I spent overe 10 years on the road selling Native American crafts at pow wows across the United States, visiting a different reservation nearly every week. I have a personal reason to know this particular story: George Colbert was my 4th great grandfather. What I share here comes from family history, primary records, and decades of genuine interest in this nation’s past.
— Raven, AAANativeArts.com (Est. 1999)
George Colbert was a Chickasaw chief who negotiated directly with President Andrew Jackson against the forced removal of the Chickasaw Nation. He died on the Trail of Tears in 1839.
Who Was George Colbert?
George Colbert was born around 1764 in the Muscle Shoals area of present-day Colbert County, Alabama. He was known among the Chickasaw by the name Tootemastubbe.
His father, James Logan Colbert, was three-quarters Chickasaw and one-quarter Scottish — part of a wave of Scottish traders who had settled among the Chickasaw Nation in the 1700s and married into prominent families. His mother, Minta Hoya (also recorded as Nahettaly Ishtanaha), was full-blood Chickasaw, and she was James Logan Colbert’s second wife. George was her second oldest son.
Under the Chickasaw matrilineal system, children are born into their mother’s clan, and hereditary leadership passes through the mother’s line. George’s standing in the Chickasaw Nation came entirely through his mother, not his Scottish grandfather.
His brothers included Joseph Colbert, Samuel Colbert, and Levi Colbert (Itawamba Minco), who became one of the most widely known Chickasaw leaders of that era. Through his father’s other marriages, George had several half-brothers, including Maj. William Colbert (Cooshemataha Pyaheggo).
A Negotiator in a World That Wanted War
George became leader of his Chickasaw town in 1808, but he was working as a diplomat long before that title was official.
His father died during the long-running conflict between the Chickasaw and the Creek Nation. George grew up learning what war cost, and it shaped how he led. He reached for the negotiated solution whenever one existed.
One example: Chief Doublehead, a Chickamauga Cherokee leader, established the settlement of Coldwater at the head of the Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River, land within Chickasaw territory. Rather than contest it militarily, Colbert solved the problem by marrying two of Doublehead’s daughters, Tuskiahooto and Saleechie (my 4th great-grandmother). The marriage made the Chickasaw claim to that area diplomatically secure.
George Colbert operated a profitable ferry where the Natchez Trace crossed the Tennessee River, at what is now Colbert’s Ferry State Park near Cherokee, Alabama. The Natchez Trace was one of the busiest travel routes in the early American South, connecting Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, and Colbert charged travelers for passage across the river.
He was known to set his own rates and negotiate hard. There is a story, possibly embellished over time, that he once charged Andrew Jackson an unusually steep fee to cross. Whether or not that particular story is accurate, the ferry made Colbert a wealthy man and gave him economic leverage that few Chickasaw leaders of his era could match.
That approach — find the deal and protect the people defined his leadership.
The Chickasaw were one of what European Americans called the Five Civilized Tribes, a label that says more about American assumptions than anything about the tribes themselves. What Colbert actually was, in practical terms, was a skilled political operator trying to hold off a government determined to take Chickasaw land.
George Colbert and the Indian Removal Act
By 1830, Andrew Jackson had pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress. It authorized the U.S. government to forcibly relocate Native American tribes from their ancestral lands in the Southeast to territory west of the Mississippi River.
George Colbert traveled to Washington D.C. to argue against it, personally. He met with Jackson and made the case that the Chickasaw had every right to stay on land they had occupied for generations. Jackson did not change his position.
The Chickasaw Nation signed the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek in 1832, agreeing to removal in exchange for promised compensation for their lands. That compensation was largely never paid as promised, a pattern repeated across virtually every removal treaty of that period.
This is the part of American history that most school curricula skim past. The Trail of Tears was not an unfortunate accident of western expansion. It was a deliberate government policy, and men like George Colbert fought it through every legal and diplomatic channel available to them. They lost anyway.
George Colbert’s Death on the Trail of Tears
The Chickasaw removal began in the late 1830s. George Colbert made the journey west with his people.
He never reached Indian Territory. He died on January 7, 1839, at Fort Towson in what is now Choctaw County, Oklahoma, at age 74 or 75. Fort Towson sat at the very edge of the territory the Chickasaw were being relocated to. He died within reach of the destination he had fought for years to prevent his people from ever being sent to.
He is buried at Fort Towson. His children — Jane Colbert, Nancy Catherine Tharp, Susan “Sukey” McLish/Jones Colbert, Lavinia Sarah Elizabeth Dunaway, George Colbert Jr., and two others — survived him.
Quick Facts About George Colbert
- Born: Around 1764, Muscle Shoals, in present-day Colbert County, Alabama
- Chickasaw name: Tootemastubbe
- Parents: James Logan Colbert (3/4 Chickasaw, 1/4 Scottish) and Minta Hoya (full-blood Chickasaw)
- Became town leader: 1808
- Died: January 7, 1839, Fort Towson, Choctaw County, Oklahoma — age 74 or75
- Buried: Fort Towson, Oklahoma
- Named after him: Colbert County, Alabama
- Common misconception: Some accounts call him chief of the entire Chickasaw Nation. His actual role was leader of his specific Chickasaw town, though he served as one of the nation’s most prominent political voices in dealings with the U.S. government.
- Personal note: He is my 4th great grandfather.
George Colbert’s Contributions to the Chickasaw People
George Colbert was a major contributor to the Chickasaw people throughout his life. He was a key figure in negotiating several treaties between the Chickasaw Nation and the United States government. He worked hard to ensure that the Chickasaw people were treated fairly and that their rights were respected.
Colbert was also an advocate for education and economic development within the Chickasaw Nation. He worked to increase literacy among the Chickasaw people and was instrumental in establishing several schools and colleges within the nation. He also worked to improve the economy of the Chickasaw Nation by encouraging trade and investment.
Colbert was a staunch defender of Chickasaw culture and worked hard to ensure that the traditions of the Chickasaw people were preserved.
How to Learn More About the Chickasaw Nation
The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized tribe today with approximately 38,000 enrolled citizens, headquartered in Ada, Oklahoma. They run one of the most economically active tribal governments in the country, with their own healthcare system, educational programs, and cultural preservation work.
Their official site at chickasaw.net has extensive historical records and language resources. The Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma is among the best places in the United States to experience their history in person.
If you want the broader context of what George Colbert was navigating, our article on the Five Civilized Tribes covers how the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations were all displaced during the same period.
Frequently Asked Questions About George Colbert
Who was George Colbert?
George Colbert (Tootemastubbe) was a Chickasaw leader born around 1764 in present-day Alabama. He served as one of his nation’s primary negotiators with the U.S. government in the early 1800s. He opposed the Indian Removal Act, traveled to Washington D.C. to argue against it directly with Andrew Jackson, and died in 1839 during the Chickasaw Trail of Tears.
Did George Colbert own slaves?
Almost certainly yes. The Chickasaw Nation practiced chattel slavery, adopted largely through contact with European and American settlers, and prominent families like the Colberts were among the slaveholders. This is a painful but documented part of Chickasaw history. After the Civil War, the Treaty of 1866 required the Chickasaw Nation to free enslaved people, though the Chickasaw were notably resistant to extending full citizenship to freedmen. George Colbert died in 1839, so he lived and led entirely within the era when slavery was practiced among the Chickasaw elite. Acknowledging this is part of telling his story honestly.
What is George Colbert known for?
He is known for his diplomatic work on behalf of the Chickasaw Nation, including personally negotiating with President Andrew Jackson against forced removal. He also used strategic marriages to resolve territorial disputes without bloodshed. Colbert County in northern Alabama is named after him.
How did George Colbert die?
George Colbert died January 7, 1839, at Fort Towson in present-day Choctaw County, Oklahoma, probably from pneumonia. He was 74 or 75 years old. He died during the Chickasaw relocation just before the Nation reached the Indian Territory that was their intended destination. He is buried at Fort Towson.
What is the Chickasaw matrilineal system?
In the traditional Chickasaw system, children are born into their mother’s clan, not their father’s. Hereditary leadership passes through the mother’s family line. George Colbert’s political standing in the Chickasaw Nation came through his mother, Minta Hoya, who was full-blood Chickasaw, even though his father was partly Scottish.
Is Colbert County, Alabama named after George Colbert?
Yes. Colbert County in northern Alabama is named in his honor. The Muscle Shoals area where he was born sits within that county, making the naming a direct geographic acknowledgment of his presence and role in that region.
What happened to the Chickasaw Nation after removal?
The Chickasaw were resettled in what is now south-central Oklahoma, initially on land purchased from the Choctaw Nation. They established their own governmental district in 1856. Today the Chickasaw Nation has its own government, courts, health system, cultural centers, and language revitalization programs, all based in Oklahoma.
George Colbert was a Chickasaw diplomat
George Colbert spent his leadership years trying to protect the Chickasaw Nation through diplomacy. He negotiated, compromised, traveled, and argued. None of it was enough to stop what was coming.
He was my 4th great grandfather. After 10 years at pow wows on reservations across the country, sitting with tribal members and watching ceremonies I’ll never forget, I understand more deeply what this kind of loss meant, not just as history, but as something still felt in Chickasaw families today. George Colbert didn’t fail. He was failed by a government that had already decided what it was going to do.
Want to keep learning? Our article on the Five Civilized Tribes covers the full story of how five nations were removed from the Southeast, or browse art and craft supplies and our articles on how to make Native American inspired crafts at NativeCrafts.us.
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