Pushmataha Choctaw (abt. 1764 - 1824)

Born about Jun 1764 in Noxubee River, Choctaw Nation [uncertain]

Husband of Immayahoka Choctaw — married 1795 in Tombigbee River, Okla Hannali, Six Towns Dist., Choc. Nation East,

Died 24 Dec 1824 at about age 60 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Preceded by Historic Chief Apukshunnubbee

Pushmataha Chief of the Choctaw 1800—1824

Succeeded by Chief Mushulatubbee

Pushmataha was Choctaw. Join: Native Americans Project Discuss: native_americans

Biography

Pushmataha Choctaw is Notable.

General Pushmataha Choctaw served in the United States Army in the War of 1812
Service started:
Unit(s): Choctaw Division
Service ended:

Pushmataha Has No Known Living Descendants

A-Push-ma-ta-ha-hu-bi, commonly known as Pushmataha, his full name is said to mean “His arm and all the weapons in his hands are fatal to his foes” was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. He was born about 1765 within the Choctaw Nation, likely near the present-day town of Macon, Mississippi. Pushmataha was highly regarded among the Choctaw, neighboring tribes, and non-Indian Europeans and Americans, for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy. During his life he fought alongside the United States during the Creek War and War of 1812, and later petitioned the United States on behalf of the Choctaw during negotiations to retain lands and sovereignty for the Choctaw. In 1824 he traveled to Washington City to petition against further cessions of Choctaw land. During this trip he met with John C. Calhoun and the Marquis de Lafayette, and his portrait was painted by Charles Bird King. Before the trip concluded, he took ill and died in the capital city and was buried with full military honors in the Congressional Cemetery.

Pushmataha (A-Push-ma-ta-ha-hu-bi, Push a mataha, Pushmatahaw) was born about 1765 in the Lower Towns, or Okla Hannalli District of the Old Choctaw Nation. These lands passed between Spain and France during the 18th century before coming into the United States possession in the 19th century, eventually becoming parts of the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. His parents’ names are unknown due to their deaths occurring well before written records were kept in that society. Also, Choctaw mores held that the names of the dead were no longer spoken and thus Pushmataha, when asked, would state he had no parents. It is oral tradition that his parents were killed during a Creek raid on his home village. When pressed about his early years he would often tell the following tale:

“Pushmatahaw never had a father nor a mother. A little cloud once seen in the northern sky. It came before a rushing wind, and covered the Choctaw country with darkness. Out of it flew the angry fire. It struck a large oak, and scatter its limbs and its trunk all along the ground, and from that spot sprung forth a warrior fully armed for war; and that man was Pushmatahaw.” ~ Spoken by Pushmataha in response to John Calhoun, Secretary of War, upon the conclusion of the days negotiations during his final trip of 1824.^[1]

Siblings
Oral tradition provides that there were three brothers and two sisters in this family. At the time of the supposed Creek raid when the parents were killed in their village at Koosa:

"Pushmataha and Nahotima escaped by hiding, but two brothers ran from the bloody scene and were never heard from again. According to Lee Elbert Johnson, these two brothers were visiting a neighboring village and returned to Koosa after the massacre of their parents."^[2]

The brothers do not appear in any other handed-down stories, but it has been suggested that Mataha Redmond is one of the brothers.

Later, when official documents were produced by the United States in their dealing with the Choctaw, two siblings of Pushmataha were recorded.^[3] These sisters are both assumed to be full siblings and were referenced by their married names.

• Na Hom Tima (abt.1752-aft.1800) married twice.^[4]
• Hushi Yukpa (abt.1755-bef.1831) aka Happy Bird, married John Garland

Choctaw Warrior and Leader
When he was a teen, Pushmataha fought in a war against the Creek people. Some sources report that he was given the early warrior-name of "Eagle". Better attested is his participation in wars with the Osage and Caddo tribes west of the Mississippi River between 1784 and 1789, He served as a warrior in other conflicts into the first decade of the 1800s, by then his reputation as a warrior was made. These conflicts were due to depletion of the traditional deer-hunting grounds of the Choctaw around their holy site of Nanih Waiya. Population had increased in the area, and competition among tribes over the fur trade with Europeans exacerbated violent conflict. The Choctaw raided traditional hunting grounds of other tribes for deer. Pushmataha's raids extended into the territories that would become the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. His experience and knowledge of the lands would prove invaluable for later negotiations with the US government for those same lands.^[5]

Chief of Six Towns District
By 1800, Pushmataha was recognized as a leader, and became Mingo (chief) of the Okla Hannali or Six Towns district. His sharp logic, humorous wit, and lyrical, eloquent speaking style quickly earned him renown in councils. Pushmataha rapidly took a central position in diplomacy, first meeting with United States envoys at Fort Confederation in 1802. Pushmataha negotiated the Treaty of Mount Dexter with the United States on November 16, 1805, and met Thomas Jefferson during his term as President.^[6]

Creek War & War of 1812
The leading Choctaw chief during the period (1805-1811), and until his death in 1825, was Pushmataha, one of the great Indian leaders of all time. Pushmataha listened to the arguments as they were presented by Tecumseh, the British, and the United States; then he issues a statement calling on the Choctaws to support the United Sates. The question before the American Indian was not one of post injustices, Pushmataha said, but of future relations. The statement was a brilliant one, concluding with the words, “Reflect… on the great uncertainty of war with the American people… Be not deceived with illusive hopes… Listen to the voice of prudence, ere you rashly act. But do as you may… I shall join our friends, the American, in this war.”^[7]

Pushmataha…told (George S.) Gaines he was ready to join the United States in the war against the Creek who had joined Techumseh. Thus Pushmataha and Moshulatubbee with several hundred warriors joined the American forces and Apukshunnubbee brought a small contingent from his district. They fought with Andrew Jackson against the Creek hostiles at Horseshoe Bend, and against the British at the Battle of New Orleans.^[8]

Spouses and Children
Most historians support the supposition that Pushmataha had two spouses. However, the order of those relationships, and whether they were successive or plural, is unknown due to a lack of references for Pushmataha's domestic life. Yet there are exceptions, the earliest story for the Pushmataha couple occurs during 1814, but does not provide the name of his wife.

"During the Creek war of 1814, in which Apushamatahah was engaged with eight hundred of his warriors as allies of the United States, as before stated, a small company of Choctaw women, among those the wife of Apushamatahah, visited their husbands and friends then in the American army in the Creek Nation"^[9]

Unfortunately only the name of one spouse survives, found in a land sale record. Likewise, the name of four children were recorded in various documents, and a fifth child is mentioned but unnamed. This number aligns with the statement made by Thomas McKenney in his biographical sketch of the Chief.^[10] Other children are suggested by oral tradition, which leaves the exact number of offspring disputed. However, most historians agree that all of his children were born after 1800. Records indicate only one spouse, Imachoka, and three children seem to have survived into the years following Pushmataha's 1824 death.

1. Imachoka ca1770–after 1834, Children of Imachoka and Pushmataha:^[11]
   • Alternate versions/spellings: Immayahoka, Jamesiachinko and Lunnebaka
   1. Martha Moore 1801–after 1834^[11]
   2. Betsy Moore 1803–after 1834^[11]
   3. Johnson "Haschalahurtibbi" Pushmataha 1812–after 1834^[11]
2. Unknown Spouse, Children of Unknown and Pushmataha:
   1. James Madison Pushmataha 1805–about 1825^[10][12]
      • May be a child of Imachoka, but most trees list with the unknown spouse
   2. Unnamed Child
3. Chamnay Choctaw (abt.1754-abt.1835) - Disproved spouse, see linked profile
   1. Pistikiokonay/Maryann (Choctaw) Favre (-abt.1831) - Disproved child, see linked profile
4. Nancy Ransom/Ramsour
   • Disputed Spouse - see discussion of Society of Mississippi Choctaws - J.F. Bennett Letter
   1. Nana (Pushmataha) Givens
      • Disputed Child - see discussion for spouse Samuel Givens (1762-1846)
5. Other Children From Oral Tradition
   1. Julia Anna "Running Deer" Anderson (1775-1810)*
      • Unlikely Child - see linked profile
   2. Natona 1781–?* or Nahomtima Amos
      • Unlikely Child - see linked profile
   3. Mataha Redmond (abt.1785-abt.1812)*
      • Unlikely Child - see linked profile
   4. Raney Evaline Spears1795–1871*
      • Unlikely Child
   5. Margaret (Moon) Shackleford (abt.1796-?)*
      • Unlikely Child - see linked profile
   6. Peggy Mccrary 1810–?
      • Possible Child - unsourced

*If the birth date prior to 1800 is correct this person is not likely a child of Pushmataha.

Death
In 1824, Pushmataha traveled to Washington to negotiate on behalf of the Choctaws, the last service he ever rendered to his people. While in Washington he fell ill and contracted pneumonia. Toward the end Andrew Jackson, then an Army General and later U.S. President, visited him and asked what he could do for him. Pushmataha replied, “When I die, let the big gun be fired over me.” The Chief died at Tennison’s Hotel December 24, 1824. He was given the funeral of a general of the United States Army and his remains buried in the Congressional Cemetery where a marker was erected over his grave (locate).

Sources

1. ↑ Lanman, Charles, Pushmatahaw, Appletons' Journal of Literature, Science, and Art., 6 Aug 1870, pp 166-168, [(https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moajrnl/acw8433.1-04.071/184:11?g=moagrp;page=root;size=200;view=image;xc=1;q1=charles+lanman)]
2. ↑ Graham, Harold. “The Family Connections of Jack Amos.” NCHGS, Newton County, MS Historical and Genealogical Society, 2019, https://www.nchgs.org/html/jack_amos_e-aht-onte-ube.html#HaroldGraham.
3. ↑ ^{[citation needed]} "As for the letters, I can't tell you which box and file, ect (sic) they came from... All I know is they are available in Washington D. C. at the NARA" Many online sites and family trees mention these documents, but an online source link has not been found and is desired.
4. ↑ Hudson, Peter James, Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1939, A Story of Choctaw Chiefs pg 9 (pdf pg 6) - "He (Gen. Hummingbird) died on September 28, 1828, and is buried at Kusha (Coosa) Cemetery in Mississippi where a sister of Pushmataha, Hotema (Nahomtima), was buried."
5. ↑ Linecum, Dr. Gideon. “Life of Apushimataha.” The Mississippi Historical Society, Edited by Franklin L. Riley, vol. 9, 1906, pp. 415–485., https://archive.org/details/publicationsmis01unkngoog/page/414/mode/2up?view=theater. Accessed 18 Dec. 2021.
6. ↑ O'Brien, Greg. “Pushmataha: Choctaw Warrior, Diplomat, and Chief.” Mississippi History Now, Mississippi Historical Society, 2004, https://web.archive.org/web/20060925005101/http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature18/pushmataha.html.
7. ↑ DeRosier, Arthur H. The Removal of the Choctaw Indians. Univ. of Tennessee Pr., 1989. pg 34
8. ↑ Debo, Angie. The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. Univ. of Oklahoma Pr., 1934. pg 41
9. ↑ H. B. Cushman, History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez Indians (originally published 1899; reprinted Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) pg 326. https://books.google.com/books?id=qdrsAAAAIAAJ&pg
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} McKenney, Thomas L., Push-Ma-Ta-Ha, Chactan warrior, History of the Indian tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs. Embellished with one hundred and twenty portraits, from the Indian gallery in the Department of war, vol. 1, p 35 https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/mckenneyhall/id/62/rec/86
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3} Holmes County Mississippi Deeds, Book A, pg. 37, Jamesiachinko states she and her children are the only heirs of Pushmataha. Her name is also recorded as Immayahoka and Lunnebaka. Land Records, 1824-1959; Indexes, 1832-1903. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSR1-29C9-P?i=23&cat=254559
12. ↑ "a bill making appropriation for the benefit of James Madison Pushmatahaw, son of Mingo Pushmatahaw" Monday,16 Nov 1818. Journal of the Alabama House of Representatives, November 2 through 21, 1818, https://archive.org/details/alabama-house-journal-1818-second/HJ_1818_011_transcript/page/n55/mode/2up pg 58, published online 4 Sep 2019

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Pushmataha

• Wikidata: Item Q1360194, en:Wikipedia

• Find A Grave: Memorial #845

• WikiTree: Choctaw_Chiefs

• Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma: Pushmataha

• Chronicles of Oklahoma, West, Ruth Tenison Pushmataha’s Travels pages 162 - 174 (pdf pages 26 - 38)

• Mieirs, Jennifer, blog, March 28, 2013, Pushmataha and Mushulatubbee family relationships

• Lanman, Charles, Pushamatahaw, Recollections of Curious Characters and Pleasant Places, D. Douglas, Glasgow 1881, pg 205

• Halbert, H. S., et al. The Creek War of 1813 and 1814. 1895, University of Alabama Press, 2010.

• Lewis, Anna. Chief Pushmataha: American Patriot : the Story of the Choctaw's Struggle for Survival. New York: Exposition Pr, 1959.

• Clara Sue Kidwell, Choctaws and Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818-1918 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995).

• O'Brien, Greg. Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830. University of Nebraska Press, 2006.