A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 18

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 18

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).

Digitized by Google

108

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

ent, being stripped of everything by the have regularly organized governments and act referred to. legislatures, written laws, and a regular judiciary system.

"The Creeks were nearly divided in senti- ment at the opening of the war; about 6,500 having gone with the rebellion, while the remainder, under the lead of brave old chief Opothleyoholo, resisted all tempta- tions of the rebel agents and of leading men, like John Ross, among the Indians, and fought their way out of the country northward, in the winter, tracked by their bloody feet upon the frozen ground. They lost everything-houses, homes, stock, everything that they possessed. Many joined the United States army. A large number have been constantly subsisted, often with scanty rations, by government. A part having gone this year to the In- dian country, have raised some crops under many difficulties, and about one-half of those who thus went south again will have enough corn to carry them through the winter; the others must be subsisted by government, while 5,000 are now receiving rations. A large number of the southern Creeks are in the same deplorable state. The aggregate number of the tribe is now stated at 14,396. Agent Dunn says that the buildings of the old Creek agency are in ruins, but the valuable mission buildings are standing, though badly injured. He thinks that a new location should be selected for the agency, at a point where there is water and timber; but as there may be other arrangements made as to the final settlement of the tribe, he suggests that such temporary shelter for the agency as is necessary should now be provided.

"The Choctaws and Chickasaws, who now number respectively about 12,500 and 4,500, or 17,000 in all, are supposed to have had a population of 25,000 at the beginning of the war, including 5,000 slaves. They

"They possessed admirable schools, and education had made great progress among them. Nearly the whole of these tribes proved disloyal, under the various influ- ences brought to bear upon them. Agent Coleman ascribes their disloyalty, in a great degree, to the influence of the whites living among them, some of whom have had the assurance to apply for licenses to remain in the country as traders; but I am entirely satisfied, as the result of my in- quiries when lately in the Indian country, that the disloyal action of these tribes is mostly, if not altogether, to be ascribed to the influence of the then superintendent, Mr. Rector, and the agents appointed by the United States government. The tribes are educated to respect the authority and be guided by the directions of these repre- sentatives of the government; and when, in the spring of 1861, these men, appointed under President Buchanan, came back from Washington and told the Indians that there was no longer a United States government to protect them, that its organization was broken up, and that they must join with the new government (which by its location and its slave-holding basis would be in sym- pathy with them), or be ground to powder, they readily acceded. They now see their error. No men were ever more penitent; and since they learned at the Fort Smith council the wishes of the government, their own council has met and taken prompt action upon the proposition submitted to them, and appointed a delegation to visit Washington to sign a final treaty. This appears more fully in the despatch from General Hunt, commanding at Fort Smith, dated October 24, communicating a letter

Digitized by Google

.-.

109

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

from Governor Colbert, of the Chickasaw nation, which despatch will be found among the accompanying documents.17

"Only 212 persons belonging to these tribes are known to have remained loyal to the government. The disloyal portion need some help to get through the winter without suffering, but their country having been held by the rebels all the time during the war, and not traversed by the contend- ing armies, and rations having been issued to them till last March, they have not suf- fered as much as the other tribes. Two thousand of both tribes are now receiving government rations. I have elsewhere re- ferred to the propositions in regard to accession of a portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw lands.

"Agent Snow has in charge the Neosho agency, comprising the Osages, and the small bands known as the Quapaws, Sene- cas, and Senecas and Shawnees.

"The Osage lands are in Kansas, and comprise about 4,000,000 acres. In 1859 they had a population of 3,500; the agent thinks that their number does not exceed 2,800. About 1,000 of the tribe joined the rebellion. Some two hundred and forty of their warriors were at one time in the serv- ice of the United States, but left from some difficulty with their officers, and cannot understand the propriety of the rule by which they have forfeited their pay. The report of Superintendent Sells is very full in its information as to the habits and mode

" The letter from Governor Colbert, here re- ferred to, contains an interesting proposition, made by the Chickasaw legislature, to provide for the freed men under an "indentured servant" sys- tem, similar to the method adopted by slave-hold- ing settlers in the Mexican province of Texas to escape the Mexican laws forbidding slavery. The plan suggested by Governor Colbert was: To apprentice all free negroes under 21 years until of age, to their former owners, provide for the

of life of this tribe, which is entirely no- madic in its character, using the bow and arrow in the chase, and hunting the buf- falo in the ranges southwest of their coun- try. . . The sad example of the whites, who steal their stock, leads them to retaliate, and frequent collisions and dif- ficulties with the settlers are the conse- quence. By the recent treaty with this tribe, their factions have become recon- ciled; and by the cession to the United States of a large body of land, it will be open to settlement, and they obtain from its avails the means of becoming civilized. In view of their nomadic habits, however, Agent Snow suggests their entire removal from Kansas and the neighborhood of the whites, and settlement upon lands in the western part of the Indian country, near the buffalo range; which suggestion I ap- prove, and trust that within a few months their country will be so far at the disposal of the government, through the operation of the treaties now in progress, as the result of the recent council, that these and all of the other Kansas Indians who do not elect to become citizens may be removed into the Indian country.

"The Quapaws and other small tribes of this agency, numbering only 670 in all, never showed any sympathy with the re- bellion, but came north, abandoning their homes, and continued as refugees upon the Ottawa reservation until last spring, when they were removed to a point eighty miles

aged over fifty, infirm, and employ the middle- aged at fair wages. "This system," said the governor, "is the self-same under which Pennsyl- vania and other northern states got rid of slavery, and it is hoped will meet the approval of the presi- dent and people of the non-slave-holding states. It appears to cover the requirements of the United States government that when emancipated, the negroes shall be properly cared for."

Digitized by Google

IIO

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

further south, where they have raised charge) comprises about 500 Shawnees, some small supply of vegetables this year. An exploration of their former reservation, just below the Kansas line, exhibited the usual desolation of war; and everything must be provided anew for them. They had attained a fair degree of civilization, and were prosperous and comfortable be- fore the war; and they, like the other loyal Indians, think that the government for which they suffered the loss of everything, should in some degree compensate them for such loss. These people all receive rations at present from the United States. "The Catholic mission school at the Neo- sho agency has been continued in operation, though under great difficulties. On the occasion of the recent visit of Superintend- ent Sells to the agency, the school had in attendance sixty-five Osage and Quapaw boys, and fifty girls. The Indians regard this school with great favor.

"The Wichita agency (Agent Gookins in

absentees from their tribes in Kansas, and who, it is probable, will not return to that state to remain permanently, but who are now in Osage county, Kansas; and the . Wichitas and fragments of the Caddoes, Comanches, and others, amounting to about 1,800. These last were, before the war, settled upon lands leased from the Choc- taws. They have never had much attention given them by the government, and were driven from Texas by the greed of white men. Thus they have not for years had a settled home. About 1,000 of them are now near Fort Washita, having done but little towards subsisting themselves, a flood hav- ing destroyed most of their crops. They are very poor and miserable, and must have help ; and they ask to be placed somewhere, where they can feel that they have a per- manent home, and go to work in earnest next spring. Rations are issued to 1,400 of the Indians belonging to this agency."

Google

Digitized by

PART II ISOLATION VERSUS INTRUSION

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by

Google

CHAPTER IX ORGANIZATION OF AN INDIAN TERRITORY AND CONSOLIDATION OF THE TRIBES

The policy of Calhoun and Monroe, of the Jackson administration as enunciated in the legislation of 1830, and as put into effect during the decades of the twenties and thirties, was subjected to changing na- tional conditions that were never foreseen, or at least not provided for, by those who first outlined and put into effect the scheme of Indian seclusion. "The Indian country for the Indians" is the keynote of the his- tory of the Indian country during the first half of the nineteenth century, and under that subject title the developments of that period have been described on preceding pages. A second period now appears in the history of Indian Territory, during which the early policy, though subjected to many modifications incident to our national growth and changed political conditions, was sought to be maintained and defended against an encroaching power that eventu- ally forced the Indian tribes into the cur- rent of American life and compelled them to share alike in the responsibilities of our political system and adapt themselves to the customs of the white race.

It will first be necessary to discuss the political relations of the Indians with the United States, and the early efforts made to bring the tribes into a working connec- tion with the general government. From the history of these attempts it will be seen that the political destiny of the Indian Ter- ritory has been the subject of attention on the part of Congress since the region west of the Mississippi was first set aside

for Indian occupation; that it has been wrought out and modified from time to time by the varied events of our national history ; and that Oklahoma statehood has been the product of political and economic move- ments that have been going on for the greater part of a century.

The formation of a distinct political gov- ernment for the Indian tribes seems to have been contemplated by the government in its earlier relations with the Indians, and from time to time up to the final incorporation of the Territory in a state, was attempted by Congress in legislation and by some of the Indian nations and the Indian author- ities in practical action. The Delaware treaty of 1778 mentioned the possible for- mation of an Indian state, with a repre- sentative in Congress. The subsequent re- moval and concentration of the Indians on lands west of the Mississippi, where they were to remain free from the jurisdiction of any state, was, in effect, not only a guar- antee of the integrity of the Indian country and of the right of the individual tribes to regulate their own affairs, but also a recog- nition of some general relationship that should exist between the collected tribes and the general government of the United States-in other words, that Indian Terri- tory would have a similar status, political- ly, with the other territories in the federal scheme.1

December 16, 1824, the house committee

' See reports of committees, 1st Sess., 30th Cong., Rep. No. 736, June 27, 1848.

113

Vol. 1-8

Digitized by Google

114

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

on Indian affairs was instructed "to in- quire into the expediency of organizing all the territories of the United States lying west of the state of Missouri and the terri- tories of Arkansas and Michigan into a separate territory, to be occupied exclu- sively by the Indians."2

In his message of January 25, 1825, Mon- roe recommended the establishment of an adequate government over the tribes to be removed, and in the following December the house committee on Indian affairs was instructed to inquire into the expediencv of establishing in the Indian country "a terri- torial government over them of the same kind and regulated by the same rules, as the territories of the United States are now governed."

In 1826 the secretary of war recom- mended the organization of a territorial government over the Indian country west, and the committee on Indian affairs re- ported a bill to that effect. The secretary commented as follows on one clause of the bill: "The third object of the bill is the establishment of a territorial govern- ment by the United States for their pro- tection and their civilization. The bill pro- poses a governor, three judges, and a secre- tary, to be appointed by the president." The secretary of war in December, 1829, said : "I beg leave to suggest for your con- sideration if an Indian territory, without the range of western states or territories, might not be advantageously created."

The work of the three commissioners appointed under the act of 1832 to visit the Indian country has already been described. On February 10, 1834, they addressed their report from Fort Gibson, and recom- mended, as of primary importance, in view of their observations and experience among

'Rep. of commissioner of Indian affairs, Dec., 1830

the tribes, the organization of an Indian territory. As a basis of organization the commissioners suggested the appointment of a governor, secretary, marshal, prosecut- ing attorney, and a judiciary, and an an- nual council of the Indians, the number of the delegation from each tribe to be designated by the president. The north- ern boundary of the proposed territory was to be the south bank of the Missouri and Platte rivers. In this way a confederacy of the tribes was outlined. The assent of the Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee tribes was to be essential to the perfecting of such confederacy. The council was to make regu- lations for inter-tribal intercourse; to pre- serve peace; to settle boundary disputes ; and arrest offenders of law.

The bill for the organization of an In- dian territory, reported by the committee on Indian affairs in May, 1834, and which failed to become a law, was accompanied by a report on the advantages of such an organization. This report declared it to be now the fixed policy of the government to induce the Indians to remove "to a ter- ritory set apart and dedicated to their use and government forever . to fit them for the enjoyment of the blessings of free government. And a further hope is now encouraged, that whenever their ad- vancement in civilization should warrant the measure, and they desire it, that they may be admitted as a state, to become a member of the Union." A bill "to provide for the security and protection of the emi- grant and other Indians west of the state of Missouri and of the territory of Arkan- sas," describing the boundaries of an "In- dian territory," was introduced and like- wise failed of passage in February, 1836.

The substance of the bills which for sev- eral years had been before Congress, for the organization of a government for In-

Digitized by Google

115

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

dian Territory, was considered by the coun- cils of various tribes during the summer of 1837. The Delawares, Shawnees, Potta- watomies, Kickapoos and a number of the smaller tribes expressed themselves as well pleased with the proposed plan of govern- ment, and requested that the president and Congress should carry it into effect as soon as practicable. In the summer of 1838 Isaac McCoy and Captain Armstrong (act- ing superintendent of Indian affairs) were instructed to present to the southern tribes the principles of the territorial bill which at the previous session had passed the sen- ate. The matter was submitted to the Choc- taw council at their regular meeting. They objected to the organization of the terri- tory, without assigning any definite reasons, though intimating that they lacked confi- dence in the government of the United States.3 Though the commissioners did not formally present the matter to the Chero- kees and Creeks, they discovered that a general belief prevailed that the design of organizing the territory was in reality a design to rob them of their country. This impression, it was thought, was promoted by mischievous white men who had selfish interests in the matter. "Almost all white men who mingle with the Indians, in the Indian country," was McCoy's version, "are opposed to the plan of organizing an In- dian territory, and of rendering the Indians secure in their possessions. First, there are white men married to Indian women, who identify themselves with the Indians as much as possible, and are permitted to remain in the Indian country. Those who have preferred savage to civilized society do not desire the improvement of the for- mer. Secondly, traders can make more profitable speculations on poor, ignorant,

' McCoy, "Baptist Indian Missions, " p. 548.

suffering Indians, oppressed beneath their wants and woes, than upon a people in more comfortable circumstances; and hence they prefer the present condition of Indians to one improved. And, thirdly, the agents em- ployed by the government easily perceive that by the improvement of the condition of the Indians they will become capable of managing their own matters, and that the necessity for agents will vanish. None, in either of the three classes, would venture upon open opposition to government, which would afford a tangible ground of com- plaint, and might occasion their removal from the Indian country. Nevertheless, there are a thousand ways in which these men can keep an influence continually bear- ing upon the Indians, dampening, in its tendency, to all improvement."

A beginning of Indian confederation which might eventually have solidified the Indian country under a territorial govern- ment was made in the autumn of 1837, when the Cherokees called a general coun- cil to which neighboring tribes were invited, and some attended. This council was for the purpose of confirming existing friend- ship among them. A year later a more gen- eral invitation to a similar gathering was extended to tribes further off. A suspicion among some of the tribes that the move- ment concealed some purpose hostile to their individual welfare, and also perhaps an unwillingness to accept the leadership of the Cherokees in this matter prevented any definite results from this convention of the tribes. United action among the Indians was as difficult to obtain as it was impós- sible at the time to secure concerted action of the houses of Congress on a bill for ter- ritorial organization.

The plans for the formation of a gov- ernment over the Indian Territory in 1836- 37 went so far as the selection of a site

Digitized by Google

116

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

for the seat of such government. Rev. claiming them, and our obligation to em- Isaac McCoy, the tireless missionary, was instructed in 1837 to report on a proper reservation not over ten miles square. "For the above purpose," he reports, "I would respectfully recommend a tract commenc- ing where the southern boundary of the lands of the Peorias and the Kaskaskias crosses the Osage river. This tract is nearly four-square, and

in point of soil, timber, water and stone, it is surpassed in value by no place of equal dimensions in this country. Its eastern boundary is sixteen miles and 54 chains west of the state of Missouri." This site was very near the present town of Osa- wotomie, Kansas.

During the winter of 1838-39 the house again failed to act upon the Indian terri- torial bill as passed by the senate. Though the question had been one of the most im- portant in the discussion of Indian affairs for many years, and though it was consid- ered by many friends of the Indians as one of the first steps that should have been taken in providing for their welfare, it was believed that the time and labor bestowed on the subject had not all been wasted. Summarizing the results of the Indian pol- icy to that time, McCoy says: "About ninety-five thousand Indians, belonging to twenty-three tribes, have been collocated within the proposed Indian Territory. Plats of the boundaries proposed for it have so long been kept before the public that the contemplation of the lines has become pret- ty uniform among men, when reflecting upon the matters of the territory. Some have their land secured to them by patent, and measures are in progress which will soon secure the lands to all by the same indisputable title. Just views of the causes of Indian decline and misery, and of the means which ought to be employed for re-

ploy those means, have been promoted. Most of the immigrants who have had time to recover from the damage sustained in their removal, are improving their condi- tion. A knowledge of the just ground laid for producing a better condition is increas- ing and inspiring hope, and promoting in- dustry and enterprise. Even the indigenous tribes are imbibing a spirit of improvement. Some tribes have already laid a solid basis of civil and religious institutions; others are following them at greater or less dis- tance. The whole is assuming the appear- ance, and customs, and enjoyments of a civil community ; and as order is restored, and the social relations of life promoted, they are brought within the reach of religious instruction, from regular attendance on which the unsettled state of their affairs had prevented them."

The subject of a territorial government for the Indian Territory continued to re- ceive the attention of Congress at various intervals throughout the forties. In June, 1846, the committee on Indian affairs re- ported a bill defining the Indian territory. The encroachments of white settlers, threat- ening to dispossess the Indians of their country or limit their occupation, had by this time brought the subject into consider- able prominence, and, acting on a memorial from the American Mission Association, the committee said: "It is sufficiently evi- dent . . . [as a result of the rapid growth and progress of population] that we have approximated the point when this government must decide whether existing guarantees of treaties with those tribes shall be maintained in the spirit which dictated them. . . . A feeling of distrust and alarm is getting abroad on this subject among those who have long proved them- selves the sincere and disinterested friends

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

117

of the Indian, and for the policy adopted for the amelioration of his social condi- tion."

After reviewing the improved condition of the Indians since their removal, and the intentions often expressed to constitute them a distinct political entity, the house committee on Indian affairs, June 27, 1848, in reporting a bill for the organization of an Indian Territory, outlined its general provisions and adduced the following con- siderations in support of its passage : "Noth- ing, your committee believe, would so hasten the progress of civilization, and pro- mote the improvement and happiness of these tribes, as . the integrity of their territory, independence of govern- ment, and political equality. . . . Your committee do not suppose that there can ever be any disposition on the part of the government to violate its plighted faith with these comparatively helpless people; but it appears that apprehensions do exist as to the inviolability of their territory, which tend to disturb their tranquillity and retard their improvement."

The bill then reported dedicated forever to the Indian tribes a territory bounded on the east by Missouri and Arkansas, on the north by the Missouri and Platte rivers, on the west by the 105th meridian, and on the south by the Mexican possessions. It secured to each tribe the unqualified right of self-government, except as that right should interfere with the supremacy of the nation. Trial and punishment of criminals was reserved to the tribes, though the par- doning of capital offenses was reserved to the president of the United States. Of chief interest is the clause providing for a confederation of the respective tribes. A general council, with representatives from the various tribes, should regulate the af- fairs of the confederacy and intertribal

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of the state of Oklahoma, Volume I, Part 18

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