10/18/2025
I was recently asked to share some history points about Fort Meade. As I began to think of the obvious, I couldn't help but also think of the forgotten. I have Dr. Canter Brown, Jr. to thank for igniting my love for Fort Meade history. Facinating and stimulating history of more than 3,000 years taking place right here.
As I pondered on the vision of what was, I jotted my own interpretation. I hope you enjoy and that you might remember.
TALAKCHOPKO HATCHEE
Priscilla White Perry
Peas River … not Peace River
Mere ripples lapped the banks of Talakchopko Hatchee
Narrow and Shallow
Ripples that have erased footprints of mighty warriors from millennia ago Brave and Royal
Paths led to and from the temple near Muscogee
Sacred and Healing
Brothers came by hundreds to harvest glassy black chert
For Weapons For Tools
Talakchopko !! Once a center of grand commerce among the ancients Famous and Envied
No, We are not the first to hear the serenity of nature along its banks Silent yet Revealing
Others had long heeded the warnings from escaping quail rising in the air But not that Day
Seminoles rose to reclaim. Rose against the invasion of progress And Ownership and Power
Though Talakchopko remained and did not veer its course,
It Flowed Red to Larger Waters
Today, the Hatchee still laps the banks of the “Place Where Long Peas Are Grown”
Irreverently Ignored and Unheard
And you, my friend, stand where they stood on the banks of the Peaceful Talakchopko
Listen … you may hear their Whispers
