The US government used them to further their own interest. There were settlers from Georgia who were moving into Alabama and Creek territory. They were considered, for the most part, intruders and the Creeks tried to get them out. At that time, the Creeks were friendly with the Spanish and did a large trading business in Pensacola at the Panton-Leslie Co. The Creeks tried to play the political game a bit too much and the Spanish did furnish weapons and such but they were not getting into a war with the US over some Indians so the Creeks were left in the cold. I believe the Choctaw and Chickasaw had the French for semi-allies for a time. None of it mattered when Andrew Jackson came into the area and he came for blood. How he managed to get the Cherokee to help him at the Battle of Horshoe Bend is something I will never quite understand. In the end, it didn't matter. The US got more territory and the Natives got squat. It was many years before they were given token payment for what was lost. Guess they got more than the South did after the CW though.
Pam