ed with the Chickasaw(enemies with similar feelings about the Shawnee) to inflict a major defeat in 1715 on theShawnee of the Cumberland Basin. The Chickasaw alliance and war with the Shawneebrought the Cherokee to the attention of the French and their Algonquin allies north of theOhio River. The result was a steady stream of war parties directed south against them.The Cherokee were in the dubious position of fighting the pro-British Iroquois and thepro-French Algonquin at the same time, but they held their own, despite devastatingsmallpox epidemics in 1738 and 1753 which killed almost half of them. The epidemicswere also devastating to the Cherokee priests who, unable to cure the disease, lost most oftheir remaining influence. A second Chickasaw alliance in 1745 forced the remainingShawnee north across the Ohio River and then succeeded in defeating the French-alliedChoctaw in 1750. Meanwhile, a treaty, signed in 1721 and thought to be the first land cession by theCherokee, regulated trade and established a boundary between the Cherokee and theBritish settlements. Despite this agreement, settlement from the Carolinas was rapidlyinvading the lands of the Lower Cherokee east of the Appalachians and tempting theCherokee to switch their loyalty to the French. This option had become available to themafter the French made peace with the Alibamu and built a trading post at Fort Toulousenear Montgomery, Alabama in 1717. French traders were also reaching the OverhillCherokee by following the Cumberland River from its mouth near the Ohio. TheChickasaw, however, still made travel on the Tennessee River by the French far toodangerous. All of this trade could easily have tied the Cherokee to the French if they hadbeen able to compete with the British, but they could not. French goods were generallyinferior and more expensive, and the British had the naval power to blockade Canada intimes of war (King George's War 1744-48) and halt the supply. More i...
