Hey y'all:
Got a phone call Friday afternoon from the infamous "OLD MAN" of Rock & Roll, Paul Cochran.
http://paulcochran.com
Paul wants everybody in Zero, Northwest Florida to support Billy Joe Royal's latest album,GOING BY DAYDREAMS.
We couldn't be helping a better fellow than Billy Joe Royal.
Jimmy Dean introduced me to him when he played Cowboy's in Dothan back in '05.
You can't imagine what a laid back cat Billy Joe has turned out to be.
You would never know that this man has been in the spotlight soaking up fame for over 40 years.
Please go to B.J. Thomas' website http://www.bjthomasmusic.com/billy-joe-royal.htm
and listen to the 30 second samples of Billy Joe's songs &
then go ahead and order this super CD!
Billy Joe Royal's marvelous voice conveys an incredible range of emotions especially on tunes like ECHOES, ONE MORNING TWO PEOPLE & WHERE DID THE SIXTIES GO?
Both he & B.J. Thomas are singing better than ever!
Paul Cochran Passed Out Back In The Day
Cochran has got some wonderful stories to tell.
J.R. Cobb & Buddy Buie
I wanna hear more about the time Paul personally disintegrated Buddy Buie's beloved Martin acoustic guitar because Buie wouldn't quit playing GEORGIA PINES.
The "OLD MAN" also told me that the "behind the scenes" story of the making of the movie MONDO DAYTONA starring Billy Joe Royal, the Swinging Medallions and the Tams could certainly make a great movie itself.
The movie's title was changed when it was released in 1970 with additional footage.
image courtesy of http://www.filmposters.com
Any information any of y'all have about Billy Joe will be appreciated because I am preparing to interview Joe Billy for the blog.
So share some your memories of this incredible cat who's been entertaining us for five decades so I can ask all the right questions!
Mo' stuff coming soon concerning Billy Joe and B.J. Thomas!
Go ahead and start saving your pennies for your Billy Joe Royal tickets for his show at Dothan's Cowboys on Friday, October 19. http://www.cowboysofdothan.com/
I plan on being there!
Billy Joe & B.J. have been selling out halls across America with their RAINDROPS TO BOONDOCKS tour. http://www.bransoncourier.com/issue-1/b_j-_homas_billy_joe_royal_raindrops_boondock-602.html
Ironically, our good friend Robert Nix wrote hits for both of these music legends.
With Bill Gilmore, Robert co-wrote CHERRY HILL PARK for Billy Joe &
B.J. Thomas had a hit with another Nix/Buie composition, MIGHTY CLOUDS OF JOY.
Now I'm gonna school y'all one mo' again,
So here's another Tri-State History Lesson...
I am baffled by the information contained on a historic marker located near the Chattahoochee on the highway between Shorterville and Ft. Gaines. Here's the text of what I consider a colossal blunder on the part of whoever wrote the text:
| Franklin - First Beachhead into East Alabama | ||
| Location: Located near the McKemie Bridge on Alabama Highway 10, fourteen miles east of Abbeville, Alabama. Marker Dedication or Erection Date: January 21, 1979 Marker Text: The frontier village of Franklin was established here by Colonel Robert Irwin in 1814 on the site of the Indian town of Cheeska Talofa. It was the first colonial village in east Alabama. Fort Gaines, Georgia, was constructed in 1816 to protect the early settlers in this former Creek Indian Nation, West. Twenty-one blocks were laid off for this promising river port of Abbeville. This prospective early city never recovered from the destructive flood of 1888. Erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Henry County Historical Society, 1978. | ||
There was definitely an important Indian town called Chisca Talofa [various spellings include Cheeska Talofa, Ichiscatalonfa, Chiscotafa and Clisteofa] but it wasn't located anywhere near Shorterville or Henry County. Chisca Talofa was located where the present-day states of Alabama, Georgia & Florida intersect in present-day Houston County southeast of Dothan.
Here's what I have gathered together on this important Indian town that promises to become an superb archaeological site:
THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF CHISKA TALOFA,
A TOWN OF YUCHI ORIGIN ON THE WEST BANK
OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER: 1757-1818
A TOWN OF YUCHI ORIGIN ON THE WEST BANK
OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER: 1757-1818
1757: Chisca Talofa is the only town in the area of present-day southeast Alabama located on
the 1757 Bonar Map (DeVorsey 1971). Swanton (1922) equated this with Yuchi-speaking
Hogologee indicated on earlier maps.
1761: Swanton(1922) lists a 1761 census figure of 30 for this town's population.
1764: John Stuart, British Indian agent for the Southern District, held a conference at St. Marks on September 13, 1764 which included leaders of Chisca Talofa located on the Chattahoochee above the fork.
1768: Pittman describes a crossing place for the Pensacola-St. Augustine trail on the river at the village of Ichiscatalonfa located on the west bank of the river, forty miles above the fork. (The 31st parallel [Alabama-Florida line] crosses the river 26.2 miles above the fork of the Chattahoochee and the Flint.)
1778: The Purcell map of the Pensacola-St. Augustine trail includes the notation Chisca Old Fields just north of Ekanachatte or Red Ground. This site was located by Boyd (1958) south of Irwin's Mill Creek adjacent to present-day Neal's Landing.
1799: Stephen Minor, Spanish commissioner during Ellicott's survey of the Southern Boundary of the United States, http://cgi.ebay.com/JOURNAL-OF-ANDREW-ELLICOTT-1814-maps-LouisiannaTerr-NR_W0QQitemZ200150050690QQihZ010QQcategoryZ29223QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
names the village at the end of the compass line on the west bank of the Chattahoochee
as Chiscotofa or Clisteofa. The conflict which led to the survey being abandoned began
in this camp at the surveyor's observatory. This conflict was the beginning of the
unrelenting hostility of the Seminoles to the U.S.
In his Journal, Andrew Ellicott fails to mention that this international boundary line
between the U.S. & Spain cut Chisca Talofa in two. This was the only village along the
381 mile survey of the 31st latitude between the Mississippi and the Chattahoochee cut
in two by the first Southern Boundary of the U.S.
Here's a description of Chisca Talofa in August of 1799:
"Now from one side to the other of the river along almost the entire extent
of the road to this camp may be found Indian plantations of which may
be seen good fields of corn, rice, peas, beans, potatoes, melons,
watermelons, cucumber, etc., and most of them have chickens, pigs,
and cattle in abundance. Some of them have very good herds [along] with
Negro slaves, indicating to me that they live in reasonable comfort.
The river abounds with various delicious fish. All these details convince
me that white settlements in these areas would prosper greatly. I am sure
that on the eastern bank of the Mississippi there are no better lands on
which to raise cattle."
English translation of a letter from Stephen Minor to
Spanish West Florida Governor Gayoso (Minor to
Gayoso, August 5, 1799, Archivo General de Indias,
Papeles de Cuba, Seville, Legajo 2355)
1799: Between July 25, 1799 and August 19, 1799, Ellicott made 44 observations of
seven stars to determine a mean latitude of 31 degrees 1' 9.4" for his observatory on the
west bank of the Chattahoochee. Ellicott laid off a line 7110.5 feet south and ended his
survey of the 31st parallel which established the present day boundaries shared by
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
1799: In October, William Augustus Bowles,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Augustus_Bowles
self-proclaimed Director General of the Nation
of Muskogee, returned to Wekiva, six miles north of the Florida line. He called a general
council of the Lower Creeks and Seminoles to distribute gunpowder and rum which
had been salvaged from the wreck of the British sloop Fox.
Here on the east bank of the
Chattahoochee just northeast of Chisca Talofa, Bowles reestablished his influence after
escaping from seven years of imprisonment by the Spanish.
1804: At Chisca Talofa on May 25, 1804, James Innerarity and William Hambly represented
John Forbes & Co. in negotiations for a land grant. The company sought this payment
from the Indians to counterbalance Bowles' destruction of the company's Wakulla store
and the tribe's accumulated debt. This deed of cession was signed by 24 chiefs and
ultimately deeded to John Forbes & Co. 1,200,000 acres east of the Apalachicola.
Under the terms of this pact, the company agreed to immediately open a store at
Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola near present-day Sumatra, Florida. This store
led to the later establishment of Nichol's British Fort, the Negro Fort and U.S. Fort
Gadsden near Prospect Bluff.
Click here to see a large map of the Forbes Purchase http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1821f6.jpg
1810: At Chisca Talofa on April 10, 1810, Edmund Doyle, principal agent of John Forbes & Co.
on the Apalachicola, and William Hambly, interpreter & representative of the
company, secured the cession of three more tracts of land that joined the original 1804
grant. This included St. Vincent Island. These Indians also ceded to John Forbes
personally an island in the Apalachicola River. This 9,811 acre island is known
today as Forbes Island.
1814: On August 9, 1814, the chief of Chisca Talofa was one of the Creek chiefs who signed
the Treaty of Ft. Jackson which ceded over 20 million acres of present-day Alabama
Georgia to the United States.
1816: At Chisca Talofa on April 17, 1816, William Hambly attempted to unite the Upper
Towns friendly to the Americans and the Lower Towns friendly to the British in an
attack upon the Negro Fort on Prospect Bluff. This meeting was a disaster and Hambly
was forced to flee.
The Negro Fort was destroyed by the U.S. Navy on July 27, 1816.
270 of the fort's occupants were killed instantly by a single explosion
of the fort's powder magazine. Captured British arms and supplies were
valued at not less that $200,000
A MAP OF THE NEGRO FORT BASED UPON ITS LOCATION TO FORT GADSDEN
NOT ONLY WAS THE FORBES & CO. STORE LOCATED NEAR HERE BUT BOWLES ALSO USED PROSPECT BLUFF AS ONE OF HIS HEADQUARTERS BEFORE HIS LAST ARREST IN 1803
1818: Captain Hugh Young, a soldier with General Jackson's U.S. Army, included
Chisca Talofa on a town list for the First Seminole War. It was listed as one of
four Seminole towns on the lower Chattahoochee. He estimated the population at
580 persons (65 warriors) under the halfbreed chief Yaholamico. He located the
town on the west bank of the Chattahoochee two miles above the Florida line.
1982: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AT GEORGE W. ANDREWS LAKE &
CHATTAHOOCHEE did "not extend even to the top of the river bank
in the vicinity of this site[Chisca Talofa], consequently...had little chance
of identifying this site."
the 1757 Bonar Map (DeVorsey 1971). Swanton (1922) equated this with Yuchi-speaking
Hogologee indicated on earlier maps.
1761: Swanton(1922) lists a 1761 census figure of 30 for this town's population.
1764: John Stuart, British Indian agent for the Southern District, held a conference at St. Marks on September 13, 1764 which included leaders of Chisca Talofa located on the Chattahoochee above the fork.
1768: Pittman describes a crossing place for the Pensacola-St. Augustine trail on the river at the village of Ichiscatalonfa located on the west bank of the river, forty miles above the fork. (The 31st parallel [Alabama-Florida line] crosses the river 26.2 miles above the fork of the Chattahoochee and the Flint.)
1778: The Purcell map of the Pensacola-St. Augustine trail includes the notation Chisca Old Fields just north of Ekanachatte or Red Ground. This site was located by Boyd (1958) south of Irwin's Mill Creek adjacent to present-day Neal's Landing.
1799: Stephen Minor, Spanish commissioner during Ellicott's survey of the Southern Boundary of the United States, http://cgi.ebay.com/JOURNAL-OF-ANDREW-ELLICOTT-1814-maps-LouisiannaTerr-NR_W0QQitemZ200150050690QQihZ010QQcategoryZ29223QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
names the village at the end of the compass line on the west bank of the Chattahoochee
as Chiscotofa or Clisteofa. The conflict which led to the survey being abandoned began
in this camp at the surveyor's observatory. This conflict was the beginning of the
unrelenting hostility of the Seminoles to the U.S.
In his Journal, Andrew Ellicott fails to mention that this international boundary line
between the U.S. & Spain cut Chisca Talofa in two. This was the only village along the
381 mile survey of the 31st latitude between the Mississippi and the Chattahoochee cut
in two by the first Southern Boundary of the U.S.
Here's a description of Chisca Talofa in August of 1799:
"Now from one side to the other of the river along almost the entire extent
of the road to this camp may be found Indian plantations of which may
be seen good fields of corn, rice, peas, beans, potatoes, melons,
watermelons, cucumber, etc., and most of them have chickens, pigs,
and cattle in abundance. Some of them have very good herds [along] with
Negro slaves, indicating to me that they live in reasonable comfort.
The river abounds with various delicious fish. All these details convince
me that white settlements in these areas would prosper greatly. I am sure
that on the eastern bank of the Mississippi there are no better lands on
which to raise cattle."
English translation of a letter from Stephen Minor to
Spanish West Florida Governor Gayoso (Minor to
Gayoso, August 5, 1799, Archivo General de Indias,
Papeles de Cuba, Seville, Legajo 2355)
1799: Between July 25, 1799 and August 19, 1799, Ellicott made 44 observations of
seven stars to determine a mean latitude of 31 degrees 1' 9.4" for his observatory on the
west bank of the Chattahoochee. Ellicott laid off a line 7110.5 feet south and ended his
survey of the 31st parallel which established the present day boundaries shared by
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
1799: In October, William Augustus Bowles,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Augustus_Bowles
self-proclaimed Director General of the Nation
of Muskogee, returned to Wekiva, six miles north of the Florida line. He called a general
council of the Lower Creeks and Seminoles to distribute gunpowder and rum which
had been salvaged from the wreck of the British sloop Fox.
Here on the east bank of the
Chattahoochee just northeast of Chisca Talofa, Bowles reestablished his influence after
escaping from seven years of imprisonment by the Spanish.
1804: At Chisca Talofa on May 25, 1804, James Innerarity and William Hambly represented
John Forbes & Co. in negotiations for a land grant. The company sought this payment
from the Indians to counterbalance Bowles' destruction of the company's Wakulla store
and the tribe's accumulated debt. This deed of cession was signed by 24 chiefs and
ultimately deeded to John Forbes & Co. 1,200,000 acres east of the Apalachicola.
Under the terms of this pact, the company agreed to immediately open a store at
Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola near present-day Sumatra, Florida. This store
led to the later establishment of Nichol's British Fort, the Negro Fort and U.S. Fort
Gadsden near Prospect Bluff.
Click here to see a large map of the Forbes Purchase http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1821f6.jpg
1810: At Chisca Talofa on April 10, 1810, Edmund Doyle, principal agent of John Forbes & Co.
on the Apalachicola, and William Hambly, interpreter & representative of the
company, secured the cession of three more tracts of land that joined the original 1804
grant. This included St. Vincent Island. These Indians also ceded to John Forbes
personally an island in the Apalachicola River. This 9,811 acre island is known
today as Forbes Island.
1814: On August 9, 1814, the chief of Chisca Talofa was one of the Creek chiefs who signed
the Treaty of Ft. Jackson which ceded over 20 million acres of present-day Alabama
Georgia to the United States.
1816: At Chisca Talofa on April 17, 1816, William Hambly attempted to unite the Upper
Towns friendly to the Americans and the Lower Towns friendly to the British in an
attack upon the Negro Fort on Prospect Bluff. This meeting was a disaster and Hambly
was forced to flee.
The Negro Fort was destroyed by the U.S. Navy on July 27, 1816.
270 of the fort's occupants were killed instantly by a single explosion
of the fort's powder magazine. Captured British arms and supplies were
valued at not less that $200,000
A MAP OF THE NEGRO FORT BASED UPON ITS LOCATION TO FORT GADSDEN
NOT ONLY WAS THE FORBES & CO. STORE LOCATED NEAR HERE BUT BOWLES ALSO USED PROSPECT BLUFF AS ONE OF HIS HEADQUARTERS BEFORE HIS LAST ARREST IN 1803
1818: Captain Hugh Young, a soldier with General Jackson's U.S. Army, included
Chisca Talofa on a town list for the First Seminole War. It was listed as one of
four Seminole towns on the lower Chattahoochee. He estimated the population at
580 persons (65 warriors) under the halfbreed chief Yaholamico. He located the
town on the west bank of the Chattahoochee two miles above the Florida line.
1982: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AT GEORGE W. ANDREWS LAKE &
CHATTAHOOCHEE did "not extend even to the top of the river bank
in the vicinity of this site[Chisca Talofa], consequently...had little chance
of identifying this site."
My niece, Lana Henry, of Cottonwood
image courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/LKH2008
Lana
image courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/LKH2008
"My first dove with Hank...1-16-99 - 7-10-2007"
Lana & her Daddy after tearing up the shellcracker on Lake Seminole in their air boat
My nieces, Leslie & Lana
My son,Christopher, before he was awarded his Eagle.
CHRISTOPHER image courtesy of http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=178172075
Lana Down Home
July 18, 1943
Paul Register Dies In Dothan Hospital.
Paul Register, eighteen, died in a Dothan hospital at 6:10 a. m. yesterday following a long illness. He was graduated from Dothan High School last spring and since that time had been employed by the Tri-States Publishing Co.
Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W Y Register; two brothers, Earl Register, U S Army, stationed in North Africa, and Page Register, Dothan.
Funeral will be held at the Ward-Wilson Chapel at 9:45 a.m. today with the Rev. T W Wilson of Dothan officiating. Burial will follow in the City cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Bobby Clements, Lawrence Coe, Roland Thomas, Woodfin Riley, LaBruce Tidwell and Pete Williams.
Johnny Cash God's Gonna Cut You Down Lyrics
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head's been wet with the midnight dew
I've been down on bended knee talkin' to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, "John go do My will!"
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's done in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test
Check out this article on Mountain Girl, Jerry Garcia's widow...
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/3674/gdmg.html
Got the photos from Nix of the Skynyrd show in Tunica
Medlock,Van Zant, Rossington
Alison & Nixo with SKYNYRD
MEDLOCK, VAN ZANT, ROSSINGTON
