Part 34

The pecuniary obligations of these treaties are of great importance. Apart from the annuities secured to them by former treaties, and which we are to assume by those now submitted, these tribes have large permanent funds in the hands of the Government of the United States as their trustee. These funds may be divided into three classes: First. Money which the Government of the United States stipulated to invest in its own stocks or stocks of the States, and which has been partly invested in its own stocks and partly uninvested, remains in its Treasury, but upon which it is bound to pay interest. Second. Funds invested in the stocks of States not members of this Confederacy. Third. Money invested in stocks of States now members of this Confederacy.... By the treaties now submitted to you the first and second class are absolutely assumed by this Government; but this Government only undertakes as trustee to collect the third class from the States which owe the money and pay over the amounts to the Indians when collected. It is fortunate for the Indians and ourselves that the amounts embraced in classes one and two are relatively small, and the obligations incurred by their assumption cannot be onerous, as the amount due by States of the Confederacy on account of investments in the funds of Northern Indians considerably exceeds the amount to be assumed under this provision of the treaties. We thereby have the means to compel the Government of the United States to do justice to the Indians within the jurisdiction of the Confederate States, or to indemnify ourselves for its breach of faith.

... I also submit to you the report of Albert Pike, the commissioner, which contains a history of his negotiations and submits his reasons for a departure from his instructions in relation to the pecuniary obligations to be incurred. [The reference here is to a letter from Pike to Toombs, May 20, 1861, _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 581.] In view of the circumstances by which we are surrounded, the great importance of preserving peace with the Indians on the frontier of Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, and not least, because of the spirit these tribes have manifested in making common cause with us in the war now existing, I recommend the assumption of the stipulated pecuniary obligations, and, with the modifications herein suggested, that the treaties submitted be ratified.--_Official Records_, fourth ser., vol. i, 786.

[389] _Official Record_, fourth ser., vol. i, 785-786.

[390] _Journal_, vol. i, 564, 565.

[391] --_Ibid._, 590-596.

[392] --_Ibid._, 590-591.

[393] _Statutes at Large_, 330.

[394] _Journal_, vol. i, 591-592.

[395] _Statutes at Large_, 331.

[396] _Journal_, vol. i, 597.

[397] --_Ibid._, 593.

[398] _Statutes at Large_, 367.

[399] _Journal_, 601.

[400] --_Ibid._, 598.

[401] _Statutes at Large_, 331.

[402] _Statutes at Large_, 331.

[403] _Journal_, vol. i, 610.

[404] --_Ibid._

[405] --_Ibid._, 632-633.

[406] --_Ibid._, 634.

[407] --_Ibid._, 635.

[408] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 574.

[409] Chief Justice M. H. McWillie of La Mesilla, Arizona, was among the number. See his letter to President Davis, June 30, 1861, quoted in _Official Records_, vol. iv, 96.

[410] _Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 578-579.

[411] --_Ibid._, vol. i, 618.

[412] Letter to Johnson, May 11, 1861, _ibid._, vol. iii, 572.

[413] Letter to Toombs, May 20, 1861, _ibid._, 581.

[414] Commissioner of Indian Affairs, _Report_, 1861, p. 14.

[415] Act of March 2, 1861, U. S. _Statutes at Large_, vol. xii, 239.

[416] On the twenty-second of May, Whitney reported, generally, on the condition of several tribes:

Owing to the extremely dangerous state of political affairs in Missouri especially along the line of the H. & St. Jo. RR., I have refrained from writing to you.... Although the _Delawares_ were not especially refered to in my instructions yet I visited the Mission & Agent as it was quite convenient ... and ascertained to my complete satisfaction ... that they were a wealthy tribe and that although many of their individual members were _necessitous_ yet they were not of the _destitute_ kind contemplated by your department: 2d. that the new agent who had heard of this movement towards relief was very anxious to make it appear that his tribe was very needy & to have large amounts of relief furnished at his residence on the Missouri River away from the agency & also from a central point....

I next visited the Osage River Agency and ascertained that all of the tribes belonging to that Agency were in rather a destitute condition, they having used and still (are) using their school fund in buying provisions: the Miamis of that agency I found to be the most needy & it might be said that they were _suffering_ to some extent....

... In reference to the Neosho Agency, as that was such a long distance I engaged three trains of wagons before leaving Leavenworth....

Whitney speaks harshly of the Osages as lazy vagabonds and continues,

... The general famine throughout Kansas had but little to do with their sufferings as they cultivate nothing of consequence ... and therefore ... they are not morally & strictly proper objects of government charity....

... Systematic and well planned solicitations had been and are being made by Missourians to them to take up arms against the borderers to which the people throughout this entire section feared they might be induced on account of the neglect of Government [and because the whites steal their ponies]--Land Files, _Central Superintendency, 1852-1869_, W223.

Note that Whitney thought the reports of border ruffian inducements, though true in a measure, had been exaggerated. On the eighth of June, he reported again,

When I got within reach of the H. & St. J. R. R. it became apparent that my produce would be at best somewhat exposed to seizure by the secessionists and that such hazard would be very greatly enhanced if it was known to be government property and especially if it should be known to be going to the Indians whom the Missourians were even then as was reported upon authority endeavoring to excite against the borderers....--Land Files, _Central Superintendency, 1852-1869_, W223.

Slaughter had less to report; but even he, on the twenty-first of June, said, while insisting that the reports had been exaggerated,

I have no doubt overtures have been held out to them [the more northern tribes], but whether from authorized parties from [the] South no one can tell. It is all matter of conjecture. A general council of the tribes it is understood has been solicited by some of the Southern Indians, but I doubt whether it will be held.--General Files, _Central Superintendency, 1860-1862_, S404.

Slaughter further surmised, from personal observations, that the northern tribes would remain loyal to the United States. See his letter to Dole, June 15, 1861. Other people were of the same opinion, although, in early 1861, the various tribes had much to complain of, much to make them discontented and therefore very susceptible to bad influences. Some of the Miamis were preferring charges against Agent Clover for misapplication of funds and other things [Louis Lefontaine, etc. to Greenwood, January 13, 1861, Land Files, _Osage River, 1860-1866_]; the Kaws were suffering and R. S. Stevens slowly working out the details of his preposterous graft in the construction of houses for them [M. C. Dickey to Greenwood, February 26, 1861, General Files, _Kansas, 1855-1862_, D250, and same to same, March 1, 1861, _ibid._, D251]; the Shawnees were having the usual troubles over their tribal elections, Joseph White having recently been elected second chief in place of Eli Blackhoof [Robinson to Greenwood, February 19, 1861, Land Files, _Shawnee, 1860-1865_]; and then, even farther north, from among the Otoes, came additional complaints; for Agent Dennison, who by the way, became a secessionist and a defaulter [Dole to Thaddeus Stevens, May 26, 1862, Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12, pp. 388-386], was withholding annuities and an uprising was threatening in consequence [General Files, _Otoe, 1856-1862_].

[417] The alien influence extended itself even to the wild Indians of the Plains. On the sixth of August, 1861 [General Files, _Pottawatomie, 1855-1861_, B704], Branch reported bad news that he had received from Agent Ross regarding the hostile approach of these Indians and remarked,

I think there can be little doubt but what emissaries of the Rebels have been and are actively engaged in creating dissatisfaction against the government with every tribe of Indians that they dare approach on that subject.

As soon as I can get the business of this office in a shape so I can conveniently leave my office duties I propose visiting the most of the tribes under this superintendency with a view to reconciling them and enjoining peace....

Similarly Captain Elmer Otis from Fort Wise, August 27, 1861, and A. G. Boone from the Upper Arkansas Agency, September 7, 1861, reported the Texans' tampering with the Kiowas [Land Files, _Upper Arkansas, 1855-1865_, O40, B772], who seem successfully to have resisted their threats and their blandishments. The Comanches of Texas were also approached but they fled rather than yield [Boone to Mix, October 19, 1861, _ibid._, B361]. They, however, importunately demanded a treaty from the United States government in return for their loyalty. They were poor, they said, and had lost their hunting-grounds. Boone made good use of them as scouts and spies against the Texans [Letter of December 14, 1861, _ibid._, B1006]. They were of the Comanches who had treated with Pike and who had solemnly pledged themselves, under duress and temporary excitement, to amity and allegiance. Secret agents from the South went also among the Blackfeet and Agent Thomas G. McCulloch sent an ex-employee of the American Fur Company, named Alexander Culbertson and married to the daughter of the Blackfeet chief, as a secret agent to counteract their influence [General Files, _Central Superintendency, 1860-1862_].

[418] Letter to Walker, July 18, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 611].

[419] The scarcity of arms proved to be a serious matter. On the thirtieth of July, the assistant-quartermaster general, George W. Clark, telegraphed to Walker that arms had not yet arrived and that the Indians, encamped at the Old Choctaw Agency, were, in consequence, showing signs of discontent [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 620].

[420] Cooper probably spoke the truth, for the Choctaws and Chickasaws together had a population of twenty-three thousand.

In 1861, the Indian population of the Southern Superintendency was, as reported by Dole upon inquiry from Hon. J. S. Phelps of Missouri [John C. G. Kennedy, of the Census Office, to Dole, August 9, 1861]:

Chickasaws 5,000 Choctaws 18,000 Cherokees 21,000 Creeks 13,550 Seminoles (of which 1,247 were males) 2,267

[Dole's answer, August 10, 1861].

In April, the report from the Indian Office had been:

Choctaws 18,000 Chickasaws 5,000 ------- Total 23,000

Creeks 13,550 Cherokees 17,530 Seminoles 2,267 Neosho Agency 4,863 Leased District 2,500 ------- Total 63,710

[Indian Office, _Report Book_, no. 12].

[421] Letter to President Davis [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 614].

[422] Identical with Article I of both the Cherokee and the Choctaw and Chickasaw, but different from the Seminole in that the Seminole provided simply for "perpetual peace and friendship."

[423] The corresponding Choctaw and Chickasaw Article [XLIX] stipulated that the colonel of the regiment should be appointed by the president. Of course, Douglas H. Cooper, was at this time, the one and only candidate for the place and there is no doubt that the exception was made for his especial benefit. However, Pike objected to his holding, in addition to the colonelcy, the office of Indian agent [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 614].

Agent Garrett wanted the position of colonel in the Creek regiment and Pike recommended him, but McCulloch objected saying,

I hope the appointment will not be made, for Colonel Garrett is in no way qualified for the position, and from what I know of his habits, I am satisfied that a worse appointment could not be made.--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 597.

This was before the treaty had been negotiated and, after it had been negotiated, Pike wrote to Walker as follows:

When I recommended the appointment of William H. Garrett, the present agent for the Creeks, to be colonel of the Creek regiment, I had not sufficiently estimated the ambition and desire for distinction of the leading men of that nation, and I also supposed that Mr. Garrett, popular with them as an agent, would be acceptable as colonel of their regiment; but when I concluded with them the very important treaty of July 10, instant, they strenuously insisted that the colonel of the regiment to be raised should be elected by the men. As the public interest did not require I should insist upon a contrary provision, by which I might have jeoparded the treaty, I yielded, and the consequence is that by the treaty, as signed and ratified by the Creek council, the field officers are all to be elected by the men of the regiment.

This being the case, I have this day written Colonel Garrett, requesting him to inform the Creeks immediately, as I have already done, that notwithstanding his appointment they will elect their colonel. If he should not do so he will cause much mischief, and would deserve severe censure; but I do not doubt he will promptly do it....--_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 623-624.

On the twenty-fourth of August, the matter was settled at Richmond by Walker's writing to Pike,

In order that there shall be no misunderstanding with the friendly Indians west of Arkansas, this Department is anxious that the article in the treaty made by you, guaranteeing to them the right of selecting their own field officers, shall be carried out in good faith. The name of Mr. Garrett will therefore be dropped as colonel of the Creek regiment, and that regiment will proceed to elect its own officers. The regiment being formed among the Seminoles will exercise the same right. Reassure the tribes of the perfect sincerity of this Government toward them.--_Ibid._, 671.

The corresponding Cherokee Article [XL] differed slightly from the Creek. It seems to have taken certain things, like the choice of officers, both company and field, for granted. It reads thus:

In consideration of the common interest of the Cherokee Nation and the Confederate States, and of the protection and rights guaranteed to the said nation by this treaty, the Cherokee Nation hereby agrees that it will raise and furnish a regiment of ten companies of mounted men, with two reserve companies, if allowed, to serve in the armies of the Confederate States for twelve months; the men shall be armed by the Confederate States, receive the same pay and allowances as other mounted troops in the service, and not be moved beyond the limits of the Indian country west of Arkansas without their consent.

[424] Identical with Article LI of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty and with Article LXI of the Cherokee.

[425] Identical with Article L of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty, with Article XLII of the Cherokee, and with Article XXXVI of the Seminole.

[426] Identical with Article LII of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Treaty and with Article XLIII of the Cherokee.

[427] Frémont reported to Townsend, August 13, 1861, that Cherokee half-breeds, judging from the muster roll and from the corroborating testimony of prisoners, were with McCulloch in this battle, fought about ten miles south of Springfield, August 10, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 54]. Connelley says, in 1861, Quantrill, returning from Texas, lingered in the Cherokee Nation with a half-breed Cherokee, Joel Mayes,

Who, many years after the war, was elected Head Chief of the Nation. Mayes espoused the cause of the Confederacy and was captain of a company or band of Cherokees who followed General Ben McCulloch to Missouri.--_Quantrill and the Border Wars_, 198.

A letter, written by McCulloch to Colonel John Drew, September 1, 1861, seems to indicate that individual Cherokees had joined him [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 691].

[428] The Federal defeat was believed by contemporaries to have been due to mismanagement, to army friction, to the incompetency and sloth of Sigel, and to Frémont's failure to reinforce the redoubtable Lyon, who fell in the engagement. An investigation into Sigel's conduct was subsequently made by Halleck, Sigel's bitter enemy. Halleck hated Sigel, because Sigel so greatly admired Frémont, whom Halleck supplanted; and because Sigel was the hero of the Germans, and one of them. For the Germans, Halleck had a great antipathy. Many of them were "pfälzisch-badischen Revolutionäre" and Halleck regarded them as adventurers or as refugees from justice. They in turn referred to Halleck as one of the West Point "bunglers" who were so numerous in the northern army, the really efficient and capable West Pointers, so they said, having all gone with the South [Kaufmann's "Sigel und Halleck" in _Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter_, Band, 210-216, October 1910].

[429] Even in the latter part of May, these were so serious as to threaten a Cherokee civil war [Letter of John Crawford, May 21, 1861, General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_; Mix to Crawford, June 4, 1861, Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 66, pp. 15-16].

[430] Ben McCulloch to Walker, September 2, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 692]; Pike to Benjamin, December 25, 1861 [_ibid._, vol. viii, 720].

[431] "Meetings and Proceedings of the Executive Council of the Cherokee Nation, July 2, 1861" [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515].

[432] See "Meetings and Proceedings of the Cherokee Executive Council, August 1, 1861" [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, C515].

[433] Pike to Ross, August 1, 1861 [_ibid._].

[434]

A general meeting of the Cherokee people was held at Tahlequah on Wednesday, the 21st day of August, 1861. It was called by the executive of the Cherokee Nation for the purpose of giving the Cherokee people an opportunity to express their opinions in relation to subjects of deep interest to themselves as individuals and as a nation. The number of persons in attendance, almost exclusively adult males, was about 4,000, whose deportment was characterized by good order and propriety, and the expression of whose opinions and feelings was frank, cordial, and of marked unanimity.--_Report of the Proceedings at Tahlequah, August 21, 1861_, transmitted to General McCulloch by the Executive Council, August 24, 1861 [_Official Records_, first ser., vol. iii, 673].

[435] Evan Jones of the Baptist Mission, Cherokee Nation, to Dole, dated Lawrence, Kansas, November 2, 1861 [General Files, _Cherokee, 1859-1865_, J503].

[436] W. S. Robertson, who for twelve years had been "teaching in the Tullahassee Manual Labor School in the Creek Nation under the care of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions" [Robertson's Letter of September 30, 1861, General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1615].

Robertson says, that

Having witnessed the whole struggle between the Loyal & War parties, when the latter prevailed, I was on the 25{th} of August ordered by a party of the "Creek Light Horse" acting under the written orders of Moty Kenard and Jacob Derrysaw, Chief of the Creeks, to leave within twenty-four hours from the Creek country. I retired to my friends at Park Hill in the Cherokee where the same struggle was going on.

At Park Hill I enjoyed every facility for knowing the feelings of the people, the designs of the Executive.

When at last the Rebel flag flaunted over the council ground at Tahlequah, I left the Cherokee country with my family, and after encountering many dangers, succeeded in reaching Rolla, on the 23{rd} Sept. without giving any pledge to the enemy.

Having written to the Sec. of the Interior (from St. Louis, Oct. 1{st}) stating my long residence among the Creeks and Cherokees, my means of information, and my desire to give any information that would benefit our Gov't or my loyal friends among the Indians--and having forwarded all the printed correspondence between the Rebels and Chief Ross (except the last letter of the Rebel commissioner, Albert Pike) together with Chief Ross' speech at the Cherokee Convention at Tahlequah, on the 21{st} of Aug. and the resolutions passed at said Convention, without receiving any answer, I concluded that Col. Humphrey's (of Tenn.) mysterious movements were all right, that he was loyal, and kept our Gov't well informed as to the Rebel doings among the Indians. That I had redeemed my pledge to loyal Creeks & Cherokees.

Recent letters from St. Louis, & New York stating that "Gov't agents are seeking information everywhere," and urging me to write to "Gen. Hunter" & Washington, induce me to send you my address, to urge you in the name of humanity and justice not to take decisive measures against the betrayed and oppressed people, until you have heard all that can be said in their behalf.--Letter to Department of the Interior and referred to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated January 7, 1862 [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1664].

Mix answered it February 14, 1862 [Indian Office, _Letter Book_, no. 67, P. 357].

In a somewhat earlier letter, the one from which the extract, in the body of the text was taken, Robertson had said,

I am ... deeply interested in their welfare, acquainted with the feelings of the people, well informed as to the men and measures which have detached these nations from their allegiance to the U. S.

Chief among the traitors were not only the Superintendent of that District, and the Agents under him appointed by the late Administration but others claiming to have received commissions as Indian Agents "since the 4{th} of March last" from the U. S. Gov't.

On the 21{st} of Aug. last I was in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation, at a convention of the Cherokee people called by their Chief Jno. Ross....--ROBERTSON to President Lincoln, dated Winneconne, Wisconsin, December 12, 1861 [General Files, _Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862_, R1658].

Concerning the responsibility attaching to government agents for Indian defection, E. C. Boudinot and W. P. Adair wrote, January 19, 1866, to Cooley,

The Southern Indians have repeatedly repudiated the idea that they were induced by the machinations of any persons to ally themselves with the rebellion, but accept the full responsibility of their acts without such excuse.