Hickory Ground, also known as Otciapofa is an historic Upper Muscogee Creek tribal town and an archaeological site in Elmore County, Alabama near Wetumpka. It is known as Oce Vpofa in the Muscogee language; the name derives from oche-ub,"hickory" and po-fau, "among". It is best known for serving as the last capital of the National Council of the Creek Nation, prior to the tribe being moved to the Indian Territory in the 1830s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 10, 1980.Archaeological siteThe 33-acre archaeological site, numbered 1Ee89, is outside Wetumpka on the lower Coosa River, north of where it joins the Tallapoosa River. It is a former village with a ceremonial ground, burial grounds, and refuse sites.HistoryHickory Ground, or Otciapofa, was established by Muscogee Creeks from Little Tulsa, located on the Coosa River. The site was documented during historic times by William Bartram in the 1770s and Benjamin Hawkins in 1799. The town was home to several thousand Muscogee and served as the last capital of the National Council of the Creek Nation from 1802 until 1814. During the Creek War, the inhabitants who were not fighting in the war were confined at nearby Fort Jackson. After the end of the war, they were allowed to resettle the site and remained there until 1832, when they were forcibly removed to the Indian Territory.
