Talk:Red Bird River

Redbird River and other such named places in the area are namesakes of my grandfather, Chief Redbird. In the late 1790s, Red Bird, a Cherokee Indian, and his friend Will, made their home in what became Clay County, Kentucky. The men hunted the mountain valleys and lived peaceably among white settlers. Around 1796, two Tennessee men, John (Jack) Livingston and Edward (Ned) Miller, murdered Red Bird and Will, probably partly in reprisal for two earlier attacks by other local Cherokees that had left some of Livingston’s family dead and others captive.

Tennessee governor John Sevier wrote a series of letters to the Cherokees in 1796-1797, apologizing for the murders, and thus the violation of previous treaties. Sevier also communicated with Kentucky governor James Garrard that Livingston and Miller would be extradited to Kentucky if caught in Tennessee, but Sevier doubted the men could be located. Apparently Livingston and Miller were never captured or tried for the murder of Red Bird and Will.