User:Alarob/Billymcintosh

William McIntosh

This page is reserved for a revised draft of an article on the Creek Indian leader William McIntosh (d. 1825). Sources are given here.

William McIntosh (ca. 1770-1825), also called Tustunnuggee Hutkee, was a Creek Indian warrior and businessman from Coweta in the present-day state of Georgia. Often incorrectly called a "chief" of the Creeks, McIntosh was a controversial figure who wielded more political influence during his lifetime than many actual chiefs. He was a brigadier general in the United States Army and helped arrange cessions of Creek land to the U.S. His death in May 1825 incited a controversy that involved the U.S. Congress and national press.

Ancestry

His father has been confused with a namesake, William McIntosh of Savannah, Georgia. McIntosh's war name, Tustunnuggee Hutkee, is usually translated "White Warrior." There is no reason to assume that the name had anything to do with racial identity.

Early life

Orator and diplomat.

Military career

He was a formidable warrior and evidently quite charismatic.

He often commanded the Creeks' police force, known as "law menders" or "light horse." It is apparently on this basis that he styled himself "Commander [of] Creek Warriors." This has led to the misconception that he was the Creeks' "war chief."

McIntosh and the law menders helped start the Creek War through the enforcement of death sentences, 1811.

Creek War: Siege of Tukabatchee. Auxiliaries with Jackson. When the U.S. became involved, he fought alongside Andrew Jackson's Tennessee militia. Commissioned brigadier, fought in Florida. Woodward.

Business interests

He was a wealthy planter, slaveowner, businessman, and proprietor of the Indian Springs resort hotel.

The Treaty of Washington of 1805 granted McIntosh, along with other wealthy leaders, a concession to operate a ferry across the Chattahoochee.

During David B. Mitchell's tenure as Creek agent (1817-1821). McIntosh and Creek agent (and former Georgia governor) David Mitchell profited hugely off the federal annuity to the Creek Nation, i.e., they looted the national treasury. (Pres. Madison fired Mitchell.)

The two men smuggled African slaves through the Creek Nation into the United States. Controversy with agent John Crowell.

Politics

McIntosh was key to bringing missionary educators into the Creek Nation.

He was celebrated as an exemplar of the "civilized" Indian and toasted in white society.

Southern politicians seeking to gain land from the Indians found William Mcintosh to be a useful ally.

McIntosh had strong ties to expansionist politicians in Georgia, notably his first cousin George Troup. He was first cousin of Georgia Gov. George Troup, and on familiar terms with John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and other prominent Americans.

McIntosh was a frequent practitioner of treaty fraud, notably in 1821 and 1825, and earned tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. In 1821 McIntosh was instrumental in persuading the Creek National Council to sell NNN. McIntosh benefitted from the treaty talks through gifts of land within the ceded territory and large, undisclosed bribes from the U.S. treaty commissioners -- possibly $40,000.

His corrupt practices led the Creek National Council to expel him and his son in disgrace. In the fall of 1823 he tried to bribe Cherokee chiefs. The Cherokee Council exposed McIntosh's attempt to bribe members in order to get a land cession. sent a letter to their Creek counterparts describing McIntosh's actions and warning the Creeks to "keep a strict watch over his conduct, or if you do not he will ruin your nation."

His wealth and charisma allowed him to form a political patronage network that threatened the authority of the principal chiefs and encouraged whites to treat with him as a national leader.

Treaty of Indian Springs

Death

On May 29, 1825 the Creek National Council passed a sentence of death against McIntosh and three allies.

On May 30, 1825 he was executed.

White writers continued to produce eulogistic literature about him for more than a century, some of it quite fanciful. Often they wrote about him in racist terms, ascribing his accomplishments to his white ancestry.

The factionalism he introduced into Creek politics continued to influence the Nation's affairs for a long time afterward, even after the Creeks' forced removal to Indian Territory.

Descendants

He married Eliza Grierson. Their son Chilly was born in about 1800 at McIntosh's second plantation, Lockchau Talofau.

A full-length painting of McIntosh by Nathan Negus is in the holdings of the ADAH. McKenney and Hall.