A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 11

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645

USA > Oklahoma > A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I > Part 11

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Quapaws

476

176

300

476

Creeks

22,000

8,089 14,805 17,894

4,106

Florida Ind.

3,765

265

407

672

3,098

Cherokees

22,000

6,048

6,072 15,928

Senecas from San- dusky

251

Senecas and Shaw- nees

211

The Indians reported in December, 1837, as having been moved beyond the Missis- sippi were as follows:

Chickasaws

549

Choctaws

15,000

Quapaws

476

Creeks

20,437

Seminoles

407

Appalachicolas

265

Cherokees

7,911

Kickapoos

588

Delawares

826

Shawnees

1,272

Ottawas

874

Weas

222

Plankeshaws

162

Peorias and Kaskaskias.

132

Pottawotomies of Indiana

Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawotomies.

2.191

Senecas

251

Senecas and Shawnee

211

51,327

In his report of November 1, 1838, the commissioner of Indian affairs tabulates the results of Indian removal as follows:

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now west of Mis-

No. to be removed

iginally for emi- gration.

to Sept. 30, 1885.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

No. for emigration

No. removed prior to

last annual port.

annual

of emigrating

Indians west

No. now to be re-

No. now under sub-

sistence west.

Choctawa

18,500

Creeks

22,000

15,000 20,437 1,079 7,911

177 4,106 1,851 *18,000 4,600

15,177

3,323 750

Florida Indians.

835

4,106 1,651

Cherokees

*18,000

Chickasaws

25,911 4,600

400

4,600

* Including parties now on route.

The decision of the supreme court in the Worcester case failed of effect so far as re- garded Georgia's relations with the Chero- kee Indians. The governor defied the sum- mons that the missionary be released, and he was kept in prison for over a year, so that he could say with truth, when he died in the Cherokee Nation some years later (in 1859), that he had endured chains, im- prisonment and exile for their sake. In the meantime the persecution of the Chero- kee people had continued. Bands of armed men invaded their country, forcibly seiz- ing horses and cattle, taking possession of houses from which they had ejected the occupants, and assaulting the owners who dared to make resistance.

Despite these circumstances which ren- dered the lot of the Cherokees one of con- stant danger, the government was unable to prevail upon them to accept the proposed terms of emigration. They finally consented to a further limitation of their lands, but Georgia refused to assent. In August, 1834, at a council meeting the question of removal was debated, and a new sentiment was intro- duced among the Indians favorable to emi- gration. John Walker, who took the lead- ing part in advocating the emigration, while returning to his home from the council, was assassinated from ambush. Being a man of superior education and of influential

connections, his murder created great ex- citement. This was the first of a long ser- ies of killings that resulted from the feuds of the Cherokees growing out of this politi- cal question of emigration. The Cherokees were now nearly worn out by constant bat- tle against a fate from which there seemed no hope of escape. "In February, 1835,8 two rival delegations arrived in Washington. One, the national party, headed by John Ross, came prepared still to fight for home and national existence. The other, headed by Major John Ridge, a prominent sub- chief, despairing of further successful re- sistance, was prepared to negotiate for re- moval. Rev. J. F. Schermerhorn was ap- pointed commissioner to arrange with the Ridge party a treaty to be confirmed later by the Cherokee people in general council. On this basis a treaty was negotiated with the Ridge party by which the Cherokees were to cede their whole eastern territory and remove to the west in consideration of the sum of $3,250,000, with some additional acreage in the west and a small sum for depredations committed upon them by the whites. Finding that these negotiations were proceeding, the Ross party filed a counter proposition, for $20,000,000, which was re-

' James Mooney, "Myths of the Cherokee," 19th annual report B. A. E.

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ro-

since

re-

originally.

No. removed

last

port.

Mississippi.

moved.

No.

24,543 2,730

3,765 22,000 5,000

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

jected by the senate as excessive. The and circulated throughout the nation, with Schermerhorn compact with the Ridge a statement that those who failed to attend would be counted as assenting to any treaty that might be made. party, with the consideration changed to $4,500,000, was thereupon completed and signed March 14, 1835, but with the ex- press stipulation that it should receive the approval of the Cherokee Nation in full council assembled before being considered binding. This much accomplished, Mr. Schermerhorn departed for the Cherokee country, armed with an address from Pres- ident Jackson in which the great benefits of removal were set forth to the Cherokees. Having exhausted the summer and fall in fruitless effort to secure favorable action, the reverend gentleman notified the presi- dent, proposing either to obtain the signa- tures of the leading Cherokee by promising them payment for their improvements at their own valuation, if in any degree reas- onable, or to conclude a treaty with a part of the nation and compel its acceptance by the rest. He was promptly informed by the secretary of war, Lewis Cass, on behalf of the president, that the treaty, if concluded at all, must be procured upon fair and open terms, with no particular promise to any individual, high or low, to gain his aid or influence, and without sacrificing the in- terest of the whole to the cupidity of a few. He was also informed that, as it would probably be contrary to his wish, his letter would not be put on file.

"In October, 1835, the Ridge treaty was rejected by the Cherokee Nation in full council at Red Clay, even its main support- ers, Ridge himself and Elias Boudinot, go- ing over to the majority. . . . During the session of the council, notice was served on the Cherokees to meet commissioners at New Echota in December following for the purpose of negotiating a treaty. The notice was also printed in the Cherokee language

"Although for two months threats and inducements had been held out to secure a full attendance at the December confer- ence at New Echota, there were present, when the proceedings opened, according to the report of Schermerhorn himself, only from three hundred to five hundred men, women and children, out of a population of over 17,000. Notwithstanding the paucity of attendance and the absence of the princ- ipal officers of the nation, a committee was appointed to arrange the details of a treaty, which was finally drawn up and signed on December 29, 1835." The instrument was signed by William Carroll of Tennessee and J. F. Schermerhorn and by twenty Cherokees, among whom the most promin- ent were Major Ridge and Elias Boudinot. Neither John Ross nor any of the officers of the nation were represented.

Two delegations of Cherokees accom- panied the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of 1835 on their return to Wash- ington. The delegation from the majority declared that the treaty had not been made with the Cherokee Nation, or by its author- ity, but with a small, unauthorized minority. "Both delegations of Cherokees," says McCoy, "were composed of men of sound judgment, and both were averse to removal. The party which had signed the treaty said they had acted under the influence of neces- sity in choosing between two evils which hung over their nation. Notwithstanding their removal was a severe oppression, they believed that far greater evils would follow if they refused to go. The majority ap- peared to rely upon the intrinsic justness of their cause. They made good their plea

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

by exhibiting the names of many thousands who declared the treaty to have been un- authorized."

The weight of proof was against the authenticity of the treaty, and yet the gov- ernment had to ratify the treaty or permit the worse alternative of allowing the Chero- kees to be driven out of their country by the irritated citizens of Georgia, and there- by suffer unnumbered cruelties and per- haps perish altogether. It was a case where state's rights and power practically nullified the jurisdiction of the federal government. The public opinion of Georgia was strongly set against the continued residence of the Cherokees, and in the disastrous conflict of state and federal authority in maintaining the rights of the Indians, the latter would have been the chief sufferers. So that re- moval from the state, despite the sympathy of a large portion of the country for the oppressed Indians, was forced as a solution that can be considered both politic and humane.

Opposition to ratification of the treaty with the Cherokees in 1835 lacked only one vote of being successful. Benton ("Thirty Years' View") says: "The discontented party of the Cherokees, and the intrusive counsellors, and party spirit, pursued it [the treaty] to Washington city, and or- ganized an opposition to it, headed by the great chiefs then opposed to the administra- tion of General Jackson-Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster and Mr. Calhoun. Immediately after the treaty was communicated to the senate, Mr. Clay presented a memorial and protest against it from the 'Cherokee Na- tion,' as they were entitled by the faction that protested; and also memorials from several individual Cherokees; all which were printed and referred to the senate's committee on Indian affairs. . . . The ex-

amination was long and close, . . . and assuming very nearly a complete party aspect. On the 18th of May Mr. Clay made a motion which, as disclosing the grounds of the opposition to the treaty, deserves to be set out in its own words. It was a motion to reject the resolution of ratifica- tion, and to adopt this resolve in its place : 'That the instrument of writing, purporting to be a treaty concluded at New Echota on the 29th of December, 1835, between the United States and the chiefs, head men and people of the Cherokee tribe of Indians, and the supplementary articles thereto an- nexed, were not made and concluded by authority, on the part of the Cherokee tribe, competent to bind it; and, therefore, with- out reference to the terms and conditions of the said agreement and supplementary articles, the senate cannot consent to and advise the ratification thereof, as a valid treaty, binding upon the Cherokee tribe or nation'; concluding with a recommendation to the president to treat again with the Cherokees east of the Mississippi for the whole, or any of their possessions on this side of the river. The vote on this resolve and recommendation was, 29 yeas and 15 nays; and it requiring two-thirds to adopt it, it was, of course, lost." But the vote was a test of strength and alarmed the friends of the treaty, who finally saved the treaty with only one vote to spare.

In addition to the five million dollars paid the Cherokees as full value for their lands, by the treaty of December, 1835, Con- gress, June 12, 1838, appropriated $1,147,- 067, as an additional payment, being really a reward for removing, constituting a sum from which the expenses of removal should be drawn. Commenting on this and other features of the removal, the commissioner of Indian affairs in his report of November

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

25, 1838, says that "the case of the Chero- kees is a striking example of the liberality of the government in all its branches. By the treaty they had stipulated to remove west of the Mississippi within two years from its ratification, which took place on the 23d of May, 1836. The obligations of the United States, state rights

made a compliance with this provision of the treaty indispensable at the time stipu- lated or as soon thereafter as it was prac- ticable without harshness. To insure it General Scott was despatched to their late country, and performed a delicate and dif- ficult duty. . . . Early in the past sea- son several parties had been despatched to

the west . amounting to 6,000.

. The preparations for the removal of those who remained being in progress, John Ross and other chiefs pro- posed to the commanding general that the entire business of emigration should be con- fided to the nation." This request that the Cherokees might manage their own removal was granted by General Scott. The agree- ment was that all the Cherokees should be collected and started on the way during the months of September and October. The estimate submitted by the chiefs put the cost of the removal of one thousand souls at $65,880. This was deemed extravagant by General Scott, whose comment deserves quoting: "Take the principal item or basis of your calculation, one wagon and five saddle horses for every twenty souls. I have already consented, with a view to lighten the movement by land, that all the sick, the crippled and superannuated of the

"The sources for the following events are Sen. Doc. 1st Sess., 26th Cong., Vol. I; Sen. Doc., 1st Sess., 26th Cong., Vol. VI; Sen. Doc., 2nd Sess., 26th Cong., Vol. I.

" June 21, 1839, John Ross and others addressed

nation, should be left at the depots until the rivers be again navigable for steamboats.

Deducting the persons just men- tioned, I am confident that it will be found that among every thousand individuals, taken in families without selection, there are at least five hundred strong men, women, boys and girls, not only capable of march- ing twelve or fifteen miles a day, but to whom the exercise would be beneficial. . " Nevertheless, the Indians not only insisted on their original estimate, but included an additional item of "soap," three pounds being considered necessary for every hundred rations. As the Cherokees were using their own money to pay for the re- moval, the general approved their estimates.

"Throughout their collection and emigra- tion, so far as this office is informed, the Cherokees have manifested proper temper, and an inclination to do whatever was re- quired, with fewer exceptions than might have been expected. . . . The latest ad- vices give assurances that the last of the Cherokees would be on the road early in November [1838]. It has been estimated that 12,000 will be removed by John Ross and the other chiefs, which, added to the number that had emigrated previously dur- ing the year, believed to be about 6,000, will give an aggregate of 18,000 Cherokees who have ceased to live east of the Mississippi during the spring, summer and autumn."

In June, 1839,' the Cherokees of all par- ties held a council at their new council house at Takuttokah. The whole nation were in- vited and about six thousand attended, for the purpose of reconciling all differences .

the following explanation to the United States official in the country: "We regret to say that the reasonable propositions submitted to the con- sideration of our western brethren have not been received by them in a manner compatible with the

Vol. 1-5

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

. and to form a government for the whole Cherokee Nation. Nothing, however, was effected. The old settlers contended that, as their government was elective, the new emigrants would be entitled to vote for offi- cers at the next general election and when vacancies should occur, which they con- ceived to be a fair participation in the gov- ernment. The late emigrants wished1º to have a convention called for the purpose of framing a new constitution for the govern- ment of the nation, which was objected to on the part of the old settlers, and the coun- . cil broke up without result.

On June 22, three of the most influential members of the Ridge or treaty party were cruelly murdered, evidently at the hands of some of Ross's adherents. The victims were Major John Ridge, his son John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot. The killing of Boudinot was especially treacherous. On the morning of the crime he was assisting some workmen in building a new house. Three men called upon him and asked for medicine. He went off with them to the house of a missionary not far distant, where medicines were kept. On the way two of the men seized Boudinot and the other stabbed him, after which the three cut him to pieces with their knives and tomahawks. The murder taking place within two miles of the residence of John Ross, his friends were apprehensive it might be charged to his connivance, and some six or seven hun- dred armed Cherokees gathered around the house of their chief to repel any attack.

The murdered men were members of the Ridge or treaty party, whose activity in

wishes of the whole people. They require the un- conditional submission of the whole body of the people who have lately arrived, to laws and regu- lations, in the making of which they have had no voice. The attempt of a small minority to enforce

behalf of the treaty of 1835 had divided the eastern Cherokees into two factions. The murder of the Ridges was the result of this factional fight among the eastern Chero- kees, rather than of the differences arising from the council between the old settlers and the new. When the proposition of the Ross party to form a new constitution was submitted to the convention, the Ridge party joined the old settlers in opposing the meas- ure, and in this way the old bitterness be- tween the treaty and anti-treaty factions was revived and the murders quickly fol- lowed.

After the council had adjourned without practical results, Ross announced a national convention of the eastern and western Cherokees at Illinois camp ground (Tahle- quah) on July I, for the purpose of form- ing a union. The succeeding events throw- ing the whole nation into excitement and factional disturbance, only certain repre- sentatives of the Ross party assembled at the time and place indicated. In the mean- time a portion of the old settlers and mem- bers of the Ridge party proposed to meet the eastern faction on condition that no Cherokees should be "killed for their former political acts and opinions," (referring to the treaty of 1835), and that a national con- vention equally represented from both par- ties, should meet at Fort Gibson. The east- ern party did not accept this proposal, but substituted an invitation, dated July 5, and signed by John Ross as principal chief and the officers of the "convention" then sitting at Illinois camp ground, to "John Brown, John Looney and John Rogers, chiefs of

their will over a great majority contrary to their wishes appears to us to be a course so repugnant to reason and propriety that it cannot fail to dis- turb the peace of the community and to operate injuriously to the best interest of the nation."

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

the western Cherokees," to unite with them in efforts to promote the prosperity and happiness of their common country.

All efforts to bring the hostile parties together were futile. A council of the west- ern Indians convened on July 22, and for several weeks communications were inter- changed between the council and the "con- vention," while both bodies addressed Gen- eral Arbuckle who, with other representa- tives of the government, was confronted with the delicate task of reconciling the fac- tions and preventing a civil war.

Influences were at work overcoming the obstinate position taken by the old settlers in the matter of government. Their chiefs, John Brown, John Looney and John Rog- ers, made an appeal to the United States government (August 9, 1839) that they "be sustained in the enjoyment of our rights and in the execution of our laws and that the lives and liberties of all our citizens may be protected." But this caused disapproval among some of the old settlers, who de- clared that Brown and Rogers should be deposed.11 The Ross party had been mak- ing converts among the opposition, among them being John Looney, one of the signers of the "appeal," but who on August 23 was president of the convention that declared Brown and Rogers deposed from office.12 But it was claimed that the "eastern Chero-

. Whereas, in identifying themselves with those individuals known as the Ridge party, who by their conduct have rendered themselves odious to the Cherokee people, they have acted in opposition to the known sentiments of that por- tion of the nation known as the old settlers . . .

"Resolved, by us, the undersigned citizens of the Cherokee Nation, known as the old settlers, in council assembled, that the aforesaid John Brown and John Rogers have acted in a manner unworthy of the office of chiefs

" General Arbuckle wrote from Fort Gibson, September 4, 1839: "I visited Fort Smith late in August, and understood, in passing through the

kees" whose names were signed to various records and resolutions emanating from the convention really represented only a very small percent of the total number of the old settlers. On August 27 the convention protested against the appeal of the western party to Washington, insisting that, as the differences grew out of questions of merely tribal politics, they were not a sufficient cause for United States interference.

In July the Ross party, in convention at Tahlequah, had published a decree granting amnesty to all who had "exposed and made themselves liable to the penalty of out- lawry" provided they appeared before the convention within a certain time to accept this grant of pardon. After the treaty party, in a communication to Washington of August 20, had denounced the murder of the Ridges and Boudinot, this grant of amnesty was again proclaimed by the Ross party, September 4 being the last day on which those guilty of the unspecified offense could appear and take advantage of the clemency of the majority party.

The great offense of those intended to be reached by these proclamations of amnesty was the signing of the treaty of 1835, though that act is not specifically mentioned. The signers of that treaty had alone been singled out for vengeance, and it was claimed that the murders were resolved on

Cherokee Nation, that the emissaries of Mr. Ross were passing through the Cherokee country with the object of collecting and bringing to the con- vention as many of the old settlers as possible; and since my return here, I am informed that John Looney, one of the principal chiefs of the old set- tlers, has joined the late emigrants. I am of the opinion that Mr. Ross and his adherents have induced so many of the old settlers to join them that the chiefs Brown and Rogers and their friends will not attempt any resistance to the new government. Yet the means which have been em- ployed to establish that government will no doubt long disturb the harmony of the Cherokee Na- tion "

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

at the Double Spring council ground in June, 1839, and that those who took the life of John Ridge started from that ground for the express purpose.

The action of part of the old settlers in deposing their two chiefs and in going over to the Ross faction, was a severe blow to the power of the Ridge party, who for a time were in great danger. Outside of those who were not embodied with the Ross ad- herents, some took refuge in Arkansas, and one chief was reported to have fled to Mex- ico. It was a situation that threatened not only the internal peace of the Cherokee Nation, but seemed likely to involve the neighboring tribes in war. The border set- tlers in Arkansas were alarmed, and a con- centration of troops was effected to pre- vent the Indians from disturbing the peace of the white settlements. General Arbuckle and Captain Armstrong were instructed to arrest the murderers of the Ridges, it being held that under the provision of the treaty binding the United States. "to protect the Cherokee Nation from domestic strife and foreign enemies," the government had a right to interfere in this factional strife. At the same time all payments of money to the Cherokees were withheld until peace and order should be restored. In every way pos- sible the government brought pressure to effect a reconciliation of the factions. Con- vinced that the Ross party was responsible for the killing of the Ridges and Boudinot, and that Ross was chiefly to blame for the disorder then existing, the government offi- cials were instructed not to recognize the Cherokee government as established at Tahlequah in September, 1839, and that John Ross must be excluded from official leadership of the nation.

Finally on April 20, 1840, General Ar- buckle secured a convention of the two

parties at Fort Gibson, and the following day addressed the deputations with an ex- planation of the principles which the gov- ernment would insist upon in harmonizing the conflicting elements. Lest the old set- tlers' party be entirely excluded from the union government, as would happen under strict majority rule because of the prepond- erance in numbers of the late emigrants, it had been determined, said General Ar- buckle, that the old settlers should enjoy in the new government one-third of the offi- cers. The reasons for the government's interference in this matter, and the necessity of excluding Ross and Coodey from office as a means of restoring harmony, were also explained to the deputies of the two parties.

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 11

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.) Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company Number of Pages: 645

Author: Hill, L. B. (Luther B.)
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pubishing Company
Number of Pages: 645