I'm looking for information on an Indian Chief Double Head?

Answer 1

It was 200 years ago that the ink began to dry on the 1806 Treaty of Washington that opened the land south of the Duck River to settlement.

The Treaty ceded all the lands south of the river to the new State of Tennessee. There was a large group of people who were eager for this land. Most of them had been waiting for over 20 years to claim their Revolutionary War land grants, and with news of the treaty, they were literally camped on the north bank of the river.

On the Indian side of the issue was the Cherokee Chief named “Double Head.” This was not his Indian name, but rather a nickname given him by the settlers because of a large coin that he wore on a ribbon around his neck that had two “heads” on it.

Double Head had a ferocious reputation with the folks in the Fort Nashborough settlement. In the late 1700s he had led the Chickamauga war parties that had terrorized the area for nearly 10 years. In 1793 he finally threw in the towel and pulled his braves back to what would later become north Alabama.

It was after this that Double Head and a number of other Cherokee Chiefs were invited to visit Washington, D.C. The trip was a wowzer for the Cherokee. They passed through heavily settled parts of Tennessee and Virginia and gaped wide-eyed at the huge population. They saw sailing ships, steam engines and other marvels of the age. They met the “Great White Father,” Thomas Jefferson in a white house larger than any of them had ever dreamed existed. The staggering material wealth and technology of the new nation was an eye-opener for the small delegation.

Double Head returned to the frontier a changed man. He was no longer interested in opposing the settlers. He had seen that it was a fool’s errand to do so. He was not only ready to cooperate — he began to emulate the life that he had seen. He added bits of American clothing to his wardrobe and began to learn a little English.

The Indian agent for Tennessee was a man with the odd name of Return Jonathan Meigs (for whom Meigs County is named). Meigs approached Double Head about purchasing the lands south of the Duck River. He plied the old chief with manufactured goods and other trinkets — along with the promise of another trip to Washington.

On Jan.7, 1806, Double Head and his delegation were again in Washington to sign the papers. In exchange for hundreds of thousands of acres of prime land they received $2,000 up front and the promise of another $2,000 each year for the next four years — a total of $10,000. Throw in a few muskets, a set of pots and pans, some blankets and the deal was done.

As the members of the Cherokee delegation lined up to make their marks on the paper, the interpreter carefully explained what they were signing away. Other members of the delegation had wonderful names, such as “Sour Mush,” “Tallotiskee,” and, my personal favorite, “Turtle at Home.” There is also the somewhat anglicized name, “James Vanu.” More on him later.

Double Head and his group made their way home to Alabama to live in peace with their new settler neighbors, but there was trouble brewing with the other Cherokee. The next year Double Head made his way to a Cherokee ball game at Hiwassee Town (near present day Chattanooga) and it was there that he was assassinated by two Cherokee known as “The Ridge” and “James Vann.” Is this James Vann the same man who signed the Treaty of Washington as “James Vanu?” Did he fail to collect his share of the loot?

The circumstances of the killing have always been clouded, but it is believed that Double Head was the victim of a tribal “hit” authorized by the Cherokee council of elders. The elders had made a law to never again sell any tribal land to the “white man.” Double Head had neatly skirted this tribal law as the Middle Tennessee land he sold was technically the property of the old Yuchi tribe that had nearly died out and had largely been absorbed by the Creeks to the south.

It made no difference to the young state of Tennessee. The addition of this land was a fait accompli and settlers began to swarm across the Duck River to claim their land grants. Within a year a group of settlers met at the cabin of Joseph Brown where they set up a new county to be called “Maury.” They had already picked a nice hilltop just south of the river to start a new town they planned to call “Columbia.” The deed was done.

Even as the new town and county began to grow (up to 22,000 by 1820) there were still a number of Indians about. They were a common sight on the local streets until the year 1835. That was the year that the southeastern tribes were forced onto the “Trail of Tears” and forcibly removed to Oklahoma. The Cherokee signed the Treaty of New Echota that started the removal.

In a strange twist of fate, one of the signers of the Treaty of New Echota was a Cherokee by the name of “The Ridge.” He was one of the men who had assassinated Double Head nearly 30 years before for selling out tribal land. And what became of him?

The Ridge was, in turn, assassinated by members of his tribe.