People of the Other Side: The Apalachicola

When the Spanish arrived in Florida in the 16th century, it was home to many Native people.  One of these was the Apalachicola.  They were a Muscogean-speaking people related to he Hitchiti.  The word Apalachicola or Pellachicola may derive from a Muscogean word meaning "people of the other side", referring to those who lived on the other side of the Apalachicola River or some other river or stream.  By 1706, these people had been decimated by disease, warfare, and slave-raiding and there were only a few hundred of them living by the Savannah River.  Over time, they melded into larger Muscogee/Creek tribes.  Descendants today live in Oklahoma and Louisiana.  The Apalachicola River and the City of Apalachicola, Florida bears their name.