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    1. Re: [CREEK-SOUTHEAST] Creek family tree
    2. Kim, This is a free message board for Creek descendants. There are some excellent genealogists, who contribute to the information flowing on the board. Perhaps they can contact you. It is highly unlikely that any Creeks in the 19th century with English names would be full-blooded Creeks. The English last names almost always were the result of marriage between Creeks and either Europeans or Africans. Ethnic mixing began occurring in the early 1500s when the first Spanish landed on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. When relations were good between visiting Spanish and host towns, the Spanish would be provided Creek girls for "companionship." When things did not go well, the Spanish just took what they wanted anyway. English and French traders typically married Creek women in order to cement friendly relations with Creek communities. It was not uncommon for European widows to marry Creek men, since they were tall, skilled hunters and better able to provide food for their children. Another big advantage of Creek men was that they bathed every day while European frontiersmen might bath once a month or once a year. African women, who were enslaved married Creek men for the same reason and also hoped that they could eventually buy their children's freedom. Good luck on your search. Richard T.

    11/23/2009 12:27:32