E-no-li Black Fox, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Black Fox (c. 1746 to 1811) (also known as Enoli, Inali) was a Cherokee leader during the Cherokee American wars. He was a signatory of the Holston Treaty, and named principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1801, after the death of his predecessor, Chief Little Turkey. During his tenure, Black Fox signed several treaties with the United States government on behalf of the Cherokee Nation, giving away its rights to huge amounts of traditional foraging areas. As the leading member of the National Council, and strongly influenced by the murder of Doublehead, Black Fox signed the law to end the Cherokee tradition of clan revenge in 1810. Upon his death the following year, he was succeeded by Principal Chief Pathkiller.

Family Notes

He was born about 1746 in the Cherokee village of Ustanali, in the Lower Towns area (found today in northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and their adjoining areas of southeastern Tennessee). His parents are not known.

https://www.geni.com/discussions/179496?msg=1212967 April 2018

Regarding Black Fox, I think the only thing known about his family is that Dragging Canoe was his "uncle". No parents, no siblings, no wife, no children known. Black Fox was not an uncommon name. See wives attributed to Blackfox for description and discussion.

He had no known children. His name was carried on by the Black Fox who signed the treaty of 1828 and emigrated west.

The Fox name

Black Fox in Cherokee (Inola, Enoli) designates the medium-sized fur-bearing animal known as the fisher, a type of martin; also a very secretive catlike animal that lives in caves. The red or gray fox is called "chula."

Biographical notes

Black Fox is listed as a lieutenant of Chief Dragging Canoe, 1788-1790. He signed the Holston Treaty, July 2, 1791(but not the stipulation of February 7, 1792) and delivered the funeral oration for his brother-in-law [SIC: uncle?] Dragging Canoe. Black Fox was chief of the lower town of Ustanali and became principal chief of the Cherokee after the death of Little Turkey in 1802. Black Fox signed the October 20, 1803 agreement for opening a road through the Cherokee Nation as "Principal Chief." He signed the Oct. 27, 1805, Jan. 7, 1806 and Sept. 11, 1807 treaties. On March 3, 1807, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives enacted a statute at large giving "the Cherokee chief, called Black Fox" a life annuity of $100. He sided with Chief Doublehead during the rebellion of 1806-1810 and was deposed for it, with Pathkiller taking his place. On April 18, 1810, he and others signed an act of the Cherokee Nation abolishing clan revenge. After this he was reinstated as principal chief. He last received his $100 stipend by proxy on July 11, 1810; the agent Return J. Meigs referred to him as "Black Fox Cherokee King." Younger chiefs forged his name to certain treaties and acts. He died in 1811 and was buried in an ancient tomb on the boundary between Cherokee and Creek lands in Blount Co., Ala.

Black Fox Crossing

There is a historical Black Fox Crossing over the Clinch River between Claibourne and Grainger Co., Tenn., now covered by Lake Norris. Several places bear the name Black Fox in Bradley Co., Tenn. A Black Fox Camp Springs is noted near Dilton and Murfreesboro in Rutherford Co.; it was the edge of the Cumberland Settlement in 1793. A story is told about Black Fox in Notable Southern Families. It is said he formerly hunted and camped at the magnificent spring on Stones River not far from Murfreesboro. "Once he was pursued to this place, and rather than be caught be the soldiers, sprang into the water and disappeared from sight. The soldiers believed him to be lost, but by an underground channel, he came to surface again at Murfree's Spring, two and one-half miles below. This Black Fox camp has often been mentioned in the history of Tennessee, its unusually large spring being a land mark."

Chief Black Fox's Tomb

At the time Blount was settling, we must recollect that the Cherokee Indians were the lords of all that portion of country lying between Wills Creek and the Chattahoochee river.... Some years after [1820], the northeast boundary of Blount was extended to Cherokee and Creek Indians, then residing in Brown's and Gunter'sValleys....

Most of the first settlers of Blount as well as those of the adjoining counties, believed that lead mines existed inBlount and Jefferson counties, and that the Indians knew their location and obtained lead from them. Perhaps, this general belief originated from the following circumstance, which occurred in 1810:

An old Cherokee Chief, named Black Fox, died in the north of our county, and was buried in an old mound; and in digging his grave, the Indians found some pieces of lead ore.This trivial discovery was magnified and circulated in Madison Count, and many intelligent persons in the county believed a lead mine really existed, at, or near the grave of the old Chief. This opinion became so strong, that Alexander Gilbreath, who then resided in Huntsville, was induced to visit the grave of Black Fox. His search there, proving unsuccessful.... Mr. George Fields, at that time fifty or sixty years old, informed him that the Indians knew of no lead mines nearer than those of Missouri and Illinois, and gave it as his opinion, that the lead found in the grave of Black Fox, had been brought from one of those States. John Gunter, (another old inhabitant of the valley, who had been brought up among the Chickasaws,and spent all his life with the Indians,) gave the same opinion, as to the pieces of lead which had been found in different parts of the county, viz: that they had been brought by the Indians from the northern mines. These two persons informed Mr. Gilbreath, that as far back as Indian memory extended, it was the custom of the Creeks to cross the Tennessee river near Deposit, (Baird's Bluff) and make long hunting expeditions, annually to the north, bringing with them, on their return, lead ore. - That the settling of Tennessee by the whites was a great obstacle in their way to the mines - particularly to those of Rock river. - That the Indians had then, in order to reach the mines, to bear lower down the Tennessee river, and that as the whites of Tennessee continued to extend their settlements westward, the difficulties in the way of the Creeks to the mines, were continually increasing. To this account, it may be added, that a company of Creeks, on a returning expedition of the above kind, murdered two or three white families, which led to the Indian war of 1812, at the close of which, they were finally barred from the mines by treaty.

Although it cannot be doubted, that the Indians brought lead ore into Blount from distant mines, yet this fact does not account for the pieces which have been found in the mounds....The mounds above spoken of, are heaps of earth in the form of pyramids. They are supposed to mark the burial places of the Chiefs. Some of them are very old, having upon their tops, growing trees of very large size. These mounds are to be found in thirteen different places in our county. Two or three of them are generally grouped together, or within a half mile of each other. In Murphree'sValley, there is one group consisting of three mounds, from four to seven in height. In the trough of the Locust Fork, there are five distinct groups. - In Blountsville Valley, (and near Blountsville) there is one; and in Brown's Valley one. North-west of the Mulberry Fork, there are four groups. These mounds are invariably in the valleys, on, or near the best bodies of land. This fact proves pretty clearly that the Indian settlements were in the valleys. Some knowledge of agriculture, may have led them to settle there, or it may have been the greater abundance of game and water found in such places. About these mounds, great quantities of flint spikes are found, which some persons believe were used as arrow-heads, but they seem unfit for such a purpose. The efficiency of the arrow, depends in a great degree upon its velocity; and arrows of sufficient strength to give great velocity to these spikes, would be so heavy, that all the power of the archer would fail to give them the force requisite to enter the vitals of a large animal. If we consider them as knives, there would be many uses for them: - such as skinning animals, severing the carcass, scaling fish, and cutting or sawing vegetable substances. Some of these spikes are six inches long, and weigh nearly a pound.

These placed on poles would be similar to the Mexican lance, and would be very useful against dangerous animals....Besides the mounds mentioned above, we find in different places in our county, heaps of stones, which are supposed to be graves of Indians. In many other places, numerous pieces of broken pottery are found; and near the junction of the Little Warrior and Locust Fork, we have the remains of an old fortification, (enclosing about half an acre) three sides of which are yet plainly to be seen.

On the tops of some of the hills, large quantities of muscle and periwinkle shells are found. As these are fresh water shell-fish, it is probable they were brought by the ancient inhabitants from the neighboring rivers and creeks, and their nourishing matter extracted for food. Most of our numerous shoals, also bear marks of having been at one time, filled with fish traps. These facts seem to indicate, either a dense population, or that a famine had at some period visited the inhabitants.

It has been stated on a previous page, that the settlement of Blount might be considered as complete with the close of the year 1818. The settlement at that date, however,did not include the portion, since known as Brown's Valley. It is difficult to determine accurately, when that portion of our county was first settled by the whites. The Cherokee Indians, held a kind of possession of it until 1838, or '39. Besides the Cherokees, there was a colony of two hundred refugee Creeks settled there, and governed by John Shannon, a half-blood Creek. The Indians called him John Ogee. This colony of Creeks was brought there for protection, soon after the Creek war commenced, by Col. Richard Brown, (a Cherokee Chief who resided in the valley,) and remained there until the removal of the Cherokees, with whom they emigrated.

In 1818, Col. Brown went to Washington City for the avowed purpose of selling to the whites, or ceding by treaty, all that portion of country. He advised the Indians to hold themselves in readiness to leave the country on his return. They accordingly assembled at Gunter's Landing, for the purpose of emigrating; but the death of Col. Brown shortly afterwards, (who died at Rogersville, in Hawkins County, Tennessee,) prevented, for many years, the ratification of the treaty, and consequently the removal of the Indians. As soon, however, as it was known that the Indians had collected together with a view to emigrating, the restless whites thronged into the country which they had abandoned, and obtained such hold, that they could never be entirely driven out. Brown's Valley at this time, showed a motley population of Cherokees, Creeks, and whites. The United States troops cut down the growing crops of the whites, and burned their houses; but with all this severity, they were unable to clear the valley of their presence. This portion of territory gave great trouble to the citizens of old Blount, as it prevented the ordinary execution of the laws in many instances...It continued to annoy the people of our county until the year 1832, when the Legislature extended the laws of the State over it. (Powell)

The Black Fox Trail

The first inhabitants of the Middle Tennessee areas use two major forms of transportation. The first form was overland travel. Indians utilized animal paths and made their own trails between hunting grounds and home. Many of these trails become modern day roads and highways. The Natchez Trace, the Cumberland Trace, the BLACK FOX TRAIL, and the Great South Trail were a few of the trails used by emigrants who settled in the Middle Tennessee area (Meyer, William E., Indian Trails of the Southwest (Blue and Gray Presses, Nashville, TN) pp. 99-116).

From White Co. Tenn. history: Black Fox was a Cherokee chief of the first rank The first settlers called one of the principal trails in the county, Black Fox Trail Fox's hunting camp was located on Lost Creek

The chief had his nation cede 7,000 square miles of land to the government The government granted an annuity for life of $ 100.00 to Black Fox.

According to Ernest Cline, Chief Black Fox gave a wampum belt to Return Meigs, the Indian agent, as a token of his faith in selling the U.S. Muscle Shoals, with its iron ore deposits. (Wilson)

Sources

1. Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee, in 19th Rep. B. A. E., 87, 1900.
2. An Account of Some Creek, Cherokee and Earlier Inhabitants of Blount County, in: George Powell, "A Description and History of Blount County," Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society at the Annual Meeting in the City of Tuscaloosa, July 9 and 10, 1855 (Tuscaloosa: published under the direction of the executive committee, 1855) 60-64.
3. Wilson, Susan Douglas. Transportation in Early Middle Tennessee. Middle Tennessee Genealogy Vol. Vll. No. 4. Spring 1994, pp. 148-152

References

1. ^ a b O'Dell, Larry. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Inola." Retrieved February 28, 2013.[1]
2. ^ a b Donald B. Ricky (2000). Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians: Tribes, Natives, Treaties of the Southeastern Woodlands Area. North American Book Dist LLC. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-403-09778-4. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
3. ^ a b Brown, John P. "Eastern Cherokee Chiefs." In Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 16, No. 1. March 1938. Retrieved February 28, 2013.[2]
4. Brown, John P. "Eastern Cherokee chiefs", Chronicles of Oklahoma 16:1 (March 1938) 3-35 (retrieved August 18, 2006).
5. McLoughlin, William G. Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. [sic] (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
6. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/cherokee/cherokeechief...
7. http://www.dreamwater.org/jaget/page48.html

Links

• Descendants of A-ma-do-ya Moytoy
• Wikipedia: Black Fox (Cherokee Chief)
• Chief Black Fox Inola: Find-a-Grave Memorial
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dpanther&...
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/o/h/Kerri-Hohmann-CO/W...

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Dawes Roll -- Enola Blackfox 58 M Full 6293 Cherokee by Blood Card 2466

Black Fox (c. 1746-1811) (also known as Enoli, Inali) was a Cherokee leader during the Cherokee-American wars. He was a signatory of the Holston Treaty, and later became a Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Early leadership Named at birth Enoli (sometimes Inali), Black Fox was born about 1746.[1][2] He was a brother-in-law of Chickamauga Cherokee leader, Dragging Canoe, and accompanied him on his migrations south to the Lower Towns during the Cherokee-American wars. Black Fox was the "Beloved Man" (headman) of Ustanali, a Native American settlement located in what today is northeastern Alabama. As the fight with the frontier American's drew to a close, he was one of the signers of the Treaty of Holston (July 2, 1791), an attempt at ending hostilities in the Holston River region.

Principal chief In 1801 Black Fox was named by the council of chiefs of the Lower and Upper Towns to succeed Little Turkey as Principal Chief of the original Cherokee Nation.[3] The majority of Cherokee at that time lived in the Lower Towns. They were more isolated from European-American contact and tended to be more conservative, maintaining traditional practices and language. During his term in office, Black Fox was the leading negotiator for the Cherokee people with the United States federal government. He is noted for relinquishing nearly 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2) of land in what is today Tennessee and Alabama (under the treaty of January 7, 1806), for which he was given a lifetime annuity of $100.[2] A controversial leader, Black Fox was deposed for a period, only to later be reinstated as Principal Chief in a compromise between two regional factions of Cherokees. In 1807, Doublehead, who was then speaker of the National Council, signed a treaty without the authority of the council, ceding all Cherokee land west and north of the Tennessee River to the United States. This was land which for centuries had been used for foraging by the Cherokee. A separate arrangement reserved certain parcels of land for use by Doublehead and his relatives. Black Fox confirmed Doublehead's treaty, however, after Return J. Meigs, the United States Indian Agent, promised Black Fox he would receive $1,000 in cash and a regular annuity thereafter.[3] Doublehead was killed shortly thereafter for what many Cherokee viewed as a traitorous act.

Deposed In 1808, Black Fox and The Glass (Tagwadihi), another leading chief in the Lower Towns, were deposed by the "young chiefs." These were men mostly from the Upper Towns, led by James Vann and Major Ridge. The driving force of this revolt was due largely to the peoples' resentment of the National Council's domination by older leaders of the Lower Towns, as well as disagreement over the many recent land cessions. The men of the Upper Towns were multiracial in ancestry; in addition, their communities were more closely engaged by trade and other links with those of the American settlers, whose frontier had continuously encroached on Cherokee territory. The Upper Town chiefs wanted to acknowledge these territorial changes and work more closely with the Americans.

Reinstated Black Fox and The Glass were eventually reinstated in a compromise agreement between these two competing factions. This put an end to the councils of the Lower Towns meeting alternately in Willstown (near Fort Payne, Alabama) and Turkeytown (near present day Centre, Alabama), which were presided over by The Glass. Black Fox continued in the role of chief until the 1810 bureaucratic split with the "Old Settlers" then living in the west, remaining chief only of the people of the Cherokee Nation-East thereafter. As the leading member of the National Council, and strongly influenced by the murder of Doublehead, Black Fox signed the law to end the Cherokee tradition of clan revenge in 1810. Upon his death the following year, he was succeeded by Principal Chief Pathkiller.

Legacy Black Fox's early hunting camp was located on Lost Creek, in White County, Tennessee. The first European-American settlers in the middle district of Tennessee called one of the principal trails in the county "Black Fox Trail". They named a large group of springs at what is now Murfreesboro, Tennessee "Black Fox Springs". The community of Black Fox in modern Bradley County, Tennessee and its elementary school are named for him. Local historians say he had lived in the area but they are unsure of the dates. The historical Black Fox Crossing ford of the Clinch River between Claiborne and Grainger counties is now covered by the impounded waters of Norris Lake in Tennessee. The community of Inola, Oklahoma was named for him. The town was designated as the site of Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, but community opposition forced the Public Service Company of Oklahoma to cancel its plans

.[1] References[edit] ^ Jump up to: a b O'Dell, Larry. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture; "Inola;" retrieved February 28, 2013 ^ Jump up to: a b Donald B. Ricky (2000). Encyclopedia of Mississippi Indians: Tribes, Natives, Treaties of the Southeastern Woodlands Area. North American Book Dist LLC. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-403-09778-4. Retrieved November 15, 2012. ^ Jump up to: a b Brown, John P. "Eastern Cherokee Chiefs." In Chronicles of Oklahoma Vol. 16, No. 1. March 1938. Retrieved February 28, 2013.[1] Notes[edit] Brown, John P. "Eastern Cherokee chiefs", Chronicles of Oklahoma 16:1 (March 1938) 3-35 (retrieved August 18, 2006). McLoughlin, William G. Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. [sic] (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).

• *<http://www.melungeons.com/articles/march2003a.htm> [believed to be the son of a Scottish trader named Black. The Blacks were one of the secret Jewish clans prominent in early North Carolina history.] , a lieutenant of Chickamaugan chief Dragging Canoe (died March 1, 1792), he married a cousin, a Jewess, in the time-honored manner of Marannos. Enola is not a Cherokee word, but it is found among the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and it may be Hebrew in origin. It is said to refer to the mysterious long-tailed animal called black fox in the fur trade and bear cat (mashiko) by the Tennessee Indians, actually a type of ferret (Martes pennati). The Black Fox family also married with the Looneys and Gists.**** <http://www.melungeons.com/articles/march2003a.htm> Black is a Scottish name associated with clans Lamont, Macgregor and Maclean. NOTE: Chief Black Fox died in the north of county, and was buried in an old mound; and in digging his grave, the Indians found some pieces of lead ore. ....The mounds are heaps of earth in the form of pyramids. They are supposed to mark the burial places of the Chiefs. Some of them are very old, having upon their tops, growing trees of very large size. These mounds are to be found in thirteen different places in our county. Two or three of them are generally grouped together, or within a half mile of each other. In Murphree'sValley, there is one group consisting of three mounds, from four to seven in height. In the trough of the Locust Fork, there are five distinct groups. - In Blountsville Valley, (and near Blountsville) there is one; and in Brown's Valley one. North-west of the Mulberry Fork, there are four groups. These mounds are invariably in the valleys, on, or near the best bodies of land. This fact proves pretty clearly that the Indian settlements were in the valleys. Some knowledge of agriculture, may have led them to settle there, or it may have been the greater abundance of game and water found in such places. About these mounds, great quantities of flint spikes are found, which some persons believe were used as arrow-heads, but they seem unfit for such a purpose. The efficiency of the arrow, depends in a great degree upon its velocity; and arrows of sufficient strength to give great velocity to these spikes, would be so heavy, that all the power of the archer would fail to give them the force requisite to enter the vitals of a large animal. If we consider them as knives, there would be many uses for them: - such as skinning animals, severing the carcass, scaling fish, and cutting or sawing vegetable substances. Some of these spikes are six inches long, and weigh nearly a pound. These placed on poles would be similar to the Mexican lance, and would be very useful against dangerous animals....Besides the mounds mentioned above, we find in different places in our county, heaps of stones, which are supposed to be graves of Indians. In many other places, numerous pieces of broken pottery are found; and near the junction of the Little Warrior and Locust Fork, we have the remains of an old fortification, (enclosing about half an acre) three sides of which are yet plainly to be seen'85. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black Fox was chief of the lower town of Ustanali and became principal chief of the Cherokee after the death of Little Turkey in 1802. Black Fox signed the October 20, 1803 agreement for opening a road through the Cherokee Nation as "Principal Chief." He signed the Oct. 27, 1805, Jan. 7, 1806 and Sept. 11, 1807 treaties. On March 3, 1807, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives enacted a statute at large giving "the Cherokee chief, called Black Fox" a life annuity of $100. He sided with Chief Doublehead during the rebellion of 1806-1810 and was deposed for it, with Pathkiller taking his place. On April 18, 1810, he and others signed an act of the Cherokee Nation abolishing clan revenge. After this he was reinstated as principal chief. He last received his $100 stipend by proxy on July 11, 1810; the agent Return J. Meigs referred to him as "Black Fox Cherokee King." Younger chiefs forged his name to certain treaties and acts. He died in 1811 and was buried in an ancient tomb on the boundary between Cherokee and Creek lands in Blount Co., Ala.(possibly Northern Blount Co., Ala. on Whisenant Property) His name was carried on by the Black Fox who signed the treaty of 1828 and emigrated west. Some descendants who remained in the East apparently shortened the name to Black. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150323651/black-fox-inola ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Black Fox Black Fox (Inâlĭ). A principal chief of the Cherokee who, under the treaty of Jan. 7, 1806, by which the Cherokee ceded nearly 7,000 sq. m. of their lands in Tennessee and Alabama, was given a life annuity of $100.

He was then an old man. In 1810, as a member of the national council of his tribe, he signed an enactment formally abolishing the custom of clan revenge hitherto universal among the tribes, thus taking an important step toward civilization.-Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee, in 19th Rep. B. A. E., 87, 1900. https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/cherokee-indian-chiefs.htm