History of Silver Creek Nebraska, 1866-1966

Silver Creek Nebraska Centennial book

Silver Creek, Nebraska, a testament to the enduring spirit of American frontier towns, began its history modestly in 1866. Nestled along the waters of its namesake, Silver Creek, the town’s origins are deeply intertwined with the development of the Union Pacific Railroad, which catalyzed its growth and established it as a pivotal locale in Merrick County. By 1880, Silver Creek was thriving, populated by settlers drawn by agricultural prospects and the burgeoning railroad industry. These early residents, primarily of European descent, built a community that valued hard work, education, and religious life, evidenced by the early establishment of churches and schools. As Silver Creek entered the 20th century, it continued to evolve, maintaining its foundational ties to agriculture and community.

Briar Creek Church Baptisms, Columbia County, Pennsylvania

Briar Creek Church records, Columbia County, Pa

This manuscript written in 1935 contains a typed face transcription of the records for the Briar Creek Church in Columbia County Pennsylvania. Briar Creek was also known as Brick Lutheran Church and as Housenick Church. This manuscript contains baptisms recorded from 1799-1880.

Newly Analyzed – Migration Legend of the Creek Indians

1735 - A Map of the County of Savannah

In 2007, Architect Richard L. Thornton, a Creek scholar and member of the People of One Fire research alliance began sporadically looking online for the Migration Legend. He had no success for the next seven years. On December 21, 2012, Thornton was a key cast member on the premier of the hit History Channel Series, “America Unearthed.” The program was about the evidence of Maya refugees settling in Georgia and becoming some of the ancestors of the Creek Indians. After the program was broadcast in the United Kingdom in early 2013, Thornton received a brief, congratulatory email from Clarence House, … Read more

A Modern Translation of the Migration Legend of the Creek People

Tamachichi Trustees

Here we present Richard Thornton’s modern translation of the Migration Legend of the Creek People with extensive annotations. His annotations provide important historical references bringing the much famed Creek Legend into better understanding for researchers.

Thornton’s Translation of the Migration Legend of the Creek People

Page 1 from the Migration Legend

In 2015, after many years of searching, Richard Thornton found the impossible, the original Migration Legend of the Creek People. Gatschet in his famed manuscript which greatly covered this legend stated emphatically “The chances of rediscovering the original English translation of the Migration Legend of the Creek People are therefore almost as slim as recovering the lost books of Livy’s History.” That original English translation still remains lost as Gatschet predicted. But why settle for the English translation when you can find the original? The following is Thornton’s transcription from the original velum of the Migration Legend. Thornton indicates in our introduction that when “the original document, written by Thomas Christie, was finally discovered in 2015, the translation of the German text was found to be not so accurate or complete as Gatschet had presumed. Although the texts of the two documents follow the same general pattern, there were changes made in some of the passages that completely changed the meanings of certain phrases and sentences. Also, some sentences were presented in reverse order.”

Here we present, Richard Thornton’s modern translation:

Gatschet’s Translation of the Migration Legend of the Creek People

Page 1 from the Migration Legend

In 1884, Albert Samuel Gatschet published a translation of the Creek Migration Legend in his infamous “A Migration Legend of the Creek Indians.” The Creek and Hitchiti text that came with the same manuscript were then translated from Gatschet’s translation back into Hitchiti and Creek, his translation did not emanate from those. Where then did he get his translation from? A translation from the English had been preserved in a German book of the period, and the style of this piece showed it to be an “authentic and comparatively accurate rendering of the original”. The German book referred to is a collection of pamphlets treating of colonial affairs, and published from 1735 to 1741; its first volume bears the title: Ausfuehrliche Nachricht von den Saltzburg-ischen Emigranten, die sick in America niedergelassen haben. Worin, etc. etc., Herausgegeben von Samuel Urlsperger, Halle, MDCCXXXV, The legend occupies pp. 869 to 876 of this first volume, and forms chapter six of the “Journal” of von Reck, the title of which is as follows: Herrn Philipp Georg Friederichs von Reck Diarium von Seiner Reise nach Georgien im Jahr 1735. F. von Reck was the commissary of those German-Protestant emigrants whom religious persecution had expelled from Salzburg, in Styria, their native city.

So what follows is an English translation from the German translation of the presumed English translation of the original “Migration Legend of the Creek People.”

1860 Census West of Arkansas – Creek Nation

1860 Free Inhabitants Creek Nation Page 1

Free Inhabitants in “The Creek Nation” in the County “West of the” State of “Akansas” enumerated on the “16th” day of “August” 1860. While the census lists “free inhabitants” it is obvious that the list contains names of Native Americans, both of the Creek and Seminole tribes, and probably others. The “free inhabitants” is likely indicative that the family had given up their rights as Indians in treaties previous to 1860, drifted away from the tribe, or were never fully integrated. The black (B) and mulatto (M) status may indicate only the fact of the color of their skin, or whether one had a white ancestors, they may still be Native American.

History of the Chippewa Cree Tribe

Chief Rocky Boy

The Chippewa Cree Tribe, officially recognized in 1935 under the Indian Reorganization Act, governs the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in north-central Montana. Established by Congress in 1916, the Reservation expanded its land base during the Great Depression, now nearing 130,000 acres. Historically, the Chippewa originated from the Great Lakes region, while the Cree migrated from Canada. Both tribes united in the 1890s, seeking a permanent home. The Chippewa Cree Tribe maintains strong cultural traditions, including the Sun Dance and Pow-Wow, while also supporting community development, education, and healthcare initiatives throughout the Reservation’s history.

Rood Creek Mounds

Roods Creek Mounds Site Plan

Rood Creek Mounds (also known as Roods Creek Mounds) is a very large Native American town site in southwestern Georgia that is immediately east of the Chattahoochee River in Stewart County. It was one of the largest Native American towns in the eastern United States. The original palisade enclosed about 120 acres and eight mounds. The final palisade enclosed at least eight mounds and 150 acres.   The archaeological zone is now within Rood Landing Recreation Area, a US Army Corps of Engineers facility on Lake Eufaula. Relatively little is known about this archaeological zone. Four mounds (A, B, D and … Read more

The Creek War – Indian Wars

general jackson

In the spring of the year 1812, the southern Indian tribal were visited by the bold and enterprising Tecumseh. His stirring appeals to their patriotism and valor were heard with attention, and he succeeded in stimulating them to open hostility. It is to be regretted that no specimen of the orations of this great Indian have been preserved. Judging from their effects, they would be ranked among the highest models of true eloquence. Tecumseh particularly appealed to the powerful Creek nation. These Indians had long been on friendly terms with the whites, and a portion of them were, therefore, unwilling … Read more

Otter Creek Homesteaders

Otter Creek flows north into Montana out of the highlands in Wyoming and empties into the Tongue River at Ashland. Capt. Calvin Howes developed one of the earliest ranches on Otter Creek. He arrived in Montana in the early 1880’s and established the Circle Bar O Ranch on the lower Powder River. In 1884, Captain Howes drove 2,000 head of cattle from Texas to Otter Creek and maintained a successful cattle operation that survived the disastrous winter of 1886-87. The Creek’s naming is attributed to Howes. In total there were 50 families, 246 people on Otter Creek/Tongue River – Little … Read more

1832 Creek Census – Wewoakkar Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Wewoakkar.

1832 Creek Census – Weogufka Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Weogufka.

1832 Creek Census – Ufaula Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Ufaula.

1832 Creek Census – Tuskeega Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Tuskeega.

1832 Creek Census – Tuckabatcha Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Tuckabatcha.

1832 Creek Census – Tolowarthlocko Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Tolowarthlocko.

1832 Creek Census – Toakpafkar Town

By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records. This is the 1832 Creek census for the town of Toakpafkar.