Dragging Canoe

Dragging Canoe (1730? – 1792) was an American Indian war leader who led a dissident band of young Cherokees against the United States in the American Revolutionary War.

Angry and disgusted with his father Attakullakulla ("Little Carpenter ") for selling more land to whites, and wanting his people to be able to live away and apart from whites, Dragging Canoe led a band out of the Cherokee nation down to Chickamauga Creek in the Chattanooga area. This location gave his group their name, the Chickamauga. Living above the Suck at the mouth of Suck Creek several miles downriver, the Chickamauga were exposed to many American attacks. He and his group subsequently moved to "Lower Towns" below the Suck: Running Water (now Whiteside) and Nickajack. From Running Water Dragging Canoe led attacks on white settlements all over the Southeast. He died in 1792, and is considered by many to be the most significant leader of the Southeast.