John Watts (Cherokee chief)
Encyclopedia
John Watts, or Kunokeski, also known as Young Tassel, was one of the leaders of the Chickamauga
Chickamauga Indian
The Chickamauga or Lower Cherokee, were a band of Cherokee who supported Great Britain at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. They were followers of the Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe...

 (or "Lower Cherokee") during the Chickamauga Wars, particularly after the murder of his uncle, Old Tassel
Old Tassel
Utsi'dsata, or Corntassel, known to history as Old Tassel, became First Beloved Man, at least of the Overhill and other non-belligerent Cherokee, in 1783 after the elders removed his predecessor, The Raven of Chota...

, by marauding frontiersmen firing upon delegates at a peace conference in 1788. A mixed-blood son of a Scots-Irish trader named John Watts who resided in the Overhill Towns
Overhill Cherokee
The term Overhill Cherokee refers to the former Cherokee settlements located in what is now Tennessee in the southeastern United States. The name was given by 18th century European traders and explorers who had to cross the Appalachian Mountains to reach these settlements when traveling from...

 on the Little Tennessee River
Little Tennessee River
The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...

, who may have had other wives (both white and Cherokee). Trader Watts was the official government interpreter until his death in 1770. The younger John Watts was only occasionally involved with the warriors of Dragging Canoe
Dragging Canoe
Tsiyu Gansini , "He is dragging his canoe", known to whites as Dragging Canoe, was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee against colonists and United States settlers...

 until that time, after which he moved first to Running Water and later to Willstown and eventually became Dragging Canoe's hand-picked successor. His mother was a sister of Old Tassel, Doublehead
Doublehead
Doublehead or Incalatanga , 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 by frontier rangers. In 1791 Doublehead was among a delegation of Cherokees who visited U.S...

, and Pumpkin Boy. Under the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

 clan system, a maternal uncle-nephew link was more important than a father-son lineage (since clan identity was that of one's mother). It is very likely that a sister of young John Watts was Wurte Watts, the mother of the famous Sequoyah
Sequoyah
Sequoyah , named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible...

, who was a great-nephew of both Old Tassel and Doublehead. A brother of John Watts was known as Whiteman Killer Watts.

Flint Creek band

Although he withdrew from the Overhill Towns along with Dragging Canoe and company, his first recorded actions came in October 1788. Following Old Tassel's murder, he led a very large war party —which included The Ridge
Major Ridge
Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...

  (known as Nunnehidihi, and later, Ganundalegi) —on his first outing. They successfully captured and burned Gillespie's Station, killing its defenders and taking prisoners, then proceeded against White's Fort (modern day Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

), where they were repulsed. Afterward, they made camp along Flint Creek in the area of the future Unicoi County, Tennessee, harassing, raiding, and attacking the surrounding countryside, until their base was discovered (in January the following year) and they were attacked by a troop under John Sevier
John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...

.

Always an advocate of peace (but not "peace at any price"), he signed the 1791 Treaty of Holston
Treaty of Holston
The Treaty of Holston was a treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee signed on July 2, 1791 and proclaimed on February 7, 1792...

, along with fellow militants Doublehead, Bloody Fellow, Black Fox, The Badger (Dragging Canoe's brother), and Rising Fawn.

Leader of the Lower Cherokee

In 1792 Dragging Canoe suffered a stroke or heart attack while performing the scalp dance. After Dragging Canoe's death, Watts succeeded as head of council to the Lower Cherokee according to the old warrior's wishes; at the time, he himself had been living back in the Overhill area.

Watts, along with Bloody Fellow, Doublehead, and "Young Dragging Canoe" (Tsula) continued Dragging Canoe's policy of Indian unity, including an agreement with McGillivray of the Upper Muscogee to build joint blockhouses from which warriors of both tribes could operate at the junction of the Tennessee and Clinch River
Clinch River
The Clinch River rises in Southwest Virginia near Tazewell, Virginia and flows southwest through the Great Appalachian Valley, gathering various tributaries including the Powell River before joining the Tennessee River in East Tennessee.-Course:...

s, at Running Water, and at Muscle Shoals. Watts moved his base of operations to Willstown in order to be closer to his Muscogee allies. Prior to this, he had concluded a treaty in Pensacola with the Spanish governor of West Florida, Arturo O'Neill, for arms and supplies with which to carry on the war.

In September 1792, Watts orchestrated a large campaign into the Cumberland region of combined Cherokee and Muscogee forces which included a contingent of cavalry. It was to be a three-pronged attack in which Tahlonteeskee
Tahlonteeskee
Tahlonteeskee, is the name of several Cherokee, and one Creek Indian, during the period of the Chickamauga Wars. The name, , has been translated as "The Disturber" or "The Upsetter"....

 led a force to ambush the Kentucky road and Middle Striker led another to do the same on the Walton road while Watts himself led the main army, made up of 280 Cherokee, Shawnee, and Muscogee warriors plus cavalry, against Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, then capital of the Mero District of the Southwest Territory
Southwest Territory
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee.The Southwest Territory was...

. Along the way, they attacked a settlement on the Cumberland known as Buchanan's Station. It proved to be a disaster; Watts himself was seriously wounded. Siksika or The Shawnee Warrior (older brother of Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...

), Tahlonteeskee or Talotiskee of the Broken Arrow (a Muscogee or Creek warrior), Little Owl (brother of Dragging Canoe), and Pumpkin Boy (brother of Doublehead died in the encounter.

Last campaign

Shortly after a delegation of Shawnee stopped in Ustanali in 1793, on their way to call on the Muscogee 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
Southwest Territory
The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee.The Southwest Territory was...

, to meet with Governor William Blount
William Blount
William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...

 to discuss terms for peace. However, the party, which included Bob McLemore, Tahlonteeskee, Captain Charley of Running Water, and Doublehead, among several others, as well as the white delegations, was attacked by militia before reaching the capital during a stop at the Overhill town of Coyatee, in which Hanging Maw was wounded while his wife and daughter, along with several others, including one of the white delegates, were killed. The Cherokee, even Watts' hostille warriors, agreed to await the outcome of the subsequent trial, which proved to be a farce, 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 and Muscogee, plus a few 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
James Vann
James Vann was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia. He was the son of Wah-Li Vann, a mixed-race Cherokee woman, and a Scots fur trader...

 advocating the latter while Doublehead argued for the former.

On the way, they encountered a small settlement called Cavett's Station. After they had surrounded the place, Bob Benge
Bob Benge
Bob Benge , also known as "Captain Benge" or "The Bench" to frontiersmen, was one of the most feared Cherokee leaders on the frontier during the Chickamauga wars.-Early life:...

 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 Muscogee 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 Muscogee for safe-keeping; unfortunately, one of the Muscogee chiefs killed the boy and scalped him a few days later.

Epilogue

After the destruction of Nickajack Town and Running Water Town, in September 1794, coupled with the earlier defeat of the Western Confederacy
Western Confederacy
The Western Confederacy, also known as Western Indian Confederacy, was a loose confederacy of North American Natives in the Great Lakes region following the American Revolutionary War...

 at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory...

, the leaders of the Lower Cherokee became convinced that continuing the war was futile. In November, they signed the Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse, they agreed to cease hostilities and bury the tomahawk.

Although a "national" government, complete with a Principal Chief and National Council, was elected in 1794, it had no real power, with individual regional councils for each of the four Cherokee divisions (Lower, Upper, Hill, and Valley) predominating. Watts himself spurned any "national office", content with that which he had been handed down by his friend and mentor. He served as principal chief of the Lower Cherokee until his death in 1802, upon which he was succeeded by Doublehead.

Sources

  • American State Papers, Indian Affairs, Vol. 1, 1789-1813, Congress of the United States, Washington,DC, 1831-1861.
  • Brown, John P. Old Frontiers: The Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of Their Removal to the West, 1838. (Kingsport: Southern Publishers, 1938).
  • Evans, E. Raymond. "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Bob Benge". Journal of Cherokee Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 98–106. (Cherokee: Museum of the Cherokee Indian, 1976).
  • Evans, E. Raymond. "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Dragging Canoe". Journal of Cherokee Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 176–189. (Cherokee: Museum of the Cherokee Indian, 1977).
  • Haywood, W.H. The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796. (Nashville: Methodist Episcopal Publishing House, 1891).
  • Klink, Karl, and James Talman, ed. The Journal of Major John Norton. (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1970).
  • McLoughlin, William G.
    William G. McLoughlin
    William Gerald McLoughlin was an historian and prominent member of the history department at Brown University from 1954 to 1992. His subject areas were the history of religion in the United States, revivalism, the Cherokee, missionaries to Native Americans, abolitionism, and Rhode Island.Born in...

     Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
  • Mooney, James
    James Mooney
    James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains...

    . Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee. (Nashville: Charles and Randy Elder-Booksellers, 1982).
  • Moore, John Trotwood and Austin P. Foster. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769–1923, Vol. 1. (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923).
  • Ramsey, James Gettys McGregor. The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century. (Chattanooga: Judge David Campbell, 1926).
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