Part 27

Their situation was such as would have worked confusion in the ideas of a less primitive and simple minded people. For years before the outbreak of the rebellion their superintendents, agents, and agency employés had been, almost without exception, Southern men or men of Southern sympathies. They were a slaveholding people, and the idea was constantly pressed upon them that the pending difficulties between the North and the South were solely the result of a determination on the part of the latter to protect her slave property from the aggressions and rapacity of the former. When at last hostilities commenced, they saw the magnitude of the preparation and the strength of the Confederate forces in their vicinity. The weakness of the Federal forces was equally striking. Within the scope of their limited horizon there was naught that seemed to shed a ray of hope upon the rapidly darkening sky of Federal supremacy. Those who were naturally inclined to sympathize with, and who retained a feeling of friendship and reverence for, the old Government were awed into silence. A sense of fear and helplessness for the time being compelled them to accept and apparently acquiesce in a state of affairs for which many of them had no heart.

After the Cherokee convention, at Tahlequah, in August, 1861, at which it was decided with such unanimity to renounce their treaty relations with the United States and to enter into diplomatic alliance with the Confederacy, O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo, an old and prominent Creek chief, whom Ross had notified by letter of the action taken, and upon whom he urged the wisdom of securing similar action by the Creeks,[578] refused to lend himself to any such measure. He called a council of the Creeks, however, representing to them the action of the Cherokees, alleging that their chiefs had been bought, and reminded the Creeks of the duties and obligations by which they were bound to the Government of the United States.

The majority of the Creeks, notwithstanding, were for active co-operation with the Confederacy, and an internecine war was at once inaugurated. The loyal portion of the Seminoles, Wichitas, Kickapoos, and Delawares joined O-poth-le-yo-ho-lo and his loyal Creeks, who after two or three engagements with the disloyal Indians, backed by a force of Texas troops, was compelled to retreat to the north, which he did in December, 1861.[579] The weather was extremely inclement; the loyal Indians were burdened with all their household goods, their women and children, and at the same time exposed to the assaults of their enemies. Their baggage was captured, leaving many of them without shoes or comfortable clothing. Hundreds perished on the route, and at last, after a journey of 300 miles, they reached Humboldt, Kansas, racked with disease, almost frozen, and with starvation staring them in the face. Immediately upon learning of the condition of these sufferers, Indian Superintendent Coffin promptly inaugurated measures for their relief. Having inconsiderable funds at his command for the purpose, application was made to General Hunter, commanding the Department of Kansas, who promptly responded with all the supplies at his disposal. The Indians in their retreat had become scattered over an area of territory 200 miles in extent, between the Verdigris and Fall River, Walnut Creek and the Arkansas. As they became aware of the efforts of the Government for their relief, they began to pour into the camp of rendezvous on the Verdigris, but were later removed to Le Roy, Kansas. Authority was given to enlist the able bodied males in the service of the United States, and two regiments were at once organized and placed under command of Colonel Weir for an expedition against the Indian Territory, mention of which has been previously made. A census taken of these refugees by Superintendent Coffin, in August, 1862, showed that there were in camp, exclusive of the 2,000 who had enlisted in the service of the United States, 3,619 Creeks, 919 Seminoles, 165 Chickasaws, 223 Cherokees, 400 Kickapoos, 89 Delawares, 19 Ionies, and 53 Keechies, in all 5,487, consisting of 864 men, 2,040 women, and 2,583 children. In addition to these at least 15 per cent. had died since their arrival from hardships encountered in the course of their retreat. They were subsequently removed to the Sac and Fox reservation in Kansas.

Until after Colonel Weir's expedition to the Indian Territory not exceeding three hundred Cherokees had taken refuge within the Union lines; but in the autumn of 1862, after Weir's retreat, a body of refugees, mostly women and children, claiming the protection of the United States, made their way to a point on the Cherokee neutral lands some 12 miles south of Fort Scott, Kansas.

Like all the other refugees, they were in a most destitute and suffering condition. In need of food, clothing, and supplies of all kinds, these sufferers, to the number of two thousand, appealed for relief, and were for a time supplied by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, but afterwards, on being taken under charge of the military authorities, were transferred to Neosho, Missouri.

_Relations with the Southern Confederacy renounced._--During the month of February, 1863 (as reported[580] by John Ross from Philadelphia), a special meeting of the Cherokee national council was convened at Cowskin Prairie, and the following legislation was enacted:

1. Abrogating the treaty with the Confederate States, and calling a general convention of the people to approve the act.

2. The appointment of a delegation with suitable powers and instructions to represent the Cherokee Nation before the United States Government, consisting of John Ross, principal chief, Lieutenant-Colonel Downing, Capt. James McDaniel, and Rev. Evan Jones.

3. Authorizing a general Indian council to be held at such time and place as the principal chief may designate.

4. Deposing all officers of the nation disloyal to the Government.

5. Approving the purchase of supplies made by the treasurer and directing their distribution.

6. Providing for the abolition of slavery in the Cherokee Nation.

RAVAGES OF WAR IN THE CHEROKEE NATION.

In the latter part of the winter of 1862 and early spring of 1863 the military authorities conceived the propriety of returning the refugee Cherokees to their homes in time to enable them to plant their spring crops. Two military expeditions were organized, one to move from Springfield, Mo., under the command of General Blunt, and the other from Scott's Mills, in charge of Colonel Phillips.[581] The Indians were furnished with the necessary agricultural implements, seeds, etc., and were promised complete protection from the incursions of their enemies. The refugees, in charge of Indian Agent Harlan, set out for their homes a week after the army had marched, reaching Tahlequah in safety, and immediately scattering themselves throughout the country engaged busily in planting their crops. Their labors had only fairly commenced when they were alarmed by the reported approach of Stand Watie and his regiment of Confederate Cherokees. The Indians immediately suspended their labors, and, together with the troops under Colonel Phillips, were compelled to take refuge in Fort Gibson. Their numbers were, as reported by the superintendent, now increased to upwards of six thousand, by the addition of many who, up to this time, had remained at their homes. The troops of Stand Watie, alleged to number some seven hundred, scoured the country at their pleasure, and not only everything of value that had previously escaped confiscation in the nation, but everything that had been brought back with them by the refugees to aid in their proposed labors, was either carried off or destroyed. The failure of these expeditions in accomplishing the objects for which they were organized rendered it necessary that the refugees should be fed and maintained at Fort Gibson, some 200 miles distant from the base of supplies. This situation of affairs remained practically unchanged until the close of the war, except that the number of destitute Indians requiring subsistence from the Government increased to sixteen or seventeen thousand. The United States forces continued to occupy Forts Smith and Gibson, and the Indians were thus enabled to cultivate, to a limited extent, the lands within the immediate protection of those posts, but their country was infested and overrun by guerrillas, who preyed upon and destroyed everything of a destructible character. There was no portion of country within the limits of the United States, perhaps, that was better suited to the demands of stock-raising, and the Cherokees had, prior to the war, entered largely into this pursuit. Many of them were wealthy and numbered their herds by hundreds and even thousands of head. Almost the entire nation was surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of a civilized people. When they were overwhelmed by the disasters of war, and saw the labors and accumulations of more than twenty years' residence in that pleasant and fruitful country swept away in a few weeks, the sullen bitterness of despair settled down upon them. Their losses in stock alone aggregated, according to the best estimates, more than 300,000 head. Is it any wonder that the springs of hope should dry up within their breasts?

[Footnote 475: United States Statute at Large, Vol. IX, p. 871.]

[Footnote 476: May 6, 1844.]

[Footnote 477: May 30, 1844.]

[Footnote 478: Letter of Secretary of War to Commissioners Jones and Butler, October 18, 1844.]

[Footnote 479: October 18, 1844.]

[Footnote 480: Letter of General Jones to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, November 17, 1844.]

[Footnote 481: He was one of the chiefs of the Arkansas delegation who signed the treaty of May 6, 1828. (See United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 314.)]

[Footnote 482: Letters of September 12 and November 23, 1844, from Agent Butler to Commissioner of Indian Affairs.]

[Footnote 483: Letter of Commissioner Indian Affairs to Agent Butler, January 17, 1845.]

[Footnote 484: Letter of Oo-no-leh to Agent Butler, May 15, 1845. Guess left a widow, a son, and two daughters. Hon. T. L. McKenny, in a letter to the Secretary of War, December 13, 1825, says: "His name is Guess, and he is a native and unlettered Cherokee. Like Cadmus, he has given to the people the alphabet of their language. It is composed of eighty-six characters, by which in a few days the older Indians who had despaired of deriving an education by means of the schools * * * may read and correspond." Agent Butler, in his annual report for 1845, says: "The Cherokees who cannot speak English acquire their own alphabet in twenty-four hours."]

[Footnote 485: September 1, 1845.]

[Footnote 486: October 22, 1845.]

[Footnote 487: November 12, 1845. They explored up the valley of Stone Fort Creek a distance of 30 miles.]

[Footnote 488: Report of the exploring party to their council.]

[Footnote 489: January 19, 1846.]

[Footnote 490: Letter to the President, February 10, 1846.]

[Footnote 491: Letter to the Secretary of War, February 12, 1846.]

[Footnote 492: April 2, 1846.]

[Footnote 493: Letter of Agent McKissick to Commissioner Indian Affairs, May 12, 1846, and General Arbuckle to Adjutant-General, April 28, 1846.]

[Footnote 494: Report of Agent McKissick July 4, 1846.]

[Footnote 495: Commissioner Indian Affairs to Maj. William Armstrong, June 24, 1846.]

[Footnote 496: July 6, 1846.]

[Footnote 497: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 871.]

[Footnote 498: The subject of the North Carolina Cherokee interests was also referred to this commission July 13, 1846.]

[Footnote 499: Report of Commissioner Indian Affairs to Secretary Interior, January 20, 1855.]

[Footnote 500: Second Comptroller of the Treasury to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, February 6, 1849.]

[Footnote 501: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 478.]

[Footnote 502: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 241.]

[Footnote 503: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 339.]

[Footnote 504: December 3, 1849.]

[Footnote 505: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 572.]

[Footnote 506: September 5, 1850.]

[Footnote 507: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 556.]

[Footnote 508: Ibid., p. 871.]

[Footnote 509: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 156.]

[Footnote 510: Ibid., p. 195.]

[Footnote 511: Ibid., p. 311.]

[Footnote 512: Ibid., p. 478.]

[Footnote 513: Ibid., p. 414.]

[Footnote 514: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 556.]

[Footnote 515: September 22, 1851.]

[Footnote 516: November 22, 1875.]

[Footnote 517: April 28, 1877, November 20, 1880, November 17, 1881, and October 13, 1882.]

[Footnote 518: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XXII, p. 328.]

[Footnote 519: January 31, 1883.]

[Footnote 520: See Senate Executive Document No. 14, Forty-Eighth Congress, 1st session.]

[Footnote 521: March 16, 1835.]

[Footnote 522: Letter of John Mason, Jr. to Secretary of War, September 25, 1837.]

[Footnote 523: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 241.]

[Footnote 524: See report of Second Auditor and Second Comptroller to Congress, December 3, 1849.]

[Footnote 525: See report of Second Auditor and Second Comptroller to Congress, December 3, 1849.]

[Footnote 526: November 17, 1851.]

[Footnote 527: November 29, 1851.]

[Footnote 528: After reciting in detail the "forced" circumstances through which those treaties were brought about, they declared--

1. That no adequate allowance had been made for the sums taken from the treaty fund of 1835 for removal; that though an appropriation had been made, the estimates upon which it was based were too small, and the balance was taken out of the Indian fund.

2. That if allowable in any sense, the Government had no right to take from the Cherokee fund an expense for removal greater than the limit fixed by the eighth article of the treaty of 1835.

3. That the alternative of receiving for subsistence $33.33, as provided for in the treaty of 1835, was refused to be complied with and their people forced to receive rations in kind at double the cost.

4. That the cost of the rations issued by the commandant at Fort Gibson to "indigent Cherokees" was improperly charged to the treaty fund, without legal authority.

5. That the United States was bound to reimburse the amount paid to some two or three hundred Cherokees who emigrated prior to 1835, but who were refused a participation in the "Old Settler" fund.

6. That the Cherokees who remained in the States of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee were not entitled to any share in the per capita fund, inasmuch as they complied with neither of two conditions of their remaining East; and also because the census of those Cherokees was believed to be enormously exaggerated.

7. That the sum of $103,000 had been charged upon the treaty fund for expenses of Cherokees in Georgia during three months they were all assembled and had reported themselves to General Scott as ready to take up their emigration march.

8. That interest should be paid on the balance found due them from April 15, 1851, until paid, Congress having no power to abrogate the stipulations of a treaty.

9. That $20,000 of the funds of the emigrant Cherokees were taken to pay the counsel and agents of the Old Settler party without authority.]

[Footnote 529: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, p. 264.]

[Footnote 530: Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Secretary of Interior, February 10, 1874.]

[Footnote 531: November 20, 1851.]

[Footnote 532: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. X, p. 700.]

[Footnote 533: The fourth section of this same act made provision that the eighth section of the act of July 31, 1854 (United States Statutes at Large, Vol. X, pp. 315), authorizing the payment of per capita allowance to Cherokees east of the Mississippi, be so amended as to authorize the payment of all such Cherokees as, being properly entitled, were omitted from the roll of D. W. Siler from any cause whatever.]

[Footnote 534: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XVIII, p. 447.]

[Footnote 535: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XV, p. 228.]

[Footnote 536: United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XVI, p. 362.]

[Footnote 537: This balance, amounting in the aggregate (with interest) to $7,242.76, was paid April 3, 1875.]

[Footnote 538: United States Statutes at Large Vol. XVIII, p. 447.]

[Footnote 539: A short time prior (September 11, 1874) to the filing of the award of the arbitrators in the case of the Indians _vs._ Thomas, an agreement was made between the parties in interest to refer certain matters of dispute between Thomas and Johnston to the consideration and determination of the same arbitrators. As the result of this reference an award was made which showed that there was due from Thomas to Johnston upon three several judgments the sum of $33,887.11. Upon this sum, however, credits to the amount of $15,552.11 (including the $6,500 with interest paid to Johnston by the Cherokees under contract of September, 1869) were allowed, leaving the net amount due to Johnston $18,335, which sum he was entitled to collect with interest until paid, together with the costs taxed in the three judgments aforesaid. The arbitrators further found that Johnson held sheriff's deeds for considerable tracts of land which had been sold as the property of Thomas and which were not included among the lands held by him in trust for the Indians. These tracts Johnston had bought in by reason of clouds upon the title and "forbiddals" of the sales at a merely nominal figure. It was therefore declared that these sheriffs' deeds should be held by Johnston only as security for the payment of the balance due him on the judgments in question and for the costs taxed on each. It was further directed that Terrell and Johnston should make sale of so much of the lands embraced in the sheriff's deeds alluded to (excluding those awarded to the Cherokee Indians either as a tribe or as individuals) as would produce a sum sufficient to satisfy the above balance of $18,335 with interest and costs.

Following this award of the arbitrators Mr. Johnston submitted a proposition for the transfer and assignment of these judgments to the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Based upon this offer, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs reported to the Secretary of the Interior June 2, 1875, that the interests of the Indians required the acceptance of Johnston's proposition. This recommendation was confirmed by William Stickney, of the President's board of Indian commissioners, in a report to that body. Mr. J. W. Terrell, on behalf of the Eastern Cherokees, as well as their agent, W. C. McCarthy, joined in urging the acceptance of the proposal.

Supported by these opinions and recommendations, the Secretary of the Interior, on the 3d of June, 1875, authorized the purchase of the Johnston judgments, and two days later a requisition was issued for the money, and instructions were given to Agent McCarthy to make the purchase.

Under these instructions as subsequently modified (June 9, 1875), Agent McCarthy reported (July 27, 1875) the purchase of the judgments, amounting in the aggregate, including interest and costs, to $19,245.53, and an assignment of them was taken in the name of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina.

From investigations and reports afterward made by Inspectors Watkins and Vandever, it appears that there was much uncertainty and confusion as to the actual status of these lands. The latter gentleman reported (April 10, 1876) that the second award made by the arbitrators was a private affair between Thomas and Johnston and was entirely separate and distinct from the first award in the case of the Indians. He also reported that, despite the purchase of the Johnston judgments by the Indian Department in trust for the Indians, the two commissioners named in the second award proceeded to sell the lands upon which these judgments were a lien, and at the November, 1875, term of the court made a report of their proceedings, which was affirmed by the court.

Taking into consideration all these complications, it was recommended by Inspector Vandever that an agent or commission be appointed, if the same could be done by consent of all parties, who should assume the duty of appraising the lands affected by the Johnston judgments, and that such quantity of the lands be selected for the Cherokees as would at such appraisal equal in value the amount of the judgments, interest, and costs, after which the remainder of the lands, if any, should be released to Mr. Thomas. The representatives of Thomas and Johnston also submitted a proposition for adjustment to the Indians, who by resolution of their council (March, 1876) agreed to accept it. In the light of this action and of the recommendation of Inspector Vandever, Congress passed an act (August 14, 1876) authorizing the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to receive in payment of the amount due to the Indians on the Johnston judgments owned by them a sufficient quantity of the Thomas lands to satisfy, at the appraised value, the amount of such judgments, and to deed the lands thus accepted to the Eastern Band of Cherokees in fee simple.

The commissioner of appraisal appointed and acting under this act of Congress, and under the supervision of Inspector Watkins, selected 15,211.2 acres, the appraised value of which was $20,561.35, being the exact amount, including interest and costs, due upon the judgments up to October 7, 1876, the date of appraisal.

Thereupon a deed (known as the Watkins deed) was executed by the parties representing the Johnston and Thomas interests, conveying the lands so selected to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the manner directed by the act of Congress, which deed it was agreed should be supplemented by a new one so soon as a more definite description could be given of the lands after survey. The surveys were made by M. S. Temple, who also surveyed the Qualla boundary tract, a deed for which latter tract (known as the Brooks deed) was executed direct to the Eastern Band of North Carolina Cherokee Indians, and the supplemental deed spoken of above was also executed. Sundry difficulties and complications have continued from time to time to arise in connection with the affairs of these Indians, and as the most effective measure of protection to their interests the Commissioner of Indian Affairs has suggested (April 26, 1882) to Congress the advisability of placing the persons and property of these people under the jurisdiction of the United States district court for the western district of North Carolina.]

[Footnote 540: February 17 and March 17, 1853.]

[Footnote 541: March 26, 1853.]

[Footnote 542: This protest bore date of November 9, 1853, and was filed by Edwin Follin, as their attorney or representative.]

[Footnote 543: September 21, 1853.]

[Footnote 544: November 22, 1853.]

[Footnote 545: Letter of Agent Butler, dated November 30, 1853.]

[Footnote 546: Annual report of Agent Butler for 1854.]

[Footnote 547: The delegation submitted these propositions in a communication to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated December 28, 1854.]

[Footnote 548: Annual report of Agent Butler for 1855.]

[Footnote 549: Annual report of Agent Butler for 1857.]

[Footnote 550: Annual report of Agent Butler for 1858.]

[Footnote 551: October 10, 1860.]

[Footnote 552: See reports of Agent Cowart in November, 1860, in Indian Office report of 1860, pp. 224, 225.]

[Footnote 553: January 1, 1860.]

[Footnote 554: Letter of Agent R. J. Cowart to Commissioner Indian Affairs, September 8, 1860.]

[Footnote 555: Letter of S. W. Butler, published in Philadelphia North American, January 24, 1863.]