Explorer: Henry Timberlake and the Cherokee

Native societies changed drastically in the first two hundred years of contact with Europeans.  Some of this was by chance, as trade goods made their way into Native economy.  Sometimes, it was through force of circumstance, as Natives adapted to better co-exist with Settlers.  The end result was that much of their pre-contact dress, customs and ways of life was lost.  We only get glimpses here and there, usually through the journals and reports of explorers, traders or others who were fortunate enough to have early contact with the tribes.  Such was the case with Henry Timberlake (1730-1765).  BTW: a Tennessee history site for kids posits the theory that he might just be related to Justin, but more on that later.

Henry was born in Hanover County, Virginia.  His family had been in Virginia beginning with his paternal grandfather.  Though he inherited some money, Henry had to support himself and the army was the most honorable profession for a young man of his social standing.  He participated in the French and Indian War (1755-1762) as a member of a Virginia militia regiment, and applied to be part of Washington's own regiment, but was denied due to a lack of vacancies.  He later became an ensign in another Virginia regiment commanded by Col. William Byrd, and spent much of the war on garrison duty in Pittsburgh.  Meanwhile, as we've seen in an earlier post, relations between the British and heir Cherokee allies had soured into open war (1759-1761).  When punitive raids failed to convince the Cherokee to return to their alliance, the British tried diplomacy.

A Cherokee leader known to Whites as Old Hop (Kanagatucko) arrived at the British camp in what is now Sullivan County, Tennessee to sue for peace.  He asked that a British officer accompany him back to his country as proof that peace had been granted.  Timberlake volunteered.  Timberlake was accompanied by Sergeant Thomas Sumter, who later became a Continental officer and partisan commander during the Revolution, and an interpreter.  The plan was to visit the Overhill towns, which, as we've seen, were the most resistant to White encroachment on Cherokee land.  Along the way, Timberlake, who was an avid writer and also a skilled cartographer, took notes, drew maps and even sketches of who and what he was seeing.  After a harrowing journey, the group arrived at the Overhill town of Tomotley, where they were greeted by the village headman, Ostenaco.  Ostenaco accompanied them to the town of Chota where a large council of chiefs had gathered.  After a speech, he buried a hatchet in the ground as a symbol of peace between the English and Cherokee.  Timberlake disliked smoking pipes as part of the ritual, but was otherwise respectful of what he was seeing and hearing.  He later visited other towns, where the constant pipe smoking made him so sick he was ill and unable to travel for days.

His mission accomplished, Timberlake returned to his based in Sullivan County, bein guided by Ostenaco and utilizing the Great Warpath for part of the journey.  Although peace had been formally declared, he saw signs that the Cherokee were still ready for war.  Timberlake arrived back in Williamsburg, where Ostenaco was treated to dinners and parties as though he'd been an ambassador from a European country.  He expressed a desire to meet the King of England and Timberlake decided to take him to London.  Timberlake and Sumter, along with Ostenaco and several other Cherokee leaders embarked on a ship to London in June, 1762.  There, the Cherokee leaders were treated as foreign ambassadors, sitting for portraits with Joshua Reynolds (which have not survived), meeting King George III and touring London.  They returned home in August, 1762, though Timberlake stayed behind due to financial constraints.  He secured a commission in a British regiment and returned to Virginia in March, 1763. 

Once in Virginia, he was placed on half-pay and semi-retired, which threatened his financial security.  He petitioned the Virginia legislature for reimbursement for his expenses on his Overhill expedition and for taking the Cherokee to London, but was denied.  In 1764, Cherokee leaders contacted Timberlake, asking him to take them to London again to speak to King George personally about violations of the Proclamation of 1763 and encroachment on their land by Settlers.  Timberlake found someone to fund the trip and accompanied the Natives to London.  There, the Cherokee were rebuffed by royal officials, as this wasn't considered an official visit.  Timberlake was accused of profiting off the Cherokee popularity.  Government ministers funded the Cherokee to return home in March, 1765, and Timberlake was imprisoned for debt.  He wrote his memoirs in an effort to raise money, but died before he could get them published.

Meanwhile, back in Virginia, Timberlake's son Richard by Sakinny, one of Ostenaco's daughters, grew up.  Remaining loyal to his mother's family, as so many mixed-race children did, he took his grandfather Ostenaco into his home during the old man's final years.  Timberlake's journals contained such detail that they proved helpful to archaeologists excavating Cherokee town sites and to anthropologists and historians studying Cherokee culture.  His maps have helped scientists pinpoint the location of many otherwise lost Cherokee sites.  His diaries remain one of the most useful 18th century accounts of the Cherokee.  Now, for the possible connection to Justin.  The singer has indicated in interviews that a distant ancestor was Cherokee.  If that is true, there might be a connection, though it hasn't been proven conclusively.