July 24, 2026

There is a bend in the river shaped like a horseshoe where a portion of the Creek tribe (Red Sticks) had a final stand against the US military led by Andrew Jackson in 1814. The natives were slaughtered with only three survivors plus the women and children from the village. Even those trying to escape by swimming across the river were shot. Sadly, many other lower Creek and Cherokee were fighting on the side of the US and helped surround the village and burn it. They were promised ancestral land, which was not given and those same friendly tribes were force marched to Oklahoma in 1830. After the battle, the remaining Creek had to cede 23 million acres (most of Alabama and Georgia) to the US. The nice part about this park was numerous huge bumblebees were hanging out in the morning glory flowers. I could not hike the nature trail as it was closed so I walked about the exhibits along the tour road.