A shot from the shadows
The shot pierced the cold winter’s night like the crack of a teamster’s whip. The man in the tavern door was an easy target for the craven poltroon cowering in the shadows, framed as he was by the lamp behind him and his instincts slowed by drink. It was the night of February 19, 1809, and a coward’s bullet ended the earthly journey of James Vann, Warrior, Statesman, Entrepreneur, and quite possibly the richest man on the eastern seaboard, Indian or white.
It is little wonder of course that James was killed in this way, as he had a reputation for being an extremely violent and vicious fighter, a deadly accurate marksman, and an implacable enemy. There were few men with the intestinal fortitude to confront him face to face, and fewer still who lived to tell of it afterwards. It is said that the missionaries to whom he donated land and money described him as “loved by few, hated by many, feared by most,” a rather ungrateful description from people who wore his clothes and ate his food, but Indians were used to the whites being fork tonged.
But James was far more than just his violent reputation. As is often the case with outsized personalities, the scandalous words and incidents that finger- wagging hypocrites love to gossip about tell an incomplete story at best. So it was with James Vann.
James contributed both land and money to establish a mission and a school at his headquarters at Spring Place. He was committed to the peace and prosperity of his people. For all of the talk and gossip, no one ever accused Mr. Vann of treachery or disloyalty towards his people or his nation. Born to a white father and a Cherokee mother, he was very much a member of the so-called “Mixed-Blood Aristocracy,” he was also a leader among the “Young Chiefs” a group of leaders who advocated education and adaptation as the best option to secure a peaceful and safe future for the Cherokee.
James did have his vices of course. Two of those were a fondness for drink, and a fondness for women. He is reputed to have fathered eighteen children by nine different women. It is likely that there were more than that. This of course led to a rather lengthy inheritance fight after he was killed, with his son Joseph “Rich Joe” Vann inheriting the lion’s share of his estate. A good man no doubt, but “Rich Joe” was not the man his father was.
It is little wonder that James would have involvements with the opposite sex, possessing as he did a certain “bad boy” image and possessing the physical attractiveness common to Cherokees of that era, the women in his life probably found him irresistible. But there was far more to James Vann than sex, whiskey, and violence. As interesting as his many exploits are, they only tell a very incomplete story. He was also a man of superior intellect.
While engaging in behavior that would earn him the reputation of a hard riding, hard drinking, hard loving warrior, James found the time to negotiate the right-of-way for the Federal Road, invest in taverns and trading posts as far west as what is today Huntsville Alabama, develop ferries and mills, and even loan money to the Federal Government. Needing to acquire merchandise for his trading posts, he started his own freight hauling company.
No one was ever prosecuted for James Vann’s murder, and it is little wonder, he made many enemies among the sort of men who were given to cowardice and treachery, and general sorriness. But he also made friends. And his friends, the close ones anyway, were men like himself. Men such as the great War Leader Dragging Canoe, years before he became a rich businessman, James earned a reputation for both courage and integrity during the so-called “Chickamauga Wars.” Even among towering figures such as John Watts, Bob Benge, and of course, Dragging Canoe, James Vann cut a wide path. After leaving the War Path, James helped to form the Cherokee Light Horse, a tribal police force dedicated to protecting the Cherokee people. In this, he served much the same duty as he did as a warrior.
There are rumors here and there that that James was killed by one of his brothers in law whom he had beaten with a riding quirt for slapping his sister. There is no proof of this of course, but it could be true, if such brother-in-law existed and if he was the sort of sorry excuse for a man who beat women, it stands to reason he would be the sort of coward who would shoot from the shadows. He would certainly not have been the sort of man with the courage to challenge James Vann face to face
It could be said that James Vann did not halfway do anything. He lived his life at full gallop without question and without doubt. You could say he was a man among men. He was damn sure a lot more man than the codless coward who shot him.