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As Sequoyah grew older, he became a fine hunter and craftsman.  He was also a great trader and blacksmith.  He knew many languages, such as French, Spanish and English.  Knowing many languages helped him a great deal in trading when he came upon foreigners.  Then, when he turned 21, his mother died.  So, Sequoyah packed his bags and settled in Willstown, Tennessee.  He built himself a one-room cabin, and met a woman named Utiya.  They married and had five children.  He had four sons and one daughter named Ah-yoka.  He became a silversmith and part time blacksmith.  Just after Utiya had Ah-yoka, Sequoyah went to fight in an American war.  That was where he got the idea for a language.  During the war, Sequoyah had seen written symbols on flat pages of pressed trees and leaves.  The Englishmen called it paper.  They used symbols to communicate without speaking.  They called it the 'alphabet'. The Cherokee called it the talking leaves.  The Cherokee didn't have a written language.  When Sequoyah got back home from the war in 1809, his only interest was to create a written language for the Cherokee.