The Creeks and the Canoe Fight

(c) 1995-2003 William James Chance

For a very long time, I guess you could say it had been open season on killing Indians, ever since the white man set foot in North America. The Creeks had begun, in turn killing the settlers and destroying property in the country, near Fort Madison. To try and put a stop to these attacks, a company of volunteers has set out from the fort and had already had several fights with the Creeks. A part of the company had already crossed the river. Since there was but one small boat, a black man, named Caesar, had been making trips, all the morning, carrying a few men each time, across the river.

Samuel Dale, Jere Austill and James Smith, along with nine others, were resting on the bank of the Alabama River, waiting their midday meal. Sweet potatoes were roasting in the ashes and a large piece of beef broiled over the red hot coals. The men sat around the fire, talking in low tones, when all at once the little group about the fire heard a shout.

"Look behind you", shouted their friends on the other side of the river. Coming down the hill behind the white soldiers was a band of Creek Indians, racing towards them. Dale and his men sprang up from their meal and made a sand bank behind which they crouched. They fired their guns and before long, the Creeks slipped away.

While waiting for the Creeks to attack again, one of the men spied a canoe gliding down the river, towards them. In the canoes sat eleven strong Creek Indian men holding their bows.

Dale's men began firing as the Creeks laid flat in the canoe. In a moment, two of the Creeks jumped into the Alabama River and James Smith shot one of them in the back of the head. Jere Austill was about to fire his gun, when his water soaked leggings slipped down, around his feet, causing him to stumble and fall. The Creek Indian was able to get away and nineteen year old, Jere Austill was angry and said, "These damn savages should all be killed. They have no place in this country".

Sam Dale yelled to the men on the other side of the river to come over in the big canoe. They did not seem eager to get into this fight. Then Dale jumped into Caesar's little boat and Smith and Austill followed him. On the way out, their guns got wet by the water from Caesar's oars and would not shoot. Then they believed they were in danger.

Now, all the Creek Indians knew Sam Dale because he had traded with them many times. They admired him for his strength and courage and for the bad deals in trading. They always came up on the bad end of these deals and knew they had to watch him when they were trading with him. As the white men drew near to the canoes, which were filled with Creek Indians and their goods, the chief cried out, "We traded". Big Sam paddled up close and placed his boat side by side with theirs. The black man said, "Mr. Dale, they want to trade. Do as I said, Caesar".

The black man was as brave as the Indians but he was in a bad spot. He had to do as the white man said, so he did what he was told. He held the two guns as clubs With all the strength of their young bodies they laid on the deadly blows. Jere Austill said to Dale, "Wait, they only wanted to trade furs". Dale said, "Kill them all".

In a short time, eight Creek Indians lay dead in the bottom of their boats; two more were at the bottom of the Alabama River. Austill was heard to say, "You did not let even one of them get away. Why do you hate them so much?"

The men on the other side of the river watched the fight and cried and said, "They only came to trade". Dale's cheers of encouragement drove the killing to the point that all the Creek Indians, in the boats, were killed. It was a bad day for trading for the Creeks.

The men on the other side of the river had watched in shame, the fight that had killed eleven Creek Indians that came only to trade furs.

Dale, Austill, Smith and the black man, Caesar, landed on the west bank of the Alabama River. The woods rang with shouts of fighting, with dishonor between the white men. The black man stayed to himself, knowing his place among the white man, keeping his words to himself.

That is how the canoe fights came to be, the white man gave honor to the white man, telling stories of how they were attacked from a hill and the river, at the same time. The black man lived to tell the truth and was passed down for many years of the killing of eleven Creek Indians on the Alabama River.

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