Pee Dee People - Colonial and 19th-century History

Colonial and 19th-century History

The Pee Dee allied with other American Indian nations and colonial settlers against the Tuscarora people, an Iroquoian-speaking tribe, during the Tuscarora War of the early 18th century. As a result, most of the Tuscarora left the area and migrated north, reaching present-day New York to join the related Iroquois tribes. Their leaders said that Tuscarora remaining in South Carolina were no longer considered part of the tribe.

The political relationships formed between the Pee Dee and other tribes in the area at this time carried over into the Yamasee War. The Yamasee War of 1715-1717 caused major changes among the southeastern tribes. By some accounts the Pee Dee, along with many other tribes, were "utterly extirpated". But some survivors may have found refuge with the Siouan-speaking Catawba, who were located closer to the South and North Carolina border. Other survivors either remained along the lower Pee Dee River or returned in the years following the Yamasee War.

In 1737, the tribe petitioned South Carolina for a parcel of land to live upon. They, along with the Notchees (also spelled Nochis), were moved to a 100-acre (0.40 km2) reservation provided by James Coachman in 1738. This reservation was in Berkeley County, along the Edisto River.

Conflicts in 1744 led to the Catawba forcing the Pee Dee off the reservation lands and back into white settlements. South Carolina colonists referred to Indians living within the European-settled areas as "Settlement Indians." A 1740s list of such tribes included the Pee Dee. In 1752 the Catawba asked South Carolina to encourage the Pee Dee "Settlement Indians" to move north and rejoin the Catawba.

During the American Revolution, a company of Pee Dee warriors fought for the Continentals under the British-American general Francis Marion. Known as the Raccoon Company, their company of riflemen was headed by Captain John Alston, a colonist. A group of Pee Dee men who had lived on John Coachman's land were recorded as being under the command of Colonel William Thompson. Many of the militia received grants of land as a form of payment following the conclusion of the war.

Following the American Revolution, the Pee Dee tribe was mentioned only once in governmental documents. During the decades, Pee Dee descendants intermarried with both white and black residents. Under the terms of segregation, they were forced into one or another category. some members of the remnant tribe began assimilation into the majority white society. This enabled their descendants to avoid removal to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the 1830s.