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THURSDAY. MARCH 5. 2015 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 13A
What’s in a name? For Ball Ground, it’s Indian heritage
The present day view of the battlefield of Taliwa as seen
from Highway 3 72 near the Etowah River bridge east of Ball
Ground. The confluence of Long Swamp Creek and the
Etowah River is in the distance.
By Larry Cavender
Ball Ground is an extremely
uncommon name for a commu
nity. In fact, after extensive re
search, it seems the only Ball
Ground in the world is the one
located here in Georgia. How did
Ball Ground end up with such a
unique name? Most people at
tribute it to the town's Cherokee
Indian heritage.
Local legend says the name
can be traced to a sporting game,
similar to Lacrosse, which was
played by the Cherokees often in
the vicinity of Ball Ground. The
game wasn't only played by the
Cherokees but by most of the In
dians indigenous to North Amer
ica. The modem game of
Lacrosse is said to have its ori
gins in the Iroquoian version of
the game and the name of the
game is the result of allusions to
the Iroquois competition in writ
ings by a French missionionary
in New York in the mid seven
teenth century. The translation of
the French La Crosse is "the
stick."
The Cherokee name for the
game was "Anetsa" which means
"little brother of war" and like
modem-day Lacrosse, it too, was
played with a stick. In the Chero
kee variant, the players used
hickory sticks with a woven cup
at the end for scooping up or
catching a golf ball sized ball
made of deer hide and tightly
stitched.
The object of the game was to
push the ball through goal posts,
made of saplings and erected
about ten feet apart, located on
both ends of the playing field.
The playing field had neither
marked boundaries nor sidelines
and was three to four acres of
level ground. A team consisted of
from twelve to twenty-two play
ers per side with an equal num
ber of players on each team. If
one team lost a player because of
an injury, or even in rare cases,
death, the other team had to re
linquish a player to keep the
team numbers even.
Player uniforms consisted of
a loincloth and liberal amounts
of bear grease applied to bare
flesh because there were no ille
gal tackles, blocks, or holding
penalties and the grease enabled
players to escape the grasp of
their opponents. The first team to
score twelve goals was the win
ner and often the game might last
an entire day or even two to three
days until this score was
achieved.
Game day was preceded by a
night of celebration and dancing
and often entire villages turned
out to support their teams. The
"Anetsa" would begin early the
next morning when one of the
two game officials, called "dri
vers," would toss the ball into the
air at midfield. There were virtu
ally no mles and one of the driv
ers' few responsibilities was to
halt the action if the ball stopped
moving and begin the game
anew by another ball toss. If
fights broke out between players,
to stop the fight, the drivers were
allowed beat those engaging in
the fight with sticks.
Because of the need for level
ground on which to play and an
abundance of fresh water streams
to support large gatherings of
people. Ball Ground, which pos
sessed both, was an ideal loca
tion for the playing of this "little
brother of war." So it was logical
for the area to be called "ball
ground."
However, some of the town's
elders have often alluded to a
name which, according to local
legend, was applied to the area
before the current title. It seems
Oconostota who led the
Cherokees to victory’ over the
Creeks in the Battle of Taliwa
fought near Ball Ground in
1755. This portrait was be
lieved to have been painted
by Francis Parsons in 1762.
that this community located in
northern Cherokee County was
once known as "Battleground"
before evolving into the more
pacifist sounding Ball Ground.
Yet, even the name of Battle
ground can be attributed to the
community's Cherokee Indian
heritage.
Two and a half miles east of
downtown Ball Ground, at the
confluence of Long Swamp
Creek and the Etowah River, was
once an Indian settlement known
as Taliwa, which is translated as
"town." At this site in 1755, was
the final major battle in the long
Cherokee - Creek Indian war that
began in 1715. Creek folklore as
cribes the reason for the begin
ning of the war to the massacre
of a number of their leaders by
the Cherokees. The cause most
often cited is hunting grounds
disputed between the two tribes.
At Taliwa, the great Cherokee
war Chief, Oconostota, led 500
warriors against a much larger
force of Creeks. The Cherokee
took up a defensive position and
fought off four successive attacks
by the Creeks. According to
Cherokee folklore, during the
fifth attack, an elderly chief,
known as Kingfisher, was slain.
It was then that his eighteen year
old just widowed wife took up
her husband's weapon, and
singing a war song, led the
Cherokee to victory. Because of
this, the young woman gained
lasting respect from the Chero
kee and also won her the title of
"Warrior Woman." At battle's
end, some estimates place the
loss of life at over 300 Cherokee
and Creek Warriors.
After their defeat, the Creeks
retreated south of the Chatta
Kaila’s Birthday wish fundraiser
goes 80s style to help St. Jude’s
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By Laiken Owens Fundraiser held Kaila’s birth-
intern Reporter day party at the Pickens Rec.
Kaila’s Birthday Wish Department on Saturday. The
A
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SALES, INC
X BUY DIRECT
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80’s themed party was a
fundraiser for St. Jude Chil
dren’s Research Hospital.
Kaila Strawn is a 13 year old
who rather than get presents
wanted to raise money to help
children with medical issues.
Kaila’s mother, Brandi re
ported she had $3,400 before
the party. They sold 23 tickets
for the 2015 Ford Focus at the
party that added up to $2,300.
Tickets can be purchased at
Shottenkirk Ford, Coco’s Cot
tage, The Carriage House, and
from Brandi Strawn.
The total amount raised at
this point is $6,300, but their
goal is $10,000. Brandi said,
“Thank you to all that came
out to support my daughter’s
birthday wish.”
BATTLE OK TALIWA
Two nnd one - hair miles to the cast,
near the confluence of Long - Swamp Creek
and the Etownh Itivcr, Is the traditional
site of Taliwa. scene or the fiercest and
most decisive battle In the tony war of the,
1740s and 50s between the ChcroKcc and
Creek Indians.
There, about 1753, the grent Cherokee
war. chief. Oconostota, led 500 of his warriors
to victory over a larger bund of Creeks.
So complete was the defeat (hat the Creeks
retreated south of the, Chattahoochee River
leaving to their opponents the region later
to become the heart of the ill-rated Cherokee
Nation.
A lone reminder of the epic battle of250 years ago is this
historical marker which can be found near the old Ball
Ground City Hall building at the intersection of Gilmer Ferry
Road and Valley> Street in downtown.
hoochee abandoning all their
lands and relinquishing any
claims to territory in what is now
north Georgia with the exception
of one Creek settlement which
was located near present day
Rome, Georgia. Sadly, only 75
years later, the Indian Removal
Act of 1830 was passed by Con
gress and the Cherokees were
forced to give up this hard fought
territory in 1838 along with most
of their other land. The Chero
kees were one of the "Five Civi
lized Tribes," and the other four
civilized tribes also lost their ter
ritory in what eventually became
known as the "Trail of Tears."
The Choctaw were forcibly re
moved in 1831, the Seminoles in
1832, the Creek in 1834, and the
Chickasaw in 1837.
Because of his leadership
qualities and successes at Taliwa
and on other battlefields, the old
Cherokee war chief, Oconostota,
also known as Stalking Turkey,
eventually became Principal
Chief of the Cherokee in the
1870's succeeding Attakullakulla
who was Oconostota's son-in-
law, the younger man having
married the old war chiefs
daughter from his first wife. In
terestingly, Oconostota, who is
also believed to be the figure rep
resented in the seal centering the
state flag of Tennessee, married
a former lady-in-waiting to the
Queen of England after the death
of his first wife. He had met her
while traveling to England in
1830.
Only a very few traces are left
of the day Oconostota led the
Cherokees to victory over the
Creeks except for an historical
marker located at the interesec-
tion of Gilmer Ferry Road and
Valley Street in downtown Ball
Ground and, perhaps for those
diligent enough to find them, ar
rowheads on the land near the
confluence of Long Swamp
Creek and the Etowah River.
That is all that remains of this
epic battle of 250 years ago ex
cept, of course, the heritage sig
nified by the name of Ball
Ground.
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