Timpoochee Barnard

McKenney-Hall lithography print of Timpoochee Barnard

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Quick Facts

Significance:

Chief of the Yuchi Indians

Date of Birth:

c.1776

Date of Death:

c. 1834

Timpoochee Barnard was the chief of the Yuchi Indians, a constituent tribe of the Creek Nation, and served as a member of the Creek National Council. His father was Timothy Barnard, a well-known and highly respected trader to the Creek Nation who also served as interpreter for U. S. agent Benjamin Hawkins. During the Creek War, he supported the actions of the Creek National Council and raised a regiment of Yuchis who materially assisted in the American defeat of the Red Stick faction during the war. He is most notable for rescuing part of General John Floyd’s Georgia militia at the battle of Calabee Creek in January 1814. Barnard, who was severely wounded in the action, was hailed for his bravery.  As president, Andrew Jackson would greet Barnard’s son by noting “A braver man than your father never lived.”

Barnard, whose title was listed as “Captain of Uchees,” signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814. He was among the delegation of Creek headmen who protested the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs, which was overturned. And he signed the Treaty of Washington, 1826, that superseded it. His son, William, was educated by the American government and also became influential in Creek affairs.  Timpoochee Barnard died at the age of 58, just prior to the forced removal of the Creek Indians from Alabama.