James Vann (ca. 1765 and 1768-1809) was a Cherokee leader of mixed ancestry. He was a businessman and soldier, and thanks in no small part to his alcoholism, made many enemies among the Cherokee. He was murdered in 1809.
While James Vann was dead years before Sam Houston's 1814 expedition to Washington, he still indirectly made the trip difficult when one of his relatives killed a Chickasaw. A band of Chickasaw then pursued a band of Cherokee led by John Ross. The Cherokee succeeded in killing many of the Chickasaw.