About Us

McIntosh Trail Family Practice derives its name from one of the foremost Native American trails traversing Central Georgia from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Named for Chief William McIntosh, the trail was used for trade between his home on the Ocmulgee in Cusseta (Carroll County) and the Inn (Double Cabins) he constructed at Indian Springs. MTFP serves patients from the counties traversed by this trail, including Fayette, Spalding, Henry, Butts, Lamar, and Pike.

McIntosh Trail grew into the primary traveled route for traffic east to west, supporting stage work, mail traffic, pioneer settlers, Indian tribes, and traders. Many of today’s present roads overlap the trail.

Chief William McIntosh, the son of a Scotsman (in the British army) and a Creek Indian Princess, was born near Wetumpka, Georgia (now Alabama). Never knowing his white father, McIntosh was reared as an Indian and eventually rose through the ranks to become speaker of the Lower Creek Nation. He was intelligent and brave, tall with graceful and commanding manners.

The earliest settlers of the McIntosh Trail area were the Creek Indians who had migrated from west of the Mississippi River. The Creek Indians held a firm hold on much of Central Georgia until the 18th century when European settlers began to arrive from the North and East. When the Creek dominance became threatened as the number of settlers grew, they were forced westward until February 1825 at which time, under US President James Monroe they conceded all their land in Georgia to the state in exchange for land in Mississippi and $400,000. Chief McIntosh gained rapid fame, assisted the U.S. in the War of 1812, and rose to the rank of Brigadoon General.

Torn between his dual heritage, Chief McIntosh attempted to transition the sale of the land of the Creek Indians and the white settlers as smooth as possible. However, dissatisfaction grew among the tribes of the Creeks’. Creek Indians hostile to the Treaty of 1825 held a general council where they appealed the US government to stop the survey of their lands in Georgia, condemned the treaty, and sentenced Chief McIntosh to death. On May 1, the order was carried out by a tribal rival named Menawa. However, a new treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. the following year removing the Creeks from the lands. Soon thereafter the Creeks left Georgia, moving west of the Mississippi from whence they had come.