Atasi aka Autossee
Return to Indian Villages Index
Located on the banks of the Tallapoosa River in present-day Macon County, Alabama, Autossee was one of the largest Red Stick towns. A village of at least two hundred houses, the town’s name literally meant “War Club.” It was home to some of the most vocal Red Stick leaders, including High-Head Jim, and may have been the home of some of the warriors that attacked Fort Mims.
Atasi, or Átassi, an Upper Creek town on the east side of Tallapoosa River, below and adjoining Kalibi hátchi Creek. It was a miserable-looking place in Hawkins time, with about 43 warriors in 1766. Like that of all the other towns built on Tallapoosa River, below its falls, the site is low and unhealthy. The name is derived from the war-club (ă tăssa), and was written Autossee, Ottossee, Otasse, Ot-tis-se, etc. Battle on November 29th, 1813. A town in the Indian Territory is called after it Atĕsi, its inhabitants Atĕsálgi. Troops under the command of General John Floyd destroyed the town during the battle on November 29, 1813.
A post or column of pine, forty feet high, stood in the town of Autassee, on a low, circular, artificial hill.” Bartram, Travels, p. 456. Cf. Huli-Wáhli.
The site of the town today lies on private property near Shorter, Alabama in northwestern Macon County, Alabama, and is unmarked and inaccessible to the public.