Welcome to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
I am Park Ranger Matthew Robinson.
Today we're here to commemorate the 207th
Anniversary of the Battle of Horseshoe.
At this site over 200 years ago,
6 tribal towns from Muscogee (Creek) Nation:
Eufaula, Hillabee, Fish Ponds,
Okchai, Okfuskee, and Nuyaka
came to this bend seeking
refuge at the Creek War tore
through their land. On March 27th.
1814 General Andrew Jackson led the
United States forces that attacked.
On that day, over 800 Muscogee
Creek Warriors lost their lives.
More American Indians lost their
lives at this battle that in any
battle in United States history.
After the battle,
this land became many things.
In the 1830s,
with the Indian Removal Act
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
was forced from their homelands
West to Indian Territory.
This land quickly became Alabama farmland.
In 1914, the 100th
anniversary of the battle local
Alabamians came here to celebrate the battle.
Because the Battle of Horseshoe Bend
was the last battle in the Creek War.
A war that opened millions of acres
of land for the United States.
Today is a National Park site we
preserve and we protect this land.
We no longer celebrate,
but we commemorate the events
that took place here.
We come here to learn all the
powerful lessons
this place has to teach us.
My name is Barbara tagger.
I'm Superintendent at Horseshoe Bend.
We appreciate you joining us today as we
commemorate the events of March 27th, 1814,
the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
The park decided to commemorate
the anniversary of the
battle virtually this year.
The safety of the public and our
staff is foremost in our mind and
making this decision. So thank you,
for helping us be together
virtually while stains safely apart.
Local residents worked for
decades to convince local,
state and federal government
officials to preserve Horseshoe Bend
Battlefield as a National Park.
In the 1920s,
Alabama Power had plans to build
a dam that would have flooded
most of the battlefield,
concerned locals,
continuing to raise awareness,
and work with Alabama Power
and government officials.
Their efforts resulted in success.
The park was finally signed in 1959.
By 1964 the park open to the public and
now Horseshoe been National Military Park
is now preserved to future generations.
In the early days of the park,
the history of the Creek War and
the Battle of Horseshoe Bend were
interpreted the way most military sites.
The park focus on American victory,
the glory of battle,
the loss of Muscogee Creek
land, power,
and culture.
In the parallel game for American settlers,
battle tactics American leadership
in a narrow view of American
historical things dominated.
As a professional historian,
I've been privileged to be apart of the
evolving change in National Park sites.
That a tell more nuanced stories we
have over the years work to eliminate
stories that reflect broader view of history,
an embrace,
diverse voices and stories.
We've added sites that tell stories
of women and people of color listen
to the points of views of those
who had no choice or experienced
those historical themes
differently.
For example,
stories of American westward
expansion have tended to focus
on the Euro American settlement.
The idea of finding opportunity
in the mystical West,
the building of American Society,
but not everyone had a positive
view of these events, did they?
Today's park themes incorporates
the stories and point of view of
those affected by the changes.
Railroads, settlements,
and expansion meant wealth,
opportunity, and future to settlers.
But the meanings for the Native
Americans were much different.
We want to explore all sides to the stories,
incorporate these lessons more fully
into the way we talk about history.
We, as a country,
continue to grapple with the
cause and consequences of broad
historical themes.
National Parks,
such as Horseshoe Bend, provide
a place to reflect on what we've
learned in the practice where
these pivotal events happened.
Standing in the bend of the
Tallapoosa River along
today's tour road, we turn in one
direction and can almost hear the
sounds of women and children.
250 of them going about daily
routines of the day, cooking,
chatting, soothing the children.
Just beyond the ridge,
we imagine some of the thousand
Muscogee Creek warriors working
to protect their loved ones by
building a barricade 8 feet high
made a huge pine
logs. The profits or religious
leaders blessing the Tallapoosa River
in hopes of protecting the people.
As everyone there prepared
for the coming battle.
When we turn in another direction,
we look toward the river bend and we can
imagine the Cherokee allied with the
Americans paddling stolen Creek canoes
from across the river into the village.
When they set fire to Tohopeka
the course of the battle change and the
consequences reverberated today.
As stewards of Alabama's first National Park,
we owe debt to gratitude to those
early advocates that help the part
become a reality. Due to the work we
can all step foot on the same sacred
ground that General Andrew Jackson,
and Chief Menawa stood upon.
Walk the battlefield and consider
the stories that led them to fight,
and the legacies that resulted.
We can paddle the same river
The Creeks used to travel to visit their
kin along the river systems in Alabama.
We can walk the trail along the Tallapoosa River
as it meanders downstream,
turns sharply inflows back on itself,
creating the famous bend at the Muscogee,
called the Horse's Flat Foot.
Today, Muscogee people
can visit their ancestral homeland,
reconnect to the land,
and share their stories and
traditions with willing listeners.
National parks belong to all Americans.
Visionaries in 1916 set their mission
to preserve the unimpaired for the
enjoyment of future generations.
So we invite you to visit Horseshoe
Bend National Military Park or
any of our other 422 park units
throughout the country.
Visit, learn, and
and decide for yourself
what is worth saving.
Howdy do, I am T.R. Henderson,
president of the Friends of Horseshoe
Bend National Military Park.
The park is Alabama's only
national military park.
It's located in Tallapoosa County
a beautiful, rural area of Alabama.
2040 acres wrapped around
by the Tallapoosa River.
One can spend all day paddling the river
and exploring nearby Griffin Shoals and
never see another person on the water.
This is a very quiet place.
The Creek town of Nuyaka sat just across
and up the river from the fortified bend the Creeks called
Tohopeka. Nuyaka was a significant
thriving community prior to the Creek War.
Many of the town's inhabitants and
allies perished here within the bend.
on the 27th of March 1814,
when an army of Tennessee militia,
U.S. infantry, and a
large number of Cherokees and Allied
creeks surrounded the fortified bend
burned Nuayka,
and totally destroyed those
behind the fortification.
The American Army's commanding officer,
Andrew Jackson,
gained much credibility here on
his way to victory over the British
in the defense of New Orleans and
on to the presidency in 1828.
The park stands as a commemoration
to those 900 or so who died all
in one day behind the log wall
set up for their defense.
The park visitor center provides
interpretation on who lived here,
the fortification,
and conflict between the Creeks,
the Tennesseans, Georgians,
neighboring Native Americans.
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend was significant
in the Americanization of the South.
You know reason I'm here today is
to give a little brief history of
what I've done here at the park and
my association with it for my entire life basically.
Cause it was,
it was here whenever I was
young enough to not even know
that it didn't even exist.
But the memories here are
very fond. My grandparents
farmed here on this place.
We baled hay for our cattle and in the field here
is where we got most of it
for several years.
My parents were here.
My grandparents were here
whenever the Miller Bridge
was still here was here, was here during the
construction of the bridge is here today.
But one of the biggest things about
Horseshoe Bend Park is this 2040 acre
reserve is going to be here for my kids,
my grandkids and their kids.
So that is one of the things that
I really like about it so much.
It is a presentation for the future
to see exactly what a natural
wildlife inhabitant could be. Complete
with the trails for exercise,
and the tour road,
it is turned into more of a walking track
than a vehicle track 'cause there's
lots of people to come here to do that.
I really enjoy it. The river,
I mean,
I grew up here fishing and and that's
still going to be here for the future.
And it's the future site for our
kayak trail. The visitors that
are coming to Tallapoosa County
here at this park is phenomenal over
the last couple of years. So it
is it is an attraction that is
here and it's here for our future
and is here for our kids' future.
And I really have enjoyed being part of it.
Hi, my name is T.C. Coley.
I am member of the Tallapoosa County Commission
as well as the Alabama Historical
Commission. Horseshoe Bend is a very
important resource in our area.
It's a great educational
resource for schools.
It's a great tourism resource for our
community that brings in visitors from all
of the United States on an annual basis.
It has a positive economic
impact on our local businesses.
For me personally,
Horseshoe Bend is probably one of the more
important facilities or places in my life.
As an early student in
Alexander City Schools,
one of the things we would do around the
3rd or 4th grade or so we would have field trips
out to local historical sites.
And Horseshoe Bend being our
preeminent historical site,
was a place we would
come out and visit. For me,
Horseshoe Bend was important because
it actually took the things that
we used to read in the history
books about Andrew Jackson,
the Creek Indians, Menawa, and
all these other interesting
historical figures,
and it brought it to life.
It's one thing to see pictures
in a history book.
Is something entirely different when
you can stand on the hill where the
cannons sat and look off into the distance
where the barricade were located.
And imagine those cannons firing volley
after volley trying to hit the barricade.
You can imagine what it would be like
to be a member of the Muscogee Nation,
and find yourself another side
that barricade and preparing to
defend yourself against this large
number of troops that were coming
with not such a positive intent.
So as a young child it totally changes
how you look at and experience history.
So I think it's very important we
have places like Horseshoe Bend to
really make sure that we don't lose
important parts of our culture. So often
landscapes change, buildings are torn down, and
whole communities go away over time,
so the services provided by the
National Park Service in United
States government is vital in that
it make sure that we have these
critical touchstones of history.
These critical events preserved and
captured for generations to come,
and to lay the foundation for
our common understanding
of the American experience.
His J and welcome, the Muscogee
Nation is so honored to join into
commemoration of 207th Anniversary
of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
This battle is significant in so many
ways of who we were, who we are now, and
to the future of everything we can be.
We do not meet to celebrate,
but rather to look back on pivotal
moments where so many lives ended,
but also where many journeys began,
and honor this day.
Our history is filled with so many
triumphs that first needed struggle.
Our songs and lessons from our elders
telling of pressing on and overcoming
any and every obstacle in our path.
As we look back on this significant day,
we realize that although 207 years
have passed, we are still learning
from difficult circumstances.
2020 was a year that took so much from us.
We've lost loved ones,
and our lives have been interrupted in ways
none of us could have been prepared for.
Thankfully, survival is in our DNA,
and although we may never get
back some of the loss
we have suffered.
We know that our legacy is to endure.
I want to thank Superintendent Tagger and
Mr. Robinson and their entire team at
Horseshoe Bend National Military
Park for their tireless work in
preserving this special place and
its meaning to so many. The trust
we have in this organization,
knowing that a piece of our homelands
and history is taken care of
Is a wonderful feeling for all
of us in Oklahoma.
I want to thank Raelynn Butler and
our culture preservation team for
making in connection to our original
homelands are priority in forging the
great relationship that we enjoy today.
In closing,
I want to reaffirm our commitment at
the Muscogee Nation to make sure our
citizens never forget where we came from.
Through efforts, education,
and collaboration,
we can team with our friends and
neighbors in the Southeast to prove
that no matter the circumstances
or the years past,
you can always return and connect
with your home. Mvto and God bless.
Thank you for joining us virtually for
the 207th anniversary of the battle.
of Horseshoe Bend.
We look forward to future years,
when we can be together again.
We invite you to visit Horseshoe Bend
National Military Park to take
a deeper look at the battle to learn
more of the Muscogee Creek people
and to stand in the place
where history took place.
To see what powerful lessons
this place can teach you.