Opothleyahola Opothleyahola , also spelled Opothle Yohola , Opothleyoholo , Hu - pui - hilth Yahola , and Hopoeitheyohola , ( about 1798 – March 22 , 1863 ) was a Muscogee Creek Indian chief , noted as a brilliant orator . He was a speaker of the Upper Creek Council . He led Creek forces against the United States government during the first two Seminole Wars . During the American Civil War , he was among the minority of Creek who supported the Union . Early life and education . Opothleyahola was born at Tuckabatchee , the Creek capital of the Upper Creek Towns , located in present - day Elmore County , Alabama . The Upper Creek Towns ' population comprised the majority of the nation . His name literally translated means ' child ' , ' good ' , ' whooper ' or ' good speaker ' . Langguth says the name could be translated as " . . . good shouting child . " According to the " Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History " , his father was Davy Cornell , a mixed - blood Creek and an unidentified full - blood Creek woman . While he was of European and Creek ancestry , as he was born to a Creek mother , he was fully part of the tribe . It had a matrilineal system of property holding and descent , making the mother ' s clan the determining one for the status of her children . Traditionally , her brothers were more important than the biological father in rearing the children . For instance , a maternal uncle would teach a boy men ' s roles , and introduce him to men ' s societies . The historian Angie Debo found evidence suggesting that the boy ' s father was David Evans , a trader of Welsh descent . He may have taught him English and literacy , or sent him to school . Lower Creek leaders had made treaties with the state of Georgia to cede former hunting lands in 1790 , 1802 and 1804 . The Creek had lost use of the land for hunting because of encroachment by settlers . They began to adopt more farming practices in order to survive . Under pressure from Georgia and its settlers , they also had more relationship with Benjamin Hawkins , the US Indian agent . The differences between the Upper Creek and Lower Creek broke out into violence in 1812 in what was at first a civil war . The Red Sticks of the Upper Creek wanted to revive traditional culture and religion , and resisted assimilation , as well as the land cessions . Opothleyahola is believed to have allied with the British against the US forces as early as the War of 1812 . He was among the Red Sticks in the Creek War of 1813 - 1814 , which ended with defeat by General Andrew Jackson commanding a large allied force at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend . At that time , Opothleyahola swore his allegiance to the Federal government . Leader of the Creek . Later the young man developed as an influential and eloquent speaker who utilized his skills for his people first and foremost . He was selected as a speaker for the chiefs , which was a distinct political role on the National Council . He became a wealthy trader and owned a 2 , 000 - acre ( 8 km² ) plantation near North Fork Town . As did other Creek and members of the Five Civilized Tribes , he purchased African - American slaves as workers for his plantation . Opothleyahola joined the Freemasons and accepted Christianity to become a Baptist . Alarmed by land cessions made by chiefs of the Lower Towns without tribal consensus , the National Council of the Creek Confederacy enacted a law that made further land cessions a capital offense . In 1825 , William McIntosh and several Lower Creek chiefs signed the Treaty of Indian Springs with the US , which gave up most of the remaining Creek lands in Georgia for payment and removal to west of the Mississippi River . Opothleyahola supported the death sentence passed by the National Council against McIntosh and other signatories of the 1825 Treaty . The chief " Menawa " led 200 warriors to attack McIntosh at his plantation . They killed him and another signatory chief , and burned down his mansion . Creek elders realized that they would need experienced negotiators to present their case to Federal authorities . While Opothleyahola was a persuasive speaker , he was not fluent in the English language . They turned to the Cherokees for assistance . Major Ridge , a Cherokee leader , recommended that the Creeks retain his son , John Ridge and David Vann , two young , well - educated men to travel with Opothleyahola and prepare his negotiating positions . The Creek National Council , led by Opothleyahola , went to Washington , DC to protest the illegality of the 1825 treaty . President John Quincy Adams was sympathetic . The US government and the chiefs made a new treaty with more favorable terms , the Treaty of Washington ( 1826 ) . But Georgia officials began forcibly removing the Indians from lands which it claimed under the 1825 treaty . In addition , the state ignored the 1832 US Supreme Court ruling in " Whitmire v . Cherokees " that the state ' s legislation to regulate activities within American Indian territories was unconstitutional . When the Alabama legislature also moved to abolish tribal governments and extend state laws over the Creek people , " Opothleyahola " appealed to the administration of President Andrew Jackson . He had already signed the 1830 Indian Removal Act and wanted the Creek to move west . Given no relief , the Upper Creek signed the Treaty of Cusseta on March 24 , 1832 , which divided up Creek lands into individual allotments . They could either sell their allotments and receive funds to remove to Indian Territory , or stay in Alabama as state and US citizens and submit to the state laws . In 1834 , Opothleyahola traveled to Nacogdoches , Texas , to try to purchase communal land for his people . After he had paid landowners $ 20 , 000 , pressure from both the Mexican and American governments forced Opothleyahola to abandon the idea . In 1836 , Opothleyahola , commissioned as a Colonel by the U . S . government , led 1 , 500 of his warriors against the rebellious Lower Creek who had allied with Seminole in fighting the white occupation . Soon after , the US Army rounded up the remaining Southeast Indian peoples and forced their emigration to Indian Territory , on what was known as the " Trail of Tears . " In 1837 , Opothleyahola led 8 , 000 of his people from Alabama to lands north of the Canadian River in the Indian Territory , now Oklahoma . Civil War . At the outbreak of the American Civil War , Opothleyahola refused to form an alliance with the Confederacy , unlike many other tribes , including many of the Lower Creeks . Runaway slaves , free blacks , Chickasaw and Seminole Indians began gathering at Opothleyahola ' s plantation , hoping to remain neutral in the conflict between the North and South . On August 15 , 1861 , Opothleyahola and tribal chief Micco Hutko contacted President Abraham Lincoln to request help for the loyalists . On September 10 , they received a positive response stating the United States government would indeed assist them . The letter directed Opothleyahola to move his people to Fort Row in Wilson County , Kansas , where they would receive asylum and aid . On November 15 , Confederate Col . Douglas H . Cooper , a former US Indian Agent , led 1 , 400 men , including pro - Confederate Indians , northward to convince Opothleyahola and his followers to support the Confederacy or to " drive him and his party from the country . " Believing the promises that the Federal government would provide assistance , Opothleyahola led his band ( including Seminole under Halleck Tustenuggee ) toward Kansas . Along the way , they fought three battles against their pursuers . At Round Mountain , Opothleyahola ' s forces drove back the Confederates to Fort Gibson . In December , they suffered a tactical loss at Chusto - Talasah and a crushing defeat at Chustenahlah . He lost an estimated 2 , 000 of his 9 , 000 followers from the battles , disease , and bitter winter blizzards during their ill - fated trek to Fort Row . The fort lacked adequate medical support and supplies . The refugees were moved to Fort Belmont , where conditions were still intolerable . The majority of the Creek had only the clothes on their backs and lacked proper footwear and shelter . Many more perished , among them Opothleyahola ' s daughter . Opothleyahola died in the Creek refugee camp near the Sac and Fox Agency at Quenemo in Osage County , Kansas on March 22 , 1863 . He was buried beside his daughter near Fort Belmont in Woodson County , Kansas .