OCMULGEE CHRONOLOGY
Ocmulgee National Monument commemorates no great hero or single dramatic event. Instead, it is a tribute to untold numbers of people who interacted with their environment, and with each other, over a vast span of time at a place now known as the Ocmulgee Old Fields.
Paleo Indian Period
Ice Age hunters arrive in the Southeast, leaving one of their distinctive
"Clovis" spear points on the Macon Plateau (in the 1930's this became
the first such artifact found in situ in the southern U.S.).
8,000-9,000 BC
Transitional PeriodPeople adjust to gradually warming weather as the glaciers melt and
many Ice Age mammals become extinct.
Archaic Period
Efficient hunting/gathering; adaptation to a climate much like today; use
of the atlatl (spear thrower), woodworking tools, etc.; white-tail deer
becomes a staple; extensive shell mounds along the coast and some
inland rivers.
2,500 BC
First pottery in this country appears along the Georgia/SouthCarolina coast and soon filters into what is now Middle Georgia;
it is tempered or strengthen with plant fibers which burn out
during firing, giving a worm-hole appearance to the vessel surface.
Woodland Period
Pottery tempered with sand and grit, sometimes decorated with
elaborate designs incised, punctated or stamped into its surface
before firing; cultivation of sunflowers, gourds, and several
other plants; construction of semi-permanent villages; stone
effigy mounds and earthen burial and platform mounds;
connections to the Adena/Hopewell Cultures farther
North and to Weeden Island in Florida and South Georgia.
Early Mississippian Period
A new way of life, believed to have originated in the Mississippi
River area appears on the Macon Plateau. These people, whose
pottery is different from that made by the Woodland cultures in
the area, construct a large ceremonial center with huge earthen
temple/burial/domiciliary mounds and earthlodges, which serve
as formal council chambers. Their economy is supported by
agriculture, with corn, beans, squash and other crops planted
in the rich river floodplain. Indigenous Woodland people in
surrounding areas interact with these people, who possess
early symbols and artifacts associated with the
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (Southern Cult).
1150-1350 Mature Mississippian Period
The great Macon Plateau town declines and the Lamar and Stubbs
Mounds and Villages appear just downstream. These towns are a
combination of the old Woodland culture and Mississippian ideas.
The Southern Cult, distinguished by flamboyant artistic motifs and
specialized artifacts, flourishes at places like Roods Landing and
Etowah (GA), Moundville (AL), Hiwasee Island (TN), Cahokia (IL),
and Spiro (OK).
1350-1650 Late Mississippian Period (Protohistoric)
The Lamar Culture, named for the Lamar Mounds and Village Unit of
Ocmulgee National Monument, becomes widespread in the Southeast;
chiefdoms marked by smaller, more numerous, often stockaded villages
with a ceremonial center marked by one or two mounds; combination
of the both Woodland and Mississippian elements.
1540 Chroniclers of Hernando DeSoto's expedition into the interior of
North America write the first descriptions of the Lamar and related
cultures, ancestors of the historic Creek (Muscogean), Cherokee
(Iroquoian), Yuchi (Euchee), and other Southeastern people. Most
of their main towns are situated near rich river bottomland fields of
corn, beans and squash. Many towns feature open plazas and earthen
temple mounds. Public buildings and homes are constructed of upright
logs, interwoven with vines or cane and plastered with clay (wattle and
daub). Some are elaborately decorated and contain large woodcarvings.
DeSoto visits a province named Ichisi (Spanish) or Ochesi
(Portuguese), whose main town is probably located on the present
Occur River. The expedition's 600 men and 300 horses devastate
local food supplies; epidemics of European diseases decimate many
populations. Whole towns are destroyed. Social disruption and
reorganization follows.
1565 The Spanish establish their first permanent settlement at St. Augustine,
set up outposts at towns along the Atlantic coast to the North, and
begin to missionize the Indians. Priests and soldiers travel up the river
systems to other towns in the interior of the area which would become
Georgia.
1670 The British establish Charles Town (Charleston, SC) on the Atlantic
coast. Despite Spanish opposition, English explorers initiate contact
and trade with towns in the interior.
1690 A British trading post is constructed on Ochese Creek (present
Ocmulgee River at the site now protected within Ocmulgee National
Monument). A number of Muscogee towns move from the
Chattahoochee River to this vicinity to be near the English. At this time,
the Ocmulgee river is called Ochese-hatchee or Ochisi-hatchi (various
spellings). The towns are known as the Ochese Creek Nation. The
British eventually refer to them simply as the "Creeks." They speak
variations of the Muscogean language, but their confederacy
incorporates other groups, such as the Yuchi, who speak different
languages.
The Creeks acquire horses from Spanish Florida and guns from
the British. Their culture and dress is modified by use of trade goods
such as iron pots, steel knives, and cotton cloth.
1704
Col. James Moore, with a band of some fifty men from Charles Town,leads 1,000 warriors from the Creek towns on the Ocmulgee River to
Florida. They devastate the Spanish Apalachee Mission system and
drive the Spaniards back to St. Augustine. After many of the inhabitants
of northern Florida are exterminated, some of the Creeks move into the
area and incorporate the survivors into their own group. These people
are subsequently known as the Seminole and Miccosuki.
1715 The Yamassee War erupts in protest against British indignities related
to the fur trade, including the taking of Indian shipped as slaves to work
in Carribean sugar plantations. Many traders in Indian territory are killed.
In retaliation, the British burn Ocmulgee Town on Ochese Creek. The
Creek towns withdraw to the Chattahoochee River and the Yuchis move
with them. The people are known as the Lower Creeks. The Upper
Creeks are centered on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers to the
northeast.
1733 The Georgia Colony settles on lands along the banks of the Savannah
River given to General James Oglethorpe by Chief Tomochichi of the
Yamacraws, a group related to the Lower Creeks. The Colony serves
as a buffer between South Carolina and Spanish Florida.
1739 General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Georgia Colony, travels
the ancient trading path through the mounds and old planting fields at
Ocmulgee enroute to Coweta (near what is now Columbus, GA) to
meet with the Creeks. One of his Rangers writes a short description
of the mounds at what is now Ocmulgee National Monument. A
western boundary for the colony is defined along the Ogeechee River.
The area extends along the coast to the present northern border of
Florida.
1773 The Georgians are still confined to a narrow strip along the coast.
British Indian Superintendent, John Stuart, and Georgia Governor
James Wright meet with the Creeks at Augusta. As a result of
indebtedness to English fur traders, the Indians cede the lands
between the Little and Tugeloo Rivers. Settlers poured rapidly into
the region.
Names such as Musgrove, McGillivray, McIntosh, resulting
from intermarriage between Europeans and Indians, proliferate
among the Creeks. The children of these unions were often
educated in both European and native cultures.
1774 William Bartram, reknown naturalist and botanist, follows the Lower
Creek Trading Path from Augusta through the area. In his journal, he
records this account of the Ocmulgee Old Fields:
"On the heights of these low grounds are yet visible
monuments, or traces, of an ancient town, such as artificial
mounts or terraces, squares and banks, encircling considerable
areas. Their old fields and planting land extend up and down
the river, fifteen or twenty miles from this site. If we are to
give credit to the account the Creeks give of themselves, this
place is remarkable for being the first town or settlement, when
they sat down (as they term it) or established themselves, after
their emigration from the west..."
notes:
"On the east bank of the river lie the famous Oakmulgee fields,
where are yet conspicuous very wonderful remains of the
power and grandeur of the ancients of this part of America..."
1778 During the Revolutionary War, many Creeks want to remain neutral,
but Alexander McGillivray (of Creek-Scottish descent,educated in
South Carolina, Principal Chief of both the Upper and Lower Creeks)
leads them into an alliance with England.
1783 The Peace of Paris officially ends the American Revolution. England
returns Florida to Spain and cedes Creek territory to the new nation,
informing her Creek allies only as an afterthought. Both the Spaniards
and the Georgians hope to bring the Creeks under their influence.
New waves of American settlers pour into Georgia. Many
of them covet the rich river bottomlands possessed by the Creeks.
They see the Indians as obstacles to "progress" and press the
federal government to remove all Indians to areas west of the
Mississippi River. The state of Georgia negotiates an illegal treaty
at Augusta taking Creek lands from the Ogeechee to the Oconee
River. A council of the entire Creek nation warns the Georgians
not to claim the land, but the message is greeted with contempt
and efforts begin to divide the area.
1784 The Creek Council continues to disavow the fraudulent Treaty of
Augusta. Alexander McGillivray makes a treaty with the Spanish on
behalf of the entire Creek-Seminole nation, stating that in return for
protection and trade the Creeks will obey the orders of the Spanish
and admit no white people to their land without Spanish agreement.
1785 The United States appoints a commission to negotiate with the
Creeks. McGillivrey writes them a letter stating that after peace was
made with England, the Creeks expected the United States to settle
differences with them and confirm their territory. Instead, the
encroachments and aggression of the Georgians have forced them
to accept Spanish protection.
Georgia establishes Houston County, including the territory
north of the Tennessee River in what is now the state of Alabama.
Settlers try to hold the land, but the Indians drive them off.
A council is called at Shoulderbone Creek on the Oconee
River; only the friendly chiefs of Tallasi and Cusseta come. Upon
their arrival, a group of rough, frontier Georgia militiamen surround
them, brandish their swords and threaten to kill them unless they
sign a treaty confirming the former illegal grants. They are taken
as hostages to Augusta where they remain confined until liberated
by James White, who has been sent by the U.S. Congress to
investigate.
1786 The new American Congress under the Articles of Confederation
asserts jurisdiction over all Indian matters.
1789 The administration of President George Washington institutes the
policy of purchasing all lands ceded by Indians. Creek leaders
travel to New York where the Treaty of Shoulderbone is renegotiated.
The Creeks are to receive an annual payment of $1,500, with
assurances that the United States will not allow encroachment of
whites upon Indian lands. They are given permission to punish
trespassers and will be provided implements and livestock to aid
in their progress toward "civilization." The terms of the treaty
require that the Creeks recognize the sovereignty of the United
States.
1793 Invention of the cotton gin greatly accelerates the desire for rich
river bottomland. Creek Indians, most of them excellent farmers,
quickly adapt to a cotton-based economy.
Alexander McGillivray dies. Frontier settlers build houses
Across the Indian boundary and allow their cattle to roam miles
into Indian territory. Skirmishes along the frontier increase.
Shawnees from the North urge the Creeks to join them in a
general war against the whites. Two Upper Creek towns are
responsive to their talk, but the Lower towns work for peace.
River near present Roberta, GA, encourages the Creeks to settle
in villages away from their main towns and work their own
individual fields. He supplies spinning wheels and looms to
the Indian women, along with livestock, and cotton seed.
Much of the population of the old towns drains away, but
their public squares continue to be the sites of rituals,
celebrations and deliberations. Hawkins also encourages the
centralization of Creek government with each town sending five
or six delegates to a National Council which would legislate for the
entire nation.
1802
The Treaty of Fort Wilkinson cedes a strip of land west of theOconee and Apalachee Rivers, along with a narrow corridor south
of the Altamaha River.
1805 The first Treaty of Washington cedes the remainder of the land
between the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers, excluding a 3x5-mile strip
known as the Old Ocmulgee Fields Reserve at present Macon, which
the Muscogee (Creek) people refuse to give up. The treaty allows
the United states to construct a road across the Creek Nation to the
Alabama River and facilities for public accomodations along this
road. Much of this "Federal Road" follows the ancient Lower Creek
Trading Path and eventually stretches from Washington, D.C. to New
Orleans.
The treaty also provides for a United States military fort on the
Reserve to guard the frontier along the Ocmulgee River. This outpost
is called Fort Hawkins in honor of Benjamin Hawkins, U.S. Indian
Agent to the Creeks and friend of George Washington.
1806 Fort Hawkins is built a short distance from the mounds. It serves as
a frontier outpost, trading and center and location for treaty payments
to the Creeks until the United States boundary is later extended to
Alabama Territory. For the entirety of its existence as a U.S. military
fort, it sat on land owned by the Muscogee (Creek) Confederacy.
1807 Aaron Burr travels, under guard, through the Reserve after his capture
in Alabama.
1811 Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, working with his brother the Prophet,
travels up and down the frontier exhorting the Indians to discard their
plows, whiskey and the white man’s ways. Some of the Creeks join
his movement and nearly every town has a so-called "Red Stick"
faction. The leaders are as divided as their people. William McIntosh
emerges as leader of the faction loyal to the U.S. government. William
Weatherford (Red Eagle) becomes the most important leader of the
Red Sticks.
1812 General Andrew Jackson (later President) stops at Fort Hawkins
during the War of 1812. The fort is an important port of rendezvous
for dispatching troops. This war with Great Britain concerns the issues
of neutral maritime rights and British involvement in Indian problems
along the frontier.
Hostilities between Creek loyalists and traditionalist Red Sticks
increases. Red Sticks attack and destroy Tuckabatchee and several
other Upper Creek towns in northern Alabama. A Red Stick band
returning from Spanish Florida is attacked by militia.
1813 In retaliation, the Red Sticks attack Fort Mims near Mobile and
kill 247 people. After the Fort Mims "massacre, an article in the
Nashville Clarion declares that the Creeks "have supplied us with
a pretext for a dismemberment of their country." The event supports
Andrew Jackson’s effort to enlist volunteers to fight the Red Sticks.
Loyalist Creeks, Cherokees and Choctaws join him.
In the first battle of the ensuing war, a band of loyalist Creeks
attacks and defeats 150 Euchees (Yuchis) who are on their way to
join the Red Sticks. Shortly afterward, Gen. Jackson dispatches
Gen. John Coffee with 900 mounted troops to destroy the town of
Tallushatchee on the Coosa River where 186 Indians, including women
and children, are killed. Describing the event, Lt. Richard Keith writes:
"We found as many as eight or ten bodies in a single cabin.
Some of the cabins had taken fire, and half-consumed bodies
were seen amidst the smoking ruins. In other instances dogs
had torn and feasted on the mangled bodies... Heart sick I
turned from the revolting scene."
1814 The decimation of this village convinces many Creek towns to
side with Jackson, who heads South into Creek territory as the
Georgia militia enter from the east and federal troops proceed from
the South. The Creek Nation is laid waste. The carnage ends after
Jackson and his combined forces attack the Red Stick stronghold
at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River in Alabama on March 27.
More than 500 Red Sticks are killed, many surrender, while others
flee to their kinsmen, the Seminoles.
Following the war, the treaty of Fort Jackson takes 22-million
acres of Creek land bordering Spanish Florida. The loyalist Creeks
are paid nothing for this cession, but the government agrees to
indemnify them for damages suffered during the war. Of the
$195,000 award, $85,000 is paid to them in 1817. The remainder is
not appropriated until 1853. The land is sold to settlers and
speculators for more than $11,250,000.
1818 The Treaty of Fort Mitchell takes a small strip of land east of the
upper Apalachee River.
1819 Thousands of Muscogee (Creek) people gather for the last time in
a great encampment at Ocmulgee to receive payment for their lands
east of the river. General William McIntosh and the great orator Little
Prince are present.
The ancient Lower Creek Trading Path, now called the Federal
Road , is the major artery from North to Southwest for many years
(State Highway 49 follows much of this route through Central Georgia).
It serves as the postal route from New York to New Orleans. A ferry
is built near the mounds on the Old Ocmulgee Fields Reserve, and
the first white child, later Mrs. Isaac Winship, is born in the area.
1821 The Creeks give up the lands between the Ocmulgee River and
the Flint River.
1823 The Creek Council passes a law providing the death penalty for
anyone ceding land without the authority of the Council. Pressures
for Indian removal continue to increase. Some Creeks, including
William McIntosh, believe removal is inevitable.
The City of Macon is laid out across the river from Fort
Hawkins. The first newspaper in Middle Georgia, the Georgia
Messenger, is published at Fort Hawkins, and a post office
is established there.
1824 A Muscogee (Creek) Council approves a policy stating: "On no
account whatever will we consent to sell one foot of our land, neither
by exchange or otherwise. This talk is not only to last during the life
of our present chiefs, but to their descendants after them." Fourteen
chiefs sign the document.
1825 The infamous Treaty of Indian Springs ceding the last Creek lands
in Georgia is signed by Chief William McIntosh. (Argument continues
as to whether he signed the treaty believing it was in the best interests
of his people in mind or whether he was bribed.) Whatever his
motivation, he is consequently assassinated by his own people.
The treaty is declared illegal by the federal government, but Georgia
authorities disagree. They press harder for removal.
1826 The second Treaty of Washington officially surrenders the last
Creek lands in Georgia. Some of the Creeks join the Seminole in
Florida, others move into Alabama. About 1,300, mostly members
of the McIntosh faction, resettle to the valley of the Arkansas River
in "Indian Territory," now the state of Oklahoma, on lands given to
them under the government’s voluntary removal program
1828 The Old Ocmulgee Fields Reserve, including Fort Hawkins and
the mounds, is surveyed and laid off into land lots incorporated
into the city of Macon. Roger and Eliazar McCall purchase a portion
of the Old Fields and establish a successful flatboat manufacturing
enterprise. Of the mound area, the local newspaper reported:
"The site is romantic in the extreme; that, with the burial
mounds adjacent, have long been favorite haunts of our
village beaux and belles, and objects of curiosity to strangers.
We should regret to see these monuments of antiquity and of
our history levelled by the sordid plow - - we could wish that
they might always remain as present, sacred to solitude, to
reflection and inspiration."
1832 Voluntary removal is too slow for the ever-growing tide of settlers
and cotton plantation owners. The government presses harder.
Creek delegates sign a treaty giving up part of their lands in Alabama.
Each Indian family receives 320 acres and each chief is given 640
acres. They may stay on their allotments or sell them and move west
at government expense to lands where they are promised autonomy.
Deceit and violence follow immediately. Unscrupulous land
agents defraud Indians who cannot testify in Alabama courts. Creek
farms are burned and families physically forced from their land.
Homeless, demoralized bands roam the countryside, foraging to
keep from starving, but refusing to leave the neighborhood of their
former homes. Some of the displaced Indians lash back by
destroying cabins, burning crops, and killing white settlers.
1836 The so-called Creek War of 1836 ends when about 2,500 people,
including several hundred warriors in chains, are marched on foot
to Montgomery, AL, and crowded onto barges during the extreme
heat of July. They are pushed by steamboats down the Alabama
River, beginning their forced removal to Indian Territory.
During the summer and winter of 1836-early 1837, over 14,000
Creeks make the three-month journey to Oklahoma, a trip of over
800 land miles and another 400 by water. Most leave with only
what they can carry.
1839 The Cherokee begin their "Trail of Tears." A few escape and remain
in the mountains of East Tennessee and North Carolina where most
of their descendants now live on the Qualla Reserve around
Cherokee, NC.
1842 For over six years, the Seminoles fiercely fight an invading army ten
times their size. Driven into almost inaccessible swamps and hunted
like wild animals, their removal is finally completed, except for a few
hundred who manage to escape the soldiers and become the
ancestors of the present Florida Seminole and Miccasuki.
1843 The Central Railroad constructs a railroad line into Macon through
the Ocmulgee Old Fields destroying a portion of the Lesser Temple
Mound and the great prehistoric town. A locomotive "roundhouse"
is located near the Funeral Mound.
1840 The huge oak trees on the mounds are cut for timber. Until this
time, the Old Ocmulgee Fields and Brown’s Mount (another scenic
prehistoric town about 6 miles down river) had been favorite resorts
for picnics and parties, first by the officers at Fort Hawkins then by
the residents of Macon.
Much of the Macon Plateau site becomes part of the Dunlap
Plantation. Clay for brick manufacturing is mined near the Great
Temple Mound and a fertilizer factor is constructed nearby.
1852 Ex-President James K. Polk rides the Central Railroad through
the mound area into Macon.
1859 A census taken this year (after some time has elapsed for recovery
following the drastic loss of lives during the removal) lists 13,539
Creeks. Over 23,000 Creeks are accounted for by name and town
in 1832 shortly before the removal, giving some indication of the
extent of decimation suffered during the removal.
1864 Union General George Stoneman nears the city of Macon in July.
Governor Brown, who is in Macon, calls for every able-bodied Man
to defend the city. A battery is stationed near the site of Fort
Hawkins. Big guns are loaded on flatcars at the railroad bridge
over the Ocmulgee River inside the boundary of what is now the
Ocmulgee National Monument. Gen. Stoneman destroys Griswoldville,
continues to Macon and burns the railroad bridge over Walnut Creek
on the Dunlap property. He uses the Dunlap's farm house as his
headquarters during the ensuing battle.
Failing to take the city, Stoneman and his troops are pursued
into nearby Jones County, where they are defeated at Sunshine
Church. General Stoneman and his officers are incarcerated at Camp
Oglethorpe in Macon and his enlisted men are sent to the infamous
prisoner of war camp at Andersonville. Stoneman is the highest
ranking Union officer taken prisoner during the Civil War.
Later in the year Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy,
passes through the Old Ocmulgee Fields on business in Macon.
1874 A second huge cut for a railroad (still in use) is excavated through
the mound area and destroys a large portion of the Funeral Mound.
According to Charles C. Jones, in his book, Antiquities of the
Southern Indians, many relics and human burials are removed
during this work.
1900
Despite continued hardships after their removal and the loss ofmuch of their lands after it was divided into allotments, citizens of
the once-mighty Muscogee (Creek) Confederacy continue to carve
a life for themselves in Oklahoma, where they remain a proud and
sovereign people.
1933 A large portion of McDougal Mound is removed to use as fill dirt
for Main Street. Motorcycle hill-climbing leaves scars on the slopes
and summit of the Great Temple Mound.
A group of local citizens are convinced that the mounds are of
great historical significance and should be preserved. Led by General
Walter A.Harris, Dr. Charles C. Harrold, and Linton Solomon, they
seek assistance from the Smithsonian Institution, which sends Dr.
Arthur Kelly to organize and conduct archeological excavations
on the Macon Plateau.
1934 Archeological treasures are unearthed. As the work progresses,
a bill is passed by Congress to authorize establishment of a 2,000-acre
Ocmulgee National Park.
The archeological effort is largest excavation ever, until this time,
undertaken in the country. Labor is provided by hundreds of workers
employed under several Great Depression-era public works programs.
1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 12th signs the
Proclamation establishing Ocmulgee National Monument and
directing the National Park Service to preserve and protect 2,000
acres of "lands commonly known as the Old Ocmulgee Fields..."
Due to economic constraints, only 678.48 are acquired, including
40 acres at the detached Lamar Mounds and Village.
Later, an additional 5 acres are added to the Lamar Mounds
and Village Unit and the parcel known as Drakes Field is donated to
the nation for inclusion in Ocmulgee National Monument by the City
of Macon. The park presently encompasses 702 acres.
1940 Great Depression Relief-era crewmen, including members of Civilian
Conservation Corps Company 1426 stationed at Ocmulgee National
Monument, are drafted into military service as the United States enters
World War II. Man are sent to nearby Camp Wheeler which becomes
the largest infantry training camp in the nation.
1960's An interstate highway (I-16), constructed through the Macon Plateau
Unit, cuts the primary visitor use area off from the park's mile-long river
boundary and causes significant hydrological changes to lands located
in the river floodplain. During archeological excavation within the
highway corridor inside the park, evidence of Muscogee (Creek) and
earlier settlement, along with three human burials, are discovered.
A number of important prehistoric and historic sites outside the
park are destroyed or heavily damaged, including the nearby
Gledhill I, II and III (where an Ice Age Clovis spearpoint is found
by an artifact collector during removal of fill dirt for road construction),
along with the New Pond site, Adkins mound, and Shellrock Cave.
Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian and historic Creek villages and
campsites across the river, such as Mile Track, Napier, Mossy Oak
and Horseshoe Bend, are already damaged by levee construction in
the 1940's.
1970's The Swift Creek Mounds and Village, type-site for a widespread
Woodland Period culture, is destroyed for construction of a Bibb
County Sheriff's Department firing range. Dr. Kelly's early
archeological collections, still under the care of the National Park
Service, are all that remain of this large site, which was located on
the Ocmulgee Old Fields near the Lamar Village Unit of Ocmulgee
National Monument.
1986 Ocmulgee National Monument celebrates it's 50th anniversary
with a year-long series of special events. The new Discovery Lab
is dedicated and its Teachers Guide made available to area schools.
The Lab is visited by representatives from museums and educational
centers from across the Southeast and the idea subsequently
becomes widely emulated.
1988 The National Park Service presents the Freeman Tilde Award, its
highest commendation for interpretive and educational excellence,
to the Occur National Monument staff. The same year, the park
also receives a national award from the Secretary of the Interior
recognizing its efforts to educate the public concerning the
importance of good stewardship for the nation's public lands.
1992 Descendants of Roger and Eliazar McCall donate almost 300 acres,
adjoining the park's Walnut Creek boundary, to the National Park
Service. The Archeological Conservancy accepts ownership pending
legislation to incorporate it into Ocmulgee National Monument. The
land, owned by this family for almost 175 years, has been designated
the Scott-McCall Archeological Preserve.
1997 The Old Ocmulgee Fields are determined eligible to become the first
National Register of Historic Places listing for a Traditional Cultural
Property, or District, east of the Mississippi River. This distinction
recognizes the area's great significance to the Muscogee (Creek)
people and its Ice Age to Space Age legacy.
Present The park's staff, the Ocmulgee National Monument Association,
the Friends of Ocmulgee Old Fields, and the park's many
volunteers remain dedicated to the mission of protecting and
preserving this very special place for the enjoyment of today's
citizens and future generations.
(Compiled by Sylvia Flowers)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Corkran, David H. The Creek Frontier, 1540-1783. Norman: University of Oklahoma, Press, 1967.
Cotterill, Robert S. The Southern Indians, The Story of the Five Civilized Tribes Before Removal.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1954.
Debo, Angie. The Road to Disappearance: A History of the Creek Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1941.
Eggleston, George Cary. Red Eagle and the Wars With the Creek Indians of Alabama. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1878.
Foreman, Grant. The Five Civilized Tribes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1934.
Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932.
Foreman, Grant. Indians and Pioneers. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932.
Green, Donald. The Creek People. Indian Tribal Series. Phoenix, 1973.
Griffith, Benjamin W., Jr. McIntosh and Weatherford, Creek Indian Leaders. University of Alabama Press. 1988.
Hudson, Charles M. The Southeastern Indians. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1976.
Swanton, John R. Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors.
Bureau of American Ethnology, 73rd Bulletin, Washington, D.C., U. S. Gov't Printing Office, 1922.
White, George. Historical Collections of Georgia. New York: Rodney & Russell, 1854
American Indian Land Cessions in Georgia
Cahokia Mounds Archeological Park
Crystal River State Archeological Site (Florida)
NPS/Archeology and Ethnography Program
NPS/National Archeological Database
NPS/Southeastern Archeology Center
University of Georgia-Georgia Indian History
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