Westo

The Westo were a Native American tribe of the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian language. They were called Chichimeco by the Spanish, and the Richahecrian by Virginians. Their first appearance in the historical record is as a powerful tribe in colonial Virginia. Anthropologist Marvin T. Smith suggests that the Westo were a group of Erie who had lived south of Lake Erie until forced to migrate south to Virginia during the Iroquois wars of 1654-1656 (). As Virginia expanded, the Westo migrated south to the Savannah River shortly before the founding of South Carolina in 1670. The Westo became the region's most powerful military force until destroyed around 1680.

History

Virginia established a trading relationship with the Westo, exchanging firearms for Indian slaves. When the Westo migrated to the Savannah River, they quickly became known for their military power and their slave raids. Before their destruction, the Westo wreaked havoc on the Spanish missionary provinces of Guale and Mocama. That the Westo had ties with Virginia did not mean they would be friendly toward the South Carolinians. In 1673 the Westo attacked coastal Indians, such as the Cusabo, and the Carolina colony. The colony depended on the Esaw tribe for defense until December of 1674, when some Westo visited Dr. Henry Woodward and made peace. The peace became an alliance after the Westo escorted Woodward to their towns on the Savannah River, giving many presents and encouraging friendship.

From 1675 to 1680 trade between the Westo and South Carolina thrived. The Westo provided Carolina with slaves, captured from various Native American groups, including the Spanish-allied tribes in Guale and Mocama, the "Settlement Indians", supposedly under the protection of Carolina, and probably the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and various tribes that would later become the Creek Confederacy.

Since the Westo were enemies with nearly every other tribe in the region, the alliance with Carolina effectively blocked the colony from establishing any other relationship. A group of Shawnee Indians migrated to the Savannah River region and met with the Westo while Henry Woodward was among them. These Shawnee became known as the "Savannah Indians". Woodward apparently witnessed the first meeting of the Shawnee and Westo. Using sign language, the Shawnee (Savannah) warned the Westo of an impending attack from other tribes, earning the goodwill of the Westo, who began to prepare for the attack.

The Savannah later approached Woodward themselves and established a relationship that would doom the Westo. Through their relationship with the Savannah, the Carolinians realized the value of trading beyond the Westo. When war broke out between Carolina and the Westo in 1679, the Savannah assisted the Carolinians. The Westo were defeated and destroyed in 1680 and the Savannah moved into their lands and took over their role as the chief Indian trading partner with Carolina. The fate of most of the surviving Westo was probably enslavement and shipment to work on sugar plantations in the West Indies. (Information on slave raids, Dr. Woodward, Savannah/Shawnee, and the defeat of the Westo mainly from Gallay 2002).

Some of the Westo probably escaped destruction and continued to live near the colony of South Carolina. A map published anonymously in 1715 shows Indian villages during the period from about 1691 to 1715, when the early Creek towns had relocated from the Chattahoochee River to the Ocmulgee River and Oconee River. The map shows a town labeled "Westas" (all the towns labels are pluralized) on the Ocmulgee River above the Towaliga River confluence. It is one of a cluster of towns near the important "Lower Creek" town of Coweta. The 1715 map shows town locations as of some time between 1691 and 1715, when the Lower Creek moved their towns back to the Chattahoochee River. Westo town is not shown on later maps. As with several other groups of Indian refugees who found haven with the Lower Creeks, the apparent fate of the surviving Westo was absorption into the emerging Creek confederacy (Worth 2000).

Notes

References

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