A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 14

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

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"The Creeks," states the Indian commis- sioner in 1838, "settled quite thick together when they first reached the country; they are now extending their settlements up the Canadian to Little river, and a few have even gone further out towards Camp Ma- son. This will enable them to raise stock and be more comfortably situated. An- other portion of the late emigrant Creeks have gone up the Arkansas and have joined what is called the McIntosh party. The nation is divided into what is called upper and lower towns, as it was before their re- moval. McIntosh is chief of the lower town, and Apothleyohola of the upper town. The parties are nearly equally divided."

The difficulties arising from the settlement of the Seminoles among the Creeks and Cherokees on their removal to the Indian country continued for several years to per- plex the Indian officials, until the question was settled in the treaty negotiated in Jan- uary, 1845, with the Creeks and Seminoles. Large numbers of the Seminoles, chiefly the more hostile of the recent emigrants, had without any authority settled among the Cherokees, to whom they were exceed- ingly troublesome on account.of their ma- rauding habits and destitute condition. The country provided for them some years be- fore had been appropriated to the upper Creeks at a time when it was considered important to separate that band from their former antagonists of the lower towns. This disposition of their lands caused the Seminoles to refuse to settle in any part of the Creek country, and they were a trouble- some factor in Indian affairs until the treaty of 1845, when the differences were recon- ciled by securing to the Seminoles a full

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representation in the Creek government, giving them the right to settle without re- striction on vacant Creek lands, and fur- nishing them six months' subsistence (the last provision being, in the opinion of the agent, the chief incentive to their assent to the treaty). The great body of this tribe, in consequence, had moved to the vicinity of Little river, and were reported, in September, 1845, as prospering.

The report of the superintendent of the southern superintendency in September, 1859, deals specifically with several ques- tions that are of particular interest in un- derstanding the condition of the tribes just before the war. The strong bias that crossed all the judgments of men on public matters and policies at that time makes it necessary to qualify even these expressions on the Indian tribes. Of civilization among the Cherokees, his opinion is that "so far as concern their moral and intellectual devel- opment, at best, they do no more at present than not to retrograde. . . While they continue obstinately wedded to their notions of nationality and of holding their lands in common, and inveterately opposed to opening their country to settlement, and to taking any steps toward admission into the union of states, they cannot be expected to advance in civilization beyond a certain point, which, I think, they have already reached."

Then follows an exposition of one of the causes that had been working for years toward the disintegration of the Indian tribes. "The abandonment of the military post at Fort Gibson and the growing up of a vicious little town there have given un- usual activity to the whisky trade in that region of the Cherokee country and in the Creek country adjoining. During the last Creek payment several hundred gallons of liquor were vended in small quantities and

at enormous prices, just within the Cherokee line, and disorder and violence were the natural consequence." The evils growing out of large annuity payments to the In- dians are also criticised. "The Creeks have received the last large sums of money pay- able to them by the United States under the treaty of 1856. . . With the ces- sation of these payments many of the traders will disappear from the country, and the business of those that remain will no longer consist in purchasing head rights in advance, but the Indians will be compelled to resort to the raising of stock and grain as a means for the purchase of goods no longer sold on credit. It is to be hoped that then the number of officials will be dimin- ished, so that some portion of the Creek annuities may be devoted to other purposes than the payment of salaries; since public buildings are needed, and there are roads that should be improved, and bridges that should be erected, for which, and for other national purposes, nothing is ever to be found in the treasury.

This report estimates the whole number of Cherokee Indians to be 21,000, with 4,000 voters. It has been said that the Cherokees had little interest in slave-hold- ing. Yet the number of negroes in the nation at that time was estimated at 4,000 (see below), which would indicate that no small part of the labor was performed by slaves, and that slavery was an institution among the Cherokees of no small financial and industrial extent. The insinuating progress of white intrusion is also seen in the presence among the Cherokees at that time of 1,000 persons.

The report of the eighth census (1860) contains a valuable summary of the status of slavery among the five tribes. With a total of nearly 8,000 slaves among the In- dians of these tribes, and the two tribes

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most advanced in civilization possessing two-thirds of the whole number, it is evi- dent that slavery was a recognized institu- tion of the Indian country and an integral part of the industrial system, though not so vitally a factor of material prosperity here as in the southern states. The por- tion of the census report referred to is quoted :

"A new element has been developed by the present census, viz., that of the statistics of negro slavery among the Indian tribes west of Arkansas comprising the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek and Chickasaw nations; also the number of white and free col- ored population scattered throughout these tribes. .

. By reference to this table it will appear that the Choctaws held 2,297 negro slaves, distributed among 385 owners; the Cherokees, 2,504, held by 384 owners; the Creeks, 1,651, owned by 267 Indians; and the Chickasaws, 917, to 118 owners. As, under all the circum- stances of slavery everywhere, the servile race is very unequally distributed, so will appear to be the case with the Indian tribes. While one Choctaw is the owner of 227 slaves, and ten of the largest proprietors own 638, averaging nearly 64, the slaves average about 6 to each owner of slaves in that tribe, while the Indians number about as 8 to I slave.

"Among the Cherokees the largest pro-

prietor holds 57 slaves ; the ten largest own 353, averaging a little over 35, and the number to each holder averages a little more than a half per cent more than with the Choctaws, while the population of Indians in the tribe to slaves is about 9 to 1. Among the Creeks 2 hold 75 slaves each; 10 own 433, while the ratio of slaves to the whole number of Indians varies but little from that with the Cherokees. The largest propri- etor among the Chickasaws holds 61 slaves ; ten own 275, or an average of 271/2, while the average is nearly 8 to each owner in the tribe, and I to each 512 Indians in the tribe. It thus appears that in those tribes there are nearly 8 Indians to each negro slave, and that the slaves form about 121/2 per cent of the population, omitting the whites and free colored. The small tribe of Seminoles, although like the tribes above mentioned, transplanted from slave- holding states, holds no slaves, but they intermarry with the colored population. These tribes, while they present an ad- vanced state of civilization, and some of them have attained to a condition of com- forth, wealth, and refinement, form but a small portion of the Indian tribes within the territory of the United States, and are alluded to on account of their relation to a civil condition recognized by a portion of the States, and which exercise a significant influence with the country at large."

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CHAPTER VIII

THE INDIANS AND THE CIVIL WAR

Before the actual outbreak of hostilities, in the winter of 1860, adherents of the southern cause, among the most effectual and influential of whom were the official agents of the United States accredited to the Indian tribes, were active in propagat- ing the doctrines of secession among the Cherokees and other tribes of Indians in the Territory. Secret societies were organized, especially among the Cherokees, and Stand Watie, the recognized leader of the old Ridge or treaty party, was at the head of the southern party. A counter organization was formed among the loyally inclined por- tion of the nation, who looked to John Ross as their leader. This latter society termed themselves the "Kee-too-wha," a name by which the Cherokees were said to have been known in their ancient confederation with other tribes. The distinguishing badge of membership was a copper pin worn in a certain position on the coat, vest or hunt- ing shirt. This gave rise to the common designation of "Pin Indians" in referring to the loyal party. According to the state- ment of General Albert Pike, this "Pin" society was organized and in full operation before the beginning of the secession diffi- culties, and was really established for the purpose of depriving the half-breeds of all political power. It was also alleged to have

" " Much excitement is reported to exist among the Cherokees, and during the past year many murders and other crimes and outrages have been perpetrated. A secret association has been formed by the full-blood members of the tribe, and the cause of all the existing difficulties is attributable,

been established by Rev. Evan Jones, a mis- sionary for more than forty years among the Cherokees, as an instrument for dis- seminating anti-slavery doctrines.1

As early as February 7, 1861, the Choc- taw Nation by. resolutions in general coun- cil, expressed its adherence to the south. In the event of dissolution "we shall be left to follow the natural affections, education, institutions, and interests of our people, which indissolubly bind us in every way to the destiny of our neighbors and brethren of the southern states."

Agents of the south were active among the Indians in the early months of 1861, and it became evident to the government even before the opening of the war that occupation of the territory would be im- practicable. "The interests of the United States are paramount to those of the friendly Indians on the reservation near Fort Cobb," was the excuse for the with- drawal of troops from that post and from Fort Arbuckle, according to orders issued in the middle of March.

Almost with the declaration of war, Texas troops moved north against the posts in Indian Territory. Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Emory was in command at Forts Washita, Cobb and Arbuckle. At the ap- proach of the Texans these posts were

it is alleged, to the missionaries among them who are charged with interfering with the institution of slavery in the Cherokee Nation."-Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs Greenwood, No vember 30, 1860.

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abandoned, the plan of concentration hav- . approval of Governor Harrison on May 25. ing failed. Fort Arbuckle was surrendered The resolutions are overweighted with ex- May 5, Washita was abandoned April 16, pressions of fear of the north's aggression and the possible results of northern domi- nation in the Indian country. The "Lincoln hordes and Kansas robbers" were held up as a fearful bugaboo to the Indians.2 and on May 19, Colonel Emory reported from his position in Kansas on the way to Leavenworth, with his entire command. The Texas troops, after seizing the forts, turned over the property to the Chickasaw Indians, and returned to Texas.

It is evident that both the north and the south represented each other to the Indians in the worst possible light. Thus the secre- tary of war of the Confederacy, addressing the Choctaw Nation (May 13, 1861), re- fers to the wish of the Confederacy "to se- cure the protection of these tribes in their present country from the agrarian rapacity of the north." The language used through- out by the agents of both sides is such as would be employed in convincing a puerile and ignorant people. In May, 1861, the Chickasaws formally declared allegiance to the Confederate government, in resolutions that passed both houses, and received the

The plan of operations in Indian Terri- tory adopted by the Confederate govern- ment at the beginning of the war, as out- lined in a letter from Secretary of War Walker, was as follows: General Ben McCulloch, with the three regiments from Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, was com- missioned to take charge of the military district embracing the Indian country. To co-operate with this command a mounted regiment was to be raised by Douglas H. Cooper among the Choctaws and Chicka- saws, and two other regiments among the Creeks, Cherokees, Seminoles and other tribes.ª

The Confederate government had little difficulty in winning over the tribes in

' Whereas the Lincoln Government, pretending to represent said Union, has shown by its course towards us, in withdrawing from our country the protection of the Federal troops, and withhold- ing, unjustly and unlawfully, our money placed in the hands of the Government of the United States as trustee, to be applied for our benefit, a total disregard for treaty obligations toward us; and whereas, our geographical position, our social and domestic institutions, our feelings and sympathies, all attach us to our southern friends, against whom is about to be waged a war of subjugation or extermination, of conquest and confiscation.

Resolved, That our neighboring Indian Nations -Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Osages, Senecas, Quapaws, Comanches, Kiowas, together with the fragmentary bands of Delawares, Kicka- poos, Caddoes, Wichitas, and others within the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, who are similarly situated with ourselves, be invited to co-operate in order to secure the independence of the Indian nations and the defense of the territory they inhabit from northern invasion by the Lincoln hordes and Kansas robbers, who have plundered

and oppressed our red brethren among them, and who doubtless would extend towards us the pro- tection which the wolf gives to the lamb should they succeed in overrunning our country; that the Chickasaws pledge themselves to resist by all means, and to the death, any such invasion of the lands occupied by themselves or by any of the Indian nations;

Resolved, That the governor of the Chickasaw Nation be, and is hereby, instructed to issue his proclamation to the Chickasaw Nation, declaring their independence. (Extracts taken from Resolu- tions of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Chickasaw Legislature assembled, May 25, 1861.) (Ser. I, Vol. III, War of Reb.)

' By special order from the Confederate war department, November 22, 1861, "the Indian coun- try west of Arkansas and north of Texas," was constituted "the department of Indian Terri- tory" and Brigadier General Albert Pike was assigned to command of the several Indian regi- ments in the limits of the department. January 10, 1862, Indian Territory was attached to "the Trans-Mississippi district of Department No. 2," under command of Major General Earl Van Dorn.

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southern Indian Territory to their alle- neutrality is only a pretext to await the giance. The Choctaws, in general council issue of events." June 10, 1861, following the example of the Chickasaws, and in accordance with their own previous expressions, declared themselves absolved from treaty relations with the United States and resolved upon an alliance with the south. George Hud- son, the principal chief, issued a proclama- tion of these intentions and called upon his people for enlistments in the military for field and home duty.

The Cherokee people were divided in sentiment, the minority favoring active sup- port of the Confederacy, while the majority, headed by Chief John Ross, endeavored to maintain a neutral position. Ross com- municated to General McCulloch in June, 1861, the desire of himself and the majority of his people to refrain from active partici- pation in the war, and in sending this com- munication to the Confederate department of war, McCulloch advised (June 22, 1861) : "Under all the circumstances of the case I do not think it advisable to march into the Cherokee country at this time un- less there is some urgent necessity for it. If the views expressed in my communica- tion to you of the 14th inst. are carried out, it will, I am satisfied, force the conviction on the Cherokees that they have but one course to pursue-that is, join the Confed- eracy. The Choctaw and Chickasaw regi- ment will be kept on the south of them; Arkansas will be on the east; and with my force on the western border of Missouri no force will be able to march into the Cherokee Nation, and, surrounded as they will be by southern troops, they will have but one alternative at all events. . . I

. am satisfied from my interview with John Ross and from his communication that he is only waiting for some favorable oppor- tunity to put himself with the north. His

Before the close of the first summer the influences directed against neutrality were such that the Cherokees, in a general meet- ing of the nation at Tahlequah August 21, 1861, while approving the neutral policy, at the same time recognized their close re- lations to the south and submitted the ques- tions of future allegiance to the wisdom of the nation's chiefs. The chiefs at once communicated to General McCulloch their determination to join the south. The de- fection of the Cherokees and their leader John Ross was explained by United States Indian Agent E. H. Carruth in the following way:+

"Two days before the convention in which the Cherokee council voted by acclamation to join the rebels, Mr. Ross stated that he would die sooner than become a party to rebellion. The convention had been called for the sole purpose of recon- ciling differences between what is known here as the Watie party and the full-blood Indians. Stand Watie had raised a regi- ment and been accepted into the rebel serv- ice. Mr. Ross did all in his power to pre- vent a collision among the Cherokees, and the convention of August 21 was intended to harmonize the conflicting elements. . . . Just at this time Mr. Ross learned that Ben McCulloch and Stand Watie were to unite and overrun the Cherokee country, McCulloch having assured Watie that he would crush out the Union element of the tribe. He [McCulloch] was then at Camp Walker with forces estimated at 14,000 men and expecting reinforcements. . The danger was imminent; Ross wished to avert it, and did so in the only possible way. He assured the convention that the

"Report of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1862, Ex. Doc., 3d sess .; 37th Cong., Vol. II.

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time had now arrived when he deemed it necessary for the nation to take preliminary measures to enter into treaty stipulations with the Confederate states. A vote was immediately taken, and without a dissent- ing voice John Ross was authorized to sign the articles previously presented by the Confederate commissioners.""

After the Tahlequah convention in Au- gust, a Confederate regiment was organized among the Cherokees, and Stand' Watie," the leader of the anti-Ross party, placed in command. A regiment of home guards was also organized and the command as- signed to Colonel John Drew. One promi- nent leader still remained loyal to the gov- ernment, the aged chief of the Creeks, Hopoeithleyohola. When informed of the action of the Cherokees at Tahlequah, he firmly refused to join the majority of his people in allegiance to the southern states. At a council of the Creeks he reminded them of the duties and obligations by which they were bound to the government, and

bitterly complained that the Cherokees had been bought. But the majority of the Creeks favored going with the southern cause, and their treaty with the Confederate commissioners resulted in a division of the nation into two hostile parties. Hopoeith- leyohola gathered about him the loyal por- tion of the Creeks, Seminoles, Kickapoos, Wichitas and Delawares, and among the hills along the Arkansas river made a determined stand for the Union.

The operations in Indian Territory dur- ing the last months of 1861 consisted prin- cipally of the movement against the loyal Indians under Chief Hopoeithleyohola." In the middle of November a force of about 1,400 men, consisting of six companies of the First Regiment Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles, and a part of the Ninth Regiment Texas Cavalry, besides the Creek regiment of Col. D. N. McIntosh and the Creek and Seminole battalion under Chilly McIntosh and Major John Jumper, ad- vanced along the Deep Fork of the Cana-

"John Ross was born October 3, 1790, near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. His father, Daniel Ross, was a Scotchman, and his mother a part- blood Cherokee. He was educated at Kingston, Tennessee. His public career began when he was nineteen years old, when he was sent by the Chero- kee agent on a mission to the western Cherokees, then occupying territory now included in the boun- daries of the state of Arkansas. He served during the war of 1812 as adjutant of a Cherokee regi- ment, under General Andrew Jackson, that fought in the war against the hostile Creeks in Florida. In 1817 he became a member of the national committee of the council of the Cherokee people, and two years later, at the age of thirty, was president of the committee, in which capacity he served until 1826. In 1827 he was associate chief of the nation with William Hicks as principal chief, and was president of the convention of that year, which framed the first national constitution. In. 1828 he became principal chief of the eastern Cherokee and when, in 1838, they removed to the west, he became principal chief of the united tribe, and held that office until his death, which occurred in Washington on August 1, 1866. It

seems impossible to form a correct judgment as to Ross' loyalty and actions during the Civil war. He was distrusted by the south, as we have seen, and was held to have been forced into a southern allegiance, though steadfastly Union in sentiment. Yet, at the close of the war, when the United States commission treated with the Indian at Fort Smith, it was claimed that incriminating evidence had been found showing that Ross had been a secret enemy of the government during the war, and on this ground he was excluded from participation in the council, though his people continued to profess faith in his loyalty and wisdom.

'Stand Watie, according to the testimony of Gen. R. M. Gano, under whom the Cherokee chief served for a time, was a brave and valuable soldier. He would stand without flinching in face of a heavy fire of hand arms, says General Gano, but when the artillery opened and the whistle and crash of a shell came near, although the danger was much less, Watie's stolid fearlessness vanished, and on one occasion at least he was seen to take refuge behind a tree.

" War of the Rebellion, Ser. 1, Vol. VIII.

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dian toward the stronghold of the old Creek chieftain, who courageously held out for the Union cause to the end. The Union In- dians were not overtaken until the Red Fork was crossed, and on the evening of November 19 ensued a skirmish at "Round Mountain" in which a number of men on each side were lost. The Union forces con- tinued to withdraw, and the following morning the Confederates took possession of their deserted camp.

The diversion of the forces under Colonel Cooper to repel the threatened invasion into Arkansas by General Fremont afforded a short respite from hostilities to the Indian country. Fremont's retreat left Colonel Cooper free to continue his expedition against Hopoeithleyohola, and after a few days' rest at Spring Hill near Concharta his force of 780 men was put in motion on No- vember 29 in the direction of Tulsey Town. A few miles north of this Indian village, on Bird creek, a junction of the Confederate forces was effected, and here on the 9th of December was fought the battle of Chusto- Talasah.

About II o'clock in the morning Colonel Cooper had crossed the creek and proceeded down on the east side, with a view of taking a position which would enable him to keep open communication with the depot at Coweta Mission and with reinforcements of Creeks, Seminoles and Choctaws who were expected at Tulsey Town. His official re- port of the ensuing events is as follows : "After proceeding down Bird creek about five miles two runners from Captain Foster reached me at the head of the column, stat- ing he had found the enemy in large force below. Parks had exchanged a few shots with them, taken six prisoners and was re- treating, hotly pursued. Scarcely had this intelligence reached me before shots were heard in the rear. . The forces were

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A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 14

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