Major Ridge

Major Ridge (c.1771 ? June 22, 1839) was a Cherokee Indian leader, born into the Deer clan in the Cherokee town of Hiwassee along the Hiwassee River, an area later part of Tennessee. Ridge's maternal grandfather was a highland Scot, thus Ridge was 3/4 Cherokee by ancestry, and one of the many American Indians in his time and place with partial European (especially Scottish) heritage. The English version of his name was originally just "Ridge"; he acquired the title "Major" in 1814 during his service leading Cherokees alongside General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the Creek War. He also joined Jackson in the First Seminole War in 1818, leading Cherokees against the Seminole Indians. After the war, Ridge became a wealthy planter and slave owner.

Reference

• Ehle, John. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Doubleday, 1988. ISBN 038523953X. Largely a biography of Major Ridge.