The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-13
INDIAN TOWNS THAT WERE
 LOCATED NEAR MONTGOMERY
General Woodward Writes Of Montgomery's Vicinity Before the White Man Came-He Re counts the Indians Own Story of the History of His People and Describes Their Customs.

lE0itore Note. In nfs tnlrd ietter of "reminiscences directed to Johnson J. Hooper. who first published them, General Woodward. in his own peculiar way. deals almost exclusively with the | history and traditions of the Indians as he understood them. and as they came l direct from the older members of the ! tribes.
 Of special significance to historians are those parts of the letter that deal First--With location of the site of the big battle between DeSoto and Tuskaloosa. a fight which Bancroft says was the bIoodiest encounter be- tween Indians and whites on American soil. General Woodward declares that | this battle was fought neither in Wii- cox, Clarke nor Greene Counties, in each of which counties 1t has been located by various historians. He asserts positively that the big fight was on the Tallapoosa River within q few miles of Montgomery. and he sets forth reasons for his .confidence, which are worthy of consideration.
 | Second--He sets forth that the Creeks and their allied tribes came | originally from the territory which is now Texas. and which lies between the Rio Grande and the Mississippi River. l He repeats sufficient Indian tradition l to establish this. In this he endorses the opinion of practically every his- torian who has studied the question. which Is that the Creeks were run out 1 or that country by a powerful enemy, which in all probability was part of the force with which cortez conquered Mexico and that going eastward the Indians were pleased with the we'll watered highlands of Middle Alabama, and settling on these streams they were called by the early writes, Creeks. Third-General Woodward's opinion on the word Alabama refutes that poetical, but foolish, belief that it originally meant Here we rest ? There was never any authority for that mistake which has been taught religiously in the Alabama schools. General Woodward says frankly that he does not know of the origin of the word. and that all the Indians could tell him of 1t was it was the name of an Indian town near Montgomery and of a tribe living In and around the site of the present city of Montgomery. ss It was originated in a poetic flight of Judge A. B Meek, when he; wrote Red Eagle. He gave that meaning to it in the iiltefest of poetry, although such meaning had been previously given it In a Huntsville publication.
 Professor K. s Halbert now com nected with the state Department of Archives and History declares that the word is of choetaw origin and applied to the Alabama tribe meant "thicket pickers''; or. rather, vegetation gath erers."
 Dr.. w. S. Wyman of Tuscaloosa another acknowledged authority on In- dian languages. holds that the original Indian words from which 1t originated meant mulberry pickers," or "nul- berry peopie."l
 Vim Parish. La, Dec 24, 1857. J. J. Hooper, Esquire:
 wrote letter to my old friend B. Hanrick of Montgomery last May, in which l spoke of my intention of giving you some sketches of Indians and their history. Why alluded to these things, had seen short time before, in your paper an extract taken, I think. from Mobile paper, making some inquiry about the true meaning of the word, Aiabapla. And from the article supposed the writer-to think that the word was of Jewish origin by giving the name of Esau's wife, who spelled her name Al-i-bama. if she spelled it at all. Now, whethe CT she borrowed her name from Jedidah Morse. or from her, 1t matters not, as they spell it alike.
 The world Alabama, as well as many other words among the Indians, as
 
 upon by some to establish facts that never existed; that is. to prove that the North American Indians descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. Noaw, it would be just as easy to prove that such tribes never existed, and much easier to prove that they dwindled away among those eastern nations that held em in bondage than to prove that anything found in the native Indian is characteristic of the Jews. I have travelled among a great many tribes; I have yet to see an In- dian tribe in which circumcision was known, and besides an Indian on his native heath is no trader and does not know how to get tho best of another man.
 will return to my letter. see 1t published in. the October number Of your paper and shortly after it's ap- pearance I received a letter from MT J. D. Driesbaeh of Baldwin County. requesting me to give what informa- tion I could of the persons whose names were mentioned in my letter to MT. Hanrlck, and anything I knew Of the Indians and their history which l thought would be interesting. also in. forming me that he had seen in the possession of Joseph Stiggins a manu- script of George Stiggins, which had been loaned to Colonel Pickett when he, wrote the history of Alabama; and whether interesting or not r scrubbed off some twenty or thirty pages ana sent to him. and among other things I gave him what I Understood to De the origin of the word Alabama, as we have 1t from the Indians.
 find ins Colonel Pickett's answer to Mir Hobbs that he agrees with me as to how the word originated. I am satisfied that Colonel Pickett is cor rect also stated to Mir Driesbach. that I had heard Colonel Hawkins say, that he had made every Inquiry in his power, to ascertain if the word Ala bama had any other meaning than the mere name of an Indian town. but never could-unless the name as 1t was possible was the Indian corruption of the Spanish words for good water" ." though he doubted that
 THE ALABAMA TOWNS
 LOCATED NEAR MONTGOMERY.
 Colonel Pickett is correct as to the Alabama town being just below Mont. eomery for I was at 1t when they lived theFe, and it was called Echau- -chatty from the red bluffs on a part of which Montgomery is built f The Tawarsaw Town was little lower down the river than the Colonel has 1t, though 1t is a matter of no importance. The