USA > North Carolina > Western North Carolina; a history, 1730-1913 > Part 54
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DID THE GOVERNMENT WINK AT THIS COMPROMISE ? As it seemed exceedingly improbable that the government would deliberately violate the terms of a treaty that had been sol- emnly made with the Cherokees without the approval of the Senate, and allow a thousand Cherokees to remain behind, especially after General Jackson had emphatically refused to allow any of them to remain on any terms, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was asked for any official information that might be on file in his office concerning this matter, with this result: "It is true that by supplemental articles of agree- ment pre-emption rights and reservations provided for the Cherokees who remained east of the Mississippi were relin- quished and declared void. (See 7 Stat. L, 488) However, many of the Indians did remain east of the Mississippi and the Act of July 29, 1848, (9 Stat. L., 264) provided for the set- ting aside of a fund for these Indians, the interest of which was to be paid them annually until their removal west of the
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Mississippi, when the principal was to be paid them." This letter is dated January 29, 1913, and was supplemental to another of January 21, 1913, in which this language is used: "You are advised that nothing has been found in the files of this office regarding the alleged agreement of General Scott to allow part of the Cherokees to remain in North Carolina on condition that they surrender Old Charlie and his sons." Again, on February 27, 1913, he wrote: "I have of course no objection to your quoting all or any part of office letters to you on this subject. As to your following these letters with the quotation given in your letter, I would rather not express an opinion, since I had a search of the records made and found nothing about the alleged agreement to allow certain of the Cherokees to remain east of the Mississippi. I would not be warranted in saying that such an agreement was not made, since there were many things happening in the Indian country about that period of which this office has no record."
RECOGNITION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE EASTERN BAND. On August 6, 1846, a treaty was concluded at Washington by which the rights of the Eastern Cherokees to a participation in the benefits of the New Echota treaty of 1835 were dis- tinctly recognized, and provision made for the final adjust- ment of all unpaid and pending claims due under that treaty; the government having insisted before that time that those rights were conditional upon their removal to the West. Col. W. H. Thomas then took charge of the Eastern Band. 6
WILLIAM HOLLAND THOMAS. He was born in 1805 in Haywood county. His father was of a Welch family, fought at Kings Mountain under Col. Campbell, and was related to Zachary Taylor. His mother was descended from a Maryland family of Revolutionary stock. He was an only and posthumous child, his father having been accidentally drowned a short time before he was born. When twelve years old he was engaged to tend an Indian trading store on Soco creek by Felix Walker, son of the congressman who made a national reputation by "talking for Buncombe." Here he studied law, and was duly admitted to practice. He was adopted by Yonaguska, the Cherokee chief, and was called Will-Usdi, or "Little Will." He learned the spoken and writ- ten language, acquiring the Sequoya syllabary shortly after its
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invention. Soon after the removal of the Cherokees Thomas bought a fine farm near Whittier, and built a home which he called Stekoa, after the Indian town on the same site which had been destroyed by Rutherford in 1776. At the time of theremoval he owned five trading stores, viz: at Quallatown, at Murphy, at Charleston, Tenn., at Robbinsville and at Webster. As agent for the Cherokees he bought the five towns for them at Bird-town, Paint-town, Wolf-town, Yellow-hill, and Big Cove. He drew up a simple form of government for them, which was executed by Yonaguska till his death and after- wards by Thomas. In 1848 he entered the State Senate, and inaugurated a system of road improvement and was the father of the Western North Carolina railroad. He voted for secession in 1861, and in 1862 organized the Thomas Legion, composed of Cherokees and white citizens. After the war his health failed. His conduct of Cherokee affairs was settled by arbitrators, and it was found that the Indians had lost nothing, and had gained largely under his leader- ship. Col. Thomas, with 300 Indians and Col. James R. Love with 300 white soldiers, confronted Col. Bartlett of New York in April, 1865, near Waynesville. At sight of the Indians and after hearing their yells Bartlett agreed to surrender, and Col. Thomas paroled his men, allowing them to retain their side arms. 7 Col. Thomas died May 12, 1893.
THE LATE CAPTAIN JAMES W. TERRELL. "In 1852 (Capt.) James W. Terrell was engaged by (Col. W. H.) Thomas, then in the State Senate, to take charge of his store at Qualla, and remained associated with him and in close contact with the Indians from then until after the close of the war, assisting, as special United States Agent, in the disbursement of the interest payments, and afterward as a Confederate officer in the organization of the Indian companies, holding a commis- sion as captain of Company A, Sixty-ninth North Carolina Confederate infantry. Being of an investigating bent, Cap- tain Terrell was led to give attention to the customs and mythology of the Cherokee, and to accumulate a fund of information on the subject seldom possessed by a white man."
NORTH CAROLINA GIVES PERMISSION. "In 1855 Congress directed the per capita payment to the East Cherokees of the removal fund established for them in 1848, provided that North Carolina should first give assurance that they would
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be allowed to remain permanently in that State. This assur- ance, however, was not given until 1866, and the money was therefore not distributed, but remained in the treasury until 1875, when it was made applicable to the purchase of lands and the quieting of titles for the benefit of the Indians."
LANMAN, DANIEL WEBSTER'S SECRETARY. In the spring of 1848 the author, Lanman, visited the East Cherokees and .has left an interesting account of their condition at the time, together with a description of their ball-plays, dances, and customs generally, having been the guest of Colonel Thomas, of whom he speaks as the guide, counselor, and friend of the Indians, as well as their business agent and chief, so that the connection was like that existing between a father and his children. He puts the number of Indians at about 800 Cher- okee and 100 Catawba on the "Quallatown" reservation - the name being in use thus early-with 200 more Indians residing in the more westerly portion of the State. Of their general condition he says :
CONDITION OF INDIANS IN 1848. "About three-fourths of the entire population can read in their own language, and, though the majority of them understand English, a very few can speak the language. They practice, to a considerable extent, the science of agriculture, and have acquired such a knowledge of the mechanic arts as answers them for all ordi- nary purposes, for they manufacture their own clothing, their own ploughs, and other farming utensils, their own axes, and even their own guns. Their women are no longer treated as slaves, but as equals; the men labor in the fields and their wives are devoted entirely to household employments. They keep the same domestic animals that are kept by their white neighbors, and cultivate all the common grains of the coun- try. They are probably as temperate as any other class of people on the face of the earth, honest in their business inter- course, moral in their thoughts, words, and deeds, and dis- tinguished for their faithfulness in performing the duties of religion. They are chiefly Methodists and Baptists, and have regularly ordained ministers, who preach to them on every Sabbath, and they have also abandoned many of their more senseless superstitions. They have their own court and try their criminals by a regular jury. Their judges and lawyers are chosen from among themselves. They keep in order the
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public roads leading through their settlement. By a law of the State they have a right to vote, but seldom exercise that right, as they do not like the idea of being identified with any of the political parties. Excepting on festive days, they dress after the manner of the white man, but far more pic- turesquely. They live in small log houses of their own con- struction, and have everything they need or desire in the way of food. They are, in fact, the happiest community that I have yet met with in this southern country."
SALALI. Among the other notables Lanman speaks thus of Salili, "Squirrel," a born mechanic of the band, who died only a few years since :
"He is quite a young man and has a remarkably thoughtful face He is the blacksmith of his nation, and with some assistance supplies the whole of Qualla town with all their axes and plows; but what is more, he has manufactured a number of very superior rifles and pistols, includ- ing stock, barrel, and lock, and he is also the builder of grist mills, which grind all the corn which his people eat. A specimen of his workman- ship in the way of a rifle may be seen at the Patent Office in Washing- ton, where it was deposited by Mr. Thomas; and I believe Salali is the first Indian who ever manufactured an entire gun. But when it is re- membered that he never received a particle of education in any of the mechanic arts, but is entirely self-taught, his attainments must be con- sidered truly remarkable."
COLONEL THOMAS THWARTS GENERAL KIRBY SMITH. "From 1855 until after the Civil War we find no official notice of the East Cherokees, and our information must be obtained from other sources. It was, however, a most momentous period in their history. At the outbreak of the war Thomas was serving his seventh consecutive term in the State Senate. Being an ardent Confederate sympathizer, he was elected a delegate to the convention which passed the secession ordi- nance, and immediately after voting in favor of that measure resigned from the Senate in order to work for the Southern cause. As he was already well advanced in years it is doubt- ful if his effort would have gone beyond the raising of funds and other supplies but for the fact that at this juncture an effort was made by the Confederate General Kirby Smith to enlist the East Cherokees for active service.
KIRBY SMITH'S EMISSARY. "The agent sent for this pur- pose was Washington Morgan, known to the Indians as Agan- stata, son of that Colonel Gideon Morgan who had commanded
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the Cherokee at the Horseshoe Bend. By virtue of his Indian blood and historic ancestry he was deemed the most fitting emissary for the purpose. Early in 1862 he arrived among the Cherokee, and by appealing to old-time memories so aroused the war spirit among them that a large number de- clared themselves ready to follow wherever he led. Con- ceiving the question at issue in the war to be one that did not concern the Indians, Thomas had discouraged their par- ticipation in it and advised them to remain at home in quiet neutrality. Now, however, knowing Morgan's reputation for reckless daring, he became alarmed at the possible result to them of such leadership. Forced either to see them go from his own protection or to lead them himself, he chose the lat- ter alternative and proposed to them to enlist in the Con- federate legion which he was about to organize. His object, as he himself has stated, was to keep them out of danger so far as possible by utilizing them as scouts and home guards through the mountains, away from the path of the large armies. Nothing of this was said to the Indains, who might not have been satisfied with such an arrangement. Morgan went back alone and the Cherokee enrolled under the com- mand of their white chief.
FORMATION OF THOMAS'S LEGION. "The 'Thomas Legion,' recruited in 1862 by William H. Thomas for the Confederate service and commanded by him as colonel, consisted origin- ally of one infantry regiment of ten companies (Sixty-ninth North Carolina Infantry), one infantry battalion of six com- panies, one cavalry battalion of eight companies (First North Carolina Cavalry Battalion), one field battery (Light Battery) of 103 officers and men, and one company of engineers; in all about 2,800 men. The infantry battalion was recruited toward the close of the war to a full regiment of ten companies and two other companies of the infantry regiment recruited later were composed almost entirely of East Cher- okee Indians, most of the commissioned officers being white men. The whole number of Cherokee thus enlisted was nearly four hundred, or about every able-bodied man in the tribe."
ONE SECRET OF COL. THOMAS'S SUCCESS. Many have won- dered how Col. Thomas could so soon have obtained com- plete control of all the affairs of the Eastern Band of Chero-
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kees, and how he could have obtained from the Confederate government its consent for the organization of these Indians into an independent legion, subject almost entirely to his control, and required to operate only in the restricted terri- tory immediately surrounding their reservation at Qually- town. But when it is remembered that his mother was Temperance Calvert, and that he himself was closely related to Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, whose daughter became the wife of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy, much that was incomprehensible becomes plain. Indeed, all the so called Colvards of Ashe, Graham and Haywood counties claim that their real name was originally Calvert; that they are descendants of the Calverts of Maryland; and the late Captain James W. Terrell always insisted that Temperance Calvert was a grand-niece of Lord Baltimore himself. Col. Thomas was also first cousin to John Strother, whose family was one of influence and standing in Virginia in former days. (See N. C. Uni- versity Magazine for May, 1899, pp. 291 to 295.)
CHEROKEE SCOUTS AND HOME GUARDS. "In accordance with Thomas's plan the Indians were employed chiefly as scouts and home guards in the mountain region along the Tennessee- Carolina border, where, according to the testimony of Colonel Stringfield, they did good work and service for the South. The most important engagement in which they were concerned occurred at Baptist gap, Tennessee, September 15, 1862, where Lieutenant Astugataga, a splendid specimen of Indian man- hood, was killed in a charge. The Indians were furious at his death, and before they could be restrained they scalped one or two of the Federal dead. For this action ample apol- ogies were afterwards given by their superior officers. The war, in fact, brought out all the latent Indian in their nature. Before starting to the front every man consulted an oracle stone to learn whether or not he might hope to return in safety. The start was celebrated with a grand old-time war-dance at the townhouse on Soco, the Indians being painted and feathered in good old style, Thomas himself frequently assisting as master of ceremonies. The ball-play, too, was not forgotten, and on one occasion a detachment of Cherokees, left to guard a bridge, became so engrossed in the excitement of the game as to narrowly escape capture by a
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sudden dash of the Federals. Owing to Thomas's care for their welfare, they suffered but slightly in actual battle, although a number died of hardship and disease. When the Confederates evacuated eastern Tennessee, in the winter of 1863-64, some of the white troops of the legion, with one or two of the Cherokee companies, were shifted to western Vir- ginia, and by assignment to other regiments a few of the Cherokee were present at the final siege and surrender of Richmond. The main body of the Indians, with the rest of the Thomas Legion, crossed over into North Carolina and did service protecting the western border until the close of the war, when they surrendered on parole at Waynesville, North Carolina, in May 1865, all those of the command being allowed to keep their guns. It is claimed by their officers that they were the last of the Confederate forces to surrender. About fifty of the Cherokee veterans still survive (in 1899), nearly half of whom, under conduct of Colonel Stringfield, attended the Confederate reunion at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1900, where they attracted much attention.
CONFEDERATE CONGRESS PROVIDES FUNDS. "In 1863, by resolution of February 12, the Confederate House of Rep- resentatives called for information as to the number and condition of the East Cherokee, and their pending relations with the Federal government at the beginning of the war, with a view to continuing these relations under Confederate auspices. In response to this inquiry a report was submitted by the Confederate Commissioner of Indian Affairs, S. S. Scott, based on information furnished by Colonel Thomas and Captain James W. Terrell, their former disbursing agent, showing that interest upon the 'removal and subsistence fund' estab- lished in 1848 had been paid annually up to and including the year 1859, at the rate of $3.20 per capita, or an aggregate, exclusive of disbursing agent's commission, of $4,838.40 an- nually, based upon the original Mullay enumeration of 1,517.
"Upon receipt of this report it was enacted by the Con- federate Congress that the sum of $19,352.36 be paid the East Cherokee to cover the interest period of four years from May 23, 1860 to May 23, 1864.
CAPTURED CHEROKEES DESERT CONFEDERACY. "In & skirmish near Bryson City (then Charleston), Swain county, North Carolina, about a year after enlistment, a small party
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of Cherokees-perhaps a dozen in number-were captured by a detachment of Union troops and carried to Knoxville, where, having become dissatisfied with their experience in the Confederate service, they were easily persuaded to go over to the Union side. Through the influence of their prin- cipal man, Diganeski, several others were induced to desert to the Union army, making about thirty in all. As a part of the Third North Carolina Mounted Volunteer Infantry, they served with the Union forces in the same region until the close of the war, when they returned to their homes to find their tribesmen so bitterly incensed against them that for some time their lives were in danger. Eight of these were still alive in 1900.
AFTER CIVIL WAR. "Shortly after this event Colonel Thomas was compelled by physical and mental infirmity to retire from further active participation in the affairs of the East Cherokee, after more than half a century spent in inti- mate connection with them, during the greater portion of which time he had been their most trusted friend and adviser. Their affairs at once became the prey of confusion and fac- tional strife, which continued until the United States stepped in as arbiter.
CHEROKEES ADOPT NEW GOVERNMENT, 1870. "On De- cember 9, 1868, a general council of the East Cherokee assem- bled at Cheowa, in Graham county, North Carolina, took preliminary steps toward the adoption of a regular form of tribal government under a constitution. N. J. Smith, after- ward principal chief, was clerk of the council. The new gov- ernment was formally inaugurated on December 1, 1870.
STATUS OF INDIAN LANDS. "The status of the lands held by the Indians had now become a matter of serious concern. As has been stated, the deeds had been made out by Thomas in his own name, as the State laws at that time forbade Indian ownership of real estate. In consequence of his losses during the war and his subsequent disability, the Thomas properties, of which the Cherokee lands were technically a part, had become involved, so that the entire estate had passed into the hands of creditors, the most important of whom, William Johnston, had obtamed sheriff's deeds in 1869 for all of these Indian lands under three several judgments against Thomas, aggregating $33,887.11. To adjust the mat-
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ter so as to secure title and possession to the Indians, Con- gress in 1870 authorized suit to be brought in their name for the recovery of their interest. This suit was begun in May, 1873, in the United States Circuit Court for western North Carolina. A year later the matters in dispute were submit- ted by agreement to a board of arbitrators, whose award was confirmed by the court in November, 1874.
LAND STATUS SETTLED BY ARBITRATION. "The award finds that Thomas had purchased with Indian funds a tract esti- mated to contain 50,000 acres on Oconaluftee river and Soco creek, and known as the Qualla boundary, together with a number of individual tracts outside the boundary; that the Indians were still indebted to Thomas toward the purchase of the Qualla boundary lands for the sum of $18,250, from which should be deducted $6,500 paid by them to Johnston to release titles, with interest to date of award, making an aggregate of $8,486, together with a further sum of $2,478, which had been intrusted to Terrell, the business clerk and assistant of Thomas, and by him turned over to Thomas, as creditor of the Indians, under power of attorney, this latter sum, with interest to date of award, aggregating $2,697.89; thus leaving a balance due from the Indians to Thomas or his legal creditor, Johnston, of $7,066.11. The award declares that Johnston should be allowed to hold the lands bought by him only as security for the balance due him until paid, and that on the payment of the said balance of $7,066.11, with interest at six per cent from the date of the award, the In- dians should be entitled to a clear conveyance from him of the legal title to all the lands embraced within the Qualla boundary.
PART OF SUBSISTENCE FUND USED TO CLEAR TITLE. "TO enable the Indians to clear off this lien on their lands and for other purposes, Congress in 1875 directed that as much as remained of the 'removal and subsistence fund' set apart for their benefit in 1848 should be used 'in perfecting the titles to the lands awarded to them, and to pay the costs, expenses, and liabilities attending their recent litigations, also to pur- chase and extinguish the titles of any white persons to lands within the general boundaries alotted to them by the court, and for the education, improvement, and civilization of their people.' In accordance with this authority the unpaid bal-
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ance and interest due Johnston, amounting to $7,242.76, was paid him in the same year, and shortly afterward there was purchased on behalf of the Indians some fifteen thousand acres additional, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs being con- stituted trustee for the Indians. For the better protection of the Indians the lands were made inalienable except by assent of the council and upon approval of the President of the United States.
DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS ASSUMES CONTROL. "The titles and boundaries having been adjusted, the Indian Office assumed regular supervision of East Cherokee affairs, and in June, 1875, the first agent since the retirement of Thomas was sent out in the person of W. C. McCarthy. He found the Indians, according to his report, destitute and discouraged, almost without stock or farming tools. There were no schools, and very few full-bloods could speak English, although to their credit nearly all could read and write their own language, the parents teaching the children. Under his authority a distribution was made of stock animals, seed wheat, and farming tools, and several schools were started. In the next year, however, the agency was discontinued and the educational interests of the band turned over to the State School Superintendent.
THE OLD INDIAN FRIENDS, THE QUAKERS. "The neglected condition of the East Cherokee having been brought to the attention of those old time friends of the Indian, the Quak- ers, through an appeal made in their behalf by members of that society residing in North Carolina, the Western Yearly Meeting, of Indiana, volunteered to undertake the work of civilization and education. On May 31, 1881, representatives of the Friends entered into a contract with the Indians, sub- ject to approval by the Government, to establish and con- tinue among them for ten years an industrial school and other common schools, to be supported in part from the annual interest of the trust fund held by the Government to the credit of the East Cherokee and in part by funds furnished by the Friends themselves. Through the efforts of Barnabas C. Hobbs, of the Western Yearly Meeting, a yearly contract to the same effect was entered into with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs later in the same year, and was renewed by successive commissioners to cover the period of ten years end-
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