Research & Resources

"The Creek Nation was a confederacy--an alliance of separate and independent tribes that gradually became, over a long period, a single political organization. Through most of its history, however, the Confederacy was a dynamic institution, constantly changing in size as tribes, for whatever reason, entered the alliance or left it. ... 
This fluctuating population base... has confounded the attempts of historians and anthropologists to generalize about the Creeks. One can be clear or correct, but rarely both."

ChiefMcIntosh.com (mostly genealogy website)

"The Dawes Commission and the Enrollment of the Creeks". by Kent Carter. (Google this)

 "A Creek Indian Bibliography", By Anne Gometz. (Google her name)

Creek Indian Researcher on Rootsweb.com has pages and pages of lists, rolls, letters and other information on Creek history.

National Archives website.  There are several on-line sources for the following information, which can also be found there: 1843 Creek Nation  1857 Old Settlers Roll; 1857, 1858 1859 Creek Pay Rolls; 1867 Dunn Roll of Citizens and Freedman and much more. 

Harjo-Boggas Parrot band of Creek Indians, Calhoun County, Florida : Historical Papers of Clan History.  By Ramsey, Andrew Boggs. [Blountstown, Fla.], A.B. Ramsey, 1988.  (Copy in the Baker Block Museum Research Library)

 "Among the Creeks" Carol Middleton's extensive research appears on several websites.  (Google her name; since her death the data has been relocated in several places.))

Choctaw Indians.

They Say the Wind Is Red, by Jacqueline Anderson Matte, is the moving story of the Choctaw Indians who managed to stay behind when their tribe was relocated in the 1830s. Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, they had to resist the efforts of unscrupulous government agents to steal their land and resources. But they always maintained their Indian communities—even when government census takers listed them as black or mulatto, if they listed them at all. A moving saga of the southwest Alabama Choctaw Indians, They Say the Wind Is Red chronicles a history of pride, endurance, and persistence, in the face of the abhorrent conditions imposed upon the Choctaw by the U.S. government.  This revised edition includes a resource guide for southeastern Indian genealogy. (Baker Block Museum Research Library, Special Collections)

Government & Legislation. Researchers view a study of the various laws, land cessions, law suits and court dockets, as essential to understanding the history of Native American peoples. And, some of these documents can be used to establish lineage.

• Florida Territorial Records, John R. Swanton
• "Uriah Blue's Expedition into West Florida," by Brian Rucker, PhD.
• Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent, Letters
• Docket 21 Roll
• Identification of Indian Claims Commission Exhibits Cited in The Creek Indians and Their Florida Lands, 1740 - 1823, by James F. Doster.  Compiled by Jim Tiger.  Contents last updated 2 November 2008.  See http://www.rhus.com/doster.html
• Library of Congress, East Florida Papers, Box 114J9. Ockillissa Chopka, "Principal Chief of the Lower Creek Nation," to the governor of East Florida, October 23, 1792.
• This is an index to the contents of "Special File 207" found on National Archives microfilm M574, roll 61.   Special File 207 contains claims arising from the Creek emigration, 1827-38. There are claims for services rendered, provisions supplied, and losses during emigration. Names and items are listed according to the frame number on the microfilm
• "GETTING RECOGNIZED" Wade Black and Robert Thrower, Co- Producers.  Google this article which describes the history and process of getting  official recognition for Native American Tribes in the southeast United States.

Land Cessions and Treaties.

• Treaty with the Florida Tribes of Indians, 1823. Sept. 18, 1823. | 7 Stat., 224. | Proclamation, Jan. 2, 1824. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. II (Treaties) Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.  Google,  or go to http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions
• Bill #419, 18th U.S. Congress. 1825. "Claims to Land in West Florida"
• "Memorial to Congress by Inhabitants of the Western Judicial District" NA: HF, 19th Congress, 2 sess: DS.
• Docket 21

Census Records.

1832 Creek Indian Census

Tribal Rolls. (Google these rolls)

  DAWES; Guion-Miller Rolls; Old Settlers Rolls; Armstrong Rolls, "Train of Tears" data; Rolls of Creek Orphans and Payments made. . .

Sources of information on our local area:

     "Native American Collection" Baker Block Museum Research Library, 1307 Georgia Av. Baker, FL.

      Indian Temple Mound Museum. Ft. Walton Beach, FL.

      "West Florida's Creek Indian Crisis of 1837," Florida Historical Quarterly, LXIX (Jan. 1991), 315-334. by Brian Rucker, Ph.D.

      "In the Shadow of Jackson:  Uriah Blue's Expedition into West Florida." Florida Historical Quarterly, Jan 1995. by Brian Rucker, Ph.D.

      Carol Middleton "Among the Creeks" - data on various websites. (Google it)

      SENA, Southeastern Native American Exchange Journals (available in the museum's research library)

      William D. Hood website, "Piney Woods Genealogy" and some history (Google it)

      Patriot Chiefs and Loyal Braves. Chapter 3, "A Company of Friendly Indians" The Florida Frontier. by S. Pony Hill. on line at
   http://sciway3.net/clark/freemoors/Chapter3_The_Florida_Frontier.htm   (Catawba Indian community of northwest Florida)

      "The Great Ford Across the Yellow River" The Heritage of Okaloosa County, FL. Article by Nathan Chessher

      "The Indian Traders Migration to Our Area"   The Heritage of Okaloosa County, FL. Vol II. Article by Nathan Chessher

      Ceremonial Objects of Native Americans in Our Area"   The Heritage of Okaloosa County, FL. Vol. II. Article by Nathan Chessher

      Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Search this agency on line; however, most of its paperwork had been turned over to the National Archives.

      The Trek of the Jackson's by Jeanette Henderson. Page 65. Baker Block Museum Research Library.
In her notes for Houston Bunny Jackson (B. 1919), the author records the following:

     "My wife and I went to Atmore, Alabama from Pensacola, FL. one night. Calvin McGhee and some 
others were all sitting around the table talking about Indians and working on papers.  I asked about a
Polly Scroggins. Everyone dropped what they were doing and it became silent.  I believe that Calvin
McGhee married into a Scroggin family.  My wife and I filed claims at Atmore, Alabama, but we never
heard if we were accepted.  We did get some information on medical help from the Indian Bureau."
    "The wife and I made several trips to Washington, D.C. with Calvin McGhee, his wife and Mrs. Linton.  
Some trips Houston McGhee and I believe a Roland Norris were with us.  We were working on the Creek Indian
lineage for filing claims at Poarch in Atmore, Alabama.  That is where I heard that the Indian name for
Jackson was Juskenehaw.  This was documented in Washington and known by all attending the trips that
we made.  During the time Andrew Jackson was marching down the Seminole wanted to join the Creeks.  
The Creeks refused to let them.  Old Jackson wanted to buy their land and they wouldn't sell it, so he took it.  
Some of the Creek warriors who went with Jackson taken his name and that is how I got my name.  Calvin
McGhee at Atmore had a book from Washington which he showed to me where my name (Jackson) had
been translated to Juskenehaw.  This book was printed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1854, I believe."

The following items are available in the research library at Baker Block Museum:

Educational Services. Baker Block Museum. corner Hwy 189 & Rt. 4. Baker, FL. 32531. (850) 537-5714