During the early 1800s, a slave-owning planter class emerged among the Chickasaw, including George Colbert’s family. George Colbert’s success came from several pursuits: he fought with the Americans against the Shawnee and Creeks, traveled to Washington, DC, as a tribal emissary, and steadfastly protected Chickasaw rights during treaty councils. Near Colbert’s Stand, he operated a ferry and an inn, grew cotton, and raised cattle, while his large plantation depended on the labor of 150 enslaved African Americans. Until forced removal, Colbert and his family lived in a more substantial house near present-day Tupelo. After removal to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, he established another large farm. Already past his 80th birthday, he died in 1839.
