Chucalissa in Historic Times

Chucalissa in Historic Times. . , In 1854 Enoch Ensley, Sr. purchased 2500 acres of land along the Mississippi River south of Memphis. This purchase included Chucalissa. The land had been partially cleared and improved for use as a cotton plantation. The deed of sale also included 19 enslaved Africans. Although Ensley did not farm this land on the bluff, it is very likely he was familiar with the remains of the Native American town we call Chucalissa. , By 1860 Ensley owned 87 people. They would be freed during the course of the Civil War. Though we do not know what became of these individuals, many local African Americans remained in this area and farmed under the sharecropping and tenant farming systems. , (aside:), Following the Revolutionary War, the United States began a program of western expansion across the North American continent. This growing American population desired the land and resources occupied by indigenous Native peoples. Treaties were signed promising payment for land and resources, but in most cases the terms were unfair. In 1830, violating these treaties, the United States began a removal program that forced Native peoples to move to Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma. Members from Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw communities (the rest of the text is unreadable)