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Section 3: Primary Sources......
Web collections
The web site Among the Creeks, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/index.html , (edited by Carol Middleton) includes transcriptions of many primary sources on the Creeks. There are direct links in this bibliography to some of the more complete and/or published titles, but any researcher should look through the site for further citations. Also cited in Sections 1 and 5.
Also see Creek Indian Researcher, with many transcriptions of primary documents. Internet at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~texlance/main.htm. Also cited in Sections 1 and 5.
"Creek Treaties Related to Georgia." From the Carl Vinson Institute's "GeorgiaInfo" site at http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/crtreaty.htm.
The Digital Library of Georgia includes "Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842" containing about 2,000 documents from libraries and museums in Georgia and Tennessee. Internet at: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/, then choose "Online Collections..." and scroll down to the collection title.
Adair, James. Adair's History of the American Indians. London: 1775.
Alabama and Coushatta Tribes of Texas. "Constitution and By-Laws." IN: (Creek)Indians: Alabama-Coushatta, pp.315-347. See Secondary Sources in this bibliography.
American State Papers. Class II. Indian Affairs. 2 v. Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1832. The collected papers of the the 1st through 19th Congresses spanning May 25, 1789-March 1, 1827. Unusually for publications of this period, there is a quite detailed index. Other volumes in the same set may also be relevant to research on the Creeks, e.g. "Military Affairs".
Atkin, Edmond. Indians of the Southern Colonial Frontier: The Edmond Atkin Report and Plan of 1755, ed. and with an introduction by Wilbur R. Jacobs. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1954.
Barnard, Timothy. "Unpublished Letters of Timothy Barnard 1784-1820." Compiled, copied, edited by Louise Frederick Hays. 1939. Typescript at the Georgia Dept. of Archives and History. Despite the title many of these can also be found in the American State Papers. Indexed.
Bartram, William. Travels and Other Writings. (Library of America, 84) New York: Penguin Books, 1996. This new edition of Bartram's works contains his various travels through the southeast and especially the Creek Confederacy in the late 18th century. Warning: while Bartram is now regarded as a very useful ethnographic source, he was primarily a naturalist and much of the book consists of descriptions and lists of plants and animals. An online excerpt from Bartram's work (edition not given) containing descriptions of the Creeks is at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/brtrmck1.html#anchor587808 .
[Baynton, Benjamin]. Authentic Memoirs of William Augustus Bowles, Esquire, Ambassador from the United Nations of Creeks and Cherokees, to the Court of London. Signed by "An Observer of Mankind". London: Printed for R. Faulder, 1791. Reprinted 1916 as The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries, Extra number 46 [pt. 2] with attribution to Baynton. Also reprinted as a photo-image with no editorial matter by Arno Press in 1971. According to Leitch Wright's biography of Bowles, Baynton based this on his conversations with Bowles in London. An early "as told to"?
Benton, Jeffrey C. The Very Worst Road: Traveller's Accounts of Crossing Alabama's Old Creek Indian Territory, 1820-1847. Published for the Historic Chattahoochee Commission of Alabama and Georgia, 1998. Sixteen accounts.
Bossu, Jean-Bernard. Jean-Bernard Bossu's Travels in the Interior of North America, 1751-1762, translated and edited by Seymour Feiler. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962. Originally published in 2 vols by Le Jay in Paris as Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes occidentales: Contenant une Relation des differens Peuples qui habitent les environs du grand Fleuve Saint-Louis, appellé vulgairement le Mississipi: leur Religion; leur gouvernement; leurs moeurs, les guerres et leur commerce. An earlier translation, Travels Through That Part of North America Formerly Called Louisiana was done by John Reinhold Forster (London: T. Davies, 1771). Bossu devotes two letters full of descriptive detail to his visit to the land of the Alabamas in 1759.
Bowles, William Augustus. Authentic Memoirs..., see Baynton, Benjamin in this section.
Burckhard, Johann Christian. Partners in the Lord's Work: The Diary of Two Moravian Missionaries in the Creek Indian Country, 1807-1913, trans. and ed. by Carl Mauelshagen and Gerald H. Davis. (Georgia State College Research Paper no. 21.) Atlanta: Georgia State College, 1969.
Caughey, John W. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1938. Listed here because most of the volume is devoted to McGillivray's own letters.
Chester, Peter see Rowland, Eron.
Constitution and Laws of the Muscogee Nation, as Compiled and Codified by A. P. McKellop, under Act of October 15, 1892. Originally published 1893 and since reprinted by Scholarly Resources.
"Creek Indian Letters, Talks and Treaties". 4 v. Typescript. 1939. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History. Compiled by Louise F. Hays.
Creek National Council. Acts and Resolutions of the Creek National Council of the Extra Session of April, 1894, and the Regular Session of October, 1894. Compiled and translated by D. C. Watson. Originally published 1894 and since reprinted by Scholarly Resources.
____. Acts and Resolutions of the Creek National Council of the Sessions of May, June, October, November, and December, 1895. Compiled and translated by D. C. Watson. Originally published 1896 and since reprinted by Scholarly Resources.
"Creek Manuscripts and Documents, Series IV, Indians of North America Collection." This collection is in the Dept. of Special Collections of the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa [Oklahoma]. There is an online finding aid at http://www.lib.utulsa.edu/Speccoll/inacree0.htm .
"Creek Papers". Georgia Dept. of Archives and History, Atlanta. The collective term used to refer to a number of transcribed manuscript collections in the Georgia Archives. See individual citations in this bibliography.
Debo, Angie. The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma: Report on Social and Economic Conditions. Philadelphia: Indian Rights Association, 1951.
Gaines, George Strother. The Reminiscences of George Strother Gaines, Pioneer and Statesman of Early Alabama and Mississippi, 1805-1843. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1998. Contains the "Reminiscences" and supporting documents of Gaines who was the Choctaw agent. The Creek War as viewed from the Choctaw side.
General Council of the Indian Territory see Indian Territory. General Council.
Georgia. Executive Council. "Minutes of Executive Council of Georgia, January 7, 1788-January 7, 1789". Typescript. 1939. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History.
Georgia. Executive Dept. "Executive Department Minutes Typed from Four Pamphlets Marked "Rough Drafts". 1939. Typescript. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History.
Georgia. Governor. "Letter Books" [October 20, 1786-July 20, 1802] Typescripts. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History.
Georgia Historical Society. Collections. Individual titles listed separately.
Georgia. House of Assembly. "Minutes, House of Assembly, Augusta, Ga., Aug. 3, to Nov. 10, 1786. -- Minutes of Board of Commissioners - Shoulderbone Treaty" Typescript. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History.
Greenslade, Marie Taylor, ed. see Innerarity, John.
Hawkins, Benjamin. Letters of U. S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins, (Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, v. 9) Savannah: The Society, 1916.
____. A Sketch of the Creek Country in the Years 1798 and 1799. (Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, v. 3, pt. 1) Savannah: The Society, 1848.
Hays, Louise see "Creek Letters, Talks and Treaties".
"Indian-Pioneer History", aka "Indian-Pioneer Papers". Oklahoma Historical Society (Grant Foreman Collection) and Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma. This collection consists of interviews done by the WPA Project 1937-38 with Oklahoma citizens of all races. Each of these repositories has a complete bound set and the papers have also been microfilmed. The indexing for each set differs. See Oklahoma GenWeb page for descriptions of the collections and an online index to one set [http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/pioneer/about.htm].
For published selections from the interviews, also see Perdue, Theda in this section.
Indian Territory. General Council. Journal of the General Council of the Indian Territory, Composed of Delegates Duly Elected from the Indian Tribes Legally Resident Thereof, Assembled in Council at Okmulgee in the Indian Territory.... Meeting of Sept-Dec. 1870. Includes "Constitution of the Indian Territory." Originally published 1871, reprinted 1975.
Indian Territory. General Council. Journal of the Sixth Annual Session of the General Council of the Indian Territory, Composed of Delegates Duly Elected from the Indian Tribes Legally Resident Therein, Assembled in Council at Okmulgee, Indian Territory from the 3rd to the 15th (inclusive) of May, 1875... Originally published 1875, reprinted 1975.
Innerarity, John. "The Creek Nation, Debtor to John Forbes & Co., Successors to Panton, Leslie & Co.: A Journal of John Innerarity, 1812." Florida Historical Quarterly, v. 9 (1930), pp. 67-89. Includes "A list of debts due by the traders & factors of the Upper Creek towns...1812" and is followed by a biographical sketch "John Innerarity, 1783-1854" (pp. 90-95) by Marie Taylor Greenslade who apparently transcribed the journal.
Jackson, James. The Papers of James Jackson, 1781-1789. (Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, v. 11), ed. by Lilla M. Hawes. Savannah: Georgia Historical Society, 1955.
Kappler, Charles J. ed. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. 7 v. Also known as the "Kappler Report," this is a compilation of treaties (full text) done for Congress. Washington, D C.: Government Printing Office, 1903-41. The Library at Oklahoma State University has created an online version. Internet at: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/ . To find Creek treaties in volume 2, you can use the chronological arrangement of the volume, look in the index for name of tribe or treaty, or use the search feature on site.
Lackey, Richard S., comp. Frontier Claims in the Lower South: Records of Claims Filed by Citizens of the Alabama and Tombigbee River Settlements in the Mississippi Territory for Depredations by Creek Indians During the War of 1812. A transcription of National Archives materials from Record Group 233. Most deal with Fort Mims and provide details on the events at that time. Note that people filing for compensation include Creeks.
"Letter Book of the Creek Trading House, 1795-1816". National Archives microfilm M4, 1 reel. Very difficult to read.
Lindsey, Lilah Denton. "Memories of the Indian Territory Mission Field." Chronicles of Oklahoma, v. 36 (1958/59), pp.181-198. A memoir written in 1938 and deposited at the Oklahoma Historical Society.
____. "Papers." This collection is in the Dept. of Special Collections of the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa [Oklahoma]. There is an online finding aid at http://www.lib.utulsa.edu/Speccoll/lindsld0.htm . "A woman of Creek descent generally agreed to have been Tulsa's first school teacher."
Martin, Jack B, ed. see "Pum Mvhayv Toyetskat...".
McCulloch, Alexander. See Cutrer, Thomas in Secondary Sources.
McIntosh, Lachlan. The Papers of Lachlan McIntosh, 1774-1779, ed. by Lilla M. Hawes. (Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, v. 12). Savannah: Georgia Historical Society, 1957.
McKellop, A. P. see Constitution and Laws...
Milfort, Louis Le Clerc. Memoirs, or, A Quick Glance at My Various Travels and My Sojourn in the Creek Nation. The author styled himself "Tastanegy, or Great War Chief of the Creek Nation, and Brigadier-General in the Service of the French Republic". Milfort came to the Creek Nation in 1776 and stayed for nineteen years. The Memoirs were originally published in France in 1802. A translation by Ben C. McCary was published in 1959 and republished in 1972 by the Beehive Press, Savannah, Ga. There is also an online copy (in English) -- source not given. Internet at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/mlfrttoc.html#anchor2466429 .
Motte, Jacob R. Journey into the Wilderness: An Army Surgeon's Account of Life in Camp and Field during the Creek and Seminole Wars, 1836-1838, ed. by James F. Sunderman. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1953.
Nairne, Thomas. Nairne's Muskhogean Journals: The 1708 Expedition to the Mississippi River. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1988.
New American State Papers: Indian Affairs, v. 6-11, Southeast Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1972. A reissue of the American State Papers with other material from archives, etc. added. Unfortunately, the publisher did not include any editorial apparatus identifying the additional materials and there is no indexing.
Peddy, T[homas] J[oseph] ,comp. "Creek Letters 1800-1819." Typescript. Georgia Dept. of Archives and History.
Perdue, Theda, ed. Nations Remembered. Originally published by Greenwwod Press in 1980 with the subtitle, An Oral History of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1865-1907 and reprinted by the University of Oklahoma Press, 1993, with the subtitle, An Oral History of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles in Oklahoma, 1865-1907. Selections from the WPA interviews known as the "Indian-Pioneer History" and housed at the library of the University of Oklahoma and at the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Pope, John. A Tour through the Southern and Western Territories of the United States of North America. Originally published 1792. The introduction and indexes by Barton Starr for the facsimile edition make it much more useful. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1979.
"Pum Mvhayv Toyetskat: Creek Letters to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson, 1878-1905." Margaret McKane Mauldin, Translator; Jack B. Martin, Editor. Online at http://www.wm.edu/linguistics/creek/aewr/ . The letters are given in both Creek and English. "The letters gathered here were written in the Creek (Muskogee) language of present-day Oklahoma and addressed to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson, a missionary to the Creeks at a time when the Creek Nation was an independent nation within Indian Territory. The bulk of the letters in the collection are from the University of Tulsa's McFarlin Library, where they form part of the Alice Robertson Collection." [See Robertson, Alice. "Papers." on this page.] These letters are part of the Creek Language Archive, http://www.wm.edu/linguistics/creek/index.html .
Robertson, Alice Mary. "Papers" aka "The Worcester-Robertson Family Papers". This collection is in the Dept. of Special Collections of the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa [Oklahoma]. There is an online finding aid at http://www.lib.utulsa.edu/Speccoll/roberam0.htm . "Mary Alice Robertson was born in 1854 at Tullahassee Mission the Creek country...the institute she had nurtured as the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls became Henry Kendall College and then The University of Tulsa. In addition, she was the second woman elected to the Congress of the United States. The thousands of papers that make up the Alice Robertson Collection include personal papers, journals, and letters documenting three generations of an Indian mission family and the history of the Indian nations they served." She was the granddaughter of Samuel Austin Worcester, who "gave his name to Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 515 (1832), one of the cases in the Marshall trilogy, the foundation decisions of federal Indian law". For a selection of letters from this collection, see the entry "Pum Mvhayv Toyetskat..." on this page.
Rowland, Eron (Mrs. Dunbar). "Peter Chester, Third Governor of the Province of West Florida under British Dominion, 1770-1771." Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society: Centenary Series, v. 5 (1925), pp. ix-183. This work contains Chester's correspondence and other papers from the period 1770 to 1773. Of particular note is the proceedings of the congress with the Creeks held at Pensacola, October 29 to November 3, 1771.
Rules of the House of Warriors / Adopted December 7, 1903. Okmulgee, Indian Territory: Chieftain Printing House. Online, http://www.wm.edu/linguistics/creek/social/creeknation/rules.PDF (pdf format) as part of the Creek Language Archives, but is in English.
Schermerhorn, John. "Report Respecting the Indians Inhabiting the Western Parts of the United States, Communicated by Mr. John Schermerhorn to the Secretary of the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America." Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, v. 12 [i.e. v.2 of the 2nd series] (1814), pp.1-48. The Creeks are on pp. 18-22.
Scott, Sutton S. "Some Account of Confederate Indian Affairs." Gulf States Historical Magazine, v. 2 (1903-04), pp. 137-154 w. port. facing p. 137. Scott was the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the Confederacy; therefore I'm placing this in "Primary Sources." However, it is obvious that writing this many years later, he relied on published records to flesh out his memories.
Stiggins, George. Creek Indian History: A Historical Narrative of the Genealogy, Traditions and Downfall of the Ispocoga or Creek Indian Tribe of Indians. Birmingham, Ala.: Birmingham Public Library Press, 1989. Stiggin's manuscript was also transcribed by Theron A. Nunez Jr. and published as "Creek Nativism and the Creek War of 1813-1814," Ethnohistory, v. 5 (1958), pp. 1-47, 131-175, 292-301.
Swan, Caleb. "Position and State of Manners and Arts in the Creek, or Muscogee Nation in 1791." IN Schoolcraft, Henry R., Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, v. 5, p. 251-283. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Company, 1855.
Tait, James A. "Journal of James Tait for the Year 1813." Alabama Historical Quarterly, v. 2 (1940), pp. 432-440.
Tuggle, William O. Shem, Ham & Japheth: The Papers of W. O. Tuggle Comprising His Indian Diary, Sketches & Observations, Myths & Washington Journal in the Territory & at the Capitol, 1879-1882, ed. by Eugene Current-Garcia with Dorothy B. Hatfield. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1973. Tuggle served as a legal agent representing the interests of the Creek Nation.
Waring, Antonio J., ed. Laws of the Creek Nation. (University of Georgia Libraries Miscellanea Publications no. 1) Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1960. These laws were written out on January 7, 1825 by Chilly McIntosh for his cousin Governor George M. Troup. The actual text of the laws occupies 11 pages of this 27 page pamphlet.
Watson, D. C. See Creek National Council.
West Florida. General Assembly. The Minutes, Journals, and Acts of the General Assembly of British West Florida. University: University of Alabama Press, [1978]. Introduction by Robert R. Rea. Indexed.
Willett, William W. A Narrative of the Military Actions of Colonel Marinus Willett, Taken Chiefly from His Own Manuscript. Prepared by His Son. New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1831. Reprinted 1969. Chap. 9, pp. 94-113, deals with the Creek treaty delegation's visit to New York in 1790. Col. Willett was sent by Washington to escort the delegation. The chapter deals mostly with his visit to the Creek country and says very little about the time in New York.
Woodhouse, S. W. A Naturalist in Indian Territory: the Journals of S. W. Woodhouse, 1849-50, edited and annotated by John S. Toner and Michael J. Brodhead. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.
Woodward, Thomas S. Woodward's Reminiscences of the Creek, or Muscogee Indians, Contained in Letters to Friends in Georgia and Alabama. 1859. Woodward served in McIntosh's and Andrew Jackson's forces.
GO TO: [Introduction] [Sec.1: Begin Here] [Sec.2: Secondary Sources] [Sec.3: Primary Sources] [Sec.4: Biography] [Sec.5: Genealogy] [Sec.6: Finding Pictures] [Sec.7: Further Research]
Go to: [Homepage] [Trumbull's Indian Sketches] [Creeks in WWII] [Doster Citations] [The Information Wave]
[Gometz Family] [Resume]