Dublin Core
Title
Chief Doublehead
Subject
Chief Doublehead; Cherokee Tribe; Lauderdale County, AL; Bluewater Creek
Description
1774 – 1807
Doublehead, who was also known as “Talo Tiske” (meaning two heads) and sometimes “Autowee,” was a member of a prominent Cherokee family. “Tassel” or “Old Tassel” was a beloved statesman and principal chief of the Cherokee Nation whose name became synonymous with integrity and truth. One of his sisters, Wurteh, married Nathan Gist, who was white and who married into the tribe, choosing to live with the Cherokees. Gist acted as an intermediary on behalf of the Cherokees in their dealings with the white. Wurteh and Nathan Gist were the parents of Sequoya. John Watts, who at one time was counted as the Chief of Chiefs among all Cherokees, was Doublehead’s nephew.
Doublehead was without any noted influence in his family until around 1790, the year he established a town near Muscle Shoals. He later moved his town to the north bank of the Tennessee River near the mouth of Blue Water Creek in Lauderdale County.
There are legends, and some evidence, that Doublehead lived in other places in Lauderdale County before settling at Blue Water Creek, which is located near Center Star. (Tahleitoiskee, his brother-in-law, had lived there). Tahleitoiskee’s people had made the land inhabitable for farmers. Approximately forty “mostly cast-offs from other Cherokee and Creek villages,” moved to Blue Water with Doublehead. Though the original settlers were “infamous in Tennessee history as “the ravagers of the Cumberlands,” in time, they were joined by other Cherokees.
For over two hundred years, the area Doublehead claimed kept as a hunting reserve for both Chickasaws and Cherokees. Doublehead’s settlement was thought to be a test to see if he could regain title to the lands.
With the death of Old Tassel in 1788, Doublehead’s position in the tribe started to rise within the Cherokee tribe. He attended important conferences and exerted “considerable influence in the treaties between the United States government and the Indian Nations.”
Doublehead, taking twenty-eight members of a “hunting party” with him, set out to avenge Old Tassel’s – his brother’s death – seeking revenge upon the whites who had ambushed Old Tassel and two others. Doublehead and his band would spend six years leading excursions designed to carry out retaliation against the whites.
In June of 1794, Doublehead became a delegate to a party of chiefs visiting Philadelphia; there, he met President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox. It is believed that Doublehead and the other chiefs negotiated between $1,500 and $5,000 each in annuities from the newly formed government.
It is believed that John D. Chisholm, a half-breed Cherokee trader and Doublehead’s newly acquired wealth, made Doublehead determined to live more like the whites. Doublehead built a story and a half log house on the hill overlooking Blue Water Creek.
He emerged as a spokesman for the Cherokee nation, living a quieter life after the wars that raged between 1791 through 1796.
Doublehead and other Cherokee leaders met with Secretary of War Henry Dearborn on January 7, 1806; a large tract of land was reserved for Chief Doublehead.
The end of Doublehead’s life was marked by violence. There were conspiracies to assassinate him as a traitor to his people and there were personal animosities against Doublehead for his underhanded business dealings.
Doublehead died as he had lived. Several of his enemies ambushed and killed him but not without a fight. There has been speculation by historians and legends handed down from generation to generation that the Doublehead’s death was evidence of a growing sense of unity among the Cherokee. After Doublehead’s death, it came to light that he and Colonel Meigs had colluded to include much more land than had been ceded by the Cherokee.
Doublehead, who was also known as “Talo Tiske” (meaning two heads) and sometimes “Autowee,” was a member of a prominent Cherokee family. “Tassel” or “Old Tassel” was a beloved statesman and principal chief of the Cherokee Nation whose name became synonymous with integrity and truth. One of his sisters, Wurteh, married Nathan Gist, who was white and who married into the tribe, choosing to live with the Cherokees. Gist acted as an intermediary on behalf of the Cherokees in their dealings with the white. Wurteh and Nathan Gist were the parents of Sequoya. John Watts, who at one time was counted as the Chief of Chiefs among all Cherokees, was Doublehead’s nephew.
Doublehead was without any noted influence in his family until around 1790, the year he established a town near Muscle Shoals. He later moved his town to the north bank of the Tennessee River near the mouth of Blue Water Creek in Lauderdale County.
There are legends, and some evidence, that Doublehead lived in other places in Lauderdale County before settling at Blue Water Creek, which is located near Center Star. (Tahleitoiskee, his brother-in-law, had lived there). Tahleitoiskee’s people had made the land inhabitable for farmers. Approximately forty “mostly cast-offs from other Cherokee and Creek villages,” moved to Blue Water with Doublehead. Though the original settlers were “infamous in Tennessee history as “the ravagers of the Cumberlands,” in time, they were joined by other Cherokees.
For over two hundred years, the area Doublehead claimed kept as a hunting reserve for both Chickasaws and Cherokees. Doublehead’s settlement was thought to be a test to see if he could regain title to the lands.
With the death of Old Tassel in 1788, Doublehead’s position in the tribe started to rise within the Cherokee tribe. He attended important conferences and exerted “considerable influence in the treaties between the United States government and the Indian Nations.”
Doublehead, taking twenty-eight members of a “hunting party” with him, set out to avenge Old Tassel’s – his brother’s death – seeking revenge upon the whites who had ambushed Old Tassel and two others. Doublehead and his band would spend six years leading excursions designed to carry out retaliation against the whites.
In June of 1794, Doublehead became a delegate to a party of chiefs visiting Philadelphia; there, he met President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox. It is believed that Doublehead and the other chiefs negotiated between $1,500 and $5,000 each in annuities from the newly formed government.
It is believed that John D. Chisholm, a half-breed Cherokee trader and Doublehead’s newly acquired wealth, made Doublehead determined to live more like the whites. Doublehead built a story and a half log house on the hill overlooking Blue Water Creek.
He emerged as a spokesman for the Cherokee nation, living a quieter life after the wars that raged between 1791 through 1796.
Doublehead and other Cherokee leaders met with Secretary of War Henry Dearborn on January 7, 1806; a large tract of land was reserved for Chief Doublehead.
The end of Doublehead’s life was marked by violence. There were conspiracies to assassinate him as a traitor to his people and there were personal animosities against Doublehead for his underhanded business dealings.
Doublehead died as he had lived. Several of his enemies ambushed and killed him but not without a fight. There has been speculation by historians and legends handed down from generation to generation that the Doublehead’s death was evidence of a growing sense of unity among the Cherokee. After Doublehead’s death, it came to light that he and Colonel Meigs had colluded to include much more land than had been ceded by the Cherokee.
Creator
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Source
McDonald, William Lindsey. "The Lore of Chief Doublehead and His Home at Muscle Shoals." The WIlliam McDonald Lindsey Collection. Archives, Collier Library. University of North Alabama.
Publisher
Alabama Cultural Resource Survey
Date
c. 1750 to 1810
Contributor
Pam Kingsbury, University of North Alabama
Rights
Archives. Collier Library. The University of North Alabama, Florence, Alabama.
Format
Photograph. Courtesy of Collier Library.
Type
Still Image and Text