Benjamin Hawkins
Franklin, Heard County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Benjamin Hawkins. "The Beloved Man of the Four Nations" to the Creeks, Benjamin Hawkins (1754 - 1816) was appointed Indian agent by President Washington. Soldier, Congressman, Senator, he determined with firmness and kindness to guide the Indians toward civilization. His agency was on the Flint River near Roberta. The first known written record of a journey through this area was made by Hawkins. His system of accurate measurement by elapsed time between points, established at 3 miles an hour on horseback, and his description of streams and terrain make his way easily followed today. A short distance south of here is "a very extensive view westward," described in his journal. 074-4 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1959
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Benjamin Hawkins, appointed U.S. Indian agent by President Washington, was so trusted by the Creeks that they called him "the Beloved Man of the Four Nations." A soldier, congressman, and senator, he ran his agency on the Flint River and sought — with a mix of firmness and kindness — to reshape Native life along Euro-American lines. His careful journals, measured by elapsed time on horseback, left the first written record of travel through this region.
Why it matters
Hawkins embodies the early republic's fraught "civilization" policy toward Native nations, a program of guidance and pressure that reshaped the Southeastern frontier in the decades before Indian Removal.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Hawkins
- · George Washington
Themes & tags
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