Horseshoe Bend National Park Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, National Park Service

The Horseshoe Bend landscape corresponds with the boundary of the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (NMP). A bend in the Tallapoosa River wraps around the peninsula where the Battle of Horseshoe Bend occurred, the final decisive clash of the Creek War (1813-1814). The site is important for the battle associations, twentieth-century development of the landscape, and its potential to yield archeological information. Horseshoe Bend is one of only four National Park Service (NPS) sites primarily preserved to interpret the history of the War of 1812, of which it was considered a part after a massacre at Fort Mim. The Horseshoe Bend NMP is significant as a cultural landscape for the period 1777-1814, reflecting the Creek occupation until the final battle of the Creek War. The battle occurred between the United States forces with allied Cherokees and Creeks, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Red Sticks, a warring faction of the Creek Nation. The Creek War had begun as a civil war between opposing factions of the Upper Creek as influences of frontier settlement, assimilation, and a nationalist movement spread by the orator Tecumseh intensified tribal divisions. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, occurring on March 27, 1814, led to the signing of a treaty that ceded 20 million acres of Creek land to the United States. Although no above-ground structures from this period remain, archeologists have uncovered features that confirmed the location of two Creek villages and the log barricade that the Red Sticks had constructed across the neck of the peninsula. Additionally, the spatial organization of the site, topography, and vegetation patterns continue to provide evidence for interpreting the historic battle-era landscape. A second period of significance spans 1907-1966, which includes battlefield commemoration (1914-1918), construction of the Miller Bridge and local settlement (1907-1956), and the Mission 66 park development era (1956-1966). The markers designed to commemorate events at this site represent a nationwide movement in battlefield preservation. In 1907, the construction of the Miller Bridge replaced the local ferry crossing just east of the battlefield. Once the longest covered bridge in Alabama, it was abandoned and later collapsed after an improved structure was built parallel to it in 1955. This period of development was also characterized by the re-settlement of the land as farmers moved into Tallapoosa County, Alabama in the 1830s, cultivating the land and clearing forested areas. A dam project proposed by Alabama Power Company in the 1920s furthered preservation efforts of the Horseshoe Bend Battlefield. The Horseshoe Bend Battle Park Association launched efforts to establish a national military park, land acquisition began, and Congress created Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in 1956. This coincided with the Mission 66 development initiative of the NPS, during which time park facilities were updated and expanded. The evidence of this period is still visible, including modernist architecture and signs of a more comprehensive planning approach to provide for the recreational and interpretive experience of the visitor. Examples include the visitor center, entrance signs, the park tour road, and the nature trail. Documentation of the battle remains scarce and the Red Stick perspective survives only in later accounts and archeological remains. This imbalance in the historical record has shaped the interpretation of the battle throughout history. Despite the extensive agricultural use of recent centuries, Horseshoe Bend remains a serene historic site. The natural systems and features, topography, vegetation, circulation, spatial organization, buildings and structures, vistas and views, small-scale features, and archeological sites all retain integrity. Twelve tribes are affiliated with the park.

Horseshoe Bend National Park Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, National Park Service

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