Squirrel King was a leader of the Chickasaw people during the Colonial period.

Squirrel King was a leader of the Chickasaw people during the Colonial period.

Squirrel King (1710 - 1758) is Our 7th Great Grandfather

He led a small band into the Carolinas to escape French harrassment as the Chickasaws were allies of t h e English.

Data from a variety of sources, in particular the Thompson-ChoctawDescendants Association . Other sources include, Oklahoma Historical Society, Brian Tompsett at the University of Hul l ,and many other sources, some cited.

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Born: ABT 1688 in Chickasaw Nation-East (Mississippi

Trading stores were established at Savanna Town, and at the time, Savanna Town was the jumping-off point to the western wilderness. Trails from Savanna Town led to the nations of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians as far west as the Mississippi River. European goods were sent by land and river from Charles Town (Charleston, S.C.) to Savanna Town, where these goods were carried by pack trains west to the Indian nations. Then these same pack trains returned to Savanna Town with valuable skins to be shipped to Charles Town for export to England.

In 1716 after a major Indian war erupted, Fort Moore was built to guard the western entranc e to the colony. The fort was situated on the high bluff at Savanna Town and had barracks t h a t could hold 100 men, a house for the commander, storehouses, corncribs, stables and a we l l .In1727,the government of South Carolina invited the Chickasaw nation to move from Missisippi to South Carolina. A small band of about 100undertheleadership of Chief Squirrel Kin g settled at Horse Creek about a mile up river from the fort. They remained in the area until the Revolutionary War.

Rather than begin intimidated, the Chickasaw grew more stubborn in their determination to trade with the British, and Bienville's harassment only served to silence the pro-French faction .Matters came to head during1720 when the Chickasaw executed a French trader as a spy. B o t h French and British traders routinely passed information to their governments, so there seems little doubt about his guild. However, the Chickasaw had always tolerated this, and his death was a clean indication they had tired of the "silent war" the French were conducting against them along the Trader's Path.