Jackson County, Florida
Jackson County, Florida
History, Genealogy, Historic Sites, Points of Interest, Caves, Historic Homes,
Cemeteries, News, Events, Weather & More!
Cemeteries, News, Events, Weather & More!
Fort Marianna
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Searching for Fort Marianna:
Memories of the Creek War of 1836
by Dale Cox
Memories of the Creek War of 1836
by Dale Cox
An old Jackson County legend holds that a
log fort once stood in Marianna, erected by
local soldiers to protect themselves during
the years of the Second Seminole War (1835-
1842). According to the story, the fort stood
on the corner later occupied by the Chipola
Hotel (today's Chipola Apartments). After the
need for the fort had passed, it was
supposedly roofed over and became the first
hotel at the site.
While the legend was once well known
around Marianna, very little proof has ever
been found to substantiate the story.
Marianna was fairly well removed from the
log fort once stood in Marianna, erected by
local soldiers to protect themselves during
the years of the Second Seminole War (1835-
1842). According to the story, the fort stood
on the corner later occupied by the Chipola
Hotel (today's Chipola Apartments). After the
need for the fort had passed, it was
supposedly roofed over and became the first
hotel at the site.
While the legend was once well known
around Marianna, very little proof has ever
been found to substantiate the story.
Marianna was fairly well removed from the
main fighting areas of the Second Seminole War and there are no records of U.S. Army
troops being based in Jackson County at the time.
Recent research, however, has revealed that the stories are true. There was a fort in
Marianna and it did date from the time of the Second Seminole War, although its construction
had little to do with the Seminoles and much more to do with the Creek Indians of Alabama.
During the spring of 1836, following a stunning series of frauds perpetrated against them by
unscrupulous land speculators, the Yuchi branch of Creeks rose up in war against the white
intruders. They targeted white settlers that had illegally settled on Creek lands between the
modern cities of Eufaula, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. Even Eufaula (then called
Irwinton) had been established on Creek lands in violation of their treaty with the United
States.
The uprising quickly became known as the Creek War of 1836. A U.S. Army of thousands of
men was sent to Columbus and Eufaula to attack the few hundred Yuchi warriors who had
initiated the war. The Native Americans were quickly defeated and most were rounded up,
placed in chains and sent west on the “Trail of Tears.” A few, however, took to the woods and
continued the fight.
As the Creek War spread through southern Alabama and Georgia, fears grew in Northwest
Florida that it would soon spill across the border. Jackson County residents called out their
militia (the equivalent of today’s National Guard) and began to build a series of small
blockhouses or forts to protect their communities from attack.
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, an officer in the U.S. Army, passed through Marianna during the
summer of 1836 and wrote in his diary that the people there were building a fort when he
arrived. “They had cut logs twenty feet long,” he wrote, “and were setting them up in a
stockade.” The log wall had loopholes to fire through and Hitchcock remarked that “this
makes a pretty good sort of defense against the Indians.”
The surviving copies of the Tallahassee and Columbus, Georgia, newspapers also confirm
the building of a fort at Marianna in 1836. The stockade apparently served its purpose, as the
city was never attacked even though a band of refugee Yuchi Creeks battled with militia and
army troops throughout Northwest Florida over the next several years. The closest known
attack to Marianna, however, took place at the home of Morris Simms about twelve miles
south of town.
In addition to Fort Marianna, similar stockades were constructed at Campbellton and
Ocheese Pond. Other communities probably had small forts as well, as by 1840 a law had
been passed in Florida requiring every community to erect a stockade or blockhouse for the
protection of its citizens.
No trace of these forts remains today.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Creek War activities in Jackson County, please consider
Dale Cox's book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. It is available
locally at Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna or can be found online at:
www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox
troops being based in Jackson County at the time.
Recent research, however, has revealed that the stories are true. There was a fort in
Marianna and it did date from the time of the Second Seminole War, although its construction
had little to do with the Seminoles and much more to do with the Creek Indians of Alabama.
During the spring of 1836, following a stunning series of frauds perpetrated against them by
unscrupulous land speculators, the Yuchi branch of Creeks rose up in war against the white
intruders. They targeted white settlers that had illegally settled on Creek lands between the
modern cities of Eufaula, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. Even Eufaula (then called
Irwinton) had been established on Creek lands in violation of their treaty with the United
States.
The uprising quickly became known as the Creek War of 1836. A U.S. Army of thousands of
men was sent to Columbus and Eufaula to attack the few hundred Yuchi warriors who had
initiated the war. The Native Americans were quickly defeated and most were rounded up,
placed in chains and sent west on the “Trail of Tears.” A few, however, took to the woods and
continued the fight.
As the Creek War spread through southern Alabama and Georgia, fears grew in Northwest
Florida that it would soon spill across the border. Jackson County residents called out their
militia (the equivalent of today’s National Guard) and began to build a series of small
blockhouses or forts to protect their communities from attack.
Ethan Allen Hitchcock, an officer in the U.S. Army, passed through Marianna during the
summer of 1836 and wrote in his diary that the people there were building a fort when he
arrived. “They had cut logs twenty feet long,” he wrote, “and were setting them up in a
stockade.” The log wall had loopholes to fire through and Hitchcock remarked that “this
makes a pretty good sort of defense against the Indians.”
The surviving copies of the Tallahassee and Columbus, Georgia, newspapers also confirm
the building of a fort at Marianna in 1836. The stockade apparently served its purpose, as the
city was never attacked even though a band of refugee Yuchi Creeks battled with militia and
army troops throughout Northwest Florida over the next several years. The closest known
attack to Marianna, however, took place at the home of Morris Simms about twelve miles
south of town.
In addition to Fort Marianna, similar stockades were constructed at Campbellton and
Ocheese Pond. Other communities probably had small forts as well, as by 1840 a law had
been passed in Florida requiring every community to erect a stockade or blockhouse for the
protection of its citizens.
No trace of these forts remains today.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Creek War activities in Jackson County, please consider
Dale Cox's book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. It is available
locally at Chipola River Book & Tea in Downtown Marianna or can be found online at:
www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox
| The Site of Fort Marianna Today's Chipola Apartments building stands on the historic site of Fort Marianna. |
| Copyright 2011 by Dale Cox All Rights Reserved. |