Cusseta, also known as Kasihta, was a Peace Town of the Lower Towns, a division of theMuscogee Confederacy. It was located in what the Spanish calledApalachicola Province on theChattahoochee River, then in what is now the state ofGeorgia near theOcmulgee River, and finally again on the Chattahoochee River.[1] It was one of the two major towns of the Lower Creek, with a population of 1,918 in 1832.
According to Muscogeeoral history, early Creek fromOcmulgee settled Cusseta andCoweta, approximately around 900–1000 CE.[2]
After theYamasee War, the people of Cusseta moved from theChattahoochee River and rebuilt their town on theOcmulgee River.[1] Until the 1830sforced removal of the Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, Cusseta was one of the oldest and most significant Creek towns. The census of 1832–33 recorded 1,918 residents living in Cusseta.[1]
At the town on 24 March 1832, representatives of the Creek Nation signed theTreaty of Cusseta, ceding all the Nation's lands east of theMississippi River to the United States as part ofIndian Removal. They were to receive territory in exchange west of the Mississippi, in what was then calledIndian Territory, and annuities for their land.
Lawson Army Airfield inFort Benning, Georgia was developed on the former site of Cusseta. The modern-day municipality ofCusseta, Georgia is named after the Muscogee Creek town and located closest to the historic site.Cusseta, Alabama is also named after the historic town.
32°21′58″N84°58′09″W / 32.36611°N 84.96917°W /32.36611; -84.96917