He was born in the vicinity of present-day Nottely Lake (created as a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project in 1942), Georgia, then part of the large Cherokee territory.
The initial results were so disastrous that Cherokee leaders, including Goingsnake, successfully petitioned Scott for delays and to allow self-leadership of future detachments.
Arriving in Indian Territory after a 4-month journey, Goingsnake built his cabin on Ward Branch Creek about 6 miles north of present-day Westville, Oklahoma.
I glanced along the line and the form of Goingsnake, an aged and respected chief whose head eighty summers had whitened, mounted his favorite pony, passed before me and led the way in silence.
I almost thought it a voice of Divine indignation for the wrongs done my poor and unhappy countrymen, driven by brutal power from all they loved and cherished in the lands of their fathers to gratify the cravings of avarice.
"[7] In a petition presented to Congress and President Jackson, John Ross expressed the inadequacy of the government agent's arrangements for the July 1835 Cherokee Council meeting at Running Waters (current-day Rome, Georgia).