9 - The Flower Hunter

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When William Bartram, the naturalist and explorer, set out for the Fort Benning area, the first skirmishes of the Revolutionary War had already occurred. As a scientist and writer, he was determined to explore as much of the frontier as possible and report on his findings for the mutual benefit of other scientists interested in the flora and fauna and for a public that seemed insatiable for information about the region then known as the West.

Bartram departed from Fort Charlotte, on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River north of Augusta, Georgia, with one companion in the mid-1770s. Bartram knew that his journey to the powerful Indian villages on the Chattahoochee River was dangerous. The country he would cross was still largely uninhabited except for roving bands of Indians. There were wild animals and other dangers lurking for the unwary, and if a traveler became injured or ill, medical help was likely to be far away. Not incidentally, the eastern part of North America was also aflame with talk of war and rebellion from English colonial rule.

The first shots of the Revolutionary War had been fired in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts in May 1775. The countryside was rife with rumors about which Indian groups would decide to fight with the British or the rebels. A trip into the frontier was riskier than usual because no one knew when any particular group of warriors might decide to join the fighting.

Eventually, a number of Creek Indians did side with the British and attacked American settlements. Bartram, a highly religious person, had braved the dangers of the frontier before, sometimes travelling all along, but his writings from this trip indicate his concern.

He and his companion, a Mr. Whitfield, were both riding horses. They crossed the Savannah River in late June and headed south in the general direction of Augusta. They planned to pick up the Lower Creek Trail, the same path followed by James Edward Oglethorpe 36 years before. The weather was hot, and by the time the pair turned onto the great Indian trading path several of their horses were noticeably fatigued.

The travelers met two groups of traders also heading for the Creek villages along the Chattahoochee River. When the traders invited Bartram and Whitfield to ride along with them, Bartram was relieved. The traders had spare horses and allowed Bartram to lighten the load on some of his animals by transferring packs to some of theirs. Also, the traders seemed to offer protection. As Bartram wrote, "Our caravan consisted of about 20 men and 50 horses. We made a formidable appearance, having now little to apprehend from predatory bands [of Indians] or out-laws."

Nevertheless, Bartram wasn't entirely comfortable with his rough-and-tumble companions, although they did elicit a type of grudging admiration for the way they handled unruly horses. When a horse started kicking and bucking because it didn't like being loaded down with a pack, the traders cursed, shouted, and cracked a whip, all to no avail. Exasperated, a trader grabbed one of the animal's ears and bit it fiercely. The horse suddenly became quite docile. As Bartram wrote, "Instantly, the furious, strong creature, trembling, stands perfectly still until he is loaded."

By July 1, the caravan entered what is now central Georgia and camped near the Oconee River. The next day, they reached and crossed the Ocmulgee River, near present-day Macon. The water was 300 to 400 yards wide where they led the horses across.

The following day, they forded the Flint River and camped by a deep creek, a branch of the Flint. They were nearing the Fort Benning area. Within the next few days, Bartram experienced both the beauty and the pestilence the region offered. The campsite the traders chose was pleasant enough, with a cane swamp nearby and plenty of grass for the horses to graze. Allowing the animals plenty of range time had become a necessity because of their fatigue.

Bartram, who began complaining frequently in his diary about the searing summer heat, wrote that the horses had become dispirited. Because of the heat and the tired horses, the travelers, on most days, stopped to camp earlier in the day than they had before and they resumed their journey later the next morning, giving everyone more time to rest.

Bartram was impressed by the many hills and ridges and the overall beauty of the countryside. As he edged close to Fort Benning land, he predicted that some day the spot would be perfect for settlement.

Of one camping site he wrote that it "presents every appearance of a delightful and fruitful region in some future day. It being a rich soil, and exceedingly well situated for every branch of agriculture, and grazing. [The land is] diversified with hills and dales, savannahs and vast cane meadows and watered by innumerable rivulets and brooks."

Bartram also mused about the future, a day when he guessed the Flint, Chattahoochee, and Apalachicola Rivers would be ideal vehicles for commerce. He predicted the river system would offer uninterrupted trade routes to the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, "to the West India islands, and all over the world."

Then conditions took a turn for the worse. The next day the caravan managed to cover only a few miles, despite traveling all day, from sunrise to sunset. A cloud of biting flies "so thick as to obscure every distant object" swarmed about the riders and their horses. The tormenting insects stung the horses' necks so many times that large drops of blood formed and were "rolling down like tears." Bartram added that "the heat and the burning flies tormented our horses to such a degree as to excite compassion, even in the hearts of pack-horsemen."

Some of the flies were quite large, virtually the size of bumble bees, and were "armed with a strong sharp beak or proboscis, shaped like a lancet, and sheathed in flexible thin valves," which they used to puncture the skin of their victims. Three or four other species of flies were smaller but vastly more numerous, and just as bothersome. Particularly vexing for animals and humans alike was a fly colored a "splendid green" but with a gold colored head. The sting of this fly was "intolerable, no less acute than a prick from a red-hot needle, or a spark of fire on the skin. These are called burning flies."

Bartram, ever the scientist, carefully catalogued details about their tormentors. He spotted two other species of biting flies, each a grayish dusky color. One of these species had a green head and spotted wings. Try as he might to keep at his dispassionate studies, Bartram, and everyone else, was suffering.

"Almost sinking under the persecutions from the evil spirits who continually surround and follow us over the burning desert ridges and plains," the caravan finally moved into a grove of trees, apparently near a brook, that offered hope of relief and somewhat cooler air. When the riders halted, however, there was no respite after all. They were ambushed by still another form of fly that was "small and perfectly black."

Bartram was stunned. Here in "some hopes of momentary peace and quietness, under cover of the cool humid groves, we are surprised and quickly infested with dark clouds of these persecuting demons." To make matters worse, gnats and mosquitoes also began swarming and biting.

The infestation of pests continued to plague the beleaguered troop the next day, following the pack train as it climbed to the summit of a high and lovely ridge. Here they found an "open, airy" grove of pine trees. There were gurgling brooks meandering through the trees, "their banks ornamented with blooming, aromatic shrubs and plants perfuming the air."

But the stifling heat continued and the stinging flies would not leave them alone. It was only mid day, but the riders were exhausted. They couldn't travel one more mile. They dismounted and tried to rest. As Bartram recalled, they just were "unable to support ourselves under such grievances, even in our present situation charming to the senses."

Even the horses seemed more despondent than usual. The traders tried to nap, but their rest was fitful, broken occasionally by "plaintive murmurs and groans" from one of the men. Bartram apparently lay down and was in such misery that he could hardly move.

"The air [was] still, gloomy, and sultry," he wrote, as a dark cloud began billowing up above the northwestern horizon. The cloud soon draped the sky in angry dark gray. Powerful - winds began swaying the trees. And "the earth trembled under the peals of incessant distant thunder."

Bartram was "shocked again to life" by the storm, which was now roaring through the campsite. "I raised my head and rubbed open my eyes, pained with gleams and flashes of lightning." As floods of rain poured from the sky, Bartram tried to rouse his companions. With the sky flashing and the rain sweeping through, the exhausted traders began to realize the dangers posed by the storm. They ran to their packs, flinging every spare piece of clothing, animal skins, and all the bedding they had over the merchandise and food supplies in an effort to keep them dry.

As they rushed about in the deluge, a blast of lightning exploded overhead. It was "a vast river of the ethereal fire," Bartram wrote, then added, "I am instantly struck dumb, inactive and benumbed."

As the storm's fury finally subsided, a cooling rain refreshed everyone, including the horses. "The pulse of life begins to vibrate, the animal spirits begin to exert their powers, and I am by degrees revived."

Bartram's more characteristic optimism soon returned. That evening, the "surprisingly heavy tempest passed off. We had a serene sky and a pleasant, cool night."

Just about every scrap of clothing and bedding, however, was drenched. Luckily, the men had collected pine knots and pieces of wood before the storm broke. They fed these into roaring fires that lit up the camp and everyone rested near the crackling flames, warming themselves and waiting for the heat to dry their clothes and bedrolls.

Bartram wrote that the "next day was cool and pleasant, the air having recovered its elasticity. I found myself cheerful and invigorated. Indeed, all around us appeared reanimated, and nature presented her cheerful countenance."

When Bartram arrived in the Fort Benning area, it was still a focal point for Indian villages, which were located on both sides of the Chattahoochee River. A recent study by archeologists compares occupation sites discovered along the Chattahoochee on Fort Benning and in the Oliver Basin, just north of Columbus. Researchers learned by counting sites that population was less dense in the river's flood plain on Fort Benning land throughout prehistory than was the case in the Oliver Basin. But in the historic era, after the Yuchis and Lower Creeks settled the area, the population soared on Fort Benning land near the river and far surpassed the density immediately to the north. What prompted the Indians to concentrate in the Fort Benning area and not to the north is still a matter of conjecture, although a greater availability of farmland may have been a factor.

Locating near the river was popular because of the fertile flood plain where corn and other crops could flourish. But not all the villages were next to the Chattahoochee. At least by the late 1700's, there was a small village called Upatoi or Apatoi in the northern portion of what is now the military reservation on the upper reaches of Upatoi Creek. Archeologists recently uncovered remains of this settlement.

William Bartram and the rest of his caravan left the Lower Creek Trail when they reached Fort Benning land. They followed a path alongside Oswichee Creek until they came to the Chattahoochee, which Bartram was delighted to see. The river, he wrote, was "about three or four hundred yards wide, carries fifteen or twenty feet water, and flows with an active current. The water is clear, cool, and salubrious."

On the other side of the river, they could see the smoke from the fires of Yuchi Town. Bartram recalled that after the traders unloaded their horses, "the Indians came over to us in large canoes." With "cheerful and liberal assistance" from the Indians, the traders loaded their packs into the canoes. The Indians then ferried men and supplies across the river. Other Indians helped drive the "horses altogether into the river [and] swam them over."

Bartram described the village, located on what is now the Alabama side of Fort Benning, as being on a vast plain that gradually rose from low land bordering the river. "It is the largest, most compact, and best situated Indian town I ever saw. The habitations are large and neatly built." The houses probably were built around a large plaza where residents held games and ceremonies.

During archeological investigations on the site in 1991, Frank Schnell Jr. noted a gap, about 500 yards across, where there were no major concentrations of artifacts. He thinks that this area was the village plaza. Toward the center of the plaza there was probably a giant tree pole like those found in earlier Mississippian settlements.

The homes were built with wattle and daub. As described by Bartram, the walls "are constructed of wooden frame, then lathed and plastered inside and out with a reddish well-tempered clay or mortar, which gives them the appearance of red brick walls. And these houses are neatly covered or roofed with Cypress bark or shingles of that tree."

Villagers probably had both winter and summer residences. The winter houses would have been solid structures built with upright wall poles anchored close together in the ground. The Indians added a connecting web of small branches tied between the poles and then covered the walls with daub-clay mixed with plant fibers and water.

Historical writings indicate that the doorways to winter homes were relatively low, perhaps only four feet tall, to help block cold winter winds. Entrances were probably L-shaped for the same reason. Winter homes could be quite warm and smoky because a fire burned inside, and there was only a small hole in the roof for smoke to escape.

Summer homes were more airy and probably elevated to improve air circulation during hot weather. Poles forming the structure frames tended to be spaced further apart, and there was a lighter coating of clay. Descriptions of Creek towns indicate that at least some households maintained three or four buildings, including summer and winter houses, all grouped together. The additional buildings were for storage and entertaining guests.

At Yuchi Town, there must have been many dwellings. Bartram, who had seen many other Indian villages, reported that "the town appeared to be populous and thriving, full of youth and young children. I suppose the number of inhabitants, men, women, and children, might amount to one thousand or fifteen hundred, as it is said they are able to muster five hundred gun-men or warriors."

A later visitor, the Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins, reported that the village had a town house. Descriptions from Europeans who saw town houses in Creek villages reported that these buildings could be quite large. Usually round, the structures, also called council houses or rotundas, had slanted roofs that could soar 25 feet tall. The typical town house had a diameter of 35 to 40 feet but could be much larger. There is at least one report of a town house that could accommodate as many as 500 people.

Town house seating was arranged in a circle. Sometimes there were tiers of seats on different levels, similar to a theater in the round. The seats were usually benches with animal skins or cane mats stretched across rectangular wooden frames. The frames were supported by short posts stuck in the ground. The chief, or mico, and the village council used the town house for meetings in winter or during bad weather. Council houses were also used for winter dances, feasts, and festivals, and sometimes to house visitors. The sick requiring isolation sometimes also stayed in the town houses.

While the Yuchi shared many similarities with their Creek neighbors and cooperated with the Lower Creeks when dealing with people of European descent, they were a separate people with their own traditions and government.

As Bartram observed, "Their own national language is altogether or radically different from the Creek (or Muscogulge) tongue... They are in confederacy with the Creeks, but do not mix with them. And, on account of their numbers and strength, are of importance enough to excite and draw upon them the jealousy of the whole Muscogulge [Creek] confederacy. [They] are usually at variance [with the Creeks], yet are wise enough to unite against a common enemy, to support the interest and glory of the general Creek confederacy."

The Creeks and the Yuchi sometimes intermarried, but the practice may have been discouraged. Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins reported hearing the following story:

"In the year 1729, an old chief of Kasita, called by the white people Captain Ellick, married three Yuchi women, and brought them to Kasita [the Creek village on what is now Fort Benning], which was greatly disliked by his towns people. Their opposition determined him to move from Kasita. He went down opposite where the town (Yuchi Town) now is, and settled with his three brothers, two of whom [also] had Yuchi wives."

Archeologists have completed a series of preliminary investigations at the Yuchi site and have determined that the residents used various types of pottery decoration similar to styles used in nearby Lower Creek villages. Archeologists label one prominent decoration Chattahoochee Brushed. Potters apparently made the design by using a bundle of fine twigs or coarse grass which they swept in a broom-like fashion across the damp clay.

The Indians also produced plain pottery and pottery with incised line decorations. Another type of pottery decoration they used involved red pigment. Called Kasita red filmed, the ceramic decoration sometimes has the red paint outlined by engraved lines, but not in every in stance. Often just the rim of a bowl was painted red, without any outlines.

Whereas the Kasita red filmed pottery appears often in sites associated with the Lower Creeks, it is seen infrequently in the Montgomery, Alabama area, associated with the Upper Creeks. Frank Schnell Jr. theorizes that the red decorations were a way to demonstrate cultural and tribal differences between the two Creek groups.

Anthropologist Joseph Mahan Jr. has conducted research among the descendants of the Yuchi who lived on Fort Benning. Now living in Oklahoma, the Yuchi still cooperate with the Creek Indians but also still maintain a separate organization and their own traditions. The Yuchi elders command considerable respect from other Indian groups because of their wisdom and knowledge of ancient religious and medical concepts.

As for William Bartram, he went on to visit other Indian villages, including the Apalachicola settlement, just south of the Fort Benning area. The naturalist wrote eloquently and prolifically about his experiences. His was one of the voices urging peaceful relations with the Indians, but ironically, his detailed writings about the beauty he saw inflamed enthusiasm for the frontier and inadvertently encouraged white settlers to move onto Indian lands. The resulting clashes proved disastrous to Indian settlements on the Chattahoochee.

Bartram's writings contain some of the most detailed early accounts of Indian lifestyles, while sidestepping simplistic stereotyping so common among other writers in his time. Indians across the Southeast respected the curious naturalist, often allowing him to roam freely through their settlements. They called him "Puc Puggy," the Flower Hunter.

Chapter 10: A Sacred Fire Flickers

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