The Trail of Tears

Georgia's Antebellum Economic$

Chief Vann's Riches

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When most people think of Native Americans, they imagine shirtless people in leather loincloths who live in teepees. However, there were many Native Americans, like the Vann chiefs of the Cherokee Nation, who were quite rich, lived in mansions, and probably never spent a night of their lives in a teepee. James Clement Vann, a Scottish noble, married into the Cherokee Tribe and thanks to his keen business sense, became a rich man by the time his first son was
born. In addition, he used his wealth and natural leadership abilities to become chief of the Cherokee Nation. His son, Clement Vann, inherited the role of chief from his father.

He wanted to strengthen the Cherokee Nation and build a home that would prove the power and wealth of himself and the Cherokee
people. To do so, Clement went back to his father's country, Scotland, and studied the castles of the Scottish nobility. Vann returned and combined the architecture of Scottish castles with
Southern mansions to create the Chief Vann House in Spring Hill, GA. The house, a two story mansion, was finished during
the Chiefdom of Clement's son James. In addition to a magnificent
view, the home featured thousands of acres of land, over forty separate cabins, smokehouses, mills, factories, orchards, kilns, barns,
cattle and fine horses, liquor stills and trading posts.

Vann also owned a river ferry on the Chattahoochee. When James Vann died, he willed the estate to his son Joe. "Rich" Joe Vann, as he was called, was the fourth Vann to assume chiefdom
over the Cherokee Nation. During his reign, the United
States Government pushed the Native American people off of their
land and moved them out west. Vann took his family on the"Trail of
Tears" in a luxury steam boat. All of the rest of his property was
confiscated and given or sold to white Georgians. Joe Vann became wealthy again, this time using land in Oklahoma to breed champion race horses. With his new found wealth, he built an
exact replica of the Vann House on his land in Oklahoma. Though many Native Americans lived in poverty out West, Vann continued to make a fortune. He died while racing aboard his prized steamboat.

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