11.13.20 – TOHOPEKA / HORSESHOE BEND 




Near this part of the Tallapoosa River was the site of the Red Stick village of Tohopeka, where Cherokee and Lower Creek allied with Andrew Jackson attacked as part of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  During the battle, Cherokee and Lower Creek swam across the Tallapoosa River, stole Red Stick canoes, and ferried their own warriors to attack and burn the village. The flanking maneuver allowed Jackson to ultimately defeat the Upper Creek, leaving nearly 800 Red Sticks dead and more than 300 women and children captured. The battle was the single largest defeat of Native American people in nearly 300 years of conflict with European settlers; those who participated reported that the Tallapoosa ran red with blood. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend effectively ended the Creek War and led to the loss of 23 million acres of ancestral Muscogee land. The treaty was dictated by Jackson, who after the Creek War would be promoted to Major General and later become president.


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