefit of Chief Doublehead, who leased it on 19 February 1806 to Thomas N. Clark for 20 years. When Chief Doublehead was killed at the site of the Hawassee Garrison in August 1807 by rivals who accused him of being a traitor to the Cherokees, the State of Tennessee assumed to grant the tract to Thomas N, Clark on 10 December 1820. At the time of the murder of Chief Doublehead, Thomas N Clark, John D. Chisholm, and Major Return J. Meigs had been appointed the executors of the estate by Chief Doublehead, and he wished that his estate be disposed of in the manner of white people and his wishes were read and approved by the Cherokee Council. Chief Doublehead's son Birdsong Doublehead, who was twelve years old and living in the Clarks' home at the time of his father’s murder, stayed there until his father’s estate could be settle, and then Clark took him down to Mussel Shoals Alabama to be with his mother Nancy Drumgoole, last wife of Chief Doublehead.

A historical irony deserves mention here. Walker's Ferry on the Hiwasssee River was owned by John Walker, Jr., a mixed blood who was one of Vann's associates. In July 1834, because of his advocacy of removal in the years leading up to the Treaty of New Echota, Walker was assassinated on the road home from Red Clay, TN after a meeting of the Cherokee National Council. His killers were James Foreman and his half brother Anderson Springston. In June 1839, after the Cherokee Removal to Indian Territory, Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and nephew Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) were accused of the same crime as that of Doublehead and themselves became the targets of assassins. Among the killers of Major Ridge were James Foreman, Anderson Springston, Isaac Springston, and Bird Doublehead. They were all maternal half-brothers whose mother was Nancy Drumgoole, last wife of Doublehead. Their son, Bird Doublehead, was twelve years old and residing at the home of Thomas Norris Clark when his father, Doublehead, was murdered by the Cherokee assassins, Alexander Sanders and Major Ridge.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Doublehead (1744–1807) or Incalatanga (Tal-tsu'tsa, ᏔᎵᏧᏍᎦ in Cherokee), was one of the most feared warriors of the Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Following the peace treaty at the Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, he served as one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee (or "Lower Cherokee"), and he was chosen as the leader of Chickamauga (taking on the title Chuqualataque) in 1802.

Link to the Cherokee Heritage Project Page

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Doublehead (1744–1807) or Incalatanga (Tal-tsu'tsa, ᏔᎵᏧᏍᎦ in Cherokee), was one of the most feared warriors of the Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Following the peace treaty at the Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, he served as one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee (or "Lower Cherokee"), and he was chosen as the leader of Chickamauga (taking on the title Chuqualataque) in 1802.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/21299310/person/20003543058

2.   .

   Doublehead, A Cherokee Traitor
   
   In the world of politics, those who become powerful don’t always have the best interests of their people in their hearts and minds. Sometimes, political leaders are seeking to enhance their own wealth, power, and prestige. One of these leaders was the Cherokee chief Doublehead. Doublehead was one of the most feared men in the Cherokee nation and had killed more people, both Indians and non-Indians, than anyone cared to count. He rose to the position of speaker of the Cherokee council, a position that he won for his ability as a storyteller and as a translator of English messages for the American government.
   
   In 1791, The Cherokee signed the Treaty of Holston which was intended to end hostilities between the United States and the Cherokee. The treaty gave the United States the exclusive right to trade with the Cherokee and prohibited the Cherokee from entering into diplomatic relations with other foreign powers, individuals, or states. Signing the treaty for the Cherokee were Dragging Canoe, Bloody Fellow, Doublehead, Lying Fawn, John Watts, and Little Turkey.
   
   In 1793, Cherokee warriors Doublehead, Pumpkin Boy, and Bench ambushed two Americans in Kentucky. After scalping them, the Cherokee then stripped the flesh from their bones, roasted it, and ate it.
   
   Later that same year, in Tennessee, a Cherokee war party under the leadership of John Watts attacked the settlement home of Alexander Cavett. The family, three men and ten women and children, barricaded themselves in a blockhouse. Hopelessly outnumbered, they negotiated a truce. However, when Cavett opened the door, Doublehead attacked, killing twelve of the thirteen people in just minutes. While the other warriors begged him to stop, he continued the bloody slaughter with a war ax. The warriors saved only one boy. Major Ridge witnessed the attack and felt that it was not war, but cold-blooded murder. Doublehead claimed that the killings were in revenge for the death of his brother Pumpkin Boy at the hands of Americans earlier that year.
   
   In 1794 a delegation of Cherokee, including Taken Out of Water, Northward, Doublehead, John McLemore, and Arthur Coody, were invited to Philadelphia to reaffirm the Treaty of Holston. Doublehead managed to increase the Cherokee annuity from $1,500 to $5,000.
   
   In 1798, at Tellico, Tennessee the Cherokee signed a new treaty which renewed previous treaties, called for new land cessions, and provided for an additional $1,000 in annuities. Signing the treaty for the Cherokee were Bloody Fellow, Little Turkey, Taken Out of Water, Doublehead, and Tahlonteskee.
   
   In Tennessee in 1805, the Cherokee ceded to the United States the Cumberland Plateau. Under the terms of the treaty, the Cherokee received $17,000 in cash and a promise of $3,000 annually. The Americans got tens of thousands of acres of land, land which had been the Cherokees’ best hunting territory.
   
   Doublehead brokered the treaty. As his reward, the United States gave him a cash bonus and two tracts of land. Doublehead did not keep his involvement with the Americans in this deal a secret: he bragged about it and claimed that he had secured a good deal for his people. Many Cherokees felt that he had betrayed them by giving the Americans this fine hunting territory.
   
   James Vann, a prosperous trader and tavern owner, had opposed the “sale” of the Cumberland Plateau and called Doublehead a traitor for brokering the deal. The exchange quickly became violent as both men drew their knives and attempted to kill the other. Death was prevented only by the bystanders who physically separated the two men. This fight was probably as personal as it was philosophical: Doublehead had married one of Vann’s sisters and beat her to death when she was pregnant. Vann also had a reputation for having a violent temper.
   
   The Americans had an insatiable appetite for Indian land and in 1806, a Cherokee delegation was called to Washington, D.C. where they signed another treaty with the United States. In this treaty, signed by Doublehead, James Vann, Tahlonteskee, John Jolly, and others, the Cherokee gave up more land in Alabama and Tennessee. By secret agreement each of the signing chiefs was given $1,000 and two rifles. In addition, several of the chiefs received private reservation-land within the ceded territory which they could lease to Americans and hold for speculation without further approval by the Cherokee Council.
   
   In 1807, the Cherokee national council declared Doublehead a traitor for selling Cherokee land without council approval. Under Cherokee law this was punishable by death. Major Ridge, James Vann, and Alex Saunders were chosen to carry out the execution.
   
   Doublehead attended the Green Corn Dance at Hiwassee. He had been drinking with Return Meigs, the American Indian agent, and was drunk when the Cherokee war captain Bone Cracker (also known as Bonepolisher) denounced him as a traitor. Like Doublehead, Bone Cracker had been drinking and this probably gave him the courage to confront the notorious chief. He grabbed the bridle on Doublehead’s horse and in response, Doublehead pulled his pistol and shot Bone Cracker at point blank range, killing him. The Indian agent and other Americans watched this incident, amazed that their friend would kill another man as casually as killing a fly and not give it a second thought.
   
   Following the murder, Doublehead, described as “reeling drunk”, went to the Long Hut tavern owned by his friend McIntosh to continue drinking. There he had words with a non-Indian trader, John Rogers. He told Rogers:
   
   
   “You live among us by our permission. I have never seen you in council or on the war path. Be silent and interfere with me no more.”
   
   Rogers didn’t move, but continued to insult Doublehead. Unknown to Doublehead and the others in the tavern, Rogers had been sent to distract the chief. Doublehead pulled his pistol, intent on killing the man, but the gun misfired. Rogers continued to stand his ground, confusing the chief.
   
   In the confusion of this tense situation, Major Ridge crept along the wall unnoticed by the others and put the barrel of his pistol against Doublehead’s jaw. Then he quickly blew out the candle and fired the pistol. When the lights come back on, Doublehead had been shot in the jaw and Major Ridge was gone. The others in the tavern had not seen the shooting and did not know that Major Ridge had pulled the trigger.
   
   McIntosh, seeing his friend wounded and on the floor, ordered everyone out of the tavern. He then barred the door and pushed Doublehead out through a back window.
   
   Major Ridge, aided by Bone Cracker’s relatives who were seeking vengeance, looked for the wounded Doublehead. McIntosh first hid Doublehead at his house and then, with the aid of a school teacher, hid him in the loft of the schoolhouse.
   
   In the morning, Major Ridge, a skilled hunter and tracker, saw the trail of blood behind the tavern and followed it to the schoolhouse. He kicked in the door and rushed in, followed by Bone Cracker’s relatives. Awakened by the noise, the wounded Doublehead stood up and pulled out his knife. Both Major Ridge and Alex Saunders attempted to shoot him, but their pistols misfired. Doublehead tackled Major Ridge and attempted to stab him as they rolled on the floor. Saunders, who had re-primed his pistol, then managed to shoot Doublehead.
   
   As Saunders bent down to drive his tomahawk into Doublehead’s skull, the chief grabbed the tomahawk and knocked Saunders backwards. Doublehead then attacked Major Ridge again. Just as Doublehead raised a tomahawk to deliver a death blow to The Ridge, Saunders managed to drive a tomahawk deep into Doublehead’s skull, killing him.
   
   A few days later Doublehead was buried and many Cherokees noted that no one shed a tear. Following Doublehead’s death, Cherokee society seemed to divide into those who shunned the new ways of the Americans and those who promoted these new ways.
   
   http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1565

3.   Moore, John Trotwood, and Austin Powers Foster. Tennessee, the volunteer state, 1760-1923. (Chicago [Illinois]: S. J. Clark Pub. Co., 1923)
   volume 1, pages 222,223,224,229,232,233,234,236,237,238,246,281,376,730,955,971.

   full text on Hathitrust https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t2k65kb8z&view=1up&seq=9

4.   Flint, Timothy. Indian wars of the West: containing biographical sketches of those pioneers who headed the western settlers in repelling the attacks of the savage; together with a few of the characters, manners, monuments, and antiquities of the western in dians. (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms, 1990)
   pages 116-117.

   Google books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Indian_Wars_of_the_West/yBcTAAAAYAAJ?hl=en
   
   Spelling: Double Head as two words and Incalatanga.

5. ↑ .

   Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee)01 Sep 1907, SunPage 11 available on newspapers.com Chief Doublehead of the Cherokee Tribe