USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. I > Part 19
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One of the most noted traders of this period was the Cherokec halfbreed, Jesse Chisholm, who not only maintained trading posts but also made frequent trips out to the hunting grounds of the Co- manches and Kiowas. His first trading post was at old Camp Holmes, near the mouth of Little River, in what is now Hughes County, where he settled about 1837. After the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia, when the overland travel became considerable, he reoccupied the site of Chouteau's latest trading post, near the Canadian River
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in the southern part of Cleveland County. In 1858, he established a trading station at Council Grove, a few miles west of Oklahoma City. He was on friendly terms with all of the Indians of the Southern Plains Region and could go among them to trade, even when they were at war with the whites.1 Another trader who was prominent for a time was Abel Warren, of Fort Smith, who built and maintained a trading post in the valley of the Red River, in the western part of what is now Love County.2
The late William J. Weaver, of Fort Smith, once visited War- ren's Trading Post, on Red River, presumably about the year 1843. Mr. Weaver's description of this post and his account of the life of the people employed there is as follows :
1 The name of Jesse Chisholm, who was not only a trader but also a noted scout, guide and interpreter, appears very frequently in the literature of the period, such as the reports of army officers, explorers, surveyors, Indian agents and travelers, yet, apparently, nothing like a complete account of his life has ever been written. In addition to the numerous references above mentioned, the author has secured much information concerning this remarkable man from several persons who were associated with him during the latter part of his life, namely, the late Hon. James R. Mead, of Wichita; Philip Smith, of Purcell, and George Chisholm, of Holdenville. Mr. Mead was associated with him in some of his trading ventures dur- ing the years immediately preceding his death; Mr. Smith was an employe during the same time. George Chisholm, a Mexican boy held in bondage among the Comanches, was ransomed and rescued by Jesse Chisholm about 1849. Chisholm adopted the lad as his son and they were ever after inseparable.
2 Abel Warren was born at Northborough, Massachusetts, September 19, 1814. He came to the Southwest in 1837. The date of the establishment of his trading post on the Red River is not known, but it was probably prior to 1843. In 1847 he returned to Massachusetts to be married (having been betrothed to a young woman in that state during the ten years he had been on the west- ern frontier). After his return to the East, he was notified that a partner, in whose care he had left his business, had sold out his trading post and business and decamped with the proceeds. He did not return at once but spent five years in New England. In 1852 he came West again and engaged in contracting at the Choctaw Agency, at Skullaville, for a time. After living in the vicinity of Fort Smith for several years he returned to Skullaville in 1856, con- tinuing to reside there until 1859. During the Civil war he sent his family to New England, while he tried to save. some of his property by driving it to the Red River. After the war he lived at Fort Smith and on his farm eighteen miles below that place on the Arkan- sas River. He died in 1882.
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"Abel Warren, a resident of Fort Smith, had a trading post on the Red River. It was surrounded by a strong, heavy picket or palisade of logs planted in the ground, about fifteen feet high. On two of the corners were log towers (or blockhouses) with portholes which covered the approach to the palisade walls on the outside. These log towers, or bastions, were about twelve feet square and were furnished with sleeping bunks for the men. In each there
ABEL WARREN
were a dozen muskets and rifles, always loaded-the muskets with buckshot for fighting at close range. On two sides of the enclosure there were strong gates for the ingress and egress of stock and wagon trains. Sheds and warehouses were built around the inside walls of the palisade and there was a corral for stock on the prairie outside.
"A stay of a few weeks at Warren's Fort gave the writer some insight into the trade and life of the post. The year round was occu-
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pied mostly in trade with small parties of Indians of the various tribes-Comanches, Kiowas, Wichitas, Tonkawas, Caddoes and Delawares. The stock was driven out of the fort corral at daylight to be herded on the prairie, in sight of the watchman on the tower, and was driven in and corralled at nightfall. There were eight white men and four Delaware Indians in the little garrison, in addi- tion to which there were generally a few hunters and friendly In- dians in the immediate vicinity. No danger was apprehended as the fort was strong enough to withstand an attack from any but a very large band of Indians of a known desperate character and, even then, if such an attack were successful, it would be at a fearful sacrifice in killed and wounded among the attacking party. The Indians of the wild tribes of the Plains knew this and they always ignored game that was not worth the candle. A few men in each tower, with their stacks of muskets ready loaded, could make ter- rible havoc in a horde of savages, most of whom were armned only with bows and arrows and lances.
"It was in the fall of the year and great droves of buffalo were making their way to the plains of Southwestern Texas, away from the blizzards of the Northern Plains country. Some of the droves passed within a short distance of the fort and it was necessary to keep the stock corralled in order to prevent a stampede and loss. To a tenderfoot such scenes furnished an exciting novelty. The buffalo would rush along in compact masses, with tails erect, for a mile and then check up and radiate from the center, grazing upon the sun-cured grasses of the plain. After a while they would close up and rush forward again, drove after drove. They were three days passing in sight of the fort. Scores of Indians were in the rear, the men charging into the herds, with bows and arrows and lances, and the women and boys catching and killing the crippled and the weakling calves.
"A few days afterward, we were aroused one morning by whoops and yells and the tramping of horses around the enclosure. Several hundred Comanches had arrived and many were setting up their buffalo skin lodges close by the fort. Young men dashed around on horseback, old women were shrieking, and children were chattering and playing. Little columns of 'slow rising smoke' were seen above the gypsy kettles suspended from tripod sticks. Young women were 'toting' water in water skins on their backs, while other girls led ponies laden with calf-skin water bags. Women were stretching and pegging buffalo skins on the ground and scrap- ing them. Others were unloading buffalo meat from the ponies
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and cutting it in slices for drying. Many of the young men were staking out their horses and rubbing them. Old dignitaries stood around, smoking and waiting for the kettle to stew. Our stock of horses and cattle were driven from the corral into the enclosure, where they were secured in the sheds inside, and the gates were carefully closed and securely fastened.
"Presently the Indians came in crowds to the fort to trade, with bundles on their backs. After much wrangling with our inter- preter, they were admitted, three or four at a time, each being required to leave his belt knife, hatchet and other weapons outside. The chief of the band was there. He said nothing but looked at the trader. The trader looked at him a moment, then took down a bridle which was richly ornamented with red woolen fringe and tin stars, and gave it to him with a plug of tobacco. This was pre- sumed to be his license and good will for trading. The chief grunted, nodded, lit his pipe and that part of the formality was over. The trading went on and lasted for several days. The In- dians first asked for liquor (which the trader did not keep), and were much displeased when he told them that he had sold out all he had. Their stock in trade consisted of furs of all kinds, dressed buf- falo robes, dressed and raw deer skins, dried buffalo tongues and beeswax. Some of them had Mexican silver dollars. They bartered for red and blue blankets, strips of blue cloth, bright colored ging- ham handkerchiefs, hoop-iron (for arrow and lance points), glass beads, heavy brass wire (which they wound into bracelets for the left wrist to protect it from the recoil of the bow-string), vermillion, red and yellow ochre (for face paint), bright hued calicoes and wampum beads, which they wound around their necks in great quan- tities. These beads were from two to four inches long, pure white, and resembled clay pipe-stems in size. They were highly esteemed and served the part of currency in their dealings with one another. They wanted guns but the Government forbade the selling of fire- arms to the wild Indians at that time. Much of the trading was done by means of signs. One finger was one dollar ; five fingers, five dollars: crossed forefinger, half a dollar, etc. Stretching out the arm and touching the shoulder was a yard, or unit of measure for cloths and fabrics.
"An hour after the Comanches began to break camp the entire band was out of sight. After they left we learned that they had three white captives, all of whom had been kept out of sight. Let- ters were promptly dispatched to the commandants at Fort Gibson and Towson, apprising them of the facts. Some time afterward,
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Capt. Nathan Boone, with his company of Dragoons, went out on the Plains and rescued these captives from the Comanches. They proved to be a woman and two children captured while washing clothes at a branch or creek near their home in Texas. They were restored to their family and friends. At the same time, a Mexican boy was rescued from captivity among the Comanches. He spoke both Comanche and Spanish but he had lived with the Indians so long that he could not tell his own name nor could he give any infor- mation as to the location of the home of his family. He remembered that the Indians had killed his father and grandfather at the time he was carried into captivity."
The products of the Indian trade, whether secured by the more pretentious traders who built and maintained permanent establish- ments for the convenience and safety of their business, or by the independent trader who had less capital invested and who went directly to the camps of the wild Indians with his stock in trade in wagons or on pack animals, usually found its way to some point on the rivers where they could be shipped out of the country. These independent traders were no doubt more numerous than those who established and maintained permanent trading posts, but records of their identity and activities are even more scarce than those per- taining to the operations of the latter.
Some of the Indians and mixed-blood men of the immigrant tribes became well known as traders. Jesse Chisholm, a member of the Cherokee Tribe, has already been mentioned in this connection. Black Beaver, a leading member of the Delaware Tribe was another trader who was counted successful in his dealings with the people of the wild tribes of the Plains. In one of his reminiscent contribu- tions to the Fort Smith Elevator, Mr. W. J. Weaver related the fol- lowing story of an independent trader, a mixed-blood Cherokee, named Charles McIntosh, which aptly illustrates some of the risks and dangers of such a calling :
"Two white renegades, Tom and Bob Merritt, by name, were scouting in the Indian Territory. McIntosh was on his way home from one of his solitary trading trips out to the Plains. He had four horses-a saddle horse and three that were packed with such robes, furs and other articles as he had secured in trade with the wild Indians. While he was still several days out from Fort Gib- son, he was surprised and captured one morning at his camp-fire by the Merritts. They robbed him of everything, took his horses, provisions and packs of Indian goods and turned him loose. They let him keep his gun and two charges of powder and ball to shoot
.
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something to eat until he could reach the Cherokee settlements on the Verdigris, and then left him. Did Charley curse his luck and give up to the situation ? No, he merely sat down and watched them until they were out of sight and then he arose and followed their trail like a sleuth hound. At night he came in sight of their camp- fire. It was dark and he crawled up noiselessly to reconnoitre. The horses were staked out at some distance from the camp. They had finished a good supper from Charley's grub and were smoking and jesting over the day's achievement. The fire was built before a large log. Big Tom Merritt was resting with his back against the log, his head rising above it. Charley sneaked out among the horses and made some disturbance among them. Bob Merritt arose from the fire and went to examine the horses, whereupon Charley quickly made his way back to the log and, taking careful aim, shot big Tom through the head with one of the two bullets. He then secured the guns of the outlaw brothers. When Bob Merritt heard the shot he fled to the bushes. Charley McIntosh recovered his own horses and . also took possession of the two horses of the robbers. Loading up his packs, and taking with him the weapons and ammunition of the renegades, he resumed his journey toward Fort Gibson with no fear of Bob Merritt. On his arrival at the post he was greeted with great enthusiasm when his exploit became known and a round of dinners and dances were given in his honor. Stanley, the artist, painted his portrait at full length and dubbed him 'the hero of the Verdigris.' "
The allusion to Stanley in this connection would seem to fix the date of this occurrence at 1843 or 1844. Charles McIntosh was him- self killed in a private altercation on Vian Creek in December, 1847.
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CHAPTER XXVI
RIVER NAVIGATION
During the greater part of this period the inland navigation systems continued to be the principal means of transportation and communication between the Indian Territory and the outside world, as indeed they still were in most of the states west of the Missis- sippi. The steamboat trade on the Arkansas River had already been fairly well established during the latter part of the preceding period and it continued to grow and flourish throughout the years between 1840 and 1860. The Cherokee Advocate and the papers at Fort Smith and Van Buren carried advertisements of many differ- ent steamboats whose public announcement was that they would "ply as packets" between Fort Gibson and New Orleans or Fort Gibson and Cincinnati. River news was almost always an important feature in the papers of the period-if the river was low, the delay of boats overdue was announced, or, if there was a good stage of water, the arrival and departure of the various craft were duly chronicled, together with the names of their respective captains, or "masters" as they were more commonly called.
The Red River was not generally regarded as being so suitable for navigation as the Arkansas, yet at favorable stages of water steamboats ascended that stream to a point about twelve miles above the mouth of the Washita. The culture of cotton was much more extensively followed in the valley of the Red River-in the Choctaw Nation-than it was in the valley of the Arkansas and the transpor- tation of this crop upon any other than a comparatively small scale necessitated recourse to river navigation if it was at all feasible. In seasons when the stage of water in the Red River was not suffi- cient to justify a steamboat in attempting to ascend as far as the mouth of the Kiamitia or that of the Washita, the cotton was hauled by wagon to Jefferson, Texas.1
1 "Bob" Love, a wealthy Choctaw (or Chickasaw) citizen, who owned and operated two large plantations, one at Shawneetown and the other at Rose Hill, in the Red River Valley and who had
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In addition to steamboats there were lesser craft occasionally seen on the waters of the rivers of that day. Occasionally a flat boat might have been scen descending the waters of the Grand and Arkansas rivers. These were generally from Southwest Missouri, where they were built and loaded with bacon. They were floated
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down the Cowskin River to the Grand River and thence to the Arkansas. Sometimes such a craft would go down stream as far as New Orleans before finding a market for its cargo. Some of the
upward of 200 slaves, used to go to New Orleans every fall or win- ter and charter a steamboat to come up and carry out his cotton crop of from 300 to 500 bales. Steamboats discharged cargoes of merchandise at Doaksville .- Personal information secured by the writer from Rev. Dr. J. S. Murrow.
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Indians-especially Creeks and Seminoles-boated down consider- able produce to Fort Smith. Such cargoes consisted of dried peaches, beans, pecans, gopher peas, ginseng, snake root and sarsa- parilla and an excellent quality of rice. They had huge canoes which were made of the hollowed-out trunks of giant cottonwood trees and were of such size and capacity that they could stow a bar- rel of whiskey lengthwise. Most of these came out of the Canadian River into the Arkansas.
The steamboats not only served a useful purpose but they were a picturesque feature of the life of that period and fitted admirably with the prevailing traditions, sentiments and customs. Their dis- appearance from the rivers with the demand for more rapid com- munication and transportation has always been a matter- of keen regret to everyone whose privilege it was to live along any of the great rivers. There were rich profits to be made in the business of steamboating but there were also great risks to be taken. Items tell- ing of steamboats that had been snagged and sunk in the Arkansas River were frequent. As the river was sometimes shallow at the place where such an accident occurred, the cargo would be unloaded and the wrecked craft raised and repaired and again put into serv- ice. In other instances wrecks occurred under such circumstances that both boat and cargo were a total loss.
The old time steamboat captain was always an interesting per- sonality. He had to be not only a navigator skilled in threading the uncertain and treacherous channels of a western river but also a man of keen and well trained business acumen and a genial host and entertainer as well, for, while passenger fares might not form a very large fraction of his receipts, the friendships thus formed often had much to do in developing and holding freight patronage. The mate or second officer, the pilot, the engineer, the clerk and the steward were always men of courage and resourcefulness. Most of the firemen, deck hands and roustabouts were negroes-careless, happy-go-lucky creatures, who sang at their work and had no thought for the morrow. Fort Gibson was always regarded as the head of navigation on the Arkansas; consequently fewer steamboats landed there than at the places lower down the river. The arrival of a steamboat at Fort Gibson or Fort Coffee was always an event in the life of the community.2
2 At the sound of the boat's whistle, or possibly the firing of the swivel gun at its bow, many of the inhabitants would gather at the landing which would soon be lined by a throng of welcoming spec- tators. The negro roustabouts swung their hats and sang sweet
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FURTHER INDIAN IMMIGRATION
Although practically all of the Cherokees (except the compara- tively small band that remained in North Carolina) and most of the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws came to their new reservations
songs in praise of their boat, the improvisatore standing on the cap- stan and the grand chorus bursting out at intervals from strong, musical lungs :
"Come shake de ash, ma bully boys, An' make the fires burn; De engineer am comin' 'round To give 'er another turn- Ranjo, oh, oh, oh, O! 0!
"De captain's on de boiler deck, I'se sure I heer'd 'im say He'd beat de Dan'l Webster An' pass 'er on 'er way- Ranjo, oh, oh, oh, O! O!
"De ladies in de cabin Are troubled in deir mind, Becase dey took deir passage On de bully Brandywine- Ranjo, oh, oh, oh, O!0!"
Then a crowd would rush aboard to the bar to get a drink of ice water or fresh lemonade (for stronger drinks were forbidden above the line at Fort Smith). The deck hands and roustabouts were busy and soon the landing would be covered with piles of freight for the traders and stores for the Government military post and the Indian agencies. Indians would line the wharf, staring in wonder at the great "fire canoe" until the engineer, in the spirit of mischief, would blow off the mud valve with its loud roar and clouds of vapor, causing a hasty retreat of such sight-seers. When the cargo was all discharged another was taken on for the down- stream voyage. Thousands of beef hides, bales of buffalo robes, deer skins and furs were taken aboard and also barrels and sugar hogsheads filled with pecans. When the freight was all aboard the passengers appeared. These might include army officers leaving on an extended furlough or soldiers who had been discharged by reason of expiration of enlistment. Besides these and the passengers for local points, there were almost sure to be one or two merchants or traders who had been awaiting the arrival of a "good boat" to take them to New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, or even faraway Cincinnati or Pittsburg to buy goods to replenish their depleted stocks. When one of these came aboard he was generally followed by servants carrying powder kegs or ax boxes filled with Mexican
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
in the Indian Territory during the decade ending in 1839, smaller bands of the last mentioned tribes continued to arrive from time to time during the ensuing ten or twelve years. The Seminoles of Florida, who, for more than seven years, waged a bitter and relent- less war in opposition to the proposed removal to the Indian Terri- tory, were not largely represented in the Indian immigration until after the end of that struggle in 1842.
In Niles' National Register of September 25, 1841, there ap- peared the following extract from a letter written by an army officer who was on duty in Florida :
"In my last hurried note to you I mentioned having witnessed a scene here a few days before which, in my humble judgment, put the famed story of Damon and Pythias quite in the shade. I will now give you some of the particulars.
"A party of Indians was recently discovered by some of our troops, who succeeded in capturing three of their warriors; the rest of the party, consisting of three men, and women and children, and numbering in all about twenty, fled. The captives were brought to this place, where they were interrogated by the Colonel (William J. Worth), during which it was discovered that two of them had been concerned in killing and burning a mail rider some time in March last. They were told that, for this cruel act of theirs, they would be hung within fifteen days, unless within that time the rest of their people should come in. They were then placed in chains and were permitted to send the third man of their party, with a talk, to bring in the rest of their people, while they were committed to the guard. The man thus sent out returned in five days, bringing with him a warrior by the name of Holate Fixico, and some women and chil- dren, among whom were the mother and sister of one of the prison- ers, whose name is Talof Hadjo. The scene which followed may be dramatized thus :
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