Description
The Apalachicola (also called Pallachacola, ) were a group of Native Americans related to the Muscogee people. They lived along the Apalachicola River in present-day Florida. Their name derives probably from Hitchiti Apalachicoli or Muskogee Apalachicolo, signifying apparently "People of the other side", with reference probably to the Apalachicola River or some nearby stream. Around 1706, a group of Apalachicola moved from the Apalachicola River area to the Savannah River, which formed the future border between the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. Historian Alan Gallay speculates that they might have been captured in a slave raid and forced by their captors to relocate to the Savannah River. A colonial census taken in 1708 described the Apalachicola of the Savannah River as the "Naleathuckles", with 80 men settled in a town about 20 miles up the Savannah River.
Language
Speculation that before the 17th century, the residents of all the Apalachicola towns spoke the Hitchiti language, although other towns whose people spoke the Muscogee language relocated among the Apalachicolas along the Chattahoochee River in the middle- to later- 17th century.
Culture
An agricultural people who cultivated maize and squash, the Apalachee were also noted warriors. They were ultimately subdued about 1600 and missionized by Spanish Franciscans. They continued to prosper until early in the 18th century when Creek tribes to the north, spurred on by the British, began a series of raids on Apalachee settlements. These attacks ended in 1703 when an army made up of a few Englishmen and several thousand Creek warriors defeated the combined Spanish and Apalachee.