Native Americans in Holmes Valley
Posted by: Markerman62
N 30° 34.669 W 085° 44.475
16R E 620698 N 3383489
Located at 3810 Holmes Valley Road, southwest of Vernon
Waymark Code: WM12ARV
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/15/2020
Views: 4
Washington County was a center for Native American activity for thousands of years and became the scene of military action during the Creek War of 1813-1814 & First Seminole War of 1817-1818. A Red Stick chief named Holms (Holmes) left Alabama around the time of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814) and followed the Choctawhatchee River down into Florida. Dr. Thomas G. Holmes of Alabama wrote that U.S. troops destroyed villages in the "Uchee and Holmes Old Fields" in 1815. Legend holds that the "Holmes Old Fields" were at today's Holmes Valley. The area was raided in 1818 during the First Seminole War and Capt. Thomas H. Boyles reported that Holms was killed and his town destroyed. Boyles built a small fort near today's Moss Hill Methodist Church. The first American settlers arrived in 1891. Most of the Muscogee (Creek) and other groups were removed from West Florida and sent west on the Trail of Tears in 1837-1838. A few remained by hiding in the woods and their descendants still live in the area today.
Marker Number: None
Date: None
County: Washington
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Unknown
Website: Not listed
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