Image taken from page 74 of “The History of Monroe County, Iowa. Illustrated” published by Western Historical Company, 1878, over a green forested area.
Red Eagle or William Weatherford (1780 or 1781 – March 24, 1824) was a Creek chief. One of many mixed-race descendants of Southeast Indians who intermarried with European traders and later colonial settlers. Red Eagle was of mixed Creek, French and Scots ancestry.
He was raised as a Creek in the matrilineal nation and achieved his power in it, through his mother’s prominent Wind Clan, as well as his father’s trading connections. After showing his skill as a warrior, he was given the war name of Hopnicafutsahia. The Creek War (1813-1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Creek factions, European empires, and the United States, taking place largely in Alabama and along the Gulf Coast.
Red Eagle became increasingly concerned about the influx of European Americans onto Creek land and eventually led a group known as “Red Sticks,” bent on protecting their land, their way of life, and their people from intruders.
Eventually the smaller forces of Red Sticks and the larger opposing forces led by General Andrew Jackson came against each other. The conflict ended in the decisive defeat of the Red Sticks at The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, near modern-day Dadeville, Alabama. Terms were drawn up that provided far less land than the Creek tribe had previously held.
The quote attributed to Chief Red Eagle reads, “Angry people want you to see how powerful they are.
Loving people want you to see how powerful YOU are.”