In April 1828, English traveler Basil Hall observed a Native Creek Stick-Ball match along the Georgia-Alabama line. Stickball was a fiercely competitive game taken seriously by the local clans, as it helped to prevent conflicts. Each team consisted of about 50 young warriors participating in a day-long match, using wooden sticks with nets to pass a hide-wrapped feather ball into the opponent's goal. There were no boundaries; the surrounding forests were considered in-bounds and part of the play area. Basil Hall vividly described both the match and the preparations that took place the night before.

" As the instrument contained about thirty teeth, each Indian must have had several hundred lines drawn on his skin. The blood flowed profusely. They waved their arms about to assist the bleeding which seemed to be their objective. It was altogether a hideous and frightful scene."

His full account is available in the Library of Congress.