The incredible story of Joseph Brown

Joseph Brown was a young boy when his father, mother, eight brothers and sisters, five other young men, and several slaves set off on a trip down the Tennessee River in 1788. They hoped to go all the way to the new settlement called Fort Nashborough. But they didn’t make it.

Near present-day Chattanooga, their boat was boarded by Cherokees who at first appeared to be friendly. But then one of the Chickamaugans, as Cherokees who lived in that area were called, suddenly pulled out a tomahawk and killed Joseph Brown’s father. The rest of the Chickamaugans then killed most of the other grown men on board.

Young Joseph would have been killed then had it not been for the intervention of a Frenchman living with the Chickamaugans and the village chief, a man named Breath. When he heard that his warriors had slaughtered a boat of settlers, Breath was angry and decreed that the boy would not be killed.

Young Joseph Brown spent the next year living with the tribe, learning their ways and watching them closely. Soon he had learned where all the towns in the area were located and where the paths were to get from one to the other. Then, he was rescued in an exchange of prisoners that took place after one of John Sevier’s deadly raids.

But Joseph Brown hadn’t forgotten what had happened to his father and his brothers. Five years later, he helped lead an avenging army back to the village where he had been held prisoner. It was called the Nickajack Expedition, and it basically brought an end to armed resistance from Cherokees in that part of the state.

At one point, the Cherokee women captured in the Nickajack Expedition were all being held prisoner in a cabin. They were horrified to look up and see their old acquaintance Joseph Brown standing at the door.