DECEMBER 15, 1750

CREEK CHIEF HOBOI-HILI-MIKO (ALEXANDER MCGILLIVRAY) BORN

McGillivray, whose name meant “Good Child King,” was born in Little Tallassee near present-Montgomery, Alabama. He was raised traditionally until age 14 when he went with his Scottish father to Charleston, South Carolina, for tutoring and an apprenticeship. After the American Revolution, his father lost his land & left for Scotland. Alexander returned to the Upper Creek Nation and was made a Principal Chief in 1783. The British commissioned him a colonel and Indian agent. Initially resisting land cessions by Lower Creeks, he accepted President Washington’s invitation to meet in New York where, in 1790, McGillivray signed a treaty specifying American sovereignty over Creek lands and set Georgian & Creek land boundaries. Not trusting the Americans, in 1792, he reputed the treaty and sought a treaty with the Spanish whereby the Creeks would order Americans off their lands; Spain would provide arms & ammunition. McGillivray died in Pensacola on February 17, 1793, en route from that meeting.

Source:  James W. Caughey, “Alexander McGillivray: Creek Chief,” Britannica.  Retrieved 7/5/2022,  Alexander McGillivray | Creek chief | Britannica
Image:  University of Tennessee, 2001.  Page 1 of a letter of 8/3/1788 to Alexander McGillivray from James Robertson (1742-1814) seeking an end to Creek and Cherokee hostilities.  Public Domain.  Source: Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN. Identifier: ths024, [Letter] 1788 Aug. 3, Nashville [to] Alexander McGillivray / James Robertson. Opposition of McGillivray the great chief of the Creeks, 1857 / A. W. Putnam of an image - Digital Library of Georgia (usg.edu)