Elijah Davis

Elijah "Ataman" Davis was born on a plantation somewhere in Georgia or Alabama. In 1812 he escaped with his fellow slaves after a failed uprising and fled north, eventually reaching Kaskaskia. They joined a group of Methodist missionaries and went to Fort Snelling to preach to the natives. While preaching at an Ojibwe village, raiders from the Iron Confederation attacked the mission and captured Davis. Him and the other preachers, mostly former slaves, were captured and brought west where they were handed over to the Cossacks of the Kiskach Host. The Cossacks learned of what Davis and his compatriots went through under slavery, and related it to the struggles of the Native Americans who joined the Cossacks. They let in the Blacks as their own and Davis would eventually climb the ranks of the Cossacks through his skill in battle and charisma. In 1821 he would lead a raid against the newly established Red River Colony during the Pemmican War, and his Cossacks captured and pillaged Fort Gibraltar. The North West Company eventually retook the fort, and Davis’ Cossacks and Metis allies fled west where they established the Babrul Host.