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 28
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that of an old-time manor or estate. The home of the owner was generally plain and simple in its architectural design, but roomy, well-built, well-appointed and homelike. "The quarters," where dwelt the negro slaves, formed a picturesque feature of the old time plantation life which disappeared, in the Indian Territory at least,
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ANNUAL TEMPERANCE MEETING. THE annual meeting of the Cherokee Temperance Society, will be held at Tahlequah, on Friday the 18th day of October next. Addresses will be made 'both -in the English and Cherokee lan -. guages, and the meeting will be enlivened with interesting Temperance Songs in both languages, accompanied with instru- ments of music. A choir of singers from
Gibson will
Children son
CHEROKEE BIBLE SOCIETY
with the Civil war. There was also an occasional cabin on such places, where the "poor white" tenants or employes were housed. There were numerous outbuildings, including the smoke-house (where meats and other provisions were kept), the stable (in which might be found several well-bred saddle horses) and the kennel, in
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which was the pack of hounds and possibly several other hunting dogs.
Not much attention was given to horticulture, though some of the more progressive farmers and planters had small orchards of well selected fruit trees. Seedling apples and peach trees were by no means uncommon and wild fruits of several species were abun- dant. Indian corn was a staple article of food among the people of the civilized tribes, as it had been for ages among their ancestors and is yet among their descendants. The people of each tribe had their own peculiar means and methods of preparing this nourishing cereal for use. The green corn was roasted in the ear. The ripened grain, ground into meal, either at the grist-mill or by means of a hand-mill, was made into the simple, nutritious and always palatable "hoc-cake" or "pone." The various forms of hominy, made by boiling the grain in a solution of lye (which was extracted from wood ashes by leaching, were very popular with the several tribes. The fermented hominy which was known as "tah-fula" (corrupted into the English "tom fuller") was the national dish of the Choc- taws. The Creeks had a similar preparation known as "sof-ky." Likewise the Cherokee hominy was called "conna-hana." Corn was also prepared for use on hunting expeditions and long journeys by being carefully parched and then ground into a fine powder. which was called "cold flour." A quart of this food could be car- ried by a hunter in his belt pouch. A tablespoonful of this "cold flour" in a pint of water was said to satisfy the hunger for one meal, but it was always left for a last resort, when no other food could be had.
As most of the Indians of the immigrant tribes were living in the pastoral stage of development, they had a great deal of live stock. Many horses and ponies, and great herds of cattle were to be found in all parts of the country and the half-wild, "razor-back" swine in great abundance. Flocks of sheep were less common but by no means unknown. Generally, all stock ran at large and grazed at will on the open range. Sheep, which would otherwise have been subjected to the ravages of wolves and predatory curs, and the bet- ter class of saddle horses were the exceptions. Under such circum- stances, meat was plentiful and cheap and every well-appointed plantation and farm had its smoke-house, which hung full of cured pork and "jerked" beef. Wild game was also abundant. This in- cluded deer, bear, raccoon, opossum, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, partridges, wild ducks and geese, etc., and fish of several species abounded in every stream. In the fall of the year, hunting parties
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were wont to go west to the Plains, where the buffalo, elk and ante- lope were so plentiful that the pack animals on the return trip were sure to be heavily laden with dried meat, robes and skins.
There was a great variation in the styles of wearing apparel. Most of the well-to-do people dressed according to the styles prevail- ing in the eastern states. The majority of the mixed-blood people, however, dressed after the manner of the whites on the frontier, ex- cept that, in many instances, especially among the women, the customary headdress of civilized peoples was not worn. Women were often seen, dressed in rich silks and in the best taste but as a rule the hat or bonnet of their white sisters was disdained. Instead, there would be a beautiful shawl, a handkerchief or a parasol used over the head-nothing more would be tolerated. The arts of spin- ning and weaving had been introduced among the people of the tribes from the South before they moved to the Indian Territory. Before the general introduction of cotton gins (which were in but few localities north of the Red River section of the territory prior to the Civil war), cotton was grown in a small way for home use. The lint of the cotton thus grown was separated from the seed by hand, a tedious process which showed the patience and industry of the people who put in their spare time at it in the evenings. From this fiber, they carded, spun, dyed and wove a home-made fabric, usually in a striped or cross-barred design from which neat and be- coming gowns were made for every-day wear. For Sundays and holidays, however, all who could afford to do so, wore garments made from bright-colored calicoes and prints which were purchased from the traders. The hunting shirts which were commonly worn by the men were also home spun. All of the wool that was shorn from sheep in the territory was used locally, being carded, spun, dyed and woven into blankets or other fabrics. The spinning wheel and hand loom were therefore a part of the equipment of every well-ordered household among the Indians of the civilized tribes, and nimble fingers made them contribute their full share to the thrift and wealth of the family.
The Indians who owned slaves seldom did much if any manual labor themselves. Among those who did not own slaves, however, the men did all of the heavy outdoor work, such as clearing and fencing the fields, plowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops, etc. The women did the housework, such as cooking, sewing, spinning, weaving, washing, etc., and also attended to the kitchen garden. They were not burdened with any of the heavy work such
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
as is usually reputed to have fallen to the lot of the Indian woman among the uncivilized tribes.
Intercourse between neighbors and acquaintances was always marked by kindness, good fellowship and thoughtfulness for the comfort and convenience of others. Serious misunderstandings, quarrels or strife were not common among most of the tribes and, when there were such regrettable happenings, they were generally more or less directly traceable to intoxicating drink and its effect upon the minds and dispositions of those who gave it a chance to get the mastery over them. As a class, the Indians were honest and trustworthy. As an instance of this trait, it is related that upon one occasion, Col. Samuel M. Rutherford, who was agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws during the years 1845 to 1849, once brought the annuity money for those tribes, amounting to many thousands of dollars, to the agency at Skullaville. There, the money was placed in a small, one-roomed, log office building. At night the agent's fourteen-year-old-son slept in the room with the money and there was no guard stationed to ward and watch against possible theft. Several thousand Indians were encamped in the immediate vicinity and all knew that the money was there, yet it was unmolested. Benson, in his "Life Among the Choctaws," tells of an emergency under which Superintendent F. W. Armstrong left a similar large amount under his care at Fort Coffee over night.
Social conditions among the better class of mixed-blood Indians did not differ materially from those which prevailed in localities which were similarly isolated in other parts of the country. Evi- dences of culture and refinement were not lacking. Many of the young people of the well-to-do families were sent "to the states" for further scholastic training after having finished the course in the mission school or the tribal academy or seminary. A number of young men of this class graduated with creditable records from vari- ous eastern colleges and universities during the course of this period. Benson tells of a Choctaw woman of his acquaintance who "was in- telligent, a neat and tasteful housekeeper and woman of more than ordinary intellect. She was ambitious and patriotic to a remarkable extent. She would speak of 'our people' and 'our nation,' and of the schools, academies, council, and the prospects of the nation with the confidence and hauteur of a princess. Having slaves to do her work, she devoted a considerable portion of her time to reading, was fond of novels, knew something of Dickens, and would, with confidence, criticise the magazine literature of the day."
The people of mixed Indian and white blood were very hospi-
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
table and much given to entertaining and visiting. A visit to kins- folk or friends at a distance was always a notable event, especially for the young folks of the family. Part of the members of the fam- ily traveled in the carriage, the rest on horseback. Sometimes a wagon, containing baggage, camping equipment, and provisions for the journey and carrying a groom, cook, maid or other servants, was taken also, especially if the weather were pleasant and the journey one of several days' duration.
Most of the Indians of the civilized tribes, whether of mixed or full-blood, were keenly interested in sports. Among the full-blood Indians, of all of these tribes, there was no game of such wide- spread interest as the ball play. As a rule, there were many play- ers-sometimes scores on each side. Originally this game is said to have had a ceremonial meaning but, if so, it had lost its sacred signifi- cance before the removal to the Indian Territory. Each player used a pair of long-handled racquets, or "ball sticks," having a cup- shaped loop of thinly scraped hickory, loosely laced with buckskin thongs, at the end. Usually, all of the young men of a given district would be arrayed on one side of the game against those of another district or locality. The challenge having been given and accepted, all of the people for many miles around would congregate and go into camp at the appointed place and time for the purpose of wit- nessing the game, the assemblage sometimes forming quite an ex- tensive encampment. The struggles between the rival players were not infrequently so strenuous as to make a modern foot-ball scrim- mage seem quite tame in comparison. Sad to relate, sometimes, when an unprincipled trader had succeeded in smuggling a supply of in- toxicating liquor into camp, serious injuries and even violent deaths resulted. As a rule, however, the wiser Indians tried to keep their sport on a higher level.
Horse-racing was another form of sport, which, with fox chasing furnished the most exhilarating amusement of the mixed-blood Indians and the inter-married whites. In the days when steam- boats ran regularly on the western rivers, it was not uncommon for the man with a racing stable in Kentucky or elsewhere east of the Mississippi to embark a string of fast horses aboard a boat and go in search of a chance to match their speed against the fastest horses in some field as yet unknown to the world of sport in the land of blue grass and clover. The circuit on the Arkansas River in- cluded Little Rock, Fort Smith and Fort Gibson, army officers as well as citizens being interested in the sport. Some exciting races for big stakes are said to have been run at Fort Gibson.
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Although the Indian Territory seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world, the people, even in the early part of this period, kept informed as to what was transpiring elsewhere and evinced by their actions a keen interest in affairs that concerned other peoples and other parts of the world. When there was a great famine in Ireland, the sympathies of people in the Indian Territory were touched, as is evidenced by the following item which is quoted from one of the papers of the day :*
"A meeting for the relief of the starving poor of Ireland was held at the Choctaw Agency [Skullaville] on the 23d ultimo [March, 1847]. Major William Armstrong was called to the chair and J. B. Luce was appointed secretary. A circular of the 'Memphis com- mittee' was read by Major Armstrong, after which the meeting contributed $710.00. All subscribed, agent, missionaries, traders and Indians, a considerable portion of which fund was made up by' the latter. The 'poor Indian' sending his mite to the 'poor Irish.' "
* Van Buren (Arkansas) Intelligencer.
266 76 245 W 1
FIFTH PERIOD
1861-1865
THE CIVIL WAR IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY
CHAPTER XXXV
BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY
The era immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil war might be very appropriately designated as the happiest period in the history of the Indian Territory. The sorrows and miseries of the migration from the East became less poignant, especially among the younger Indians who could not remember the old homes in the country east of the Mississippi. The people of the five civilized tribes were at peace with the world. Their wants were few and simple and these were easily supplied. They were prosperous in their way. Their farms and plantations were productive and their flocks and herds had increased until they were a source of wealth in the surplus that was sold to be driven out of the territory into the states to the east and north. They were practically self-sup- porting and the interest on their trust funds was largely expended for the support of schools. The terminus of the nearest railroad was still several hundred miles distant from the borders of the Indian Territory and no telegraph line had as yet crossed its bounds. There was little to disturb the people of these tribes under such circumstances and there can be no doubt but that they would have preferred to continue to live at peace.
The relations of all of the five civilized tribes with the Govern- ment were friendly and had been for so long a time that, had it not been for the exertion of powerful influences to such an end, it may well be doubted whether the most of their people would have sanctioned a change. However, all of these tribes had come from the southern states. Many of the customs and habits which they had adopted were those which were peculiar to the South. More- over, many of their people were related by ties of blood and mar- riage to the people of the South. It was for these reasons that, de- spite their preference for peace rather than war, especially when the latter meant a severance of their long friendship for the United States, a great many of them felt that duty seemed to call for a new alliance.
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Although neither railroad nor telegraph had penetrated as far as the borders of the Indian Territory and news was tardy in arriv- ing "from the states," many of the people of the five civilized tribes were deeply interested in the developments which portended the coming of the storm of civil strife. News from Washington, Charleston, Montgomery and other centers of political interest, where the preliminary scenes of the great struggle were being enacted, took a long time to reach the distant realms of the Red Man, yet, when it was received, it was pondered and discussed with eager interest. To be sure, there were differences of opinion, and arguments were wont to become so heated that friends became estranged.
The Government officials who were charged with the supervision of Indian affairs for the tribes in the Indian Territory were all men of southern birth and extraction, and most of them being more or less active in their support of the secession movement, and each was in a position to exert a potent influence in its behalf. Some of these, at least, appear to have been very suspicious of the mission- aries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Congregational and Presbyterian), who were mostly. from New England and, in the end, these mission workers had to sever their relations with the sustaining organization or abandon their posts and leave the territory.1 In the Cherokee Nation it was openly charged two Baptist missionaries, Rev. Evan Jones and his son, John B. Jones, were guilty of meddlesome officiousness which caused considerable disturbance and some violence and their influence among the full blooded Cherokees was regarded as very mis- chievous.2
1 Letters of Agent Douglas H. Cooper, Choctaw and Chickasaw Agency, in the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1859, pp. 190-191, and in the report of the same office for 1860, pp. 129-130.
2 Letter of Maj. Elias Rector, superintendent of Indian Affairs, Southern Superintendency, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1860, pp. 115-156.
Evan Jones was born in Wales in 1788 and migrated to America in 1821, settling in Pennsylvania, where he affiliated with the Bap- tist Church shortly afterward and was sent almost immediately to a mission station among the Cherokees in North Carolina. He was employed as a teacher at first, but was subsequently ordained to the ministry. He continued to labor among the Cherokees in the East until the migration of the main body of the tribe to Indian Terri- tory, in 1839, when he joined the movement and established a mis-
1
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
As early as February 7, 1861, the Choctaw Council adopted resolutions declaring in favor of an alignment with the people of the southern states.3 The chaotic conditions which prevailed at
sion in the new Cherokee Nation. John B. Jones was born at the Baptist mission at Valley Town, North Carolina, December 24, 1824. He mastered the Cherokee language in boyhood. He was educated at the University of Rochester, New York, where he graduated in 1855. He was ordained to the ministry and also married immedi- ately afterward and came at once to the Baptist Mission in the Cherokee Nation. Dr. Emmet Starr, the Cherokee historian, says of Evan Jones and John B. Jones :
"No man or men were ever able to sway the minds and policies of the full-blood Cherokees as did this father and son. They were the real dictators of the Cherokee Nation, from 1839 to 1867, through the numerically dominant full bloods who, as a body, were always swayed by impulse rather than reason. As ministers of the Gospel they were apparently meek and humble, but the sentiments which they powerfully and insidiously engendered among the full bloods were perforce the governmental policies of Chief Ross."
The same writer describes the father and son as "men of mag- netic and sympathetic presences, splendid acquisitive minds and rare executive abilities."
Rev. Evan Jones died in August, 1873, and his son, Rev. John B. Jones, died in June, 1876.
3 The resolutions adopted by the Choctaw Council were as follows :
Resolved by the General Council of the Choctaw Nation, That we view with deep regret and great solicitude the present unhappy political disagreement between the Northern and Southern States of the American Union, tending to a permanent dissolution of the Union and the disturbance of the various important relations exist- ing with that Government by treaty stipulations and international laws and portending much injury to the Choctaw government and people.
Resolved further, That we must express the earnest desire and ready hope entertained by the entire Choctaw people that any and all political disturbances agitating and dividing the people of the various states may be honorably and speedily adjusted; and the example and blessing and fostering care of their General Govern- ment, and the many and friendly social ties existing with their people, continue for the enlightenment in moral and good govern- ment and prosperity in the material concerns of life to the whole population.
Resolved further, That, in event a permanent dissolution of the American Union takes place, our many relations with the General Government must cease and 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
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Washington at that time were reflected in the uncertainties and evi- dent demoralization which distinguished the civil and military agencies of the Government in the Indian Territory. Added to this were the suggestive and appealing overtures of the official repre- sentatives of some of the states of the South, who urged that the Indians of the five civilized tribes should make a common cause with the seceding states.4
and brethren of the Southern States, upon whom we are confident we can rely for the preservation of our rights of life, liberty and property, and the continuance of many acts of friendship, general counsel and material support.
Resolved further, That we desire to assure our immediate neigh- bors, the people of Arkansas and Texas, of our determination to observe the amicable relations in every way so long existing be- tween us and the firm reliance we have, amid any disturbances with other states (that) the rights and feelings so sacred to us will re- main respected by them and be protected from the encroachments of others.
Resolved further, That his excellency, the principal chief, be requested to enclose, with an appropriate communication from him- self, a copy of these resolutions to the governors of the Southern States, with the request that they be laid before the state conven- tion of each state, as many as have assembled at the date of their reception, and that in such as have not they be published in the newspapers of the state.
+ Under date of January 29, 1861, Governor Henry M. Rector, of Arkansas, addressed a letter to Chief John Ross, of the Cherokee Nation, reviewing the conditions then existing, calling attention to the interests which the people of the Cherokee Nation held in com- mon with those of the seceding states and urging that they should be prompt in aligning themselves on the side of the South. This letter was accompanied by another one written to Ross by Maj. Elias Rector, superintendent of Indian affairs for the Southern Superintendency, which included the five civilized tribes. These , letters, which are published in full in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. 1, pp. 683-684, were sent to Chief Ross by a special messenger in the person of Lieut .- Col. J. J. Gaines, aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Rector. To this letter, under date of February 22d, Chief Ross wrote in reply, stating that the existing treaties between the Cherokee Nation and the United States had not been abrogated and expressing hope that the threatened war might be averted. Other letters written by Chief Ross in a similar vein and stating it to be his purpose and that of his people to remain neutral in the impending conflict are recorded during the course of the ensuing three or fourth months in the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. XIII, pp. 491-499.
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Some of the Indians hesitated in the matter of deciding upon such a course. This was particularly true of those leaders who had
The following correspondence between the Confederate com- missioner of Indian affairs and Chief Ross serves to illustrate the argument used in seeking to induce him to favor a treaty of alliance with the Confederate States and also the position which he main- tained concerning the matter :
Fort Smith, June 12, 1861.
HON. JOHN ROSS,
Principal Chief Cherokee Nation.
Sir: As Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the Confederate States it was my intention to have called upon you and consulted as to the mutual interests of our people. Sickness has put it out of my power to travel, and those interests require immediate consid- eration and therefore I have determined to write and make what I consider a plain statement of the case for your consideration, which I think stands thus: If we succeed in the South-succeed in this controversy, and I have no doubt of the fact, for we are daily gain- ing friends among thie powers of Europe, and our people are arm- ing with unanimity scarcely ever seen in the world before-then your lands, your slaves and your separate nationality are secured and made perpetual, and in addition nearly all your debts are in Southern bonds and these we will also secure. If the North suc- ceeds you will most certainly lose all. First your slaves they will take from you; that is one object of the war, to enable them to abolish slavery in such manner and at such time as they choose. Another, and perhaps the chief cause, is to get upon your rich lands, and settle their squatters, who do not like to settle in slave states. They will settle upon your lands as fast as they choose and the Northern people will force their Government to allow it. It is true they may allow your people small reserves-they give chiefs pretty big ones-but they will settle among you, overshadow you, and totally destroy the power of your chiefs and your nationality and then trade your people out of the residue of their lands. Go North among the once powerful tribes of that country and see if you can find Indians living and enjoying power and property and lib- erty as do your people and the neighboring tribes from the South. If you can, then say I am a liar and the Northern States have been better to the Indian than the Southern States. If you are obliged to admit the truth of what I say, then join us and preserve your people, their slaves, their vast possessions in lands, and their nationality.
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